"'And I,' said Miss Poles, 'will add, if you will allow me, that it is not on the Nile, as my fellow countryman, Baker, is doing, nor in the desert, as you propose to do, that the struggle should be made against the slave trade. The blow must be struck at the source—in Turkey, in Asia, Arabia, Persia, and certain places in Egypt. It is the insatiable luxury of these countries which must be put down. If the Sultans, their ministers, their wives, the petty governors of provinces, however small, and every man of more than ordinary wealth, did not make a point of possessing as many slaves as possible, if two thousand wretches in their pay did not continually penetrate into the interior of Africa for the sole purpose of collecting this article of luxury, which is a part of their ambition, the slave trade would have no _raison d'être_, and civilization might permeate throughout these lands. When I was with poor Alexina Tinne, I studied this question thoroughly, and I assure you that I am not mistaken.' "Conversing thus, we drew near to the caravan, and saw a long line of beings, who, according to the calculations of our interpreters, must have mustered between two and three hundred. "'I am more than ever convinced,' said Ali, 'that this is a caravan of slaves.' "On our asking the reason of his conviction, he replied— "'I do not see any camels: the slaves take the place of beasts of burden.' "'Ah!' I exclaimed, 'I want to be a closer witness of this, and since, Baroness, you say that we must harden our hearts, let us take advantage of this opportunity.' "I put spurs to my horse, and the whole cavalcade followed me, quite as much to obviate my being left to myself as from motives of curiosity. Once on the move, there was no necessity for a halt; we were not riding haphazard, but we knew where we were going and what was the object of this excursion into the desert. "After an hour's ride, we came up with the caravan, or, to speak more correctly, we reached a spot where it was bound to pass. "It advanced slowly, step by step, appearing to wind along like a huge serpent tracing its sinuous course in the sand. At last it defiled in front of us. "The leader marched at the head, enveloped in a large bûrnus, silently, deliberately, carrying his carbine on his shoulder. Five or six Arabs, clothed and armed like their chief, kept close on his heels, and, every now and then, turned round to take a look at the immense human herd which followed them.