The British have done all they could to carry out Gordon’s mission in the Sudan; that is, to break up slavery. This region was once one of the chief slave markets of the continent. The poor wretches were brought by the thousands from Central Africa to Khartum and Omdurman, and taken thence down to Egypt. Before the British rule there were military stations in different parts of the country, which became centres of the trade, and the White Nile was a famous slave route. Later on the Arabs raided the natives of Central Africa and sent up their captives to Khartum. The trade was somewhat checked while Gordon ruled, but it broke out again under the Mahdi. When the British took hold, Omdurman was one of the chief markets, slaves being brought in in droves from all parts of the country. Since then the buying and selling of the blacks has been stopped, as far as possible, but it is still carried on in some of the provinces, and it will be a long time before it can be absolutely eradicated. Sixty-seven slave dealers were captured and tried not so long ago. Fifty-eight were convicted, more than fifty receiving sentences of from one to seven years each. While I was at Asyut, Dr. Alexander, president of the Training College there, told me how a poor Swiss boy broke up the slave trade of Upper Egypt. Said he: “This incident occurred just before the British occupation. The boy, whose name was Roth, got the idea that it was his mission to aid in abolishing slavery, and that his field lay in the Sudan. He had no money, but he worked his way to Alexandria and thence up the Nile to Asyut, landing here without a cent. He applied for work at the mission schools, telling us his plans, and we finally arranged for him to teach French. While doing so he studied Arabic and went out through the country to learn all he could about slavery. He spent his vacations living with the people, travelling about and visiting the villages. It was then contrary to law to sell slaves in Egypt, but Roth learned that the trade was going on, and that caravans were bringing them from the Sudan into Upper Egypt. They were sent from here to Tunis and Tripoli and thence to Constantinople. One day he came into the mission and said that a big slave caravan was encamped outside Asyut, and that the men hid their prisoners in caves during the day and sold them at night. He begged me to go with him to the governor and demand that they be punished. I did go, but was not able to do anything.