Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Slave trade -- Africa
When slaves are liberated in large numbers there is always a difficulty
in providing for them. We feel this dilemma when our cruisers capture
Arab dhows on the east coast of Africa, and our government becomes
responsible for an influx of foundlings. It is generally quite
impossible to return them to their own homes, therefore all that can be
done is to instruct them in some useful work by which they can earn
their livelihood. If the boys have their choice, they invariably desire
a military life; and I believe it is the best school for any young
savage, as he is at once placed under strict discipline, which teaches
him habits of order and obedience. The girls, like those of other
countries, prefer marriage to regular domestic work; nevertheless, if
kindly treated, with a due amount of authority, they make fair servants
for any rough employment.
When female children are about five years old they are most esteemed by
the slave-dealers, as they can be more easily taught, and they grow up
with an attachment to their possessors, and in fact become members of
the family.
Little Mostoora, the child taken by my wife, was an exceedingly clever
specimen of her race, and although she was certainly not more than three
years old, she was quicker than most children of double her age. With an
ugly little face, she bad a beautifully shaped figure, and possessed a
power of muscle that I have never seen in a white child of that age. Her
lot had fallen in pleasant quarters; she was soon dressed in convenient
clothes and became the pet of the family.
On June 17, 1 sent the No. 9 steamer to Khartoum with the post, together
with three sons of Quat Kare, who were to represent their father at the
divan of Djiaffer Pacha. The old man declined the voyage, pleading his
age as an excuse. Mr. Wood also returned, as his health required an
immediate change to Egypt. On the 25th, four vessels arrived from the
south, two belonging to Kutchuk Ali, one to Agad, and one to a trader
named Assaballa, from the Bahr Gazal. The latter had thirty-five slaves
on board. The others had heard, by some vessels that had gone up from
Khartoum, that I had formed a station near the Sobat, and had captured
the vessel and slaves of Kutchuk Ali, thus they had landed their slaves
at the Bahr Giraffe station. The Bahr Gazal vessel having arrived from a
different direction had not received the information. I seized the boat
and cargo, and liberated the slaves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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