The occupation of the Soudan has been a tremendous blow to slavery; one of the principal recruiting-grounds for slaves has practically been closed. A certain amount of slave-raiding goes on along the Abyssinian frontier. Descents are periodically made by parties one to two hundred strong, well armed, from the south-western districts of Abyssinia. They raid the Barun negroes, and carry off the women and children. The same kind of thing is apt to happen on the Darfur frontier, and some of the remote tribes in the same quarter sometimes raid each other with the object of getting slaves. Some of these, but not many, find their way to Dongola, or the Ghezireh; others are taken to Tripoli. Special steps have now been taken by the Anti-Slavery Department of the Egyptian Government, which now has its headquarters at Khartoum, to put down this traffic. Two extra English inspectors have been posted, one at Rosaires, on the Blue Nile, the other at El Obeid. They are to form small mounted corps of the best Arabs and patrol the disturbed districts. Apart from the actual work done, it will be a great thing to enlist the best of the Arab tribesmen in the Government service, and it is hoped that they will in time form the nucleus of an effective native police. These men have been in the past some of the principal exponents of slave-catching themselves; they ought to be very adept at their new business. With these exceptions the slave-trade within the borders of the Soudan has practically disappeared. During the first year or two captures were occasionally made of small caravans, but very heavy penalties were imposed. There is still a constant demand for slaves in Arabia, and once a slave is shipped over the Red Sea a good profit is assured. But it is too dangerous now for anyone to try to make a regular livelihood by it. There are still, however, about twenty cases a year of trials for offences against the slavery laws, mostly isolated cases of kidnapping a woman or a child, and probably there is besides a fair proportion of undetected cases. But the regular trade is pretty well stamped out.