From this point of our discourse there was an easy transition to that of the abolition of slavery; and here my late lamented friend Mr. Overweg made a most eloquent speech on this important question. The vizier could not bring forward any other argument in his defence, than that the slave-trade furnished them with the means of buying muskets; and, lamentable as it is, this is certainly the correct view of the subject, for even on the west coast the slave-trade originated in the cupidity of the natives in purchasing the arms of Europeans. Such is the history of civilization! If the poor natives of Africa had never become acquainted with this destructive implement of European ingenuity, the slave-trade would never have reached those gigantic proportions which it has attained. For at first the natives of Africa wanted firearms as the surest means of securing their independence of, and superiority over, their neighbours; but in the further course of affairs, these instruments of destruction became necessary, because they enabled them to hunt down less favoured tribes, and, with a supply of slaves so obtained, to procure for themselves those luxuries of European civilization with which they had likewise become acquainted. This is the great debt which the European owes to the poor African, that after having caused, or at least increased, this nefarious system on his first bringing the natives of those regions into contact with his state of civilization, which has had scarcely any but a demoralizing effect, he ought now also to make them acquainted with the beneficial effects of that state of society. Entering, therefore, into the views of our hosts, I told them that their country produced many other things which they might exchange for firearms, without being forced to lay waste the whole of the neighbouring countries, and to bring misery and distress upon so many thousands.