Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 September 1891 — DEAL IN HUMAN FLESH. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DEAL IN HUMAN FLESH.

WHERE THE SLAVE TRADE still'exists. How the Business la Carried On, and What Sort of People Indulge In It—Desolation Wrought by the Slave Hunter—Scenes and Incidents—On Exhibition In the Market. The Slave Trade. The present crusade against the slav e trade will probably prove the death-blow to this nefarious institution. Less than one hundred years ago slavery was recognized and legalized in every Country on the globe, with perhaps one exception, but such has been the growth of an enlightened public opinion on this subject that now no civilized nation tolerates it, and ail are engaged either directly or Indirectly In efforts for the suppression of the traffic in human beings. The African slave trade, the curse of modern times, was begun by Portugal in 1481, continued by Spain, and, with sea cely an exception, every maritime nation of Europe at one time or another found profit in the purchase and sale of the unfortunate creatures torn by violence from their homes and destined to a fate sometime! worse than death. The slave trade has, in Africa, brutalized a tract of country extending fifteen degrees on each side of the equator by fdrty degrees in width from east - to west, a territory of over 4,000,000 square miles. The inhabitants of this vast extent of country, a district about equaling in size the whole of North America, are in constant war, the strong endeavoring to spbdue and make captives of the weak. For two and a half centuries men and women have been

bred for sale like animals, and when the supply proved inadequate they were hunted llKe wild beasts. The Abbe Reyno’, as lonic ago as 1777, computed that 9,000,000 slaves had been •' taken from Africa, 50 per cent of whom had died from the sufferings endured during their transportation to other countries. Str John Hamkins, in 1562, began the business for the English, and in two centuries the slave trade, as managed in British ships, reached enormous proportions. In 1783 the English had 130 ships engaged in the traffic, and annually ■transported -to their, colonies 4a 4. m ®rlca and elsewhere .frbm 50,000 to €O,OOO slaves. Bad as was this exhibit that of the Spanish nation tn its relation to the slave trade was even worse. The horrid butcheries practiced by the conquerors of Mexico, Peru, • and the West Indies practically depopulated those quarters of the world, and, to fill the places of the hapless Indians, the Spaniards were forced to have recourse to African slaves. Thus the Spanish colonists early began the importation of slaves from Africa, and were the last to relinquish the profits arising from the horrid traffic As late as 1860, 40,000 slaves were landed iff Cuba, most of whom had been ruthlessly taken from their homes by the Arab traders, who • annually desolated large tracts of country in the interior of Africa. The horrors of the “Middle Passage” have often been told, but not so well does the world know of the deeds perpetrated in the Dark Continent in order to furnish victims for the traffic. The slave traderS*and dealers of Central Africa are mostly Arabs. They are men of wealth, and in preparing for a slave raid usually employ a considerable number of professional soldiers, who are either Arabs like themselves or natives trained to the use of arms. With their hired murderers they proceed to the interior, and after locating a village they deemed it desirable to attack, by a forced march they arrive in its vicinity usually a little before daybreak. With the first ray of dawn the light cane and straw huts a- e set on fire, and the affrighted inmates rush forth only to fall before the deadly alm of the Arab sharpshooters, safely located in the surrounding jungle. Grown men and abd-bodied women who make resistance are ruthlessly murdered. The old and the very young are left to die of starvation, and only lhe strong of both sexes are carried off in the train of the slave dealer. As human life is cheap,little regard is felt or shown for the helpless captives. Sometimes the marches across the desert are long, and many fall by the way. A slave too weak to carry his chains is

' shot, or iftoe far* gone to be worth a charge of powder is left to be devoured by , .the •laves reach a market, the dealer will still realize largely on his investment; so , h,e has no incentiyc\tp spare life op show ; -mercy. Formerly prevailing on both the east and west coasts of the Dark Continent, the s ave trade is now confined to a comparatively limited area. At the beginning of this cvntnry the slaves for the Americas came from the west coast, but (long since that traffic was cut off. After the west coast was closed, the

Spanish Americans procured their supply from the east coast, but this, too, ceased to be a slave market after urgent representations had been made to the Sultan of Zanzibar. The regions bordei ing on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are now the only ter-

ritory which furnishes an outlet to the slaves of Central Africa. Formerly, during the rule of the Sultan over Egypt, the slaves were brought down the Nile to some convenient point, and thence shipped across the Red Sea or by the Isthmus to Arabia, Palestine and Turkey. Since the English occupation of Egypt, however, this is no longer permitted. As long ago as 1870, Sir Samuel Baker made an expedition up the Nile for the purpose of discovering the extent of the slave trade in the Soudan, and disclosed the the fact that at least 50,000 slaves a year were taken from that country into Arabia and Turkey by way of the Nile and the Red Sea The English occupation of Egypt put a stop to traffic in human beings on the Nile, and from that time on the slave caravans ] assed overland by routes unknown to Europeans. These routes are still followed, and in some way large caravans of slaves annually reach the shores of the Gulf and the Red Sea at points whence their shipment is comparatively safe. Those waters are diligently pajroled by men-of-war and gunboats of England, France and Italy, but the utmost diligence nas not been sufficient to stop the traffic. The Red Sea is about 1,500 miles long, and from twenty, in its narrowest part, to 250 wide. The Gulf of Aden presents 600 miles more of coast line, and to prevent communication between two shores so extensive is practi ally impossible The slave caravans are halted a short distance in the country, a large boat is prepared and kept near the shore. The approach of a foreign man-of-war creates no uneasiness, for unless slaves are actually on board nothing can be done. A gunboat, its officers sure that slaves are about to be embarked, may wait in the vicinity for a month or six weeks, but not the slightest misdemeanor will be observable. The patience of the East is proverbial Sooner or later the gunboat must run up to Suez or down to

Aden.Massowahor Suakim for coal; then the slaves are hurried aboard, and before the gunboat <an return the slave dhow has reached the other side, landed her cargo and is waiting as patiently there as on the Afri< an coast The gunboat reappears, but beyond a shifting of place there is nothing more suspicious to be observed on the se. ond visit than on the first; and thus, in spite of the most earnest efforts on the part of the paval forces, the infamous business is continued. It may seem strange that in the present day, a market can bo found for human beings, but there are still three considerable countries the people of which buy all the slaves they can get. The first is Arabia With regard to the extent of this peninsula Americans are often greatly mistaken, the mistake commoh y arising from the small scale on which the outlines of Asia and countries . outside of the United States are generally represented. Arabia, in its greatest length from north to south, extends about 1,500 miles, and from cast to west about 800; thus, allowing for the irregularities of the coast, it has about 1,500,000 square miles of area. The United States, excluding Alaska, has an area of about 3,000,000 square miles, so that the peninsula of Arabia is really about one-half the size of the United States, in extent being about as long, from north to south, as the distance from St Paul to New Orleans, and about as wide as from St Louis to New York. The number of people in Arabia is uncertain. the lowest estimate beabout 4,000,CC3, and the highest exceeding 8,000,090. Very little is known of the Interior, it being inhabited by tribes of fanatical Mohammedans, who never have permitted the passage of foreigners through their country. But one thing we do know, that there is a lively demand for slaves, and a ready sale for them i.t any and every part of this immense extent of country. Thousands of the Africans annually transported from their native country to Asia are sold in the markets of Muscat, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina, but not a few of the best pass an through Arabia to Turkey. The Turkish Empire, of which Arabia is supposed to form a part, forms by far the best foreign market for African slaves. Nominally the Sultan's dominions comprise about 5,000,000 square miles and 57,000,000 population, but leaving off Egypt, Tunis, and the independent states of the Balkans, about 1,500,000 square miles of territory and about 31,000,000 of people are governed from the Sublime Porte, the territory being about half as large as the United States, and with also about half the population. In all this country slavery is still practiced; millions of slaves are

held by the Turks, and people living thousands of miles away in the heart of Africa cut each others’ throats in order that household service in Constantinople or Damascus may be faithfully per formed. The third great territory in which

slavery still finds a place is Persia. As in the ease of the others, the extent of this country is scarcely appreciated by Americans. The length of Persia from east to west is about 900 miles, its breadth from north to south is about 700, and its area nearly 650,000 square miles. The number of the population is

uncertain, the lowest estimate being 5,000,000 and the highest As much as in Arabia and Turkey, slavery is an institution in Persia, and thousands of Africans are annually transported across the steppes of Arabia to Teheran and other Persian cities, where, in the broad light of day, they are sold with do more compunction than if they were so many cattle.

Thus in an extent of territory much larger than the United States slavery still flourishes, and all the slaves that can be furnished are eagerly bought The demand has kept up the traffic across the Red Sea, and un'ess more stringent measures are taken and a pract’cal blockade e tablished for a distance 2,100 miles along the African coast the business of dealing in human flesh and blood may continue for many years.

The capture and detention of Africans is not, however, the only slavery that exists in the three countries named. The institution of the harem is known in all three, and the harem is but legalized slavery in its most objectionable form. The supply of women and g rls fbr the harems of the East is kept up by the most detestable means. The field for the' kidnaper was formerly Georgia and Circassia, the two mountain countries lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The women of these countries have always been famous for their beauty, and before the Russians overran that region the harems of Constantinople were supplied from the mountains of the Caucasus.

Other states have no right to interfere in the domestic affairs of these Oriental despotisms, and so cannot suppress slavery within their limits The most that can be done by any civilized power

Is to endeavor to diminish the evil by cutting off the source of supply, and so prevent an increase in the number of slaves. This, it is fair to presume, is being done, but the increased efTc ency of the two patrols on the Red Sea has had a curious and unexpected result in Africa Gav circles naturally indulge in rounds of pleasure.— Baltimore ican.

A SLAVE-SHED IN ZANZIBAR.

SECURING A CAPTIVE FORT THE HAREM.

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL RAID IN CIRCASSIA.

IN THE MARKET.

A SLAVE DHOW ON THE RED SEA.

AN ARAB SLAVE-DEALER.