594 LECTURES AND ESSAYS [1880- 



officials in general are disposed to wink at the trade is 

 beyond doubt. Even on the Nile slaves have never 

 ceased to be sent down from the upper country, and 

 the existence of a slave mart at Cairo is an open secret. 

 What, then, can be looked for in the Red Sea, where 

 every Turkish and Arabian official is interested in the 

 maintenance of the trade ? I believe that only last week 

 slaves were brought over to Jeddah in the Egyptian 

 steamer from Sawakin. The risk of conveyance by 

 native bagala is now so appreciable that five dollars a 

 head is the charge for carrying slaves. The steamer 

 takes passengers for three dollars, and the difference 

 allows a handsome baksheesh to be paid to some Egyptian 

 official for a passport declaring boys and girls to be 

 passengers who are really slaves. This is one way in 

 which the traffic is kept up, but the bagalas still run. 

 The English Consul at Jeddah gives it as his belief that 

 no slaves have been landed at Jeddah for a good many 

 months. But this only means that the people do not 

 choose that he should know what is going on ; and, in 

 fact, the affair of the Ready was settled in a way that has 

 done mischief, encouraged the slave-trading Arabs, and 

 disheartened the officers of Her Majesty s cruisers. A 

 boat from the Ready in the early part of December 1878 

 pursued a suspicious native vessel which, apparently 

 from ignorance of the rights of men-of-war, refused to 

 stop when summoned. The British boat fired, and a 

 slave was killed. There was a great uproar, and the 

 town of Jeddah was threatened by the Arabs. Ultimately 

 our Government arranged the matter by a payment of 

 550 as blood-money. The affair was an unfortunate 

 one, and it may have been prudent to make some pay 

 ment, but certainly the sum was exorbitant ; for between 

 Arabs and Arabs the full blood-money for a freeman 

 does not exceed $800, or 150. And no advantage was 

 taken of the incident to explain that the money was paid 

 ex gratia, and acquaint the natives with the unquestioned 



