The Awakening of the Central African 



etc. Most of his devoted comrades followed him 

 to the grave. The next vi^as Bishop Tozer; he, too, 

 had to fight against drought, famine, and deadly- 

 fever. Under these adverse circumstances, thought 

 it wiser to remove his headquarters to Zanzibar. 



His action was much criticised at the time, 

 probably by those who did not know the country. 

 It was, however, only carrying out the French 

 maxim: '' reculer pour mietix sauter,'' and was 

 justified by events. 



At this time the slave trade — called by Living- 

 stone "the open sore of the world" — was rampant, 

 and the slave market in Zanzibar sold its slaves by 

 thousands yearly. Children rescued by British 

 cruisers from slave dhows were handed over to 

 the Mission. Boys were carefully trained to form 

 the nucleus of a native ministry. One of them, named 

 John Swedi, was ordained deacon in 1879, and is 

 still working for the Mission. A lady undertook to 

 instruct the girls to tend the sick and the little ones, 

 wash clothes, and make themselves useful. 



In 1873, the Sultan of Zanzibar, through the 

 efforts of Dr., now Sir John Kirk, the British 

 Political Agent, relinquished the transport of slaves 

 by sea, and closed all the slave markets in his 

 dominions. 



On the site of the slave market, where 

 formerly had been perpetrated every known horror 

 and misery that human flesh can endure, now 

 stands a handsome cathedral, opened in 1879 by 

 Bishop Steere, who only survived his great work 

 three years. He is buried behind the altar. 



283 



