SLAVE-HUNTING. 107 



for cruelty common to man in his natural uncivi- 

 lised state — that affords him ample gratification, 

 for slave-hunting is pre-eminently cruel. Of all 

 the baits which have been employed by the great 

 tempter of mankind, that of buying and selling 

 flesh and blood has been the most subtle and suc- 

 cessful ; and if it has triumphed over the minds 

 of enlightened and conscientious men in our own 

 country, can we wonder that it is irresistible 

 among savages ? I am so assured of this, that I 

 feel convinced if an African were offered double 

 the reward for the same amount of labour that he 

 employs in kidnapping a man, for any honest em- 

 ployment, he would prefer that of catching the 

 slave. 



After stating the pursuits of the inhabitants of 

 this dreary region, it is almost unnecessary to say 

 anything of their moral qualities : a people so 

 thoroughly debased, demoralised, and degraded, 

 I could not have conceived existed within a few 

 miles of ports which British ships had frequented 

 for a century. But it only adds another to former 

 proofs, that the intercourse between civilised and 

 savage nations has hitherto been productive of 

 anything but good to the latter ; it has robbed 



