434 



THE SLAVE-TRADE. 



the continent for the special purpose of deciding some great 

 geographical questions as fully as it might be in his power, but 

 his great heart was full of anguish as he contemplated daily the 

 misery which this accursed traffic had brought to the poor un- 

 taught beings who had been made its victims. 



The temptation which these traders have to offer readily 

 affects the minds of many of the natives who exercise a petty 

 authority over their fellows. Sometimes those who are sold are 

 captives in some village war; sometimes they are accused of 

 a trifling crime as a justification, and they are sometimes simply 

 taken by violence and sold. There is very little difficulty about 

 an Arab with beads or cloth obtaining all the claim he desires to 

 any particular man or woman on whom he may fix his choice, 

 and when once the slave yoke is on the unfortunate creature, he 

 may hardly hope to escape. On the 19th of June, Livingstone 

 mentions passing a woman tied by the neck to a tree dead ; at 

 other times men were found stabbed, some who had been shot or 

 struck with the axe. These the natives said were those who had 

 been so unfortunate as to fall down of fatigue ; they were no 

 longer able to walk, and must become the victims of the anger 

 of their masters, when it was clear that they could not con- 

 tribute to their wealth. Livingstone lost no opportunity to 

 urge on the minds of the head men of the villages with whom he 

 came in contact the great and irreparable mischief they were 

 doing themselves by hearkening to the voice of their tempters ; 

 warning them that the trade which seemed to enrich them for 

 the time was rapidly depopulating their villages, leaving their 

 gardens desolate and diminishing their strength. These head 

 men seemed to be a little uneasy about it. They recognized the 

 unrighteousness of selling their people even according to their 

 rude ideas of justice and wisdom, but they were up to the old 

 trick of blaming some one else for their faults. Village after 

 village which was passed as the party journeyed along the 

 Rovuma was found deserted. One of these villages had only 

 been deserted a few hours before Livingstone entered it ; its in- 

 habitants had moved off in a body towards the Notembue coun- 

 try, where food was more abundant, and a poor little girl was 

 found in one of the huts. She was too weak to travel, and had 

 been left behind, and there is a wealth of tenderness in the 



