WORKINGS OF THE SLAVE-TRADE. 793 



ing. In 1871 the commerce of the British possessions on that 

 coast amounted to <£2, 556,000, and may at the present time 

 be estimated at ,£3,250,000 sterling, and this is only the slight- 

 est hint of the possibilities that are concealed there. 



But whatever the possibilities may be, the world will realize 

 little from Africa while the mumbling sons of Mohammed are 

 allowed to desolate the fairest districts for the satisfaction of 

 their unscrupulous cupidity. Those who have read the fore- 

 going pages have become familiar with the workings of the 

 slave-trade in the countries traversed by Dr. Livingstone. 

 Above the equator, in the Nile regions, it is no better. The 

 efforts of Sir Samuel Baker, in his recent expedition, did some- 

 thing toward its suppression. But his efforts, however effectual, 

 reached only a limited portion of the evil. 



Satisfied with having, to the eyes of the world at large, made 

 a clean sweep of the waters of the Nile, Sir Samuel and his 

 supporters did not perceive, or could not remedy, what was 

 going on on either side of the great river-highway. To any 

 one who should now enter the country under the impression 

 that the slave-trade on the Upper Nile was forever abolished, 

 and should subsequently learn, by contrast, the true condition 

 of the lands, a scene would be presented that might well remind 

 him of the painted villages that were exhibited to Katherine 

 II., on her tour through Southern Russia. 



The Gellahbas who, either on their own account or as repre- 

 sentatives of others, carry on the slave-trade in this district, 

 may be divided into three classes : 



1. The petty dealers, who, with only a single ass or bullock 

 come in January and return in March or April. 



2. The agents or partners of the great slave merchants in 

 Darfoor and Kordofan, who have settled in the Seribas, nearly 

 always in the capacity of Fakes. 



3. The colonized slave-dealers who live on their own prop- 

 erty in the Dehms of the west. 



The last of these form the only class who ever penetrate 

 beyond the bounds of the Seriba district into the negro coun- 

 tries. They nearly all direct their course from the Dehms in 

 Dar Ferteet to the territories of Mofio, the great Niam-Niam, 

 king of the west, and are accompanied by considerable bands of 



