274 THE LAKE SLAVE-TRADE. CHAP. X. 



villagers to take the remainder. They rushed at it like 

 hungry hyenas, and in an incredibly short time every inch 

 of it was carried off. It was only by knowing that the 

 meat would all be used that we felt justified in the 

 slaughter of this noble creature. The tusks weighed 

 62 lbs. each. A large amount of ivory might be obtained 

 from the people of Nyassa, and we were frequently told 

 of their having it in their huts. 



While detained by a storm on the 17 th October at the 

 mouth of the Kaombe, we were visited by several men 

 belonging to an Arab who had been for fourteen years in 

 the interior at Katanga's, south of Cazembe's. They had 

 just brought down ivory, malachite, copper rings, and 

 slaves to exchange for cloth at the lake. The malachite 

 was said to be dug out of a large vein on the side of a hill 

 near Katanga's. They knew Lake Tanganyika well, but 

 had not heard of the Zambesi. They spoke quite positively, 

 saying that the water of Lake Tanganyika flowed out by 

 the opposite end to that of Nyassa. As they had seen 

 neither of the overflows, we took it simply as a piece of 

 Arab geography. We passed their establishment of long 

 sheds next day, and were satisfied that the Arabs must be 

 driving a good trade. 



The Lake slave-trade was going on at a terrible rate. 

 Two enterprising Arabs had built a dhow, and were 

 running her, crowded with slaves, regularly across the 

 Lake. We were told she sailed the day before we reached 

 their head-quarters. This establishment is in the latitude 

 of the Portuguese slave-exporting town of Iboe, and partly 

 supplies that vile market ; but the greater number of the 

 slaves go to Kilwa. We did not see much evidence of a 

 wish to barter. Some ivory was offered for sale ; but the 

 chief traffic was in human chattels. Would that we could 

 give a comprehensive account of the horrors of the slave- 

 trade, with an approximation to the number of lives it 



