THE SLAVE SUPPLY. 



465 



intended for the Island market are comparatively 

 young : the Portuguese settlements at Mozam- 

 bique give higher prices for able-bodied adults. 

 Since the last treaty the value has more than 

 trebled ; what then cost $10 has now risen to 

 $30 to $35. A small boy fresh from the main- 

 land commands from $7 to $15 ; a girl under 

 7 or 8 years old, from $10 to $18. The live 

 cargo pays duty to the Zanzibar and Kilwa 

 custom-houses, as at Zayla, Tajurrah, and the 

 slave-exporting harbours of the Hed Sea : the 

 sick and the refuse, however, enter free. About 

 1835 the import duty varied from $0.50 to $4, 

 according to the port whence the 6 black ivory ' 

 was shipped: some races had such an ill fame 

 that only excessive cheapness found purchasers. 

 Presently $2 and at last $1 were levied upon all, 

 good or bad. Of late years (1857) the annual 

 maximum collected was $23,000 : this enables us 

 to rate the import at an average of 14,000 to 

 15,000 per annum, the extreme being 9000 or 

 18,000. In 1860-61 it rose to 19,000, in 1861-62 

 it fell to 14,000, and in 1862-63 there was a fur- 

 ther declension. 1 



The impudence and audacity of the wild 

 slaves almost passes belief. Such is their habit 



1 Concerning Kilwa further details will be found in Vol. II. 



VOL. L 30 



