26 TRAVELS IN THE 
tained. On their arrival at the Coast, if no immediate opportu- 
nity offers of selhng them to advantage, they are distributed 
among the neighbouring villages, until a slave ship arrives, or 
until they can be sold to black traders, who sometimes purchase 
on speculation. In the meanwhile, the poor wretches are kept 
constantly fettered, two and two of them being chained together, 
and employed in the labours of the field : and I am sorry to 
add, are very scantily fed, as well as harshly treated. The price 
of a slave varies according to the number of purchasers from- 
Europe, and the arrival of caravans from the interior ; but in 
general I reckon, that a young and healthy male, from 16 to 25 
years of age, may be estimated on the spot fromjfiS. to ^20. 
sterling. 
The Negro slave merchants, as I have observed in the former 
Chapter ; are called Slatees; who, besides slaves, and the mer- 
chandize which they bring for sale to the whites, supply the 
inhabitants of the maritime districts with native iron, §weet 
smelling gums and frankincense, and a commodity called Shea- 
toulou, which, literally translated, signifies tree-butter. This 
commodity is extracted, by means of boiling v/ater, from the 
kernel of a nut, as will be more particularly described hereafter : 
it has the consistence and appearance of butter; and is in truth 
an admirable substitute for it. It forms an important article in 
the food of the natives, and serves also for every domestic pur- 
pose in which oil would otherwise be used. The demand for it 
is therefore very great. 
In payment of these articles, the maritime states supply the 
interior countries with salt, a scarce and valuable commodity. 
