498 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
witnessed the following altercation between the 
customs-master and a Msuahili : — " You shan't have 
them/' shouted the zeti (customs-master, a Banian 
and British subject). *^Why not? I will have 
them ! Zeti, are you mad ! " returned the Msuahili. 
Bring the duty, then," demanded the zeti, " and 
they are yours." What were they Emerging from 
the pen in which they had been retained, were two 
young girls, hanging down their heads in deepest 
^ hame, and were about to move off. Stop !" bawled 
the zeti again, "these are not common slaves; they 
are suria " (concubines), and he made a larger claim. 
The Msuahili protested. But the guards were 
called, and the girls were pushed back into the pen 
as if they had been sheep. So tender girls, that 
ought to be taken care of and trained for a useful 
position in life, were bundled and tossed about like 
animals by these amiable purchasers and tender 
officials ! To avoid paying the tax upon useless 
material, cargoes were often sorted upon arrival at 
port; and, instead of being passed through the custom- 
house and taken care of, those who were thought net 
likely to live were left upon the beach to die I 
The market has already been briefly described in 
the chapter on Zanzibar, and we need only say 
further that the same kind of thing was carried on 
in every town of the least consideration, and that in 
every village and hamlet something was done in the 
trade in human flesh. Wherever we went, the un- 
natural and revolting spectacle of men bargaining 
with each other for God's image — shockingly defaced, 
it is true, but quite as much so on the side of the 
buyer as on that of the slave — met our view. In some 
