CHAP. I.] 
REVELATIONS OF SLAVE TRADE. 
15 
to tlie trader, but liis men claim as their perquisite 
one-third of the stolen animals. These having been 
divided, the slaves are put up to public auction among 
the men, who purchase such- as they require ; the 
amount being entered on the papers (serki) of the 
purchasers, to be reckoned against their wages. To 
avoid the exposure, should the document fall into the 
hands of the Government or European consuls, the 
amount is not entered as for the purchase of a slave, 
but is divided for fictitious supplies—thus, should a 
slave be purchased for 1000 piastres, that amount 
would appear on the document somewhat as follows :— 
Soap. 
Tarboash (cap) .... 
... 100 
Araki. 
. . . 500 
Shoes. 
... 200 
Cotton Cloth .... 
... 150 
1,000 
The slaves sold to the men are constantly being 
changed and resold among themselves ; but should 
the relatives of the kidnapped women and children 
wish to ransom them, the trader takes them from 
his men, cancels the amount of purchase, and restores 
them to their relations for a certain number of ele¬ 
phants' tusks, as may be agreed upon. Should any 
slave attempt to escape, she is punished either by 
brutal flogging, or shot or hanged, as a warning to 
others. 
An attack or razzia, such as described, generally 
leads to a quarrel with the negro ally, who in his turn 
is murdered and plundered by the trader—his women 
and children naturally becoming slaves. 
A good season for a party of a hundred and fifty 
men should produce about two hundred cantars 
(20,000 lbs.) of ivory, valued at Khartoum at £4,000. 
The men being paid in slaves, the wages should be 
nil, and there should be a surplus of four or five 
