chap, xviii.] IMPOTENCE OF EUROPEAN CONSULS. 479 
eyes thus closed, and the question shelved, the trade 
will resume its channel. Were the reports of European 
consuls supported by their respective Governments, 
and were the consuls themselves empowered to seize 
vessels laden with slaves, and to liberate gangs of 
slaves when upon a land journey, that abominable 
traffic could not exist. The hands of the European 
consuls are tied, and jealousies interwoven with the 
Turkish question act as a bar to united action on the 
part of Europe;—no Power will be the first to disturb 
the muddy pool. The Austrian consul at Khartoum, 
Herr Natterer, told me, in 1862, that he had vainly 
reported the atrocities of the slave-trade to his Govern¬ 
ment ;- NO REPLY HAD BEEN RECEIVED to his report. 
Every European Government knows that the slave- 
trade is carried on to an immense extent in Upper 
Egypt, and that the Red Sea is the great Slave Lake 
by which these unfortunate creatures are transported 
to Arabia and to Suez,—but the jealousies concerning 
Egypt muzzle each European Power. Should one 
move, the other would interfere to counteract undue 
influence in Egypt. Thus is immunity insured to the 
villainous actors in the trade. Who can prosecute a 
slave trader of the White Nile ? What legal evidence 
can be produced from Central Africa to secure a con¬ 
viction in an English Court of Law ? The English 
consul (Mr. Petherick) arrested a Maltese, the nephew 
of Debono ;—the charge could not be legally supported. 
Thus are the consuls fettered, and their acts nullified 
by the impossibility of producing reliable evidence ;— 
the facts are patent; but who can prove them legally ? 
Stop the White Nile trade; prohibit the departure 
of any vessels from Khartoum for the soutlq and let 
the Egyptian Government grant a concession to a 
company for the White Nile, subject to certain con¬ 
ditions, and to a special supervision. There are 
already four steamers at Khartoum. Establish a 
military post of 200 men at Gondokoro; an equal 
number below the Shillook tribe in 13° latitude, and 
