22 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
In Zanzibar there are of course a great number of 
slaves, though the ruling Sultan pledges himself to do 
his utmost to stop the trade. With the exception of 
mission men, nearly three-fourths of the porters we 
engaged were slaves who were permitted to hire them¬ 
selves out, after contracting 'privately with their masters 
to hand over to them one half of whatever pay they 
might receive, and though, at first, this seems hard on 
the workman, it must be borne in mind that the master 
is always responsible for his being clothed and fed 
when there may be no work for him to do. 
Slavery seems almost inborn in this country, and the 
natives are so accustomed, and I may almost say suited, 
to the institution and to no other, that the task of 
putting it down is, in my opinion, almost impossible. 
I cannot help thinking our present efforts at suppres¬ 
sion represent either too much or too little, and that 
we should either give up attempting to stop the whole 
traffic, contenting ourselves with careful supervision 
and regulation of slave treatment, or that we should 
make up our minds to spend a few millions and 
establish a cordon of strong posts in the interior. 
The gunboats, however good their efforts, can do 
nothing towards suppressing the traffic from the interior 
to the coast, and the fact of their presence only makes 
it more difficult for traders to dispose of the slaves in 
large numbers when they get them to the sea-bord ; 
consequently they now consider them of trifling value, 
except as porters for carrying down heavy loads of 
ivory, not caring how many die on the road ; indeed it 
