At the same time that Kabba Rega and his people were eager for the
restoration of the numerous women and children that had been stolen from
Unyoro, they were themselves great slave-dealers.
M'tese, the powerful King of Uganda, on the southern frontier of Unyoro,
was in the habit of purchasing ivory in that country for the merchants
of Zanzibar.
These purchases were made by an exchange of slaves, brass-coil
bracelets, and long cotton shirts; which were either of British or
Indian manufacture, that had arrived via Zanzibar.
M'tese, with his usual sagacity, did not permit the merchants of that
country to enter Uganda in force, but he received from them both slaves
and merchandise, which he sent into the surrounding countries for the
purchase of ivory. He thus monopolized the trade, and kept the price at
a minimum.
In Unyoro there was an established value for a healthy young girl. Such
a person was equal to a single elephant's tusk of the first class, or to
a new shirt. Thus a girl could be purchased for a shirt, and she might
be subsequently exchanged for a large elephant's tusk.
In the country of Uganda, where the natives are exceedingly clever as
tailors and furriers, needles are in great demand. A handsome girl may
be purchased for thirteen English needles! Thus for slave-traders there
existed an excellent opening for a profitable business. A girl might be
bought for thirteen needles in Uganda, to be exchanged in Unyoro for an
elephant's tusk that would be worth twenty or thirty pounds in England.
Abou Saood's brigands had been far too lawless even for this innocent
traffic, and in default of the merchandise necessary for such profitable
exchanges, they had found it more convenient to kidnap young girls,
which saved much trouble in bargaining for needles and shirts.
In every African tribe that I have visited, I found slavery a natural
institution of the country. I had at length discovered that it was bad
policy to commence a dissertation against the slave trade generally;
this attacked local interests, therefore it was more diplomatic to speak
against the capture of women and children that belonged to my hearers,
but to avoid a discussion upon the moral aspect of the slave trade.
The negro idea of the eighth commandment is: "Thou shalt not steal - from
ME;" but he takes a liberal view of the subject when the property
belongs to another.
I had been rather startled in the year of my arrival at Gondokoro, when,
during the voyage, I landed and conversed with some sheiks of the Shir
tribe.
