This officer was
not the man to neglect a search because the agent of Kutchuk Ali
protested his innocence, and exhibited the apparently naked character of
his vessel. She appeared suspiciously full of corn for a boat homeward
bound. There was an awkward smell about the closely-boarded forecastle
which resembled that of unwashed negroes. Abd-el-Kader drew a steel
ramrod from a soldier's rifle, and probed sharply through the corn.
A smothered cry from beneath, and a wriggling among the corn, was
succeeded by a woolly head, as the strong Abd-el-Kader, having thrust
his long arm into the grain, dragged forth by the wrist a negro woman.
The corn was at once removed; the planks which boarded up the forecastle
and the stern were broken down, and there was a mass of humanity
exposed, boys, girls, and women, closely packed like herrings in a
barrel; who under the fear of threats had remained perfectly silent
until thus discovered. The sail attached to the mainyard of the vessel
appeared full and heavy in the lower part; this was examined, and upon
unpacking, it yielded a young woman who had thus been sewn up to avoid
discovery.
The case was immediately reported to me. I at once ordered the vessel
to be unloaded. We discovered one hundred and fifty slaves stowed away
in a most inconceivably small area. The stench was horrible when they
began to move. Many were in irons; these were quickly released by the
blacksmiths, to the astonishment of the captives, who did not appear to
understand the proceeding.
I ordered the vakeel, and the reis or captain of the vessel, to be put
in irons. The slaves began to comprehend that their captors were now
captives. They now began to speak, and many declared that the greater
portion of the men of their villages had been killed by the
slave-hunters.
Having weighed the ivory and counted the tusks, I had the vessel
reloaded; and having placed an officer with a guard on board, I sent her
to Khartoum to be confiscated as a slaver.
I ordered the slaves to wash, and issued clothes from the magazine for
the naked women.
On the following day I inspected the captives, and I explained to them
their exact position. They were free people, and if their homes were at
a reasonable distance they should be returned. If not they must make
themselves generally useful, in return for which they would be fed and
clothed.
If any of the women wished to marry, there were many fine young men in
the regiments who would make capital husbands. I gave each person a
paper of freedom, signed by myself. This was contained in a hollow reed
and suspended round their necks.
