Having Broken His Legs With
A Rifle-Ball, We Fired Into Him At Forty Yards As Rapidly As We Could
Load And Discharge The Rifles.
He simply shook his head at each
shot, and received at least sixty Enfield balls before he fell.
Our
excellent sailor from the north of Ireland happened to fire the last,
and, as soon as he saw the animal fall, he turned with an air of
triumph to the Doctor and exclaimed, "It was MY shot that done it,
sir!"
In a few minutes upwards of a thousand natives were round the
prostrate king of beasts; and, after our men had taken all they
wanted, an invitation was given to the villagers to take the
remainder. They rushed at it like hungry hyenas, and in an
incredibly short time every inch of it was carried off. It was only
by knowing that the meat would all be used that we felt justified in
the slaughter of this noble creature. The tusks weighed 62 lbs.
each. A large amount of ivory might be obtained from the people of
Nyassa, and we were frequently told of their having it in their huts.
While detained by a storm on the 17th October at the mouth of the
Kaombe, we were visited by several men belonging to an Arab who had
been for fourteen years in the interior at Katanga's, south of
Cazembe's. They had just brought down ivory, malachite, copper
rings, and slaves to exchange for cloth at the lake. The malachite
was said to be dug out of a large vein on the side of a hill near
Katanga's. They knew Lake Tanganyika well, but had not heard of the
Zambesi. They spoke quite positively, saying that the water of Lake
Tanganyika flowed out by the opposite end to that of Nyassa. As they
had seen neither of the overflows, we took it simply as a piece of
Arab geography. We passed their establishment of long sheds next
day, and were satisfied that the Arabs must be driving a good trade.
The Lake slave-trade was going on at a terrible rate. Two
enterprising Arabs had built a dhow, and were running her, crowded
with slaves, regularly across the Lake. We were told she sailed the
day before we reached their head-quarters. This establishment is in
the latitude of the Portuguese slave-exporting town of Iboe, and
partly supplies that vile market; but the greater number of the
slaves go to Kilwa. We did not see much evidence of a wish to
barter. Some ivory was offered for sale; but the chief traffic was
in human chattels. Would that we could give a comprehensive account
of the horrors of the slave-trade, with an approximation to the
number of lives it yearly destroys! for we feel sure that were even
half the truth told and recognized, the feelings of men would be so
thoroughly roused, that this devilish traffic in human flesh would be
put down at all risks; but neither we, nor any one else, have the
statistics necessary for a work of this kind. Let us state what we
do know of one portion of Africa, and then every reader who believes
our tale can apply the ratio of the known misery to find out the
unknown. We were informed by Colonel Rigby, late H.M. Political
Agent, and Consul at Zanzibar, that 19,000 slaves from this Nyassa
country alone pass annually through the Custom-house of that island.
This is exclusive of course of those sent to Portuguese slave-ports.
Let it not be supposed for an instant that this number, 19,000,
represents all the victims. Those taken out of the country are but a
very small section of the sufferers. We never realized the atrocious
nature of the traffic, until we saw it at the fountain-head. There
truly "Satan has his seat." Besides those actually captured,
thousands are killed and die of their wounds and famine, driven from
their villages by the slave raid proper. Thousands perish in
internecine war waged for slaves with their own clansmen and
neighbours, slain by the lust of gain, which is stimulated, be it
remembered always, by the slave purchasers of Cuba and elsewhere.
The many skeletons we have seen, amongst rocks and woods, by the
little pools, and along the paths of the wilderness, attest the awful
sacrifice of human life, which must be attributed, directly or
indirectly, to this trade of hell. We would ask our countrymen to
believe us when we say, as we conscientiously can, that it is our
deliberate opinion, from what we know and have seen, that not one-
fifth of the victims of the slave-trade ever become slaves. Taking
the Shire Valley as an average, we should say not even one-tenth
arrive at their destination. As the system, therefore, involves such
an awful waste of human life, - or shall we say of human labour? - and
moreover tends directly to perpetuate the barbarism of those who
remain in the country, the argument for the continuance of this
wasteful course because, forsooth, a fraction of the enslaved may
find good masters, seems of no great value. This reasoning, if not
the result of ignorance, may be of maudlin philanthropy. A small
armed steamer on Lake Nyassa could easily, by exercising a control,
and furnishing goods in exchange for ivory and other products, break
the neck of this infamous traffic in that quarter; for nearly all
must cross the Lake or the Upper Shire.
Our exploration of the Lake extended from the 2nd September to the
27th October, 1861; and, having expended or lost most of the goods we
had brought, it was necessary to go back to the ship. When near the
southern end, on our return, we were told that a very large slave-
party had just crossed to the eastern side. We heard the fire of
three guns in the evening, and judged by the report that they must be
at least six-pounders.
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