Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

ArrENDix. 359
the slaves is this : the slave-dealer goes into
the country with so many muskets, and so
many pieces of calico, and he finds out the most
powerful chief, and he gives him spirits, and
keeps him in a state of semi-drunkenness the
whole time, and tells
him he must have more
slaves ; he gives him muskets and powder on
account, and the man immediately finds out an
opportunity to settle some old outstanding
quarrel with some other chief, and therefore a
war breaks out. As soon as war breaks out,
favourable conditions are created
for the carrying
on of the slave-trade, because famine is
sure to follow in a country where the people
are dependent on one wet season for tilling the
ground, for it is only during the wet season
that corn can be sown. Then a chief without
food, and without the means of buying food,
will sell off his people very cheaply indeed.
Captm^es are made in war. Kidnapping is
prevalent all over the country, which leads
again to all sorts of petty disputes and retaliation,
and the more disturbed the country
is, the cheaper slaves become ;
so cheap do they
at last become, that I have known children
of the age of from eight to ten years bought for
less corn than would go into one of our hats,
and you may easily imagine where they are
bought so cheaply, and where they fetch so