Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

360 APPENDIX.
large a price on the coast, it pays the slavedealer
very well to collect as many as he can,
knowing that he must lose a certain proportion
on the way, but also knowing that the remnant
he saves will pay him a very large profit. It is
like sending up for a large block of ice to
London in the hot weather ;
you know that a
certain amount will melt away before it reaches
you in the country as it travels down ; but that
which remains will be quite sufficient for your
wants."
939. Chairman.] " Can you give us any idea
of the comparative price of a slave on the coast,
and in the interior where they are bought?"
" I ascertained the price of slaves at Mozambique,
and I found they were worth there about eight
dollars, the same slaves lia^dng been bought in
the interior for a few yards of calico."
'940. Sir B, Anstriither.] "What is the pro-
—
portion of waste of life in the transit ?" " It is
very difficult to say what is the waste of life in
the transit without having travelled with a slave
caravan the whole way. Sickness may break
out; they may cross a part of the country
where there is very little food, and then many
die of famine. Then, again, if there is anything
like insubordination in the slave-gang, the axe
and knife are used very freely indeed, and an
indiscriminate slaughter takes place amongst