Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

386 APPENDIX.
coast of Eastern Africa, and Zanzibar, that great
market for * black flesh ' is well watched.
"It appears from a document lately received
by the British Government that the slave-dealers
manage to avoid the cruisers, and that the
trade in captured Africans assumes great proportions.
"The author of the memoir to which we refer,
General Kirkman, whose military position, near
the
sovereign of Abyssinia, has enabled him to
study the question which he thinks it his duty
to discuss, believes that the annual transport of
slaves from the interior of Africa to the Ottoman
Empire varies from 80,000 to 90,000 individuals
of from seven to sixteen years of age.
" The caravans come direct from the centre of
Africa, passing by Bogos, to Massouah, whence
the unhappy captives are sent to Djeddah.
" A good-looking, bright coloured negro girl,
says General Kirkman, is worth as much as 281.
at first hand, and at the second and third
market the price varies according to the demand
and fancy of the purchasers.
" The slaves preferred are those of the Sliankeltos
or Gallas tribes, who are handsome and
well made. A Shankeltos or Gallas boy, well
built, according to the expression of the General,
is worth 19L to 211. and upwards.
"It appears that the caravans of the slave-