Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

APPENDIX. 435
but one punisliment—immediate death. The
sick are left behind, and the route of a slave
caravan can be tracked by the dying and
the dead. The Arabs only value these poor
creatures at the price which they will fetch in
the market, and if they are not likely to pay
the cost of their conveyance they are got rid
of. The result is, that a large number of the
slaves die or are murdered on the journey,
and the survivors arrive at their destination
in a state of the greatest misery and emaciation.'
" From Kilwa the main body of the slaves are
shipped to Zanzibar, but some are carried direct
from Kilwa to the northern ports.
"At Zanzibar the slaves are sold either in open
market or direct to the dealer, and they are
then shipped in Arab dhows for Arabia and
Persia; the numbers of each cargo vary from
one or two slaves to between three and four
hundred.
" The whole slave-trade by sea, whether for
the supply of the Sultan's African dominions or
the markets in Arabia and Persia, is carried on
by Arabs from Muscat and other ports on the
Arabian coast. They are not subjects of Zanzibar,
but chiefly belong to tribes of roving and
predatory habits.
" The sea passage exposes the slave to much