ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OE AFRICA).
65
port on both skies of the Gulf of Aden, and I
^oink I failed only in one ; that was at Tajura ; I
'' as politely received, but the governor intimated
me that the Sultan of Constantinople was his
master.
920. Did those treaties give us authority to
seize ships having slaves on board ?—Yes; those
treaties are all printed (see pp. 184-186 in
No. XLIX,, New Series, Bombay Government
Records, 1859).
Rev. HORACE Waller, called in ; and Examined.
921. C/mirman.] I believe
'^^Orgyman in England ?—I am_
you are now a
922. Have you been on the East Coast of
p^h'ica ?—I joined the Universities’ Mission to
^Gntral Africa at the end of the year 1860, and I
there till the year 1864, when I returned to
‘'is country and took Holy orders.
923. In what })art of Africa tvere you ?—On
i'e River Zambezi and in the neighbourhood of
^^ke Shirwa.
I 924. You remained there for four years ?—
“ that part very nearly three years.
925. What distance were you from Zanzibar ?
A verv considerable distance to the southward
ofk. ^
. 926. Towards Nyassa?—To the south of Lake
^yassa, within 100 miles of Lake Nyassa, in the
part of the country from which slaves were principally
collected to be sent down to the coast, and
also down the River Zambezi into the Portuguese
^minions.
927. Were there very large exports of slaves
‘oin that part of the country?—At that time the
Imports were very large, perhaps they had never
^Gn so large before in that part of Africa. The
'''Pole of the country to the north of the Zambezi
''as for the first time invaded by sla^e traders,
)mo took advantage of Dr. Livingstone’s pre-'.‘Ous
explorations, using his good name and fair
^atne amongst the natives, and saying that they were
'Pe same sort of white people that they had pre-Uously
seen ; and in that way the natives allowed
.^oin to come into their country. Before that
‘me no Portuguese had ever been into that part
the country. I may state that the slave trade
I'^t Was opened out there was of two descriptions,
the first place, the Kaffir tribes to the south
the) River Zambezi had been fighting for a
^y^at number of years amongst themselves. No
.“'es are taken from the Kaffir tribes for the
I “Vc trade which we ha's e under consideration,
‘tit owing to the hardships of warfare nearly all the
'pmen and children had disappeared from those
l^tPes, and the Kaffirs were most anxious to replen-.?P
“nd strengthen the tribes, and therefore they told
jke Portuguese that they no longer wanted mus-^cts
which burst, and with which they were very
'tteP cheated, but they would prefer to have
^^men and children sent to them. The Portu-^“ese
thereupon collected all the women and
^ ‘Idren they could in the highlands bordering
.^P® River Shire, and sent them down to Tette,
p.“ch is the principal Portuguese port on the
iVer Zambezi, whence they were sent to the
J^“fiir tribes in the interior of the country, and
^j'Ped away for ivory and gold dust. Then
Smn there was at that time another very large
of slaves to the mouth of the River Zam-^
Quillimane, another of the Portuguese
^l^'^leuients. The French engagées system was
C“ ill full force, and a large export of slaves
going on from Quillimane. Besides those
Was also a trade carried on to the north by
the slaves for which trade were taken
P-116.
from this jiart of (he country to Kilwa to be exported
to Zanzibar, and they were also taken in
very large numbers to Mozambique, w hence they
were exported to the Comoro Islands and to
Madagascar, and some of them to Réunion.
928. Sir J. Hay.l Slaves of all sexes ?—Of all
sexes.
929. ièir li. Aiisti'utherr\ And of all ages ?—In
a gang of 84 slaves that Dr. Livingstone and two
or three of us liberated, there may have been
seven women of 21 years of age ; there may have
been 10 men of 19 years of age, and the rest
were boys and girls of from 17 dnwn to six or
seven. I must explain that for those Kaffirs the
Portuguese collected women and children only;
it w as useless sending them young men of 18 or
20 ; the Kaffirs wished for women and children
only. The slaves collected for the French éngagées
system would be principally of the age of
18 to 25, because they could be put on the plantations
at once, but in all slave gangs by far the
largest proportion consists of children. The slave
dealers prefer children because they are not so
troublesome to drive, they are much easier caught
if they attempt to escape, and they very soon
settle down in their occupations, and they do not
pine as slaves of greater age would.
930. Cltairman.^ When you say children wdiat
age do you mean?—From seven years of age
upwards; you will find in every slave gang a
great many children of seven to 10 years of age ;
they are, perhaps, the most valuable slaves that
can be captured.
931. Sir R. Anstrutherr\ Can you form any
idea of the proportion of children that have been
exported lately ?—I know from letters which I
have received from Dr. Livingstone, and which
I would have brought had I known I was
going to be examined to-day, that the same devastation
is going on up to the latest dates ; he
has been through an immense tract of country
w hich is now entirely depopulated ; on all sides
there are signs of this slave trade having swept
aw ay the whole of the population.
932. Chairmaji.'] Where is that?—The country
between the East of Lake Nyassa and the coast.
933. How far is Nyassa from the coast?—I
should say 300 or 350 miles.
934. Do you mean that all the country, from
the coast to Lake Nyassa, is depopulated ?—It
is depopulated to within a short distance of Lake
Nyassa.
935. You referred just now to slaves collected
for the purpose of being employed on the French
engagées system ; that has entirely ceased now,
has not it?—The French engagées system has
entirely ceased, but it was so profitable a trade
that the Portuguese on the River Zambezi sold oft
nearly all the slaves they had on their farms to
supply it, and therefore during the latter part of
the time that I was in the country they were
getting fresh slaves down for the cultivation of
their farms ; and the whole of the country in
w hich w e were was depopulated for their trade.
I 936. That
Sir
W, Coghlan.
24 July
1871.
Rev.
H. Waller.
