67
ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
Interior, and I would have that distinctly borne
^n mind ; that is in y own opinion and the opinion
niany others who have the best means of
of
^’^rining a judgment on the matter
943. That is to say, taking into account the
n^es lost in warfare ?—Taking into account the
hves lost in warfare, and in the famine that suc-^^Gds,
and those that are lost from the disease
^Idch always accompanies famine there ; I never
Saw cholera break out, but I have seen a species
dysentery sweep off whole villages at a
bine.
y 944. Brought about by want of proper food?—
.^Gs, and the want of proper food has originated
the disturbed state of the country ; drought
'"'ill very often prevail for a long time in the
Country, which, of course, aggravates the state
things very much ; the yassa or Mahganja
fribe are very timid, and they suffer exceedingly.
945. Dr. Livingstone mentions one part of the
Country which at one time he found well culti-^^ted,
and where a great quantity of cotton was
gïown, and which on a subsequent visit he found
^htirely depopulated ?—Yes, that is the country
am speaking of in which so great a change took
place. Many of the Doctor’s statements have been
discredited, but he is not a man to exaggerate in
nny respect ; I know that contrary opinions about
country have been stated, and it has been
bjnted that he has coloured things rather too
i^Jighly, but when I was there I had opportunities
Seeing the remains of villages in all directions,
Pc population of which had been entirely swept
^Way ; I have seen as many as three villages
.lining in one morning within two hours, and I
l^ave seen hundreds of captives carried a,way from
^hose villages.
946. The villages are set on fire, and, in the
^cnfuslon, the men, women, and children are
^^Ptured?—Yes.
947. M ithin what time did that change take
P^ace from its being a flourishing cotton-growing
^cuutry to its being depopulated ?—In about two
years.
j .948. Do you remember in what year Dr.
bivingstone saw it in its flourishing condition ?—
fhink the Doctor came home to England and
^presented the flourishing state of affairs in 1859,
We found the altered state of things in 1861 ;
. inhabitants of that district were a very indus-^^cus
and intelligent race ; they had an immense
^^antity of iron all through the country ; coal
was found there, and gold ; and copper
taken away to the coast in the form of
'"alachite.
have been swept away ?—Entirely
cpt away. I may say that the country was
^ftierly so thickly populated that you might
b’aveiled for 70 or 80 miles, and have come
a village at every two miles ; in many places
Would have found a village at every half
L ^ It is thoroughly well watered, and it is
qJdly necessary in any case to take any precaupo^
water. Another proof of the great
^ Pulation in the hill country is this : that there
game to be found at all, with the excepy
cf a few guinea fowl
Sir R. AnstrutherS\ The consequence of
® depopulation is that all this land is lying
^—The Doctor, in one of his last letters to
speaks of having to cross a tract of 120 miles
Q they found not a human being of any kind.
All this land that I am speaking of is perfectly
swept of its inhabitants, and I have no hesitation
in saying that every bit of this damage and misery
has been caused by the slave trade.
951. ChairmanP\ Where are the slaves obtained
from now ?—The slaves are now brought
from great distances in the interior. The belt of
country between the Lakes and the East Coast
is denuded of its inhabitants, and, therefore, they
have to be brought from the west side of Lake
Nyassa ; they are transferred across the lake in
Arab dhows ; there are settlements of Arabs on
both sides of the lake, and the Doctor in his travels
has given very accurate accounts of the slave
trade crossing the lake.
952. To what power are those Arabs subject ?
—They are not subject to any one ; they are
perfectly lawless; they have no master at all;
the greater part of the slaves that go to Zanzibar
now are brought from the vicinity of that lake,
the great proportion of them from the west side
of the lake, simply because the rest of the country
is depopulated.
953. Of course the further the slave dealers
haA e to go inland for the slaves, the greater the
waste of life ?— The cheaper they are to buy, and
the greater the loss of life there is in bringing
them down to the coast.
954. You do not know anything as to what is
going on now, I presume, except from the letters
of Dr. Livingstone ?—I am in constant correspondence
with Dr. Kirk ; and I may state that
Mr. Young, who went up to search for Dr.
Livingstone in 1867, went through the greater
part of the country I am speaking of, as far as
the middle of Lake Nyassa, and according to his
account the same state of things was going on at
that time. I have since heard from more recent
accounts that it is still going on, and, in fact, it
must go on as long as slaves are exported from
the East Coast.
955. Sir J. Hay.^ Are those slave dealers of
whom you are speaking Portuguese subjects, or
Arabs?—Most of them are Portuguese subjects ;
some of them are Arabs.
956. Have the Portuguese Government no
means of restraining them ?—I speak of things
as they were ; I can only say that the Portuguese
who were sent out there, were sent out to shift
for themselves ; the Home Government did not
wish to hear anything more of them, and the
slave trade was never interfered with in any way
except on paper.
957. Mr. J. Talbot,'I Did you accompany Dr.
Livingstone on any j)art of his travels ?—Not as
one of his expedition, I went out with Bishop
Mackenzie, but I was with Dr. Livingstone, off
and on, for nearly four years ; I joined him because
we wished to save the lives of a great many
of those poor meg and children who had been
liberated by us, and the Doctor and myself were
working together for that purpose for some time;
eventually he sent me down to the Cape with
them, and a great many of them are there at the
present time.
958. Chairma7i.'] Have you any suggestion to
offer to the Committee with the view of suppressing
the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa?
—Having listened with much interest to the
evidence which has been given here, I should like
to suggest that which seems to me to be one very
good plan, and which I think might be adopted.
The suggestion has been made that vice consuls
I 2 should
Rev.
H. Waller,
24 July
1871.
