CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
DESCRIBES "BLACK IVORY" AT SEA.
Having started for the coast with a large gang of slaves a short timebefore Marizano, as we have already said, and having left the Englishmento the care of the half-caste, chiefly because he did not desire theircompany, although he had no objection to the ransom, Yoosoof proceededover the same track which we have already described in part, leaving abloody trail behind him.
It is a fearful track, of about 500 miles in length, that which liesbetween the head of Lake Nyassa and the sea-coast at Kilwa. We have nointention of dragging the reader over it to witness the cruelties andmurders that were perpetrated by the slavers, or the agonies endured bythe slaves. Livingstone speaks of it as a land of death, of desolation,and dead men's bones. And no wonder, for it is one of the main arteriesthrough which the blood of Africa flows, like the water of naturalrivers, to the sea. The slave-gangs are perpetually passing eastwardthrough it--perpetually dropping four-fifths of their numbers on it asthey go. Dr Livingstone estimates that, in some cases, not more than_one-tenth_ of the slaves captured reach the sea-coast alive. It istherefore rather under than over-stating the case to say that out ofevery hundred starting from the interior, _eighty_ perish on the road.
Yoosoof left with several thousands of strong and healthy men, women,and children--most of them being children--he arrived at Kilwa with onlyeight hundred. The rest had sunk by the way, either from exhaustion orcruel treatment, or both. The loss was great; but as regards the traderit could not be called severe, because the whole gang of slaves cost himlittle--some of them even nothing!--and the remaining eight hundredwould fetch a good price. They were miserably thin, indeed, andexhibited on their poor, worn, and travel-stained bodies the evidence ofmany a cruel castigation; but Yoosoof knew that a little rest and goodfeeding at Kilwa would restore them to some degree of marketable value,and at Zanzibar he was pretty sure of obtaining, in round numbers, about10 pounds a head for them, while in the Arabian and Persian ports hecould obtain much more, if he chose to pass beyond the treaty-protectedwater at Lamoo, and run the risk of being captured by British cruisers.It is "piracy" to carry slaves north of Lamoo. South of that point forhundreds of miles, robbery, rapine, murder, cruelty, such as devilscould not excel if they were to try, is a "domestic institution" withwhich Britons are pledged not to interfere!
Since the above was written Sir Bartle Frere has returned from hismission, and we are told that a treaty has been signed by the Sultan ofZanzibar putting an end to this domestic slavery. We have not yet seenthe terms of this treaty, and must go to press before it appears. Wehave reason to rejoice and be thankful, however, that such an advantagehas been gained. But let not the reader imagine that this settles thequestion of East African slavery. Portugal still holds to the "domesticinstitution" in her colonies, and has decreed that it shall not expiretill the year 1878. Decreed, in fact, that the horrors which we haveattempted to depict shall continue for five years longer! And let it benoted, that the export slave-trade cannot be stopped as long as domesticslavery is permitted. Besides this, there is a continual drain of humanbeings from Africa through Egypt. Sir Samuel Baker's mission is a blowaimed at that; but nothing, that we know of, is being done in regard toPortuguese wickedness. If the people of this country could only realisethe frightful state of things that exists in the African Portugueseterritory, and knew how many thousand bodies shall be racked withtorture, and souls be launched into eternity during these five years,they would indignantly insist that Portugal should be _compelled_ tostop it _at once_. If it is righteous to constrain the Sultan ofZanzibar, is it not equally so to compel the King of Portugal?
The arch robber and murderer, Yoosoof--smooth and oily of face, tongue,and manner though he was--possessed a bold spirit and a grasping heart.The domestic institution did not suit him. Rather than sneak along hisvillainous course under its protecting "pass," he resolved to biddefiance to laws, treaties, and men-of-war to boot--as many hundreds ofhis compeers have done and do--and make a bold dash to the north withhis eight hundred specimens of Black Ivory.
Accordingly, full of his purpose, one afternoon he sauntered up to thebarracoons in which his "cattle" were being rested and fed-up.
Moosa, his chief driver, was busy among them with the lash, for, likeother cattle, they had a tendency to rebel, at least a few of them had;the most of them were by that time reduced to the callous conditionwhich had struck Harold and Disco so much on the occasion of theirvisits to the slave-market of Zanzibar.
Moosa was engaged, when Yoosoof entered, in whipping most unmercifully asmall boy whose piercing shrieks had no influence whatever on histormentor. Close beside them a large strong-boned man lay stretched onthe ground. He had just been felled with a heavy stick by Moosa forinterfering. He had raised himself on one elbow, while with his righthand he wiped away the blood that oozed from the wound in his head, andappeared to struggle to recover himself from the stunning blow.
"What has he been doing?" asked Yoosoof carelessly, in Portuguese.
"Oh, the old story, rebelling," said Moosa, savagely hurling the boyinto the midst of a group of cowering children, amongst whom heinstantly shrank as much as possible out of sight. "That brute,"pointing to the prostrate man, "was a chief, it appears, in his owncountry, and has not yet got all the spirit lashed out of him. But itcan't last much longer; either the spirit or the life must go. He hascarried that little whelp the last part of the way on his back, and nowobjects to part with him,--got fond of him, I fancy. If you had takenmy advice you would have cast them both to the hyenas long ago."
"You are a bad judge of human flesh, Moosa," said Yoosoof, quietly;"more than once you have allowed your passion to rob me of a valuablepiece of goods. This man will fetch a good price in Persia, and so willhis son. I know that the child is his son, though the fool thinks noone knows that but himself, and rather prides himself on the clever wayin which he has continued to keep his whelp beside him on the journeydown. Bah! what can one expect from such cattle? Don't separate them,Moosa. They will thrive better together. If we only get them to marketin good condition, then we can sell them in separate lots withoutrisking loss of value from pining."
In a somewhat sulky tone, for he was not pleased to be found fault withby his chief, the slave-driver ordered out the boy, who was little morethan five years old, though the careworn expression of his thin faceseemed to indicate a much more advanced age.
Trembling with alarm, for he expected a repetition of the punishment,yet not daring to disobey, the child came slowly out from the midst ofhis hapless companions, and advanced. The man who had partly recoveredrose to a sitting position, and regarded Moosa and the Arab with a lookof hatred so intense that it is quite certain he would have sprung atthem, if the heavy slave-stick had not rendered such an act impossible.
"Go, you little whelp," said Moosa, pointing to the fallen chief, and atthe same time giving the child a cut with the whip.
With a cry of mingled pain and delight poor Obo, for it was he, rushedinto his father's open arms, and laid his sobbing head on his breast.He could not nestle into his neck as, in the days of old, he had beenwont to do,--the rough goree effectually prevented that.
Kambira bent his head over the child and remained perfectly still. Hedid not dare to move, lest any action, however inoffensive, might induceMoosa to change his mind and separate them again.
Poor Kambira! How different from the hearty, bold, kindly chief to whomwe introduced the reader in his own wilderness home! His colossal framewas now gaunt in the extreme, and so thin that every rib stood out asthough it would burst the skin, and every joint seemed hideously large,while from head to foot his skin was crossed and recrossed with terribleweals, and scarred with open sores, telling of the horrible cruelties towhich he had been subjected in the vain attempt to tame his untameablespirit. There can be no question that, if he had been left to thetender mercies of such Portuguese half-caste scoundrels as Moosa orMa
rizano, he would have been brained with an axe or whipped to deathlong ago. But Yoosoof was more cool and calculating in his cruelty; hehad more respect for his pocket than for the gratification of his angryfeelings. Therefore Kambira had reached the coast alive.
Little had the simple chief imagined what awaited him on that coast, andon his way to it, when, in the fulness of his heart, he had stated toHarold Seadrift his determination to proceed thither in search ofAzinte. Experience had now crushed hope, and taught him to despair.There was but one gleam of light in his otherwise black sky, and thatwas the presence of his boy. Life had still one charm in it as long ashe could lay hold of Obo's little hand and hoist him, not quite soeasily as of yore, on his broad shoulders. Yoosoof was sufficiently ajudge of human character to be aware that if he separated these two,Kambira would become more dangerous to approach than the fiercestmonster in the African wilderness.
"We must sail to-night and take our chance," said Yoosoof, turning awayfrom his captives; "the time allowed for our trade is past and I shallrun straight north without delay."
The Arab here referred to the fact that the period of the year allowedby treaty for the "lawful slave-trade" of the Zanzibar dominions hadcome to an end. That period extended over several months, and duringits course passes from the Sultan secured "domestic slavers" against theBritish cruisers. After its expiration no export of slaves waspermitted anywhere; nevertheless a very large export was carried on,despite non-permission and cruisers. Yoosoof meant to run the blockadeand take his chance.
"How many dhows have you got?" asked Yoosoof.
"Three," replied Moosa.
"That will do," returned the Arab after a few minutes' thought; "it willbe a tight fit at first, perhaps, but a few days at sea will rectifythat. Even in the most healthy season and favourable conditions we mustunfortunately count on a good many losses. We shall sail to-morrow."
The morrow came, and three dhows left the harbour of Kilwa, hoistedtheir lateen sails, and steered northwards.
They were densely crowded with slaves. Even to the eye of a superficialobserver this would have been patent, for the upper deck of each was soclosely packed with black men, women, and children, that a square inchof it could not anywhere be seen.
They were packed very systematically, in order to secure economicalstowage. Each human being sat on his haunches with his thighs againsthis breast, and his knees touching his chin. They were all ranged thusin rows, shoulder to shoulder, and back to shin, so that the deck wascovered with a solid phalanx of human flesh. Change of posture was notprovided for: _it was not possible_. There was no awning over the upperdeck. The tropical sun poured its rays on the heads of the slaves allday. The dews fell on them all night. The voyage might last for daysor weeks, but there was no relief to the wretched multitude. For nopurpose whatever could they move from their terrible position, save forthe one purpose of being thrown overboard when dead.
But we have only spoken of the upper deck of these dhows. Beneath thisthere was a temporary bamboo deck, with just space sufficient to admitof men being seated in the position above referred to. This was alsocrowded, but it was not the "Black Hole" of the vessel. That was lowerstill. Seated on the stone ballast beneath the bamboo deck there wasyet another layer of humanity, whose condition can neither be describednor conceived. Without air, without light, without room to move,without hope; with insufferable stench, with hunger and thirst, withheat unbearable, with agony of body and soul, with dread anticipationsof the future, and despairing memories of the past, they sat for daysand nights together--fed with just enough of uncooked rice and water tokeep soul and body together.
Not enough in all cases, however, for many succumbed, especially amongthe women and children.
Down in the lowest, filthiest, and darkest corner of this foul hold satKambira, with little Obo crushed against his shins. It may be supposedthat there was a touch of mercy in this arrangement. Let not the readersuppose so. Yoosoof knew that if Kambira was to be got to market alive,Obo must go along with him. Moosa also knew that if the strong-mindedchief was to be subdued at all, it would only be by the most terriblemeans. Hence his position in the dhow.
There was a man seated alongside of Kambira who for some time hadappeared to be ill. He could not be seen, for the place was quite dark,save when a man came down with a lantern daily to serve out rice andwater; but Kambira knew that he was very ill from his groans and thequiverings of his body. One night these groans ceased, and the manleaned heavily on the chief--not very heavily, however, he was tooclosely wedged in all round to admit of that. Soon afterwards he becamevery cold, and Kambira knew that he was dead. All that night and thegreater part of next day the dead man sat propped up by his livingcomrades. When the daily visitor came down, attention was drawn to thebody and it was removed.
Moosa, who was in charge of this dhow (Yoosoof having command ofanother), gave orders to have the slaves in the hold examined, and itwas discovered that three others were dead and two dying. The dead werethrown overboard; the dying were left till they died, and then followedtheir released comrades.
But now a worse evil befell that dhow. Smallpox broke out among theslaves.
It was a terrible emergency, but Moosa was quite equal to it. Orderingthe infected, and suspected, slaves to be brought on deck, he examinedthem. In this operation he was assisted and accompanied by two powerfularmed men. There were passengers on board the dhow, chiefly Arabs, anda crew, as well as slaves. The passengers and crew together numberedabout thirty-four, all of whom were armed to the teeth. To these thisinspection was of great importance, for it was their interest to get ridof the deadly disease as fast as possible.
The first slave inspected, a youth of about fifteen, was in an advancedstage of the disease, in fact, dying. A glance was sufficient and at anod from Moosa, the two powerful men seized him and hurled him into thesea. The poor creature was too far gone even to struggle for life. Hesank like a stone. Several children followed. They were unquestionablysmitten with the disease, and were at once thrown overboard. Whetherthe passengers felt pity or no we cannot say. They expressed none, butlooked on in silence.
So far the work was easy, but when men and women were brought up on whomthe disease had not certainly taken effect, Moosa was divided betweenthe desire to check the progress of the evil, and the desire to savevaluable property.
The property itself also caused some trouble in a few instances, forwhen it became obvious to one or two of the stronger slave-girls and menwhat was going to be done with them, they made a hard struggle for theirlives, and the two strong men were under the necessity of using a knife,now and then, to facilitate the accomplishment of their purpose. Butsuch cases were rare. Most of the victims were callously submissive; itmight not be beyond the truth, in some cases, to say willinglysubmissive.
Each day this scene was enacted, for Moosa was a very determined man,and full forty human beings were thus murdered, but the disease was notstayed. The effort to check it was therefore given up, and the slaveswere left to recover or die where they sat. See account of capture ofdhow by Captain Robert B. Cay, of H.M.S. "Vulture," in the _Times ofIndia_, 1872.
While this was going on in the vessel commanded by Moosa, the other twodhows under Yoosoof and a man named Suliman had been lost sight of. Butthis was a matter of little moment, as they were all bound for the samePersian port, and were pretty sure, British cruisers permitting, to meetthere at last. Meanwhile the dhow ran short of water, and Moosa did notlike to venture at that time to make the land, lest he should be caughtby one of the hated cruisers or their boats. He preferred to let thewretched slaves take their chance of dying of thirst--hoping, however,to lose only a few of the weakest, as water could be procured a littlefarther north with greater security.
Thus the horrible work of disease, death, and murder went on, until anevent occurred which entirely changed the aspect of affairs on board thedhow.
Early one morning, Moosa directed
the head of his vessel towards theland with the intention of procuring the much needed water. At the samehour and place two cutters belonging to H.M.S. `Firefly,' armed with gunand rocket, twenty men, and an interpreter, crept out under sail withthe fishing boats from a neighbouring village. They were under thecommand of Lieutenants Small and Lindsay respectively. For some daysthey had been there keeping vigilant watch, but had seen no dhows, andthat morning were proceeding out rather depressed by the influence of"hope deferred," when a sail was observed in the offing--or, rather, amast, for the sail of the dhow had been lowered--the owners intending towait until the tide should enable them to cross the bar.
"Out oars and give way, lads," was the immediate order; for it wasnecessary to get up all speed on the boats if the dhow was to be reachedbefore she had time to hoist her huge sail.
"I hope the haze will last," earnestly muttered Lieutenant Small in thefirst cutter.
"Oh that they may keep on sleeping for five minutes more," excitedlywhispered Lieutenant Lindsay in the second cutter.
These hopes were coupled with orders to have the gun and rocket inreadiness.
But the haze would not last to oblige Mr Small, neither would the Arabskeep on sleeping to please Mr Lindsay. On the contrary, the hazedissipated, and the Arabs observed and recognised their enemies whenwithin about half a mile. With wonderful celerity they hoisted sail andstood out to sea in the full-swing of the monsoon.
There was no little probability that the boats would fail to overhaul avessel with so large a sail, therefore other means were instantlyresorted to.
"Fire!" said Mr Small.
"Fire!" cried Mr Lindsay.
Bang went the gun, whiz went the rocket, almost at the same moment. Arapid rifle-fire was also opened on the slaver--shot, rocket, and ballbespattered the sea and scattered foam in the air, but did no harm tothe dhow, a heavy sea and a strong wind preventing accuracy of aim.
"Give it them as fast as you can," was now the order; and well was theorder obeyed, for blue-jackets are notoriously smart men in action, andthe gun, the rocket, and the rifles kept up a smart iron storm forupwards of two hours, during which time the exciting chase lasted.
At last Jackson, the linguist who was in the stern of Lindsay's boat,mortally wounded the steersman of the dhow with a rifle-ball at adistance of about six hundred yards. Not long afterwards therocket-cutter, being less heavily weighted than her consort, creptahead, and when within about a hundred and fifty yards of the slaver,let fly a well-directed rocket. It carried away the parrell whichsecured the yard of the dhow to the mast and brought the sail downinstantly on the deck.
"Hurra!" burst irresistibly from the blue-jackets.
The Arabs were doubly overwhelmed, for besides getting the sail down ontheir heads, they were astonished and stunned by the shriek, smoke, andflame of the war-rocket. The gun-cutter coming up at the moment the twoboats ranged alongside of the slaver, and boarded together.
As we have said, the crew and passengers, numbering thirty-four, werearmed to the teeth, and they had stood by the halyards during the chasewith drawn _creases_, swearing to kill any one who should attempt toshorten sail. These now appeared for a moment as though they meditatedresistance, but the irresistible dash of the sailors seemed to changetheir minds, for they submitted without striking a blow, though many ofthem were very reluctant to give up their swords and knives.
Fortunately the `Firefly' arrived in search of her boats that evening,and the slaves were transferred to her deck. But who shall describe theharrowing scene! The dhow seemed a very nest of black ants, it was socrowded, and the sailors, who had to perform the duty of removing theslaves, were nearly suffocated by the horrible stench. Few of theslaves could straighten themselves after their long confinement. Indeedsome of them were unable to stand for days afterwards, and many died onboard the `Firefly' before they reached a harbour of refuge and freedom.Those taken from the hold were in the worst condition, especially thechildren, many of whom were in the most loathsome stages of smallpox,and scrofula of every description. They were so emaciated and weak thatmany had to be carried on board, and lifted for every movement.
Kambira, although able to stand, was doubled up like an old man, andpoor little Obo trembled and staggered when he attempted to follow hisfather, to whom he still clung as to his last and only refuge.
To convey these poor wretches to a place where they could be cared forwas now Captain Romer's chief anxiety. First however, he landed thecrew and passengers, with the exception of Moosa and three of his men.The filthy dhow was then scuttled and sunk, after which the `Firefly'steamed away for Aden, that being the nearest port where the rescuedslaves could be landed and set free.