The Slave Question
Dr. Junker greatly enjoyed the quiet, peaceful life which his friend was
leading on the extreme frontier of civilization, but many serious
questions were troubling him, and he availed himself of the first
leisure moments to ask Emin about the condition of the slave trade in
the Soudan. "I heard in Europe," he said, "that this shameful business
was to be entirely suppressed and yet I have been for a year among these
unfortunate people in the district of Bahr-el-Ghazal and have seen how
the Arab robbers in armed bands have fallen upon the poor negroes,
carried off the young women and boys, driven away their herds, often
burned their villages, and left ruin and desolation in their wake. It is
dreadful to think that so many of these poor captives have perished on
the way from hunger and brutal treatment and that they have been
needlessly sacrificed. And yet it is asserted that the Egyptian
government has abolished the slave trade and made the exporting of
blacks impossible."
Emin replied in his deep, sonorous voice: "You have touched perhaps the
most painful wound from which the welfare and civilization of this
region, so richly blest by Nature, are suffering. But where shall one
begin to cure the evil? The negro people of the interior sell their
prisoners, captured in their petty wars, and look upon it as their
surest source of revenue. The Niam-Niam and other tribes simply eat
their prisoners, and it is surely a step in advance if they sell instead
of eat the unlucky victims. Those Arab hordes which have invaded the
Soudan from Egypt and Nubia with their hireling soldiers are the worst.
They have established fortified stations from which they systematically
conduct their hunting expeditions.
"The Nile officials should not let them escape with their black plunder,
but no Egyptian or Turk can resist 'backsheesh,' and they know a
thousand ways in which they can transport their black freight by night
to the shores of the Red Sea and get it into Arabia. Those slaves which
are actually sold for household servants are often better off, for most
of the Moslems are kind to their servants. There is not much work for
them, for every household has from twenty to thirty and sometimes fifty
servants and they stay with the family to the end of their lives, for
the Turks consider it dishonorable to sell their servants. But
man-hunting is not the less objectionable on that account, and yet how
are these dealers to support themselves? The government has monopolized
the ivory business and there is nothing else to be found in the
interior. The Moslems have learned no kind of hand work and they would
rather starve than do it. I have driven that hangman's brood from my
domain, but it was not accomplished without hard fighting. You can
hardly imagine what a multitude of lazy, useless vagabonds live upon the
poor negroes.
"The people supply them with ivory, grain of various kinds, honey, wax,
and butternut oil, but none of this comes to the government storehouse.
It is all lavished in the most scandalous manner by the officials upon
their hangers-on and dependents. These people not only pay for nothing,
but they take everything they can. In the Amadi district, for instance,
there are at least ten thousand negroes, and they had to support two
thousand good-for-nothings by their field labor, for they have neither
hunting nor live stock. They did not even allow these poor men to work
quietly in their fields. If any complaint was made, in two days five
hundred of them were carried off. But I have subdued them by fire and
sword, and to-day my negroes enjoy their possessions and their families
are brought up without the fear that their half-grown children will be
carried off by brute force.
"It is difficult to succeed here, for the government does not support me
and almost feels as if the officials were justified in robbing the
negroes, as it sometimes cannot pay them for a year at a time. But the
greatest absurdity is the edict issued from Khartoum, forbidding
merchants to go to these provinces. During the whole six years of my
administration here only nine steamers have come up the Nile, and we are
so destitute of absolutely necessary things that I have to economize,
for instance, in writing paper in continual fear that my stock will give
out before I can get more."
"I shall be delighted," said Dr. Junker with a smile, "if I can help you
with some trifles. I have still a hamper which I brought out of the
wilderness that has not been touched, filled with all those objects that
they do not care for there, and with which they would part for money."
"No, no, I do not need them," replied Emin. "In a few weeks I shall be
at home. How precious the word sounds!" But Junker produced his
treasures, spread them out on the big tables, and invited Emin and his
officers to help themselves.
All were delighted. A little package of cigarette paper was instantly
pounced upon. A little Parisian folding table with two leaves, a woven
hammock and a large tent screen were given to Emin as a present. Books,
various instruments, a revolver, and a small gun were also very welcome.
Dr. Junker's servants and maids received for their share pearls, copper
and bronze bracelets, needles, thread, knives, and scissors, which are
used as a medium of exchange among the savages in place of money. Linen
garments were also divided among them, but two pieces of woollen stuffs
and a new costume were retained by Dr. Junker, as he reflected that he
might have use for them later.