The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-05-11

u. S. SHIP ERIE, PORTO PRAYA, !
November, 1873.
TY6 Nare Trade of Africa.

'H.Nes export suppNeu 10 Tie idetofics
from all Of the classes enumerated in my last let
ter, by native dealers The white factor is not
allowed to proceed into the interior for purposes of
trade. The chiefs, near the coast, generally mo-
nopohze the traffic. Besides being a fruitful
source Of revenue the traffic is encouraged by the
head men, from motives of state policy II ena-
bles them, without expense, TO transport maeiac-
tors, rebelious subjects, and those who useless
to the tribe, from infrmity, mental or physical and
with the proceeds of their sale TO supply their
places with others from the interior. II affords
them the means OF carrying ON wars 10 humble tie
power OF impairment or troublesome nelghbors,
and OF Strengthening themselves by constant al
lance with mercenary war tribes. All these po-
lite motives are, however, subsidiary Ia the DOM
nant passion, avarice, in which the native dealer is
not al all behind his white customer.
1t rarely happens, however, that really free
man is ever offered for sale-that is, one who
would have been free if the foreign market had
not existed; if such an one is sold, he is rarely
embarked without being exchanged or redeemed.
The maraudlng expeditions in which free men
and their slaves are captured together, do rot ap-
pear TO be prosecuted with immediate reference to
the slave market on the coast They are prose-
cuted like the hostile descents of the middle ages
in Europe, from love Of adventure and strife for
the qualification OF revenge, and the ransom of pri
soners. These petty wars are peculiar to the in
terror tribes; the coast is m,,ai atvely ex-
empt from them. 1t would be impolinc for the
SLAYER to excite animosities among his neghbors,
all of whom contribute to furnish him with trade.
The spoil OF the kdnapper is often sold to native
slave dealers, who make profitable speculation
by acting, as brokers in negotiating ransom with
a captive, whether he is exchanged for other er
slaves or not Is always arranged in slave currency
the uniform standard of money value If free
man by chance falls into the hands of SLAYER on
the coast, he is readily exchanged for another
elpV n frtfipn
goat or sheep, being added. The slave merchant
SAYS" After fifteen years experience in the slave
trade, have never known king, prince, or chief
tain, sold as slave; and il is doubt to me if all
those stories told by anti-savery men about queens
and princesses being forced on board, are, or ever
were, true" And he then adds his opinion that
the slave market upon the coast has benign ten
dencX, by purifying the communities at large of
ieas. desirable subjects " ''''e'"''''S anu
When you consider the dlsproportion between
the number of slaves in Africa and the compare
lively limited demand for foreign EXPORTS
climate, where the fecundity of the human
uberance Of animal life, there IS certainly
some pla9sibbihty in the opinion that the, in
wars has been in no small degree overrated and
If the slave trade be ever suppressed as devoutly
hope II may be- and confidently believe it will be,
BY settling the line OF slave coast with trusy colo
ni.ts, still apprehend that the domestic slave trade
Will 60 on unchecked. Without ascribing to the
traffic the benignant tendencies which it possesses
IN the eyes OF an old SLAYER | may believe that it
has less influence tor evil, than is commonly sun
posed, upon the Indigenous customs and instituu-
lions of interior Africa, which surpass the merc;.
less barbarity of the North American Indian and
the loathsome cannibalism of the South Seas.
The slayer illustrates the mode in which slaves
are sometimes procured by robbery, by citing an
instance of which he was a witness.
A Foulah chief had escorted him, as an unusual
favor, upon an EXCURSION more OF pleasure than of
trade, into the Mandingo country, about seventy
miles from the head of the Rio Tongo. This chief
owed him debt, in the payment Of which slaves
were, of course, the legal tender. When stopping
in a small town, the Foulah, melted by an opportu-
nifty for plumber, found pretext for quarrelling
with the chief, and made reprisal of sixteen slaves
in his service, turning the whole gang over to the
SLAYER towards the payment OF his debt, with this
pious promise of the balance =" Here is a part of
your debt, may be able to pay you the rest at the
next village-if God helps me-" Although the
SLAYER did not refuse the sixteen slaves it appears
to have been great comfort to his conscience to
this day, that he reprmanded the native kidnap-.
per for his despotlc conduct The Foulah chief
fabricated, in justification of his proceeding, the al
legation that the Mandingo was not really free
man, nor good Mahommedan, but a presumptu-
GUS fellow, who had once insulted his brother, &c /;
Both the Mandingos and the Foulahs are Mahom-
medans, but SO far as can learn, the common faith
is not any very sacred bond of amity.
While the acquisition of captives is thus an in
centiye to aggression, ii also exercises meora-
ting influence upon the horrors Of African wars.
In ordinary cases cupdlty shields the life Of the
prisoners, and those only fall who perish in the on
slaught. The usual descriptions of the mode of
proceeding appear to be as faithful they are gra-
phic.
village is generally stormed by the native kid
nappers just before daylght if the storming party
is not repulsed at the first onset, the women and
children abandon their homes and fly with their
scany effects to the woods rice fields, and often
in
The men, more swift and better acquainted with
warfare, fly for refuge to the next town, unless in
tercepted by the enemies pickets. They seldom
make prolonged resistance, and if overtaken in
their flight, surrender without resistance. The
Africans are destitute of resolute courage. Their
confidence consists In superstitous regard for the
Gree-gree or the Jus-jus, as the charms are called,
which they wear upon their persons. When the
talisman fails, they yield in impotcnt despair.
When wars are carried on in consequence of IA
mily disputes or matrimonial questions, or to pro-
secutc claims for territory or dois dc saissanee;
or where the prisoners of war cannot be secured or
readily disposed OF, then the most atrocous blood
thrstness is the result. Villages are burned; the
crops rooted up; the fruit trees are cut down;
the cisterns of water broken; the fish reserves de-
stroyed; the men put to the sword and the wo-
men made the concubincs of the captors. Even
the conquerors themselves become great losers as
these wars are carried on in the dry season, which
is the only time when the natives work their farms.
On returning to their homes habits of industry are
dancing and feasting the rainy season overtakes
them before the planting bcgins it is then too late
the crop is lost, and prospective famine crowns
their rejoicing over bloody victory. IL chief of
tribe or village declares war against one stronger
than himself, he resorts to the mercenary tribes,
who live by fighting wars not their own. These
tribes arc generally cannibals, and the battle ends
in a feast OF human flesh. The warriors take the
field with their cooking apparatus; their women fol-
low the camp, assist in the butcheries, and prepare
the horrd repast. So GREATS the degradation ofthe
women in Africa, who are held in no better repute
than slaves, that when captured in war, they re-
Of lords, and even unite in the orgies Of the vcors
Joining their hands to the tormenors in the in
sulting death dance round their former husbands.
But let the SLAYER relate what he witnessed, in his
own words. SIN 1887, July l5,) | went some fiji
teen miles into the interior to collect some slaves
due me in the district called Digbay, between Cape
Mount and Cape Mcsurado. In the night, during
rain storm, a neighboring tribe storned the town
was in, and made large number of prisoners.
The morning found me a captive to a head war