The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-11-18
The Zanzibar sarel.Mnrkct.

The chief source Of the wealth oi
Zanzibar is derived from the slaves
trade. Undoubtedly great atrocltie-
have been committed by slave.owners,
and awful miserles have been under.
gone by slaves. But there are slaves,
and slavery at Zanzibar Is very differ.
ent from slavery In South America
and the West Indies.
The slave market opens ut four
o'clock every afternoon. Accordingly,
Mt five on the day Of our arrival,
accompanied by friend, / set off In
search of ii. After n quarter OF an
hours walk from the landlng-place,
through n number Of narrow, intricate
streets, our guide conducted us into an
open kind Of square, and we found
ourselves actually in n slave.market
we had been talking ofand thinkingof
so much during the voyage out. l
shall not easily forget the scene,
Huddled together In groups of twenty
or thirty, about two hundred men,
women, and children sat crouching on
the ground. Not the slightest express
sion appeared upon the countenances
Of any Of them, and here they sat,
hardly moving muscle, except when
compelled to gather closer together to
make room for more unfortunates who
every now and then arrived, ten or
twelve at time, to take their places by
them, never saw q collection oil
more notwithstanding beings they
wore nothing but u rug around their
waists so that their emaciated condl-
ton could be seen IN all Its horror.
Many Of them were literally only skin
aud bones. Some OF the women had
infants In their arms. But 1t is un.
necessary to enlarge OH these revolving
details (; enough h0s been sald to give
an ldea OF the horror of the spectacle,
Suffice 1t to say, that l never saw any
over.driven cattle so utterly devoid Of
bodily or mental animation us these
poor creatures appeared to be.
While | was looking round, COM
pletely horror.strlcken by what | saw
us my eye wandered on from group Ia
group, d Persian soldier took hold of u
boy OF about twelve years old, mud,
raising him by the arm, began to turn
him about, feel his muscles, and look
at his teeth, and havingeXamlned him
carefully, allowed him to sit down
again, and passed on tolnspect another.
This was before the sale began, and
similar scenes were going on In oil
parts Of the market. One man, too
lazy to use his hands, thrust his cane
into the mouth Of q young slave, and,
raising his lips by these means, made
u careful Investigation of his mouth
and teeth.
The sale soon began, and the wretched
creatures were sold of, some In lots
and others Individually. They fetched
prices varying from ten to one hundred
and fifty dollars. The highest prices
were pald for some women carefully
dressed and painted, and hang over
with q quantity Of jewelry, and who
by their plump, healthy condition
formed striking contrast to the poor,
half.staryed wretches lying around
them. Sick and disguised at tho re-
voting scene, we took our departure,
heartily glad to escape from the horrld
sights and filthy odors of the place
On the way back We saw chalked on
| the wall Of n house, instead Of GrlE
fifths, the safe man, y or mo Popery,'
two rough drawings Of slave dh0ws
with their holds and decks crowded
with slaves, which was strangely char
acterlstic OF the atmosphere Of the
place.