The New York herald., 1872-10-17


Suppression OF This Infamous TrsMc.
The very interesting and instructive letter
which we published yesterday, with an illus
trative map, from our special correspondent
at "Khartoum, in the Soudan," describing
the character and ramiAcations of the African
slave trade Of the basin of the Nile. discloses q
more important subject for Christian interven-
ton than the barbarism of the Hottentots or
the cannibal feasts of the King Of Dahomey
From this letter we can clearly comprehend
the import Of the venerable DIR. Livingstone's 8
declaration that he would rather be known as
African slave trade than as the discoverer of
the utmost sources of the Nile. The horrors
of this traffic, which Livingstone describes. in
the regions of his explorations south of the
Equator, we now find, from this letter from
Khartoum, cover an area equal TO that of the
United States; that to this remorseless Moloch
of the slave trade throughout the African
Continent, directly and indirectly, more than
million of souls are yearly sacrificed; and
that, not only in the face of Christendom, but
with the guilty cooperation or connivance of
almost every European and American consul
and missionary concerned, this infamous COM
merce still goes on.
Our correspondent, from the statistics within
his reach, estimates the slaves actually carried
out Of the territory between the Red Sea and
the Great Desert north of Livingstone's ex-
plorations at twenty-five thousand year
from Abyssinia, carried to Jaffa or Gallabat,
ten thousand; issuing by other Abyssinian
routes, five thousand; by the Blue Nile three
thousand; by the White Nile, seven thousand
And to secure these twenty-five thousand Afri-
cans for the slave market fifteen thousand are
annually killed, and the general mortality
often reaches the frightful figure of fifty thou
sand. If we remember it correctly, Living
stone estimates the slaves annually carried
from the districts within his line of travels
around Ujiji at twenty-five or thirty thousand,
with corresponding destruction of the natives
from the merciless raids and wars Of the slave
hunters and he too, charges that Christian
officials and adventures are confederates with
the Arabs in the business, and are apt to Sc
cure the lions share of the spoils.
But our faithful chronicler from Khartoum
advances the encouraging opinion that if
among the Christian nations there had been
determined, persistent and thorough agitation
of the suppression of this slave trade in East
ern Africa it would have killed the traffic
stone-dead years ago. As it is, he says that
the intrepid Sir Samuel Baker has been the
only vigorous European combatant of the
evil on the Nile; that he is throttling the
monster; that he hates this slave trade as
Wendell Phillips hated slavery; that he is
mighty, too and the most resolute Pacha Of
the Turkish Empire, but that against even his
traders have been too much for him. Our
correspondent suggests, however, that the
cosignatories Of the treaties by which Egypt
maintains in the Nile basin almost imperial
independence could require the Viceroy to
maintain the closest surveillance upon the
actions of notorious traders; but as the Vice.
roy, through his agent Baker Pacha and
other agents, is actively engaged in suppress
ing the trade in slaves, he needs not SO
much requisition from the great European
Powers as assistance from them and generous
cooperation.
And the keynote to the Intervention re-
quired was given in the Queens speech on the
prorogation of the British Parliament in
August last, and in the brief announcement
that ''my government has taken steps in
tended to prepare the way for dealing more
effectually with the slave trade on the East
Coast of Africa" Her Majesty's attention had
been drawn to the subject from the publica-
tion of the reports brought from DR.. Living
stone by Mr. Stanley in reference to the slave
traders, whose chief market is Zanzibar, and
we infer that the steps taken by Her Majesty's
government to prepare the way for dealing
more effectually with the traffic were some
proceedings calculated to bring the Sultan Of
Zanzibar and the Imaum of Muscat and other
slave dealers along the Indian Ocean coast and
the Red Sea to the practical abolition Of the
nefarious business.
| So far, then, DR.. Livingstone in his Nile
explorations and Stanley in his supposed wild
goose chase after Livingstone "builded better
than they knew" The recovery Of the in
domitable old Christian missionary from the
mystery VI nls African adventures naS aWak-
ened not only the agitation of this African
slave trade (which our commissioner at
Khartoum believes viii speedily kill it stone
dead), but has brought the British govern
ment to active measures looking to its extinc-
ton. We presume that these measures will be
treaty stipulations with the Sultan of Zanz-
bar and other high and mighty barbarians
along the East African seaboard, binding
them, under conditions which they cannot
safely disregard, to put an end to this buying
and selling of slaves. But these restrictions
will hardly reach this traffic of the Nile VAL
ley, of which Khartoum is the central depot,
and from which the slaves are carried into