The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-02-03
AN Interview with DR.. Schweinfurth,
the German Explorer.
THE CURSE OF AFRICA.
Mohammedanism the Propagation
ofathe Slave Trade.
DUTY OF CIVILIZED NATIONS.
Condition of the Colored Race I'm
der Moslem Masters.
A PLAN FOR REFORMATION.

A PLAN FOR REFORMATION.
BERLIN, Jan. g. 1872.
The lively discussion of the African slave trade
both In England and America has prompted call
upon DR.. Gustave Schweinlurth the eminent Ger
man geOgrapher, who has made two exploring
voyages to Africa In order to obtain his views on
this important matter.
DIR. sCHwEIEFURTH
though very busy writing up his latest travels,
evinced Willingness to impart such Information as
ne might, without special preparation to enter into
specific details and spoke about as follows
The destruction of the
AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE
would be, indeed, an achievement worthy Of the
great American nation. The task, however, is so
gigantic one that European peoples, still weighed
down, more or less, by the letters rivetted
upon them In centuries past, must shrink
from 1t. Hence the hopes of philanthropists are
naturally directed to that mighty people who by
extirpating slavery from their own vast domain,
have performed an act Of undying lustre. II we
except few isolated locations, the rights OF the
colored race are now acknowledged throughout
your hemisphere, and freedom OF all mankind,
that benencent seed s0wn by you, is already bear
ing fruit African soil. Look at the Guinea Coast.
The slave export there has ceased, and nourshing
towns and peaceful commerce are now thriving on
that coast. All that can be expected from this
Continent Is that apathy and lukewarmness which,
In the absehce OF wars constitute the main attri-
butes OF its policy. Here we still have the old
fashioned "balance OF power" the jealousy OF
dynasties the ever unsolved Oriental question
and from such condition OF things none but
unruitful efforts can result. England has
Spanish slave dealers. Out of tender compassion
for her pet, the sick man OF Turkey, she always
winked at the Oriental traders and markets Of
human flesh. This may sound trivial, but 1t will
cease to 30 appaar If we look at the consequences
TO which it leads. Without slavery no Islam can
exist, without Islam no Ottoman Empire, without
the Ottoman Empire no British supremacy, &C.
This requires no proof Let any one who doubts it
show the contrary.
AS for us African travellers, we are not fond Of
half measures. We lack the necessary patience.
If ever possessed Of that useful article lost 1t
In the desert. 1t is said Of Europeans that they
lose their patience in the Indies. The same,
though with much more force, applies to explorers
of Africa, especially Of the Mohammedan portion,
rs may be experienced by contact Of years with
the Moslem. The task Of graphing with slavery,
Sir, repeat, Is
GIGANTIC ENTERPRISE
one which none can better appreciate than those
who have witnessed the curse at Its source. On
one point all African travellers agree Islam affords
no hope and will enter into no pact. The DESERT
born Islam, whose spread creates more deserts
closely connected with the sterile uplands Of Nubia
and Arabia and the homogeneous mass of peoples
extending from Morocco to the Sunda Islands, is q
power more formidable than any other moral
force which now obstructs the march Of civiliza-
ton and human fraterngation. 1t Is but theory
lndulged In by book-worms In their easy chairs
that Islam is capable Of development. Nor can it
be said to be waning Its believers, living, so to
speak in eternal infancy, may be compared with the
germs Cae enbe e o.
NO PROSPECT OF CONVERSION.
It may be asked whether the Mohammedan ma
tions could not be civilized by conversion to Chris
tisnty. say no. Rather than undergo the change
they would suffer themselves to be crowded back
into the desert whence they came. All well in:
formed Europeans and Egyptians, when asked II
they think it possible to engraft European culture
upon the Mohammedans. win promptly answer,
s'No" Would they change their rehglonY .Noi"
But culture could be brought into the country, in
roborated by Frances experience in Algiers. Her
mild COMMUNICATION, her "Bureaux Arabs, !" have
directly hindered the country from developing
into what 1t might be-a rich and prospecting colony
All one sees there Is q little external varnish of
ancsrnate hatred Of the Giaours st Exists in ali it's
intensity. This is admitted by those Francs who
I'll the condition would exist
in Egypt though that country In the hands OF Eu-
ropeans would yield revenues far exceeding the
expenses Of administration.
Several years ago the Khedive Ismail Pacha de-
creed that all officials should don
EUROPEAN COATS AND BREECHES.
1t punctualy obeyed, as II civilization lay in
coats and breechesl Not q word was said about
All to establish them have long since proved fail
ure. Whatever costume officials may wear will not
change their views OF slavery and its markets. 1t
IA nSid a
h. Masters invariably rest on divans and stir not
= finger: Neither hunting nor fishing,
none Of these wholesome exercises
exist for the lords OF the divan. II they thirst all
Here, boyD and slave brings water. 1t is the
same X one wishes to smoke, sleep or risea signal
s is U1n Or spah
move its cause-viz., savery-woud be equal to a
regeneration Of the Orient It may not be possible
tzing society In the Orient. But even that would
be preferable to the present condition OF things
1t has been attempted to Justify this slavery by
comparing the mild treatment of slaves with the
miseries OF their wild homes, and 1t Is true that
there-contrary to European ways of looking upon
slaves as domestic animals-they are objects OF
luxury. Only a small fraction OF the annual ex-
port is employed in Egypt or in the Nuban prov
fnccs for agricultural purposes. Though deprviDg
the negro Of all rights the European forces
him TO be useful member. OF society; the
Oriental grants him certain privileges, sucn as tes
tifyfng in Court &C., but keeps him In deness.
here omit speaking Of the abuses which boy and
nothing Of concubinage, the inseparable accom-
raniment OF Mohammedan slavery. The robbing
1t of young females has been the main cause in de-
popuiating entire countries. say this from my own
observation In the country OF Oar Fertt. But what
should most enlist our sympathy Is the terrible
hardships to which those poor slaves subjected
on their Journeys through the wids OF the country,
and the epidemics which decimate them. The more
heather blood we draw from Africa, say the Arabs
and Turks the less these barbarians VIII multiply
and kill OF each other.
Tue GREAT CONTINENT OF AFRICA
should by all means be made to rank among the
civilized world; and In order to do that slavery
must first be abolished And IT, In order to do that
Turks Arabs and other lethargic nations must dis
appear from the face OF the globe, let them 60 ana