The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-01-17
A TRAIL OF SKELETONS.
The African Slave Trade and the
New Crusade.

inc african slave trace and the
New Crusade.
One Of the greatest sensations of the wear
has been the crusade which Cardinal Layig-
erie, the Catholic primate of Africa, has been
preaching against the slave trade of Africa
his burning words. depicting horrors un-
dreamed OF, have directed attention anew to
that Dark Continent where Stanley and
Emin are now struggling Cardinal Lavig-
cries descriptions of the slave trade are ter
rible but interesting reading.
Know them" said he in widely publish.
cd address, that forever half a century. and
whilst our gaze was fixed on other countries,
= recommendation was invading, slowly and
silently, with indefatigable perseverance, one
nan Oh Africa, In certain regions, those
nearest tG us, it founded empires; the rest
Wee secured for fomenting slavery. May
God preserve me from accusing without COM
pulsion, any man, and especially any people
live. besides, in the midst of Moslems. If
they do not look upon me as their father. |
ought, In my capacity as pastor. to look up
on them as my children. But [ cannot re-
sist saying today that of the errors so fatal
70 Africa the saddest is that which teaches
with Islam, that humanity is made up of two
distinct races-one that of believers, des
tined to command; the other, that of the
cursed, as they styled them, destined to serve.
NOW, IN the latter they consider the negroes
70 constitute the lower grade, namely. that
on par with cattle. The negro in their es-
timation, Is, as Leo XIII. forcibly saws. a
beast destined for the yoke. Having reached
" tnelr conquests the heart of continent
peopieu py negroes. the Moslems have there
ioie oetaken themselves to the work which
y JUSTIFIED by their doctrines. By degrees
Save trading bands formed by them have ad-
Vanced into the interior, coming from Nor
occo, from the country of the TOurega. from
Tunis, toward Timbuctoo and the countries
which surround the Niger; from Egypt and
Z 1 toward the region OF the lakes, and
even beyond the upper Congo, and almost to
the frontiers OF the British possessions and
OF the Cape Colonies. Everywhere tbey
prosecute the same imIious hunts which
Iced their commerce Sometimes the ravish-
ers concealing themselves along the paths in
the forests and In the grain fields, violently
carry OF the negro woman and children who
may, pass by unattended. Things have
reached such a pass in the vicinity of the
grest lakes that now u quote the words of
ny mlsslonarles) every woman, every child
tnal strays ten minutes away from their
village has no certainty of ever returning to
IT. The impunity is absolute. No negro
eniei OF the small independent tribes, among |
power OF depressing this violence. While |
the slave-trading bands, composed of Arabs |
and half-castes, and even of coast nagrnes.
70 armed 70 the teeth. the savage populations |
OF the highlands of Africa have no other |
weapons than stones, clubs, and, at the best,
darts and spears. They are, therefore, in
capable OF coping with robbers who attack
them and OF saving themselves. But it is
not only Isolated persons they attack. They
organize their expeditions as if they were
going 70 war, sometimes alone; sometimes,
through the refinement of vilany, allied with |
nelghoorlng tribes, to whom they offer a
snare OF the plllage, and who, on the morrow |
become the victims in their turn. Thus they |
Iall at night on defenceless villages, setting |
IRE 70 the straw huts ana firing upon every |
one they meet. The inhabitants try to es- |
cape, seeking safety In the woods, in the |
heart OF lmpenetrable thickets, In the dry |
beds OF rivers, in the tall grass of the valleys
Iney are pursued, The aged, the men who /
oner resistance, all that cannot be sold in |
the markets Of the interior, are killed the |
women and children are seized. |
But have already described these hor- |
Iors. am tired Of trying to find new cpl |
tnets Tor them. Listen to this sad descrip-
ton oil the caravans which carry off the
slaves. All that are captured-men, women
market In the interior. Then commences
Tor them a series of unspeakabe miseries.
The slaves are on foot. The men who APP
pear the strongest, and whose escape is to be
ieared, have their hands tied land sometimes
thelr feet In such fashion that walking
becomes torture to them; and On their
necks are placed yokes, which attach several
Of them together. They march all day; at
n,ght. when they stop, to rest, a few handfuls
Oh raw 'sorgh0" are distributed among the
captives. This is all their food. Next morn
ing they must start again. But after the
nrst day or two the fatigue, the suffering,
and the privations have weakened a great
many. The women and the aged are the
hal Than in orda 20 Ill
into this mass of human beings, their con-
ductors, armed with wooden bar to econo-
mise powder, approach those who appear to
De the most exhausted and deal them terrible
blow on the nape OF the neck. The unfor-
lLnete victims utter cry and fall to the
ground in the commissions Of death. The
serrined troop Immediately resumes its march
Terror has lmbued even the weakest with a
new strength. Each time soue one breaks
down the same horrible scene is repeated.
Atnight, on arriving at their halting place.
alter the first days of such life. not less
frghttul scene awaits them. The traffickers
IN nulnan nesh nave acquired by experience
endure. A glance shows them those who
will soon sink from WEAKNESS then, to econ
omise the scanty food which they distribute.
they pass behind their victims and fell tnenl
with single blow. Their corpses remain
where they fall or they are suspended on the
branches Of the neighboring trees and II is
close TO them that their companions are
obliged to eat and sleep. But what sleep it
may easily be imagined. Among the young
negroes snatched by us from this hell and
restored TO liberty there are some who, long
afterwards, wake up every night shriekiDg
iearfully. They behold again, In their
dreams, the abominable and bloody scenes
which they have witnessed. In this manner
the weary tramp continues-sometmes for
months, when the caravan comes from
distance. Their number diminishes daily.
II goaded by their cruel sufferings some at
lemOt TO escape TO rebel or escape their
nerce masters cut them down with their
swords, and leave them as they lay along the
ROAD, attached TO one another by their y0kes.
therefore II has been truly said that If
Iayeier lost the way leading from equatorial
Altiea 70 the towns where slaves are sold he
ceuid easily md IL again by the skeletons of
the negroes with which it Is strewed. Ora
elous heavens! Ii this state Of things con-
unues Africa cannot remain; these horrors
are ihcoinpatble with the existence Of Africa
anu tnat county Will be ABSOLUTELY and ir-
Ie0eemably lost. Let me draw your atten-
uon 70 the meaning of these words. Africa
Is divided really into three zones-the low
aanus along the seaboard of the Mediterran-
1Aa d, sne Atlantic and the Indian Oceans.
AqVanciDg towards the interior there is a
raised plateau Of about 1000 feet above the
sea, and above this first plateau there is an
immense table-land about 1000 feet high. 1t
70 tneIe that ran every year those abundant
rains which form the great lakes, and from
these lakes flow the vast rivers of the Nile.
the Congo, the Niger and the Zambesi. and
lhelr innumerable affiuents. The nature of
Tue SOL, the heat of the sun, and the abund-
ance OF water, all contribute 10 make this
country one Of the richest and most beautiful
"a the world-trnly an earthly paradise.
rue population also was, and in some
provinces still is, very numerous and happy
ana peaceable. 1t is this population which
Islam Is discriminating at this moment by
means OF her slave-hunters, and by virtue ~
ner doctrine that the blacks are an inferior
ana cursed race, whom they are at liberty
70 treat worse than we treat our animals /
say TO you, God made the white man, God
made the black man, but, the devil himself
made slavery"
Here the Cardinal gave examples as quoted
above, saying
here Is an example Of this cruelty, drawn
s ION the lowest steps of the social ladder, in
one case OF poor black. 1t is told by one of
our Fathers -
IN the rains Of Mazika," he writes, "the
neios Oh tile neghbOrng plain (of Tabora)
were turned into swamp. 1t was impossi-
Die 10 ugtfhnnf ofp In. fba