The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-05

So I was soon immersed in the tales which had inspired all the modern ex- ploration from the Lander Brothers to Henry M. Stanley. Though unfortunate ly their great labors seem ere long to be destined to bear only a fruitage of the bitterest disappointment, the early Portuguese were the leaders in an Afri- can discovery as they had been in American.
 Among other results of my studies. added to what I learned from converse ton and observation, was some insight into what had always been somewhat of a mystery to me. how the Africans were .caged in such immense numbers for shipment across the seas. Truly, in the case of these Portuguese. though the Mills of the Gods have ground slowly, they have ground exceeding hne." They sowed to the wind; they are reaping the whirlwind. One afternoon Colonel Wes- ton walked with me to what he said was a historic place, and one terribly sugges- tive to a Southern man. At that time it was the public market-place M the city. On a level stretch of land above the beach, surrounded by grim barracks, and approached by narrow toituous pas sages, was an open common of about two acres in extent, rectangular in shape and completely envIroned with low stone
 buildings. which presented the appear ance of cattle-pens opening upon this l common This space was dotted with occasional trees and shrubs, its surface
 being the sandy earth of the original | sea-beach, but scarcely any of 1t visible
 because of the numerous mats and cloths
 spread about over the ground These last | served as carpets for the thronginG
 mon was filled. For the place was the
 principal market assembly of the hum bier classes of the Portuguese and Afrt-
 cans. In pots and baskets. or spread
 on mats were the various articles offered for sale, principally fruits, such as
 lines, oranges. plantains. bananas | guavas, mangoes, and cocoanuts; oI
 vegetables. potatoes. maize. rice, sugar
 cane. peas, beans and pepper besides many trinkets, fetishes and special pro- ducts of native handicraft and ingenuity Clad in their loose flowing robes, with red turbans. and glittering metallic rings and bangles, the women squatted abou' and vociferated the cries of their trade
 while the whole gathering seemed sor' of pandemoniac Babel.
 The point about this place, however which made it an object of gruesome in
 terest was the fact that here was thu
 principal ancient slave-market Of An gola. The stone buildings around WnlCn ODGHeQ SNudASs DOOA
 the slave-pens; the common had beer
 the auction and exhibition ground; thu
 barracks had served for the guards; thu
 tortuous passages by which the enclos
 ure was reached had been designed t prevent or retard escape; and the entir
 premises were a marvel of ingenious con trivance to facilitate the once flourish ing traffic in human kind. What tragi scenes had this grim enclosure held 2 | ieafnl l and picaninnies ran about care free an happy. a generation before the groans O 3 continent had echoed.
 | It may be interesting here to gianc
 at the way in which those unhapp creatures, who once were packed int
 this stern old devils court were brough
 thither. Loanda is the official capita n of Portuguese colony of about tn
 size and population of California; but r was long the principal port and the slav
 market for all of Southwest Central Al g rica. a territory as large as the Missi'
 sippi valley Its trade extended over e thousand miles eastward into the into 4 rior. to the headquarters of the Zan a besi and Kongo Rivers. and tc the wes . ern shores of Tanganyika. Over thirt d different African tribes. numbering abo' , ten million people, inhabited this are = and contributed gold ivory. hides. ar men IO NHc NAN@ if describe later one of these interior kIni Q doms which I explored.
 l. The modus operandi of this tremendol ,s trafic can be understood only by refe n ence to several customs. obtaining f. a ages among the aboriginal Africal le themselves. These are chiefly the pra 'e tice of domestic slavery among ther r. selves. the prevalence and frequency IS inter-tribal wars, the slight value attac
 ed to human life, tho vanity and Jas