The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-02
SLAVE TRADE IN FULL TIDE.
THOUSANDS OF VICTIMS SENT
FROM PORTUGUESE AFRICA
70 Work In the Cocoa Fields OF San Thome
ant Principe Islands-Held on Alleged
Five Year Contradictions Is Allowed
to R~eturn-@lBO for Grown Slaves.

LONDON, Maroh 2A-henry w. NeVlnSon
writes as follows concerning the slave trade
In Portuguese Africa:
Just a year ago | was starting for my walk
of 800 miles across the Cuanza River and
through the Hungry Country Of Angola,
the Portuguese territory in Central Africa.
south OF the Congo State. / had already
come up from the West Coast by q round
about route to the district Of Bihe, and there
I Joined the path which has for centuries
been one of the chief trade roads into the
interior. 1t is merely a track, in most
places so narrow that you have to walk
like a native, putting one foot exactly
in front of the other, but it leads in almost
q direct line from the sea near Benguela
across the thirsty mountain belt, through
the pleasant valley Of Bailundu, over the
wet plateau of Bouro-B ouru Soross the
Cuanza, full Of hippos, through the Hungry
Country, and the high watershed where the
tributaries of the Congo and the Zambesi
flow down on either side, across the soaking
Imvali fats, past Livingston's Lake Dilolo,
through Nanakandundu, the home Of the
great Queen, into Congo territory, to the
copper range of Katanga, and 30 to the
lakes and away to the eastern sea. And
this little track, which turns and twists
TO avoid every tree stump and tuft Of grass.
has from time immemoria been one Of the
= great slave routes of the world.
It is so still. A | entered the Hungry
Country ! found slave shackles hanging on
Amos every bush, They are the wooden
letters with which the hands or feet OF the
slave are tied at night. or with which slaves
are linked together on the march. On
reaching the CuanZa the shackles are often
knocked Oft, because the slaves begin to de-
spair Of escape with hat long stretch Of
hungry Country behind them; but | have
found shackles on the path from end to end,
even right down to the coast, and the other
day | had n letter from an EnRlishman |
knew west Of the Cuanza, saying: Since you
left the traffic has sed and Is more
cpen. The ala YES are now going to the
coast tied up, or rather tied together, In a
continuous line The path through the
Hungry Country is strewn with bones and
skulls. and | found there the fresh bodies
If slaves, some murdered. some left to
starve, because through fever or fatigue
they had been unable to keep up with the
party on the march, and in going through
the Hungry Country no one waits.
In most cases the slaves are originally
obtained by natives, who buy them on some
charge OF witchcraft, or for debt, or for
drink. Sometimes they are kidnapped, or
captured in raids. Sometimes they are
mere plumber Of Portuguese traders. They
are brought to the so called Emigration
agents. who are established at various
points in the country under Portuguese
regulations, and are forwarded by them to
the coast, where they are received by other
agents. chiefly at Benguela, but also at
Novo Redondo and Loanda. The prices
naturally vary according to the slaves
health and capacity. l have known a
woman who was taken from her husband
and three children far in the interior. bought
for twenty cartridges and sold in Benguela
for about Els. In the district OF Bih&,
which Is some 400 miles from the coast.
an OK, q load of rubber (say go pounds)
and a young slave are regarded as about
equal yalue-say e.. But in Benguela, as
nearly as I could estimate, the average
price given for emigration aves is E16,
though | have known a man give as much
as E25 there for a really nice looking girl.
She, however, was not required for emf
grafton.
Large numbers Of the slaves are kept
to work the plantations on the mainland
or other industries along the shore. But
| wish now to speak only Of the export
trade to the Portuguese islands OF San
home and Principe in the Gulf OF Guinea.
The slaves are conveyed on the ordinary
passenger steamers, which run abou once
a fortnight. A day or two before the
stoamer starts they are collected in a pub
lie building before a Portuguese official
called thu Curador. They are asked
whether they are willing TO labor on the
islands for five years. Not the slightest
attention is paid to their answer. A tin
disk with a number and a tin cylinder
containing a paper with particu Jars az to
their names. &c, are hung round their
recks, and having entered the office az
slaves, they go out az contracted laborers.'
Inns is the process which the Portu-
lue~e call redemption 1t il a most
lucrative process for all concerned, ex-
cept, Of course, for the slaves, who are only
the merchandise.
They are next taken on board in lighters
and herded forward. There were 272 on the
ship by which | came last June, not counting
Iabies, which perhaps numbered fifty. The
average during the last few years has been a
lt'le under 1000 a year, but it is now rising,
owing to the perpetual demand OF the
planters for more and more abor, After
about a weeks journey the slaves are
I1''lti Oh IDdl OIHt-OhdluHB OI lit
Island Of He'll, as they call it-and they are
distributed among the planters who have
r"quisitioned the Emigration Committee
for them. The planters pay from e26 to
$50 for a grown slave delivered in good
condition.
1t is almost entirely for the cultivation Of
cocoa that the slaves are required: for the
two Islands, being close under the equator
and nearly always yelled in mist and drip
ring with moisture, are as good for cocoa
rs they are deadly for human life, and the
cocoa trade is now Of great and increasing
value. / believe it amounts to about s1 900, 900
a year. And the value of the slaves liz con-
sequently so great that / think their masters
try in most cases to keep them alive. Yet,
as our Consul, Mr.. Nightingale, said in his
last published report, the death rate, where
We can check it, is Among the
slaves Of Principe one in five dies every
wear, and where l have been able to test
the rate on San Thome, it is almost equally
high.
At the end OF the five years the survivors
are called up in patches Of about fifty before