reful and
minute examination, and the price varies from twenty to a hundred
dollars.

Young females are kept apart from the rest, as they are generally
selected as concubines, and as such they are subjected to a most
critical scrutiny; the shape of their hands and feet, and the form of
their mouth, nose, ears and teeth are all carefully noted. Black are
preferable to copper-coloured slaves, and the latter colour necessitates
a considerable reduction in price.

Young male slaves are sold at from thirty to sixty dollars each, and
these have generally to learn a trade. Purchasers ask all sorts of
searching questions as to whether they have good moral qualities, are
likely to run away, &c., &c. The salesman must produce a certificate
showing the tribe, a full descriptive return, and the legal authority
entitling to ownership.

During the early days of Mahdiism the slave trade received an enormous
impetus, more especially subsequent to the capture of Bahr el Ghazal and
the occupation of Darfur. After Gessi Pasha's victory over Zubeir
Pasha's son and the dispersion of the slave-dealers, several of the
latter fled into the interior, where pursuit was impossible; then
followed the era of liberty under the Mahdi's banner, the slave-dealers
emerged from their hiding-places, and, with quantities of slaves,
proceeded to Omdurman.

When at El Obeid I often saw as many as 500 of them marching along to
the sound of music. Slaves were dragged from Darfur, bound together
with leather thongs round their necks in batches of thirty. Abu Anga
brought thousands of them from the Nuba hills. The only districts
untouched hitherto were those in the vicinity of the White Nile, but
quite recently the garrisons of Fashoda, Regaf, and Lado have been
busily engaged in this human traffic; these blacks, however, who during
the intervals of peace had been gradually recovering their strength, now
determined to resist the Dervish authority, which was not very strong in
those far-distant districts. It would have been a great thing if the
Dervishes could have been turned out of Lado and Regaf. The Abyssinian
campaigns also brought quantities of slaves to Omdurman, but these are
little fitted for hard work, and are employed for the most part in
grinding corn, carrying water, and as concubines.

Slave-hunting, too, is not carried on in the same way as it used to be.
The Khalifa is too knowing to send large raiding expeditions for slaves
into the distan