village while its occupants are still'sleeping, they fire
the grass huts in all directions, and pour volleys of
musketry through the flaming thatch. Panic-stricken,
the unfortunate victims rush from their Burning dwellings,
and the men are shot down like pheasants in a
battue, while the women and children, bewildered in
the danger and confusion, are kidnapped and secured.
The herds of cattle, still within their kraal or “ zareeba,”
are easily disposed of, and are driven off with great
rejoicing, as the prize of victory. The women and
children are then fastened together, the former secured
in an instrument called a shdba, made of a forked pole,
the neck of the prisoner fitting into the fork, secured
by a cross piece lashed behind, while the wrists,
.brought together in advance of the body, are tied
to the pole. The children are then fastened by their
necks with a rope attached to the women, and thus
form a living chain, in which order they are marched
to the head-quarters in company with the captured
herds.
This is the commencement of business : should there
be ivory in any of the huts not destroyed by.the fire,
it is appropriated; a general'plunder takes place. The
trader’s party dig up the floors of the huts to search
for iron hoes, which are generally thus concealed, as
the greatest treasure of the negroes; the granaries are
overturned and wantonly destroyed, and the hands are
«cut off the bodies of the slain, the more easily to detach
thè copper or iron bracelets that are usually worn.
With this booty the traders'return to their negro ally:
they have thrashed and discomfited his enemy, which
delights him; they present him with thirty or forty
head of cattle, which,intoxicates him with joy, and a
present of a pretty little* captive' girl of’ about fourteen
completes his happine.ss-..................
But business only commenced. The negro covets
cattle, and the trader has now captured perhaps 2,000
head. They are to be had for ivory, and shortly the
tusks appear. Ivory is daily brought into camp in
exchange for cattle, a tusk for a cow, according to
size—a profitable business, as the cows have cost
nothing. The trade proves brisk ; but still there remain
some little customs to be observed—some slight
formalities, well understood by the White Nile trade.
The slaves and two-thirds of the captured cattle belong
to the trader, but his men claim as their perquisite
one-third of the stolen animals. These having been
divided, the slaves are put up to public auction among
the men, who purchase such as they require ; the
amount being entered on the papers (serki) of the
purchasers, to be reckoned against their wages. To
avoid the exposure, should the document fall into the