y had been sitting since the morning, exposed to the
fierce rays of the sun, their brutal owners having given them no food,
or even a cup of water to quench their thirst. So worn out were
several, that even when told to get up, they, as if not understanding
the order, stared in stolid apathy. Had they exhibited the same
obstinacy on the mainland, they would, in all probability, have been
knocked on the head, and left to die on the roadside. Perhaps the most
melancholy sight was the group of little children, all infantine life
and animation crushed out of them. There they silently sat, without
attempting to move, till ordered by their owners to rise. Poor little
creatures! long ago they had been torn from their parents, and those
parents probably murdered, or, if captured, disposed of to some other
slave-dealers, while the persons around were in most instances utter
strangers, perhaps from distant parts of the country, and unable to
understand their language. They had been brought in legal traders under
the sanction of the Sultan, and were intended either for domestic
service, or to labour in the various plantations on the island.

Murray was glad to quit the scene, but it was important that he should
have seen it. He was satisfied that his midshipmen should have done so
likewise, that they might the better understand the horrors and
abominations of the slave-trade.

"Faith, I'll never complain of any hard work we may have to go through,
provided we can catch more of those slavers," exclaimed Desmond; "it
would be a glorious thing to put a stop to the traffic altogether."

"We'll do our best, Desmond," said the commander; "though it may take us
long before we can teach the Arabs that it is more profitable to them to
deal in the produce of the country than in their black-skinned
fellow-creatures."

Every seaport town abroad has its general store, kept by some noted
individual, at which articles of every possible description, from a
chain cable to a paper of needles, can be purchased, at more or less
exorbitant prices; where masters and mates of merchantmen, and ofttimes
their crews, as well as traders of high and low degree, congregate to
discuss their business affairs, and to renovate the inner man with
beverages more or less potent. Zanzibar, albeit not one of the most
civilised cities, boasted such an establishment, kept by a personage
yclept French Charlie. Although he possessed a Gallic appellation, he
h