— 97 — by the Turkish Government, prohibiting the buying and selling of slaves in the Sudan ; but a trade that formed the basis of an official's pay, and alone enabled him in a desolate and barbarous country to obtain some of the comforts and luxuries of his far away native land, was not likely to become extinct without the intervention of a strong and a fearless ruler. In the year 1858 the Khedive visited the Sudan, and proclaimed the abolition of the slave trade, and from that time onwards the dealing in human chattels was officially prohibited. But, whatever might be the attitude that the employees of the Turkish Government assumed publicly, no real effort of any sort was taken to abolish this abominable traffic ; so much so that when Sir Samuel Baker went to Kodok in 1869 he found the Governor absent on a slave collecting expedition, his plea being that this was the form that the taxes took. The extent of this nefarious trade may be realised in some degree from the writing of the travellers who visited the Sudan in those days.

According to Gessi, " The Bahr el Ghazal with Rohl, Monbutto, Macraca, and Hofret el Nahas furnish at least 80, 000 slaves (i) a year". In these districts there were more than 20,000 Arabs engaged in the trade, and in Deim Suliman Gessi found bills for 90' 000 thalers payable to different (l) Slatin Pasha says this is a gross exaggeration.