IN THE YEARS 1838 AND 1839. 343 arrived at Lobeid. The distribution, described in the former chapter, now took place, and this is, properly speaking, the chief cause of the harsh and merciless behaviour of the soldiery towards the slaves ; for they know, that they will be compelled to receive them in liquidation of their arrears of pay, at a value far above the price they will obtain from the slave-merchants ; that the slaves, moreover, frequently die before they can dispose of them, in which case the loss falls upon them, and they must serve the government for months gratuitously. Hence they do all in their power to rid themselves of the old and infirm slaves before they reach Lobeid, in order to avoid the inconvenience of being forced to take one of these men in lieu of their pay. If the payment of the troops in the Belled-Soodan were effected in cash, as it is in the other provinces, I am convinced that the unfortunate slaves would meet with more humane treatment. But thanks to the noble Queen Victoria of England, whose eye of compassion has penetrated into these distant realms, and cheered the hearts of the dejected and oppressed inhabitants,—at whose earnest representations, in fine, these slave-hunts have been put an end to by Mehemed Ali himself, thousands of these poor negroes, who from year to year trembled under the fear of a similar fate, may now live in peace and tranquillity ; and the prayers of the emancipated, offered up to the throne of the Almightly for this truly great monarch can-