The British Campaign in the Soudan. 145 scription given above of the modus operandi of the slave-hunters, it is evident that the number slain in the raids or left to starve after the destruction of all their subsistence must nearly equal those reduced to slavery; and of the latter, at least one third perished by the way, although none but the young and able-bodied were considered worth carrying away. In spite of this frightful mortality, not less than three hundred thousand slaves were annually brought down the Nile and across the deserts from Central Africa. Baker, Schweinfurth, and other African explorers bear witness to the devastation produced by this hellish brigandage which reduced to absolute deserts provinces as large as France and Germany, and that had formerly supported a numerous population. One of Ismail-Pasha’s strongest claims to the sympathy of the civilized world is the vigorous and earnest attempt he made to suppress this atrocious crime. He gave Gordon orders to annihilate it by the sternest exercise of military force, and invested him with unlimited powers for that purpose. The effort was only partly successful, for it is impossible to change in a few years the customs and traditions of centuries, although Gordon’s sub-governors were afraid to disregard his instructions, and many slave caravans were intercepted and confiscated for having ventured too near the Egyptian garrisons. This fact came to my personal knowledge at El Obeid, where I was detained several months by the effects of the deadly climate which shattered my health for ever and killed a number of my comrades and escort. That city was the residence of the governor of the province of Kordofan, and in peace times was garrisoned by some three thousand Soudanese troops. More