Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/374

346 DICK SANDS, TIIE BOY CAPTATX. CHAPTER IX. KAZONNDÉ. By the 26th of May, whcn the caravan rchchcd Kazonndc, the numbcr of the slaves had diminished by more than half, so numerous had bcen the casualtics along the road. But the dealers wcre quîte prcpared to make a markct of theîr loss ; the dcmand for slaves was very grcat, and the priée must be raiscd accord in f^jy. Angola at that timc was the scène of a large ncgro-traffic, and as the caravans principally wended their way towards the intcrior, the Portugucsc authoritics at Loanda and Bengucla had practically no powcr to prevent it. The barracks on the shorc wcre crowdcd to ovcrflowing with prisoncrs, the fcw slavc-ships that managcd to élude the cruisers being qiiite inadcciiiatc to cmbark the whole numbcr for the Spanîsh colonies to America. Kazonnde, the point whcnce the caravans diverge to the varions parts oftiic lakc district, is situatcd thrce miles from the mouth of the Coanza, and is one of the most important lakofiis, or markcts of the province. The open market- placc wlicre tlic slaves are exposcd for sale is called the c/iitoka, AU the larcrcr towns of Central Africa are divided înto two distinct parts ; one occupied by the Arab, Portuguese, or native merchants, and containing their slave-barracks ; the other being the résidence of the negro king, often a fierce drunken potentate, whose rule is a reign of tcrror, and who lives by subsidies allowed him by the traders. The commercial quartcr of Kazonndc now beîonged to