366 DICK SANDS, THE BOY CAPTAIN.
- Mr. Dick will bc killed, if he is not dead already.
Our only hopc is that wc may now all be bought in one lot ; it will bc a consolation to us if we can be all togethcr." Tears rose to Bat's cyes as he thought of how hîs poor old father was likely to be sold, and carrîed away to wear out his days as a common slave. The sale now commenccd. The agents of Alvez pro- ceedcd to divide thc slaves, men, women and children, înto lots, trcating them in no respect better than beasts in a catlle-market. Tom and the others were paradcd about from customer to customer, an agent accompanying them to proclaim the price demanded. Strong, intelligent- looking Americans, quîte différent to the misérable créatures brought from the banks of the Zambesi and Lualaba, they at once attracted the observation of the Arab and half- breed dealers. Just as though they were examining a horse, the buycrs fclt thcir limbs, tiirned them round and round, looked at their tccth, anJ finally tested their paces by throwing a stick to a distance and making them run to fetch it. Ali the slaves were subjected to sîmilar humiliations ; and all alike, except thc vcry young children, sccmed deeply sensible of their dégradation. The cruelty exhibited to- wards them was vcry vile. Coïmbra, who was half drunk, treated them with the utmost brutality ; not that they had any rcason to expect any gcntler dealings at the hands of the new mastcrs who might purchase them for ivoryor any othcr commodity. Children were torn away from their parents, husbands from thcir wives, brothers from sisters, and without cven the indulgence of a parting word, were separated nevcr to meet again. Thc scènes that occur at such markets as thîs at Kazonndé are too heartrcnding to bc described in détail. It is one of the peculiar rcquirements of the slave-trade that the two sexes should hâve an entirely différent desti- nation. In fact, the dealers who purchase men never purchase women. The women, who are required to supply the Mussulman harems, ^le ?»^w. ^xvcvcv^glly to Arab
