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*_----

AFRICA CONSIDERED
IN ITS

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITION

WITH

A PLAN
FOR THE

AMELIORATION OF ITS INHABITANTS,

BY A NATIVE OF DARFOUR,
CENTRAL AFRICA,

AND ORIGINALLY A. SLAVE.

--~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENTERED AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

PRICE THIREEPEIN cri.

 P. R. E. F. A. C. E.

I have always laboured under the idea that man

likes to hear the adventures of his fellow man, and,
actuated by that impulse, I will relate a brief account

of my history before laying down my plan for the

amelioration of my native country.

SELIM AGA.

London, May, 1853.

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AUTHOR,
"vºw-vºvvvvv^vvv^vvvv^^ -ºvºv-vvvvvy

SURROUNDED by some beautiful mountain scenery,

and situated between Darfur and Abyssinia, 2,000
miles in the interior of Africa, is a small valley going
by the name of Tegla. To that valley I stretch forth
my affections, giving it the endearing appellation of my
native home and fatherland. It was there that I was
born—it was there that I received the fond looks of a

loving mother—and it was there that I set my feet,

for the first time, upon a world full of cares, trials,
difficulties, and dangers.
My father being a farmer, I used to be sent out to
take care of his goats. This service I did when I was
between seven and eight years of age.
As I was the eldest of the boys, my pride was raised
to no small degree when I beheld my father preparing
a farm for me. This event filled my mind with the
grand anticipation of leaving the care of the goats to
my brother, who was then beginning to work a little.
While my father was making these preparations, I had
the constant charge of the goats, and being accompanied
by two other boys, who resided near my father's house,
we wandered many miles from home, by which means
 4

we acquired a knowledge of the different districts of

our country. It was while in these rambles with my
companions that I became the victim of the slaveholder.
While tending our goats between two hills, we espied
two men shaping their course towards us. They en
quired whether we had any goats for them (a question
quite common in my country). Our reply was, of
course, in the negative; but they merely used this craft
to deprive us of suspicion.
Myself being nearest to them, I was firmly secured
in their hands, and forced away, whether I would or not.
On showing symptoms of resistance, one of them pro
cured a green twig, and whipped me till the blood was
falling in drops from my legs. After proceeding some
miles, we came to a house, where I was tied with
ropes, hands and feet, and laid down to rest on the bare
ground.
Next morning, before dawn of day, my cruel master
took the ropes off my legs, and, pointing to me a certain
direction, desired me to walk, while he followed with a
large whip. Terrified out of my judgment, I saw that
there was nothing to be done but either do or suffer. I
of course chose the folmer. This was rather harsh
treatment for a child of about eight years of age. I was
driven like a pig into the village of Tegla, where my
inhuman master sold me to an Arab.
On entering the house of my new master, what was
my astonishment on seeing an old acquaintance there, a
 5

girl with whom I had an interview a few weeks pre

viously. This girl, whose name was Medina, ad
monished me on this occasion, telling me to do whatever
I was desired, assuring me that the white man would
not care for taking our lives—that the killing of us
would not cost him a thought. We were firmly secured
with iron chains on our feet, and were never permitted
to go far from the house. We could never fall upon
plans for effecting our escape, although we often tried
means for that purpose.
One night I managed to get the chains off my feet,
and would have escaped, had not the fear of being re
captured prevented me.
A short time after this a caravan, consisting of mer
chants and travellers, left the village of Tegla. With
this caravan our master joined, and after a day's journey
we came to a small village, where he was disappointed
in his object, viz., the disposing of us into another's
hands; therefore he had no other recourse but to return
to his own country.
Arriving at Tegla, we received the heartrending in
telligence that our friends had been in search of us,
and were frustrated, having heard that we were taken
to a distant land.
Another caravan was soon equipped for a further
distance. This was some four days’ journey from the
village of Tegla, to a large town called Kordofan,
which is under the jurisdiction of the Pacha of Egypt.
 6

The first night we pitched our tents at a well of water,

not having seen a single house on the whole of our
journey. The next day we continued our journey till
late at night, when we received the guidance of some
light from a distant village, where we arrived and re
posed ourselves. We stayed a few days at this place,
and shared the unfeigned hospitality of the people who
were uncommonly kind.
During our stay here, Medina and I were taken to
the camp of the Turks, not far from the village, where
we were put through different exercises. The first
thing we were desired to do was to show our tongues,
and then our teeth. The rest of our limbs underwent
a serious examination also.

The next morning our master joined the Turks, who

were returning to Kordofan, and by that means insured
our fate of never returning to our dear native country.
In two days we reached the point of our destination,
and there our master sold us to another Arab, with
whom we lived but two or three days. From an Arab
we fell into the hands of a Turk, one of the most cruel
men in existence. Being a captain in the Egyptian
army, his men suffered many harsh cruelties under him.
On one occasion a soldier having been brought to his
house for a small offence, he took the office of corporal,
and commanding four men to hold him down, beat the
poor man till the blood was running from his cheeks.
The keeper of his camels often suffered in a similar
 7

way. The duties of waiting at table, washing dishes,

making coffee, and waiting for orders were allotted to me
as my share of the work. To mention all the cruelties
I suffered at that time would be quite needless. My
master, who was a great monster of cruelty, punished
every small fault with great severity. At one time,
having been sent on an errand by his lady without his
permission, he met me on my return, and beat me about
the head till the blood was running out of my ears.
At another time, having made some coffee by his own
orders, I happened to make a few cups more than was
required. He said nothing at the time, but after I was
in bed and asleep, he got hold of a horse whip, and
coming upon me unawares, thrashed me till I was quite
speechless. -

From Kordofan I was brought down to Dongola and

Korti, in Nubia, and from thence down the Nile to
Cairo, and after having been sold and re-sold nine
times, I came into the hands of Mr. Thurburn, British
Commercial Consul in Egypt, with whom I came to
England about the middle of the year 1836.
The Consul left me under the care of his brother,
John Thurburn, Esq., of Murtle, Aberdeenshire, North
Britain, by whom I was sent to school, and under his
kind auspices I received a liberal English education,
travelled with him through many parts of the world,
and at last, wishing to establish commercial intercourse
between Great Britain and my native country, with the
 8

view of putting an end to the Slave Trade, I left him, in

1849, and came up to London to lay my plans before
the Government, but being a stranger I met with many
difficulties, and was obliged to take an engagement at
the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, where I lectured on the
Panorama of the Nile for nearly twelve months. On
the 14th of August, 1851, I wrote a letter to Her
Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and
received the following answer:—
“Mr. Addington presents his compliments to Selim
Aga, and wishes to see him on the subject of his letter
of the 14th instant to Lord Palmerston. If Selim
Aga can call at the Foreign Office on Thursday, the
28th instant, at 3 o'clock, or between 3 and 4 on the
afternoon of that day, Mr. Addington will be happy to
receive him.

“Foreign Office, 26th August, 1851.”

I waited on Her Majesty's Secretary, and explained
my views, but as the Government has been in a state
of disquietude, nothing has as yet been done.
Although frustrated in this my main object, I still
hope to be of some use to my countrymen, and there
fore content myself by saying as the late Mehemet Ali
said, “Allah cherib, God is merciful; He will in his
good time, and in his own way, open a thoroughfare by
which the African will walk to the heights of civiliza
tion, and arrive at that blessed elevation where he will
enjoy that social, that religious, and that rational liberty
 9 *

which is due to every nation, every society, and every

individual.” I have shed tears of joy and gratification
while thinking of the kindness of the inhabitants of
the United Kingdom towards my countrymen. No
person can say that those Africans who have conducted
themselves with propriety have not been cordially re
ceived by every Englishman, Irishman, or Scotchman.
In the British dominions the same protection is held
out to every individual, no matter about his colour or
clime; and the African, despised and degraded in other
countries, is looked upon by every British subject as
“a man and a brother.”
Permit me, then, to submit the following plan for the
amelioration of my countrymen for your perusal, being
fully persuaded that Africa possesses sufficient wealth
to repay any philanthropist who may be disposed to
assist its inhabitants to extricate themselves from the
lion grasp of ignorance.
Africa may be divided into three parts—the northern
division, chiefly inhabited by Arabs and Turks, the
centre by negroes, and the southern portion by Hot
tentots and Caffres. Nearly the whole of the country
is divided into petty principalities, the supreme power
being vested in the hands of a Prince or native Chief,
who possesses absolute power. For about three hun
dred years Africa has been depopulated of its inhabit
ants by a traffic in human beings, well known as the
Slave-trade, a system in itself degrading and illegiti
 10

mate. God created man, and gave him power over the
inferior animals; but man has delighted, and still de
lights to debase his fellow-man, and to bring him on a
level with the brute creation. Let those who still per
severe in carrying on this man-degrading traffic take
warning, lest at the coming Judgment they receive the
fearful reward which awaits them — the wrath and
curse of the Omnipotent.
The traffic in human flesh has kept the Africans in
ignorance, barbarity, and social degradation; and,
although Great Britain is doing a great deal to anni
hilate that horrid system, yet it will never be finally
stopped until the Africans are educated, and their habits
changed from their present warlike aspect to a quiet
and peaceful state.
As there is nothing impossible in the 19th century,
such a change could be effected in about twenty years.
The plan is simply this:—Establish a Railway across
the whole continent of Africa, from east to west, and
introduce Christianity in connection with commerce
into the country, and you will at once give the Africans
an opportunity of seeing what a nation can derive
through the influence of the Christian religion. A
Railway formed across Africa from Zeyla on the Straits
of Bab-el-Mandel to Old Calabar, on the Gulf of
Guinea, will secure the trade of China, the East Indian
Archipelago, India, Ceylon, and Arabia. It will save a
sea voyage of seven thousand miles round the Cape of
 11

Good Hope, and afford to the inhabitants of Africa an

opportunity of becoming acquainted with the customs
of civilised nations, and ultimately become through this
voluntary process a rational, an intelligent, and an
industrious community.
Imagine to yourself the pleasing prospect of seeing
the inhabitants of Galla, Abyssinia, Darfur, Bornou,
Houssa, and of the Eboe countries, crowding to their
respective Railway Stations to exchange the natural
products of Africa, such as cotton, indigo, palm oil,
ivory, and dyewoods, for Manchester prints and British
cutlery. -

As Central Africa may be considered the head

quarters of ignorance and superstition, an idea will
naturally suggest itself to the reader that the educating
of its inhabitants will be a key to the civilization of the
whole world.
This plan would even become beneficial to emigrants
going to Australia, for they could effect their transit in
six weeks instead of four months. The passage by
railway across the continent of Africa would only
occupy three and one-third days; the saving of two
months and a half fully repaying the emigrant for the
trouble of disembarking at the Gulf of Guinea, and
re-embarking on the Straits of Bab-en-Mandel, for
Sydney and Melbourne, through Torres Straits.
I need not mention anything relative to the political
benefit which the above scheme holds forth to certain
 12

countries; but the sequel is this pleasing consideration—

Africa will be civilized; Christianity will rise on the
ruins of Paganism; universal freedom will be exchanged
for absolute slavery; commerce and industry for indo
lence ; knowledge for ignorance; peace and unity, for
strife and war; and intelligence for bestial stupidity.
Thus the Africans will become so educated and refined,
and their minds so invigorated with truth, literature, and
science, that they will daily arise esteemed and admired
in the scale of nations, ultimately securing a position in
the world, and demanding that national respect which is
due to all mankind.

AFRICAN AMELIORATION SOCIETY,

ESTABLISHED FOR THE

CULTIVATION OF FEEE GROWN COTTON,

JUNTIE, 1853.

SUBSCRIPTIONS RECEIVED BY SELIM AGA,

11, BREWER STREET, GOLDEN SQUARE, LONDON,
OR AT THE

PANORAMA OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

I JY 53
º-wrºvvvaviv-v-ºxº~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ºv/vav-z-z-z-zºvº ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

John K. Chapman and Company, 5 Shoe-lane, and Peterborough-court, Fleet-street.

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