Fever Coast by Colin Falconer

Author:Colin Falconer [Falconer, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Skyview Publishing
Published: 2022-09-28T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 37

Slaving was an unsavoury business, Mohammed Daoud thought. After all he had done in his life, it surprised him that he still had the capacity to be sensitive to these things. He went over to the auctioneer and used his cane to point out one of the young girls. What had they done to her? She was all bones. She looked as if she had not eaten for a week. They were no good to anyone like that.

The heavy iron collar had formed a sore around her neck. Sometimes those things formed lifelong scars. If he bought her, he supposed he could hide the marks with a cheap necklace when he offloaded her.

He asked the trader to open her mouth and he peered inside to look at her teeth. She was fourteen or fifteen he would guess, and she had no scars on her face. He reconsidered. If he put some flesh on her bones she would fetch a nice price for one of the Egyptian or Arabian harems.

Another troop was led in and lined up against the wall in order of size. They were all males, so nothing for him there. He watched as one of the men was led to a post in the middle of the market and lashed to it, his arms above his head. The slaver started to whip him with the branch from a thorn tree, while some French traders looked on. It was customary practice, done to test their strength and endurance. Every time they cried out the price went down.

The French were new at this. They wanted slaves for the sugar fields they had recently planted in Mauritius. They were changing the trade and driving up prices. Once there were three female slaves to every male. Not anymore.

Mohammed had never imagined himself standing here like this. After he had made his bargain with Napoleon Gagnon, he thought he would take his money and leave Africa. His plan had been to build a house in Oman, where he could grow fat and lazy and watch his children grow. It hadn’t worked out that way. Money, he soon discovered, was an addiction like opium or sex. Once you had a little, you wanted more. Now he had money to invest in black gold, he realised he could make a lot more.

He agreed a price for the girl and signalled to his lascars to take her back to the dhow with the rest of his day’s purchases.

‘Feed them,’ he said to the captain. ‘There’s no profit in putting them over the side to feed the sharks before we even get to Oman.’

‘Yes, Sayeed,’ the man said and led the livestock back through the wrought iron gates to the beach.

Yes, he was a Sayeed now. He commanded respect wherever he went. A rich man.

Somehow he thought it would feel better than this.

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