Travelogues and Other Memories

East African Slave Trade

  • A History of Slavery Part 1 Introduction and Slavery in Old Babylonia

    Introduction Conversations about slavery often focus on the Atlantic slave trade which shipped, in horrific and inhuman conditions, at least eleven million Africans from their homelands to the Americas. This focus on the “Middle Passage” is unsurprising given the trade’s… Continue reading

    A History of Slavery Part 1 Introduction and Slavery in Old Babylonia

  • Burton, Speke and Farhan

    In May 1854 Lieutenant Richard Francis Burton arrived in Aden having convinced the Royal Geographical Society to fund an expedition to explore Somaliland with the objective of discovering the upper reaches of the Nile. Burton was an officer in the… Continue reading

    Burton, Speke and Farhan

  • The Bombay Africans

    The Bombay Africans The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) tells us: “Originally forced into slavery in Africa, the group who came to be known as the ‘Bombay Africans’ were liberated by the British Royal Navy from Arab slaving boats and taken… Continue reading

    The Bombay Africans

  • The Fall and Rise of the Bontebok

    I was reminded this week of the remarkable story of the Bontebok, the first African antelope to be saved from extinction, dragged back from the precipice when there were just 17 left in South Africa. I feel very privileged to… Continue reading

    The Fall and Rise of the Bontebok

  • The Royal Navy & The East African Slave Trade – 1808 to 1853

    Introduction Between 1640 and 1807 approximately 12 million Africans were transported from the west coast of Africa to the Americas; around 3.4 million of those were transported on British Ships. In May 1787 the first meeting of the Society for… Continue reading

    The Royal Navy & The East African Slave Trade – 1808 to 1853