Black Ivory

R. M. Ballantyne (1825 - 1894)

Although the book's title Black Ivory denotes dealing in the slave trade it is not our heroes who are doing it. At the very first chapter there is a shipwreck, which leaves the son of the charterer of the sinking ship, and a seaman friend of his, alone on the east coast of Africa, where Arab and Portuguese slave traders were still carrying out their evil trade, despite the great efforts of patrolling British warships to limit it and free the unfortunates whom they found being carried away in the Arab dhows.

Our heroes encountered a slave trader almost at the very spot where they come ashore, and thereby managed to get to Zanzibar in a British warship that had captured the trader's dhow in which our friends had hitched a lift.

At Zanzibar they pick up some funds, and set forth on a journey into the interior. Here again they encounter the vile trade, but most of the story deals with other encounters of a more acceptable nature.

This book will open your eyes to what really went on. At the time of writing slave-dealing on the west coast of Africa was, due to the efforts of the British, almost extinct, but this was not the case on the east coast. (Summary courtesy of Nick Hodson, http://www.athelstane.co.uk)

Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Preface and Chapter 1 Tom Weiss
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Play 02 Chapter 2 Tom Weiss
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Play 03 Chapter 3 Tom Weiss
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Play 04 Chapter 4 Tom Weiss
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Play 05 Chapter 5 Tom Weiss
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Play 06 Chapter 6 Tom Weiss
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Play 07 Chapter 7 Tom Weiss
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Play 08 Chapter 8 Tom Weiss
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Play 09 Chapter 9 Tom Weiss
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Play 10 Chapter 10 Tom Weiss
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Play 11 Chapter 11 Tom Weiss
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Play 12 Chapter 12 Tom Weiss
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Play 13 Chapter 13 Tom Weiss
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Play 14 Chapter 14 Tom Weiss
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Play 15 Chapter 15 Tom Weiss
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Play 16 Chapter 16 Tom Weiss
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Play 17 Chapter 17 Tom Weiss
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Play 18 Chapter 18 Tom Weiss
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Play 19 Chapter 19 Tom Weiss
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Play 20 Chapter 20 Tom Weiss
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Play 21 Chapter 21 Tom Weiss
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Play 22 Chapter 22 Tom Weiss
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Play 23 Chapter 23 Tom Weiss
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Play 24 Chapter 24 Tom Weiss
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Play 25 Chapter 25 Tom Weiss
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