Traite sans raids au Cameroun

J.-P. Warnier — Slave Trade without Raids in Western Cameroon. The highlands or Grassfields of Western Cameroon were a major catchment area of the Atlantic slave trade for nearly three centuries. Yet, contrary to what obtained in most catchment areas, they were densely populated at the end of the nineteenth century. Such a situation is accounted for by the fact that slaves were not procured by armed raids, but by sales from within the descent group, or by kidnapping by deception rather than violence. The article explores the implications of the case at hand as regards the controversial issues of the relationships between kingship, slavery, the slave trade and the demographie history of Africa..