We were now passing an open slave market. The merchant was chaining his girls on the broad, tiered, cement display shelves.

One girl lay on her stomach, on her elbows, her head down.... another girl, a blonde, sat on her shelf with her knees drawn up, her ankles crossed, her arms about her knees; ....another girl, a long-haired brunet, on all fours, faced me, with glazed eyes.... several girls, standing, awaited their chaining...more than one of them shaded her eyes against the morning sun; it would be a long day for most of them, chained in the sun, on the hard, granular surfaces of the hot cement shelves.

The women were chained nude, of course, for that is the way that slave girls are commonly displayed for their sale, particularly in low markets, and, indeed, even in a private sale from one of the purple booths in the courtyard of a rich slaver there will come a time when the slave, even an exquisite, high slave, must put aside her silks and be examined raw, as though she were a common girl. "