THE GUINEA VOYAGE AND THE SAILOR
It has been asserted that the English slave trade was a desirable
employment and a nursery for seamen. What follows should supply ample
information upon which to base a judgment on that question. The slaving
crews were principally collected through the agency of public houses
under the influence and in the pay of the merchants. There was always
plenty of good liquor to be had and painted girls enough to go round.
The main idea was to get the sailor into debt to the house and there
were plenty of opportunities for the unthinking man. Sometimes it was
the landlady who made it necessary for the seaman to make a will in her
favor, but usually it was the crimp who persuaded the drunken man to
sign articles the very night when he cunningly had boasted that he would
cheat the merchant out of a night’s entertainment. When a man signed
articles he was given a note for his advance money, not payable until he
was safely at sea and the crew list was brought back by the pilot. In
order to pay off debts, buy some clothes and a little more liquor, a man
must make a will and sign a power of attorney, and there is where the
landlady came in.
Until a vessel got clear of the Channel and there was little probability
that contrary winds or bad weather might drive her back into an English
port, the seamen were well used and the allowance of provisions was
sufficient. But as soon as they were fairly out at sea and there was no
chance for desertion, the provision ration was shortened and the
allowance of water was cut very nearly to the limit. There was the
chance that bad weather might force the ship to bear away for Lisbon,
but with the Bay of Biscay safely astern it was common to flog the men
upon the slightest pretext. Of course there were captains and captains.
Some were more humane than others. But the slave trade as conducted
showed little humanity to the blacks from Africa, and it was but a step
to treat with equal indifference the rights of the white slaves
kidnapped in the slums of Liverpool and Bristol.
The allowance of water during the first part of the passage was usually
three pints per day; this amount, however, was reduced as the African
coast drew near, to one quart, wine measure. In a hot climate, with much
calm weather and a blazing sun, this pittance soon disappeared. Many a
man could not restrain his thirst and drinking up his entire allowance
the moment it was served, the rest of the day and night, was nothing
other than a living hell for him. One seaman relates[27] that he hit
upon the experiment of licking the heavy dew off the hen coops, early in
the morning, until his delicious secret was discovered and he no longer
had a monopoly of this form of refreshment.
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Footnote 27:
James F. Stanfield, _The Guinea Voyage_, Edinburgh, 1807.
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The short allowance of water was due in part to the natural cause of a
shortage on board, for the hold of every slaver was stowed as full as
possible with goods for trade and necessaries for sailors were but a
secondary consideration. The captains, however, never suffered from
thirst and besides plenty of beer and wine, had a large tea-kettle of
water every morning and another every evening. Stanfield was certain
there was no want of water in the cabin, for the third mate, who was his
friend, frequently gave him a little out of his own portion.
As for grog—it was only served on some special occasion and when on the
coast, as opportunity offered, this frequently led the men to barter
their clothes with the natives for brandy, so that sometimes men reduced
themselves almost to a state of nakedness in order to obtain a little
spirit. This condition shortly brought on pains in the head and body, a
fever, and in a few days, death, as the men must lie on deck at night
exposed to the heavy and unwholesome dews.
The temporary house, that was always built over the deck after reaching
the coast, supplied but an indifferent shelter from the weather and also
prevented a good circulation of air. The stench that came from the
crowded blacks was very offensive to the crew and the smoke from the
mangrove wood, which was burned aboard, inflamed their eyes and
sometimes brought on temporary blindness.
The construction of the temporary house over the deck was, in itself, a
severe test of physical endurance for the men, who were obliged to cut
the bambo and thatch by the riverside, oftentimes while standing in
muddy slime, up to the waist; pestered by snakes, worms and clouds of
mosquitoes; their feet frequently slipping from under them and the
ship’s officers allowing little rest until the disagreeable work was
completed, and afterwards, when the slaves began to come aboard, there
was the daily task of cleaning up the filth and blood from where the
blacks lay at night, an indescribably repulsive piece of work, offensive
to every sense and frequently reeking with contagion leading to disease
and death.
Nor were the seamen better off during the “middle passage,” after
sailing from the slave coast, a voyage usually lasting from six to eight
weeks, as they were obliged to sleep on deck, the slaves occupying all
space below; and this exposure to all weathers could not help but be
injurious to bodily health and frequently brought on fevers which proved
fatal. The only shelter from the wind and frequent rains would be an old
tarpaulin, full of holes, thrown over a boom.
On reaching the West Indies, as soon as the men could get ashore, they
would at once flock to the grog shops and proceed to get drunk; and
because they had been kept from grog and all liquors for so long a time,
their debauch would become more beastly and in such a climate their
debilitated constitutions soon gave way and death followed. Scurvy also
added its toll, brought on by a scanty diet of salted food and an
exposure to all weathers.
It was ghastly business, this sailing of British slave ships, and there
is plenty of evidence as to the cruel neglect of the seamen and the
devilish brutality of many of the slaving captains. Alexander
Falconbridge, a surgeon on several slavers, not only testified before
the Parliamentary Commission, but also wrote a small book on the
subject, from which the following account is taken.[28]
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Footnote 28:
Falconbridge, _An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa_,
London, 1788.
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“In one of these voyages, I was witness to the following instance of
cruel usage. Most of the sailors were treated with brutal severity; but
one in particular, a man advanced in years, experienced it in an
uncommon degree. Having made some complaint relative to his allowance of
water, and this being construed into an insult, one of the officers
seized him, and with the blows he bestowed upon him, beat out several of
his teeth. Not content with this, while the poor old man was yet
bleeding, one of the iron pump-bolts was fixed in his mouth, and kept
there by a piece of rope-yarn tied round his head. Being unable to spit
out the blood which flowed from the wound, the man was almost choked,
and obliged to swallow it. He was then tied to the rail of the
quarter-deck, having declared, upon being gagged, that he would jump
overboard and drown himself. About two hours after he was taken from the
quarter-deck rail, and fastened to the grating companion of the
steerage, under the half deck, where he remained all night with a
sentinel placed over him.
[Illustration:
METHOD OF STOWING SLAVES ON THE FRENCH BRIG “VIGILANTI” OF NANTES,
CAPTURED IN THE RIVER BONNY, APRIL 15, 1822
]
“A young man on board one of the ships, was frequently beaten in a very
severe manner, for very trifling faults. This was done sometimes with
what is termed _a cat_ (an instrument of correction which consists of a
handle or stem, made of a rope three inches and a half in circumference,
and about eighteen inches long, at one end of which are fastened nine
branches, or tails, composed of log line, with three or more knots upon
each branch) and sometimes he was beaten with a bamboo. Being one day
cruelly beaten with the latter, the poor lad, unable to endure the
severe usage, leaped out of one of the gun ports on the larboard side of
the cabin, into the river. He, however, providentially escaped being
devoured by the sharks, and was taken up by a canoe belonging to one of
the black traders then lying alongside the vessel. As soon as he was
brought on board, he was dragged to the quarter-deck, and his head
forced into a tub of water, which had been left there for the negro
women to wash their hands in. In this situation he was kept till he was
nearly suffocated; the person who held him, exclaiming, with the
malignity of a demon, ‘If you want drowning, I will drown you myself.’
Upon my inquiring of the young man, if he knew the danger to which he
exposed himself by jumping overboard, he replied, ‘that he expected to
be devoured by the sharks, but he preferred even that, to being treated
daily with so much cruelty.’
“Another seaman having been in some degree negligent, had a long chain
fixed round his neck, at the end of which was fastened a log of wood. In
this situation he performed his duty (from which he was not in the least
spared) for several weeks, till at length he was nearly exhausted by
fatigue; and after his release from the log, he was frequently beaten
for trivial faults. Once, in particular, when an accident happened,
through the carelessness of another seaman, he was tied up, although the
fault was not in the least imputable to him, along with the other
person, and they were both flogged till their backs were raw. Chian
pepper was then mixed in a bucket, with salt water, and with this the
harrowed parts of the backs of the unoffending seamen were washed, as an
addition to their torture.
“The same seaman having on another time accidentally broken a plate, a
fish-gig was thrown at him with great violence. The fish-gig is an
instrument used for striking fish, and consists of several strong barbed
points fixed on a pole, about six feet long, loaded at the end with
lead. The man escaped the threatening danger, by stooping his head, and
the missile weapon struck in the barricado. Knives and forks were at
other times thrown at him; and a large Newfoundland dog was frequently
set at him, which, thus encouraged, would not only tear his clothes, but
wound him. At length, after several severe floggings, and other ill
treatment, the poor fellow appeared to be totally insensible to beating
and careless of the event.
“I must here add, that whenever any of the crew were beaten, the
Newfoundland dog, just mentioned, from the encouragement he met with,
would generally leap upon them, tear their clothes, and bite them. He
was particularly inveterate against one of the seamen, who, from being
often knocked down, and severely beaten, appeared quite stupid and
incapable of doing his duty. In this state, he was taken on board
another ship and returned to England.
“In one of my voyages, a seaman came on board the ship I belonged to,
while on the coast, as a passenger to the West Indies. He was just
recovered from a fever and notwithstanding this he was very unmercifully
beaten during the passage, which, together with the feeble state he was
in at the time, rendered him nearly incapable of walking, and it was but
by stealth that any medical assistance could be given to him.
“A young man was likewise beaten and kicked almost daily, for trifling,
and even imaginary faults. The poor youth happening to have a very bad
toe, through a hurt, he was placed as a sentry over the sick slaves, a
station which required much walking. This, in addition to the pain it
occasioned, increased a fever he already had. Soon after he was
compelled, although so ill, to sit on the gratings, and being there
overcome with illness and fatigue, he chanced to fall asleep; which
being observed from the quarter-deck, he was soon awakened and with many
oaths upbraided for neglect of duty. He was then kicked from the
gratings, and so cruelly beaten, that it was with great difficulty he
crawled to one of the officers who was more humane, and complaining of
the cruel treatment he had just received, petitioned for a little
barley-water (which was kept for the sick slaves) to quench the
intolerable thirst he experienced.
“Another seaman was knocked down several times a day, for faults of no
deep dye. It being observed at one time, that the hen coops had not been
removed by the sailors who were then washing the deck, nor washed under,
which it was his duty to see done, one of the officers immediately
knocked him down, then seized and dragged him to the stern of the
vessel, where he threw him violently against the deck. By this
treatment, various parts of his body was much bruised, his face swelled,
and he had a bad eye for a fortnight. He was afterwards severely beaten
for a very trifling fault and kicked till he fell down. When he got on
shore in the West Indies, he carried his shirt, stained with the blood
which had flowed from his wounds, to one of the magistrates of the
island, and applied to him for redress; but the ship being consigned to
one of them, all the redress he could procure, was his discharge.
“Many other instances of similar severity might be produced; but the
foregoing will suffice, to give some idea of the treatment seamen are
liable to, and generally experience, in this employ; the consequence of
which usually is desertion or death.
“Of the former, I will give one instance. While a ship I belonged to lay
at Bonny, early one morning near a dozen of the crew deserted in one of
the long boats. They were driven to this desperate measure, as one of
them afterwards informed me, by the cruel treatment they had experienced
on board. Two of them, in particular, had been severely beaten and
flogged the preceding day. One of these having neglected to see that the
arms of the ship were kept fit for use, was tied up to the mizen
shrouds, and after being stripped, very severely flogged on the back;
his trowsers were then pulled down, and the flogging was repeated. The
other seaman, who was esteemed a careful, cleanly, sober fellow, had
been punished little less severely, though it did not appear that he had
been guilty at that time of any fault.
“It is customary for most of the captains of the slave ships to go on
shore every evening to do business with the black traders. Upon these
occasions many of them get intoxicated and when they return on board,
give proofs of their inebriation by beating and ill using some or other
of the crew. This was the present case; the seaman here spoken of, was
beaten, without any reason being assigned, with a knotted bamboo, for a
considerable time; by which he was very much bruised, and being before
in an ill state of health, suffered considerably.
“Irritated by the ill usage which all of them, in their turn, had
experienced, they resolved to attempt an escape, and effected it early
in the morning. The person on the watch discovered, that the net-work on
the main deck had been cut, and that one of the longboats was gone; and,
upon farther examination it was found, that near a dozen of the seamen
were missing. A few hours after, the captain went in the cutter in
pursuit of the deserters, but without success.
“On my return to England, I received from one of them, the following
account of their adventures during this undertaking.
“When they left the vessel, they proposed going to Old Calabar, being
determined to perish, rather than return to the ship. All the provisions
they took with them was, a bag containing about half a hundred weight of
bread, half a small cheese, and a cask of water of about 38 gallons.
They made a sail of a hammock, and erected one of the boat’s oars for a
mast. Thus slenderly provided, they dropped down the river of Bonny, and
kept along the coast; but mistaking one river for another, they were
seized by the natives, who stripped them, and marched them across the
country, for a considerable distance, to the place to which they
themselves intended going. During the march, several were taken ill, and
some of them died. Those who survived, were sold to an English ship
which lay there. Every one of these deserters, except three, died on the
coast, or during their passage to the West Indies; and one of the
remaining three died soon after his arrival there. So that only two out
of the whole number, lived to arrive in England, and those in a very
infirm state of health.
“While I am upon the subject of the desertions among the sailors, I must
add, that the captains in this trade generally take out with them
tobacco and slops, which they sell at an exorbitant price to the
sailors. And in case of their desertion or decease, they have it in
their power to charge to the seamens’ accounts, whatever quantity they
please, without contradiction. This proves an additional reason for
cruel usage. In case of desertion, the sailors forfeit their wages, by
which the expenses of the voyage are lessened, and consequently the
merchants reap benefits from it.”
Another surgeon, on board a Bristol slaver, the brig _Little Pearl_,
testified before the Parliamentary Commission concerning the barbarities
wantonly inflicted upon the helpless sailors, giving the following
account of the treatment of a black Portuguese sailor who had shipped at
Bristol as cook of the vessel.
“This unhappy man was the common butt on which the captain and mates
daily exercised their cruelty. The former, indeed, appeared to enjoy a
particular pleasure in flogging and tormenting him. Among other
instances of wanton and unnecessary barbarity, he often amused himself
with making the man swallow cockroaches alive, on pain of being most
severely flogged, and having beef brine rubbed into his wounds. This
last severe and humiliating alternative the man sometimes preferred to
the swallowing the nauseous vermin, and when this was the case, he was
under the necessity of applying poultices to the wounds afterwards given
him to prevent a mortification. For the greater part of our stay upon
the coast, this man was fastened by the neck to the copper (or caboose)
with a chain of such a length as to permit him to draw water at the
ship’s side. In this situation he remained upon deck night and day,
exposed to the weather, and was compelled to dress victuals not only for
the crew, but for all the slaves, without any assistance whatever. The
body of this poor wretch, from the crown of his head to the soles of his
feet, was covered with scars and lacerations, intersecting each other in
all directions, so that he was a most miserable object to behold.
“On the second day after their arrival in St. Vincent’s, the mate
ordered the men aloft to hand the sails, which had been loosed to dry.
This they positively refused to do, till they received some refreshment.
They had been in a starving condition for about three days, though, as
they observed, there was plenty of provisions on board; and if there had
not, a supply might have been easily gotten from the merchants to whom
the vessel was consigned. The captain hearing of this behaviour of the
seamen, carried the whole crew before a magistrate, who advised them to
return to their duty on board, adding, that he was sure the captain
would take care that they should have a plentiful supply of provisions.
This advice they instantly complied with, and accompanied the captain on
board; where they had no sooner come, than he ordered them aloft to hand
the sails. This they refused to do, with the same firmness as before,
saying that they could not work without victuals. In consequence of this
the captain went on shore, and returned with warrants and a constable,
whom he ordered to apprehend three of the best men.
“In company with the captain he carried them on shore, and committed
them to gaol. The remainder of the crew, during the captain’s absence,
hailed a vessel which lay at no great distance, and begged them to send
a boat. With this request the crew of the ship, who probably had heard
of what had passed on board the _Little Pearl_, immediately complied;
and in this boat the discontented seamen rowed on shore, forfeiting
their wages, and leaving part of their clothes behind; nor has he ever
heard what became of them since.
“The cooper, who was a very hard-working man, and advanced in years,
having shortly after this received his half-pay with the rest of the
officers, went on shore to buy some necessaries, and returned on board
in the evening, rather overcome with liquor. He was immediately seized
by the captain and mate, both of whom beat him so very unmercifully,
that he lay almost in a state of insensibility on the bare deck for
twelve or fourteen hours. The next morning he found several large
contusions on his head, one of his eyes was entirely closed and
violently inflamed, his mouth was much cut and swelled, and he had lost
a quantity of blood, which he saw upon the deck.
“After this nothing material occurred till they were about to sail; when
the three men, who were imprisoned, were brought on board by the
captain. Finding that their wages had been expended by the captain in
paying the gaol fees, &c., two of them remonstrated with him on the
subject; on which he immediately knocked them down, kicked them, and
beat them most cruelly, and confined all the three in the men’s room.
The boatswain, enraged at this piece of injustice, and being a little in
liquor, could not help speaking of it in terms which the latter so much
disliked, that he treated him worse, if possible, than the two seamen;
he was dragged in a state of insensibility to the fore grating, and was
thrown down headlong into the room where the three seamen were confined,
and where they all remained till the vessel got out to sea. They were
then released, and performed their duty till they arrived in Bristol. He
has since been informed by the three seamen who were imprisoned, that
the balance of their wages for the whole voyage, when paid them in
England, did not exceed five shillings each.”
One other narrative of brutality and this chapter is ended. The
boatswain on the slaver in which Stanfield sailed,[29] was a hearty man
when they left the Guinea coast. Not long after he was seized with the
flux, but no remission of work was allowed him.
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Footnote 29:
James F. Stanfield, _The Guinea Voyage_, Edinburgh, 1807.
-----
“He grew so bad at last that the mucus, blood and whole strings of
intestines came from him without intermission. In this deplorable
condition, when he could hardly stand, he was forced to the wheel, to
steer the vessel, a task that under ordinary conditions might have
required two men had there been sailors enough for the purpose. The poor
man was placed on one of the mess tubs, not being able to stand and also
so that he might not dirty the deck and here he remained as long as he
was able to move his hands. He died that night and the body was thrown
overboard, as usual, without any covering but a shirt. It grew calm
during the night and continued so for the greater part of the next day
and in the morning the corpse of the boatswain lay floating alongside
and kept close to the ship for some hours,—a horrid spectacle that
seemed to give us the idea of the body of a victim calling out to Heaven
for vengence on our barbarity!
“As the crew fell off, a greater weight of labour pressed upon the few
survivors and towards the end of the middle passage all idea of keeping
the slaves in chains was given up; for there was not strength left among
the white men, to pull a single rope with effect. The slaves (at least a
number of them) were therefore freed from their irons, and _they_ pulled
and hauled as they were directed by the inefficient sailors. We were
fortunate in having favourable weather; a smart gale of wind, such as
with an able crew would not have given us more trouble than to reef our
sails, must have inevitably sent us to destruction.
“In this state of weakness but little attention could be paid to those
whose misery made them helpless and in want of aid. I remember that a
man who was sick, one night crawled out of his hammock and was so weak
that he was unable to get back and so laid himself down on the gratings.
There was no one to assist him and in the morning, when I came on deck,
he was still alive, but covered with blood, for the hogs had picked his
toes to the bone and his body was otherwise mangled by them in a manner
too shocking to relate.”