SLAVER HUNTING.
Shortly after the duel at Rio I went to England, but to be again
immediately appointed to a vessel on the Brazilian station.
It was at the time when philanthropists of Europe were crying aloud for
the abolition of the African slave trade, never taking for a moment into
consideration the fact that the state of the savage African black
population was infinitely bettered by their being conveyed out of the
misery and barbarism of their own country, introduced to civilization,
given opportunities of embracing religion, and taught that to kill and
eat each other was not to be considered as the principal pastime among
human beings.
At the period I allude to (from 1841 to 1845) the slave trade was
carried out on a large scale between the coast of Africa and South
America; and a most lucrative trade it was, if the poor devils of
negroes could be safely conveyed alive from one coast to the other. I
say if, because the risk of capture was so great that the poor wretches,
men, women, and children, were packed like herrings in the holds of the
fast little sailing vessels employed, and to such a fearful extent was
this packing carried on that, even if the vessels were not captured,
more than half the number of blacks embarked died from suffocation or
disease before arriving at their destination, yet that half was
sufficient to pay handsomely those engaged in the trade.
On this point I propose giving examples and proofs hereafter, merely
remarking, _en passant_, that had the negroes been brought over in
vessels that were not liable to be chased and captured, the owners of
such vessels would naturally, considering the great value of their
cargo, have taken precautions against overcrowding and disease. Now, let
us inquire as to the origin of these poor wretched Africans becoming
slaves, and of their being sold to the white man. It was, briefly
speaking, in this wise. On a war taking place between two tribes in
Africa, a thing of daily occurrence, naturally many prisoners were made
on both sides. Of these prisoners those who were not tender enough to be
made into ragoût were taken down to the sea-coast and sold to the
slave-dealers, who had wooden barracks established ready for their
reception.
Into these barracks, men, women, and children, most of whom were kept in
irons to prevent escape, were bundled like cattle, there to await
embarkation on board the vessels that would convey them across the sea.
Now, as the coast was closely watched on the African side, to prevent
the embarkation of slaves, as it was on the Brazilian side, to prevent
their being landed, the poor wretches were frequently waiting for weeks
on the seashore undergoing every species of torment.
At last the vessel to carry off a portion of them arrived, when they
were rushed on board and thrown into the hold regardless of sex, like
bags of sand, and the slaver started on her voyage for the Brazils.
Perhaps while on her way she was chased by an English cruiser, in which
case, so it has often been known to happen, a part of the living cargo
would be thrown overboard, trusting that the horror of leaving human
beings to be drowned would compel the officers of the English cruiser to
slacken their speed while picking the poor wretches up, and thus give
the slaver a better chance of escape. (This I have seen done myself,
fortunately unavailingly.)
I will now ask the reader to bring his thoughts back to the coast of
Brazil, where a good look-out was being kept for such vessels as I have
mentioned as leaving the African coast with live cargo on board bound
for the Brazilian waters. Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, was the
headquarters of the principal slave-owners. It was there that all
arrangements were made regarding the traffic in slaves, the despatch of
the vessels in which they were to be conveyed, the points on which they
were to land, &c., and it was at Rio that the slave-vessels made their
rendezvous before and after their voyages. It was there also that the
spies on whose information we acted were to be found, and double-faced
scoundrels they were, often giving information which caused the capture
of a small vessel with few slaves on board, while the larger vessel,
with twice the number, was landing her cargo unmolested.
As for myself, I was at the time of life when enterprise was necessary
for my existence, and so keenly did I join in the slave-hunting mania
that I found it dangerous to land in the town of Rio for fear of
assassination.
My captain, seeing how enthusiastic I was in the cause, which promised
prize-money if not renown, encouraged me by placing me in a position
that, as a humble midshipman, I was scarcely entitled to, gave me his
confidence, and thus made me still more zealous to do something, if only
to show my gratitude.
Having picked up all the information possible as regarded the movements
of the slave vessels, we started on a cruise, our minds set particularly
on the capture of a celebrated craft called the 'Lightning,' a vessel
renowned for her great success as a slave ship, whose captain declared
(this made our mission still more exciting) that he would show fight,
especially if attacked by English men-of-war boats when away from the
protection of their ships.
I must mention that it was the custom of the cruisers on the coast of
Brazil to send their boats on detached service, they (the boats) going
in one direction while the vessels they belonged to went in another,
only communicating every two or three days. Proud indeed for me was the
moment when, arriving near to the spot on the coast where the
'Lightning' was daily expected with her live cargo, I left my ship in
command of three boats, viz., a ten-oared cutter and two four-oared
whale boats. I had with me in all nineteen men, well armed and prepared,
as I imagined, for every emergency. The night we left our ship we
anchored late under the shelter of a small island, and all hands being
tired from a long row in a hot sun, I let my men go to sleep during the
short tropical darkness. As soon as the day was breaking all hands were
alert, and we saw with delight a beautiful rakish-looking brig, crammed
with slaves, close to the island behind which we had taken shelter,
steering for a creek on the mainland a short distance from us. I ought
to mention that the island in question was within four miles of this
creek. We immediately prepared for action, and while serving out to each
man his store of cartridges, I found to my horror that the percussion
tubes and caps for the boat's gun, the muskets and pistols, had been
left on board the ship. What was to be done? no use swearing at anybody.
However, we pulled boldly out from under the shelter of the island,
thinking to intimidate the slaver into heaving to. In this we were
grievously mistaken.
The vessel with her men standing ready at their guns seemed to put on a
defiant air as she sailed majestically past us, and although we managed
with lucifer matches to fire the boat's gun once or twice, she treated
us with sublime contempt and went on her way into the creek, at the rate
of six or seven miles an hour. Though difficult to attack the vessel in
the day time without firearms, I determined if possible not to lose
altogether this splendid brig. I waited therefore till after sunset,
and then pulled silently into the creek with muffled oars. There was our
friend securely lashed to the rocks. We dashed on board with drawn
cutlasses, anticipating an obstinate resistance. We got possession of
the deck in no time, but on looking round for someone to fight with, saw
nothing but a small black boy who, having been roused up from a sort of
dog-kennel in which he had been sleeping, first looked astonished and
then burst out laughing, pointing as he did so to the shore. Yes, the
shore to which the slaver brig was lashed was the spot where seven
hundred slaves (or nearly that number, for we found three or four
half-dead negroes in the hold) and the crew had all gone, and left us
lamenting our bad luck. However, I took possession of the vessel as she
lay, and though threatened day and night by the natives, who kept up a
constant fire from the neighbouring heights and seemed preparing to
board us, maintained our hold upon the craft until the happy arrival of
my ship, which, with a few rounds of grape, soon cleared the
neighbourhood of our assailants. I may mention that, in the event of our
having been boarded, we had prepared a warm reception for our enemies in
the shape of buckets of boiling oil mixed with lime, which would have
been poured on their devoted heads while in the act of climbing up the
side. As they kept, however, at a respectful distance, our remedy was
not tried. The vessel, a splendid brig of 400 tons, was then pulled off
her rocky bed, and I was sent in charge of her to Rio de Janeiro. And
now comes the strangest part of my adventures on this occasion.
On the early morning after I had parted company with my commanding
officer, before the dawn, I ran accidentally right into a schooner
loaded with slaves, also coming from Africa, bound to the same place as
had been the brig, my prize.
Without the slightest hesitation, before the shock and surprise caused
by the collision had given time for reflection or resistance, I took
possession of this vessel, put the crew in irons, and hoisted English
colours. There were 460 Africans on board, and what a sight it was!
The schooner had been eighty-five days at sea. They were short of water
and provisions; three distinct diseases--namely, small-pox, ophthalmia,
and diarrhoea in its worst form--had broken out while coming across among
the poor doomed wretches.
On opening the hold we saw a mass of arms, legs, and bodies all crushed
together. Many of the bodies to whom these limbs belonged were dead or
dying. In fact, when we had made some sort of clearance among them we
found in that fearful hold eleven dead bodies lying among the living
freight. Water! water! was the cry. Many of them as soon as free jumped
into the sea, partly from the delirious state they were in, partly
because they had been told that, if taken by the English, they would be
tortured and eaten. The latter I fancy they were accustomed to, but the
former they had a wholesome dread of.
Can Mrs. Beecher Stowe beat this? It is, I can assure my readers, a very
mild description of what I saw on board the first cargo of slaves I made
the acquaintance of, and by which I was so deeply impressed, that I have
ever since been sceptical of the benefits conferred upon the African
race by our blockade--at all events, of the means employed to abolish
slavery.
The strangest thing amid this 'confusion of horrors' was that children
were constantly being born. In fact, just after I got on board, an
unfortunate creature was delivered of a child close to where I was
standing, and jumped into the sea, baby and all, immediately afterwards.
She was saved with much difficulty; the more so, as she seemed to
particularly object to being rescued from what nearly proved a watery
grave.
After this unusual stroke of good luck, sending a prize crew on board
my new capture, and allowing the slaver's crew to escape in the
schooner's boat, as I considered these lawless ruffians an impediment to
my movements, I proceeded on my voyage, and arrived safely in Rio
harbour with my two prizes.
There I handed my live cargo over to the English authorities, who had a
special large and roomy vessel lying in the harbour for the reception of
the now free niggers.
It would be as well perhaps to state what became of the freed blacks.
First of all they were cleaned, clothed (after a fashion), and fed; then
they were sent to an English colony, such for example as Demerara, where
they had to serve seven years as apprentices (something, I must admit,
very like slavery), after which they were free for ever and all. I fear
they generally used their freedom in a way that made them a public
nuisance wherever they were. However, they were free, and that satisfied
the philanthropists.