inhuman merchandize), the slaves are disposed of, as I have before
observed, by different methods. Sometimes the mode of disposal, is
that of selling them by what is termed a _scramble_; and a day
is soon fixed for that purpose. But previous thereto, the sick, or
refuse slaves, of which there are frequently many, are usually conveyed
on shore, and sold at a tavern by vendue, or public auction. These,
in general, are purchased by the Jews and surgeons, but chiefly the
former, upon speculation, at so low a price as five or six dollars a
head. I was informed by a mulatto woman, that she purchased a sick
slave at Grenada, upon speculation, for the small sum of one dollar,
as the poor wretch was apparently dying of the flux. It seldom happens
that any, who are carried ashore in the emaciated state to which they
are generally reduced by that disorder, long survive their landing. I
once saw sixteen conveyed on shore, and sold in the foregoing manner,
the whole of whom died before I left the island, which was within a
short time after. Sometimes the captains march their slaves through the
town at which they intend to dispose of them; and then place them in
rows where they are examined and purchased.
The mode of selling them by scramble having fallen under my observation
the oftenest, I shall be more particular in describing it. Being some
years ago, at one of the islands in the West-Indies, I was witness
to a sale by scramble, where about 250 negroes were sold. Upon this
occasion all the negroes scrambled for bear an equal price; which is
agreed upon between the captains and the purchasers before the sale
begins.
On a day appointed, the negroes were landed, and placed altogether
in a large yard, belonging to the merchants to whom the ship was
consigned. As soon as the hour agreed on arrived, the doors of the
yard were suddenly thrown open, and in rushed a considerable number
of purchasers, with all the ferocity of brutes. Some instantly
seized such of the negroes as they could conveniently lay hold of
with their hands. Others, being prepared with several handkerchiefs
tied together, encircled with these as many as they were able. While
others, by means of a rope, effected the same purpose. It is scarcely
possible to describe the confusion of which this mode of selling is
productive. It likewise causes much animosity among the purchasers,
who, not unfrequently upon these occasions, fall out and quarrel with
each other. The poor astonished negroes were so much terrified by these
proceedings, that several of them, through fear, climbed over the walls
of the court yard, and ran wild about the town; but were soon hunted
down and retaken.
While on a former voyage from Africa to Kingston in Jamaica, I saw a
sale there by scramble, on board a snow. The negroes were collected
together upon the main and quarter decks, and the ship was darkened
by sails suspended over them, in order to prevent the purchasers from
being able to see, so as to pick or chuse. The signal being given,
the buyers rushed in, as usual, to seize their prey; when the negroes
appeared to be extremely terrified, and near thirty of them jumped
into the sea. But they were all soon retaken, chiefly by boats from
other ships.
On board a ship, lying at Port Maria, in Jamaica, I saw another
scramble; in which, as usual, the poor negroes were greatly terrified.
The women, in particular, clang to each other in agonies scarcely to
be conceived, shrieking through excess of terror, at the savage manner
in which their brutal purchasers rushed upon, and seized them. Though
humanity, one should imagine, would dictate the captains to apprize the
poor negroes of the mode by which they were to be sold, and by that
means to guard them, in some degree, against the surprize and terror
which must attend it, I never knew that any notice of the scramble was
given to them. Nor have I any reason to think that it is done; or that
this mode of sale is less frequent at this time, than formerly.
Various are the deceptions made use of in the disposal of the sick
slaves; and many of these, such as must excite in every humane mind,
the liveliest sensations of horror. I have been well informed, that
a Liverpool captain boasted of his having cheated some Jews by the
following stratagem: A lot of slaves, afflicted with the flux, being
about to be landed for sale, he directed the surgeon to stop the anus
of each of them with oakum. Thus prepared, they were landed, and taken
to the accustomed place of sale; where, being unable to stand but
for a very short time, they are usually permitted to sit. The Jews,
when they examine them, oblige them to stand up, in order to see if
there be any discharge; and when they do not perceive this appearance,
they consider it as a symptom of recovery. In the present instance,
such an appearance being prevented, the bargain was struck, and they
were accordingly sold. But it was not long before a discovery ensued.
The excruciating pain which the prevention of a discharge of such
an acrimonious nature occasioned, not being to be borne by the poor
wretches, the temporary obstruction was removed, and the deluded
purchasers were speedily convinced of the imposition.
So grievously are the negroes sometimes afflicted with this troublesome
and painful disorder, that I have seen large numbers of them, after
being landed, obliged by the virulence of the complaint, to stop almost
every minute, as they passed on.
Treatment of the Sailors.
The evils attendant on this inhuman traffick, are not confined
to the purchased negroes. The sufferings of the seamen employed
in the slave-trade, from the unwholesomeness of the climate, the
inconveniences of the voyage, the brutal severity of the commanders,
and other causes, fall very little short, nor prove in proportion to
the numbers, less destructive to the sailors than negroes.
The sailors on board the Guinea ships, are not allowed always an equal
quantity of beef and pork with those belonging to other merchant ships.
In these articles they are frequently much stinted, particularly when
the negroes are on board; part of the stock laid in for the sailors,
being, as before observed, appropriated to their use.
With regard to their drink, they are generally denied grog, and are
seldom allowed any thing but water to quench their thirst. This urges
them, when opportunity offers, at Bonny and other places on the coast,
to barter their clothes with the natives, for English brandy, which
the Africans obtain, among other articles, in exchange for slaves; and
they frequently leave themselves nearly naked, in order to indulge an
excess in spiritous liquors. In this state, they are often found lying
on the deck, and in different parts of the ship, exposed to the heavy
dews which in those climates fall during the night; notwithstanding the
deck is usually washed every evening. This frequently causes pains in
the head and limbs, accompanied with a fever, which generally, in the
course of a few days, occasions their death.
The temporary house constructed on the deck, affords but an indifferent
shelter from the weather; yet the sailors are obliged to lodge under
it, as all the parts between decks are occupied by, or kept for, the
negroes. The cabin is frequently full, and when this is the case,
or the captain finds the heat and the stench intolerable, he quits
his cot, which is usually hung over the slaves, and sleeps in the
round-house, if there be one, as there is in many ships.
The foul air that arises from the negroes when they are much crowded,
is very noxious to the crew; and this is not a little increased by
the additional heat which the covering over the ship occasions. The
mangrove smoke is likewise, as before observed, productive of disorders
among them.
Nor are they better accommodated after they leave the Coast of Africa.
During the whole of the passage to the West-Indies, which in general
lasts seven weeks, or two months, they are obliged, for want of room
between decks, to keep upon deck. This exposure to the weather, is also
found very prejudicial to the health of the sailors, and frequently
occasions fevers, which generally prove fatal. The only resemblance
of a shelter, is a tarpawling thrown over the booms, which even
before they leave the coast, is generally so full of holes, as to
afford scarce any defence against the wind or the rain, of which a
considerable quantity usually falls during this passage.
Many other causes contribute to affect the health of the sailors. The
water at Bonny, which they are obliged to drink, is very unwholesome;
and, together with their scanty and bad diet, and the cruel usage they
receive from the officers, tends to impoverish the blood, and render
them extremely susceptible of putrid fevers and dysenteries.
The seamen, whose health happen to be impaired, are discharged, on
the arrival of the ships in the West-Indies, and as soon as they get
ashore, they have recourse to spiritous liquors, to which they are the
more prone, on account of having been denied grog, or even any liquor
but water, during their being aboard; the consequence of which is, a
certain and speedy destruction. Numbers likewise die in the West-India
islands, of the scurvy, brought on in consequence of poverty of diet,
and exposure to all weathers.
I am now come to a part of the sufferings of the sailors who are
employed in the slave-trade, of which, for the honour of human nature,
I would willingly decline giving an account; that is, the treatment
they receive from their officers, which makes no inconsiderable
addition to the hardships and ailments just mentioned, and contributes
not a little to rob the nation annually, of a considerable number of
this valuable body of men. However, as truth demands, and the occasion
requires it, I will relate some of the circumstances of this kind,
which fell under my own immediate observation, during the several
voyages I made in that line.
In one of these, 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
choaked, 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
centinel placed over him.
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 in length, at one of which are
fastened nine branches, or tails, composed of log line, with three or
more knots upon each branch), and sometimes he was beat 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 along-side 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 negroe 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 back of the unoffending seaman were washed,
as an addition to his torture.
The same seaman having at 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
cloths, 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 cloths, 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 centry 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 floging 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 long-boats 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 expences of the voyage are lessened, and consequently the
merchants reap benefit from it.
The relation just given of the barbarities exercised by the officers
in the slave trade, upon the seamen under their command, may appear to
those who are unacquainted with the method in which this iniquitous
branch of commerce is conducted, to be exaggerated. But I can assure
them, that every instance is confined within the strictest bounds of
truth. Many others may likewise be brought to prove, that those I
have recited are by no means singular. Indeed, the reverse of this
conduct would be esteemed a singularity. For the common practice of the
officers in the Guinea trade, I am sorry to say it, will, with a very
few exceptions, justify the assertion, that to harden the feelings, and
to inspire a _delight in giving torture_ to a fellow creature, is
the natural tendency of this unwarrantable traffick. It is but justice
however, that I except from this general censure, one captain with whom
I sailed. Upon all occasions I found him to be a humane and considerate
man, and ever ready to alleviate the evils attendant on the trade, as
far as they were to be lessened.
The annual diminution of British seamen by all the foregoing causes, is
what next claims attention, and upon due investigation will be found,
I fear, to be much more considerable than it is generally supposed to
be. As this is a question of great national importance, and cannot fail
to evince the necessity of an abolition of the slave trade; in order
to convey to the public some idea of the destructive tendency of it, I
will give an account of the statement of the loss of a ship, to which
I belonged, during one of her voyages. And though this statement may
not be considered as an average of the loss upon each voyage, which I
have before estimated, as I would not wish to exceed the mark, at one
fourth, and oftentimes one third. I have known instances where it has
been greatly exceeded, as I shall presently shew.
The crew of the ship I speak of, upon its departure from England,
consisted of forty-six persons, exclusive of the captain, chief
mate, and myself. Out of this number, we lost on the coast eleven by
desertion (of whom only two, and those in a very infirm state, ever
arrived in England) and five by death. Three perished in the middle
passage, of whom one was a passenger. In the West-Indies, two died,
one of which was a passenger from Bonny. Five were discharged at
their own request, having been cruelly treated, and five deserted,
exclusive of two who shipped themselves at Bonny; of these ten, several
were in a diseased state; and probably, like most of the seamen who
are discharged or desert from the Guinea ships in the islands, never
returned to their native country. One died in our passage from the
West-Indies to England; and one, having been rendered incapable of
duty, was sent on board another ship while we lay at Bonny.
Thus, out of the forty-six persons before-mentioned, only fifteen
returned home in the ship. And several, out of this small number,
so enervated in their constitution, as to be of little service in
future; they were, on the contrary, reduced to the mournful necessity
of becoming burthensome to themselves and to others. Of the ten that
deserted, or were discharged in the West-Indies, little account can
be taken; it being extremely improbable that one half, perhaps not a
third, ever returned to this country.