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Title: Slave ships and slaving
Author: George Francis Dow
Author of introduction, etc.: Ernest H. Pentecost
Release date: August 24, 2026 [eBook #79444]
Language: English
Original publication: Salem, Mass: Maine Research Society, 1927
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Transcriber’s Note:
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SLAVE SHIPS AND SLAVING
[Illustration:
BARTERING FOR SLAVES ON THE GUINEA COAST
From a colored lithograph in the Macpherson Collection
]
SLAVE SHIPS
AND
SLAVING
By
GEORGE FRANCIS DOW
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
CAPT. ERNEST H. PENTECOST, R.N.R.
[Illustration: colophon]
SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
MARINE RESEARCH SOCIETY
1927
PUBLICATION NUMBER FIFTEEN
OF THE
MARINE RESEARCH SOCIETY
COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY
THE MARINE RESEARCH SOCIETY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
E. L. HILDRETH & CO.
BRATTLEBORO, VT.
PREFACE
The infamous deeds of the pirates alone excepted, there is no blacker
page in the story of the sea than that which records the voyages of the
slave ships. Captivated in tribal wars and kidnapped in times of peace,
uncounted millions of negroes were closely stowed in the holds of all
kinds of sailing craft and carried to the West Indies and America to be
sold as slaves to work the sugar plantations. The cruelty and horror of
“the middle passage”—the voyage from the Guinea coast—can never be told
in all its gruesome details. It is enough to recall that the ships were
always trailed by man-eating sharks.
The slaving trade was also the grave of many of the seamen who engaged
in it, for the African coast reeked with fevers and other fearful
diseases and those who escaped the infection and ophthalmia of “the
middle passage,” on reaching the West Indies frequently opened their own
graves by unrestrained drinking of new rum. Many masters of slave ships
were cruel and overbearing by nature; the trade exacted its toll; and
cruelty inflicted upon slaves was easily transferred to equally helpless
seamen.
The ships of America and the principal maritime nations of Europe were
engaged in this trade for centuries and few voices were raised in
protest until after the revolutions in the American colonies and in
France, when a new conception of personal freedom began to gain ground.
Even after the traffic in human flesh was prohibited by law, for many
years, or until the market failed, slave ships surreptitiously collected
their cargoes and ran the blockade of naval vessels keeping guard on
eastern and western coasts.
This volume does not attempt to give a history of the African slave
trade; it would require many volumes to do justice to the subject. It
merely presents an account of the trade as conducted at different times
and by different nations and is a piece of narrative and description and
not a history of events. The Introduction has been written by Captain
Pentecost, a British officer in the Naval Reserve, now retired after a
long and varied service at sea, during which he gathered a knowledge of
slaving from the lips of those formerly engaged in the trade. He also
placed at our disposal certain printed and illustrative material which
has been utilized in the preparation of this volume. Thanks are also due
to Mr. A. G. H. Macpherson of London, England, from whose unrivaled
collection of pictures and engravings relating to ships and the sea most
of the plates in this volume have been reproduced.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
INTRODUCTION BY CAPT. ERNEST H. PENTECOST, R.N.R. xvii
I. THE GUINEA COAST 1
II. SIR JOHN HAWKINS, SLAVE TRADER 19
III. THE VOYAGE OF THE SHIP “HANNIBAL” OF LONDON, IN 1693 31
IV. THE SLAVING VOYAGE OF THE “ALBION-FRIGATE” OF LONDON 73
V. THE LIVERPOOL AND BRISTOL SLAVERS 89
VI. MUTINIES ABOARD SLAVE SHIPS IN THE EARLY DAYS 113
VII. THE SHIP DOCTOR’S NARRATIVE 133
VIII. THE GUINEA VOYAGE AND THE SAILOR 155
IX. THE BRIG “RUBY” OF BRISTOL, AFRICAN SLAVER 167
X. CAPTAIN CROW, THE LAST SLAVER OUT OF LIVERPOOL 181
XI. THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A SLAVE TRADER 189
XII. FACTORY LIFE ON THE GUINEA COAST 211
XIII. SLAVE SMUGGLING A HUNDRED YEARS AGO 237
XIV. SLAVING VOYAGES BY RHODE ISLAND VESSELS 255
XV. SOME AMERICAN SLAVE SHIPS 267
XVI. SIX MONTHS ON A SLAVER IN 1860 281
XVII. THE LAST VOYAGE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVER 319
INDEX 345
ILLUSTRATIONS
BARTERING FOR SLAVES ON THE GUINEA COAST _Frontispiece_
From a colored lithograph in the Macpherson
Collection.
CAPE COAST CASTLE, THE PRINCIPAL ENGLISH SETTLEMENT ON 2
THE GOLD COAST
From a colored aquatint by J. Hill, published in 1806,
in the Macpherson Collection.
THE GUINEA COAST ABOUT THE YEAR 1700 6
From the map in Churchill’s _Collection of Voyages_,
engraved by R. W. Seale.
CHRISTIANSBORG, THE DANISH SETTLEMENT ON THE GOLD COAST 10
From the engraving by J. Hill, published in 1806, in
the Macpherson Collection.
ELMINA, ON THE GOLD COAST, NEAR CAPE COAST CASTLE 16
From a colored aquatint, published about 1830, in the
Macpherson Collection.
MAP OF THE COAST OF AFRICA FROM SIERRA LEONE TO THE CAPE 20
OF GOOD HOPE
From an original by Arnoldus F. a Langren, engraved in
1599, in the Macpherson Collection.
DUTCH SHIPS TRADING ON THE GUINEA COAST. FROM DE BRY’S 26
“VOYAGES,” 1601
(A) Ship. (B) Negro merchants. (C) How goods are
passed from the canoes to the shore. (D) Where the
merchants have to pay a tax to the chief. (E) Canoe
being carried up the beach.
PROSPECT OF THE CUSTOM HOUSE, LONDON, IN 1714, WITH 32
SHIPPING OF THE PERIOD
From an engraving by John Harris, in the Macpherson
Collection.
NEGRO SLAVES FROM LOANGO, AFRICA 46
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an
Expedition to Surinam_, London, 1796.
THE DUTCH CASTLE CORMANTINE, NEAR ANAMABOE ON THE GOLD 54
COAST
From an engraving in Ogilby’s _Africa_, London, 1670.
(A) HAND-CUFFS FOR SLAVES. (B) LEG SHACKLES. (C-E) THUMB 66
SCREWS. (F-H) “SPECULUM ORIS,” TO OPEN CLOSED JAWS
From Clarkson’s _Abolition of the Slave Trade_,
London, 1808.
NEGROES BEING CARRIED OUT TO A SLAVE SHIP; AND CASTLE ON 74
THE GOLD COAST
From an engraving in Churchill’s _Collection of
Voyages_, London, 1756.
THE CEREMONY OF “CROSSING THE LINE” 86
From an engraving in Drake’s _Collection of Voyages_,
London, 1771.
VIEW OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, FROM THE FORT, IN 1798 92
From a colored aquatint by John T. Serres, in the
Macpherson Collection.
VIEW OF CLARENCE COVE, ISLAND OF FERNANDO PO 100
Colored aquatint, after a painting by W. J. Huggins,
in 1833, in the Macpherson Collection.
GEORGETOWN, DEMERARA, SHOWING THE BRITISH BARK “CAESAR” 108
ENTERING THE HARBOR, SEPTEMBER, 1839
From a colored aquatint, after a painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
GROUP OF NEGROES JUST LANDED TO BE SOLD FOR SLAVES 118
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an
Expedition to Surinam_, London, 1796.
SECTION SHOWING METHOD OF STOWING SLAVES, IN 1786, ON THE 126
SHIP “BROOKES” OF LIVERPOOL
From Clarkson’s _Abolition of the Slave Trade_,
London, 1808.
CARRYING SLAVES TO A PORTUGUESE SLAVE BRIG LYING IN BONNY 134
RIVER
From a drawing by T. F. Birch, made in January, 1837,
in the Macpherson Collection.
A VIEW OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 144
From a line engraving after a painting by T. Mellish,
published about 1750, by John Bowles, London, in the
Macpherson Collection.
THE VOYAGE OF THE SABLE VENUS, FROM ANGOLA TO THE WEST 152
INDIES
From a painting by T. Stothard, engraved for Edward’s
_History of the West Indies_, London, 1818.
METHOD OF STOWING SLAVES ON THE FRENCH BRIG “VIGILANTI” 158
OF NANTES
Captured in the River Bonny, April 15, 1822.
SECTION AND DECK PLAN OF THE FRENCH BRIG “VIGILANTI,” OF 168
NANTES, CAPTURED IN THE RIVER BONNY, APRIL 15, 1822
VIEW OF THE TOWN AND HARBOR OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND 182
From a colored aquatint by W. J. Bennett, engraved in
1811, in the Macpherson Collection.
VIEW OF THE CITY AND HARBOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO 192
From a colored lithograph published by Lemercier,
Paris, in the Macpherson Collection.
SLAVE HUNTERS ATTACKING A NEGRO TOWN 198
From a wood engraving in Canot’s _Twenty Years of an
African Slaver_.
BRANDING A NEGRESS AT THE RIO PONGO 204
From a wood engraving in Canot’s _Twenty Years of an
African Slaver_.
A DUTCH PLANTER IN SURINAM IN HIS MORNING DRESS 208
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an
Expedition to Surinam_, London, 1796.
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “HENNA,” OCT. 26, 1843, OFF MERCURY 212
ISLAND, S. W. COAST OF AFRICA, BY H.M. SCHOONER “ARIEL”
From a water color in the Macpherson Collection.
VIEW OF THE TOWN OF THE FOULAH TRIBE OF NEGROES 218
From an engraving by Basire in Astley’s _Collection of
Voyages_, London, 1745.
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “BORBOLETA,” MAY 26, 1845, BY THE 226
BOATS OF H.M. BRIG “PANTALOON,” AFTER A TWO DAYS’ CHASE
OFF LAGOS, WEST AFRICA
From a colored lithograph, after a drawing by H. John
Vernon, in the Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF THE SPANISH SLAVER “FORMIDABLE,” DEC. 7, 1834, 230
OFF SIERRA LEONE, BY H.M. BRIG “BUZZARD”
From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
FEMALE SAMBOE SLAVE GIVEN TWO HUNDRED LASHES 234
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an
Expedition to Surinam_, London, 1796.
VIEW OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 240
From a colored aquatint, published in 1841, after a
painting by William J. Bennett, in the Macpherson
Collection.
BRITISH PRIZE BRIGANTINE “NETUNA,” BEATING OFF THE 246
SPANISH SLAVER “CAROLINE,” MAR. 20, 1826, IN THE BIGHT
OF BENIN
The _Netuna_ carried 1 gun and 5 men; the _Caroline_,
10 guns and 90 men.
From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. Joy,
in the Macpherson Collection.
A SLAVER DRIVEN ASHORE ON THE BRAZILIAN COAST BY H.M. 250
BRIG “FROLIC”
From a colored lithograph by H. John Vernon, published
about 1840, in the Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF THE AMERICAN SLAVER “MARY ADELINE,” OFF THE 260
CONGO, IN 1852, BY H.M. BRIGANTINE “DOLPHIN”
From a colored lithograph by H. John Vernon, in the
Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF AMERICAN SLAVER “ORION,” NOV. 30, 1859, WITH 264
888 SLAVES, BY H.M. SLOOP-OF-WAR “PLUTO”
From a water color by J. Taylor (1876) in the
Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF AMERICAN SLAVE SHIP “MARTHA,” JUNE 6, 1850, 270
OFF AMBRIZ, BY U.S. BRIG “PERRY”
From a lithograph in Foote, _Africa and the American
Flag_, New York, 1854.
“NIGHTINGALE,” 1060 TONS, BUILT AT PORTSMOUTH, N. H., IN 276
1851
From a lithograph by N. Currier, after the drawing by
C. Parsons made in 1854.
CHASE OF THE SLAVER “GABRIEL,” JULY 6, 1841, BY H.M. BRIG 282
“ACORN”
From a colored lithograph, after a drawing by N. M.
Condy, in the Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF SPANISH SLAVER “DOLORES,” APR. 4, 1816, OFF 288
THE CONGO, BY H.M. BRIG “FERRET”
From a colored lithograph, after the painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
THE CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “BOLODORA” BY H.M. SCHOONER 296
“PICKLE,” JUNE 6, 1824
From the colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “EL ALMIRANTE,” FEB. 1, 1829, IN 304
THE BIGHT OF BENIN, BY H.M. BRIG “BLACK JOKE”
From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
THE SLAVER “L’ANTONIO,” WITH OTHER BLACK CRAFT, LYING IN 312
BONNY RIVER
From a colored lithograph published in London, in
1841, in the Macpherson Collection.
VIEW OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, FROM ABOVE THE MIDDLE 320
FERRY
From a colored aquatint, published in 1841, after a
painting by William J. Bennett, in the Macpherson
Collection.
A VIEW OF FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE 326
From a colored aquatint, published Sept. 14, 1837,
after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in the
Macpherson Collection.
CAPTURE OF THE SPANISH SLAVER “MIDAS,” JUNE 27, 1829, ON 332
THE GREAT BAHAMA BANK, BY H.M. SCHOONER “MONKEY”
From the colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J.
Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection.
THE HARBOR OF HAVANA, CUBA 338
From a drawing by J. W. Hill, made about 1850.
THE GUINEA COAST ABOUT THE YEAR 1860 342
From Black’s _Atlas of the World_, Edinburgh, 1867.
TO THE READER
Read this book and visions see
Of Afric land and tropic sea;
Of beaches wide where great waves roar,
Where sea birds scream and vultures soar;
Of lofty palms that bow and sigh
And cast their shade where slavers lie;
Of steaming forests and calm lagoons,
And swelt’ring blacks in barracoons;
Of brutal captains and negro kings,
And dusky belles in anklets and rings;
Of muddy rivers where black craft hide
Among the mangoes—at anchor ride;
Of brig and schooner, snow and ship,
Casting from shore with anchor atrip;
Filling away for the Western World
With cargoes below oft-times hurled
To feed the ravenous water brutes
Which ever cruise on the slavers’ routes;
Of idle ships on a sea asleep
Along the line where the latitudes meet;
Of a western land where “Cotton was King”
And the markets were busy when the slavers were in.
ERNEST H. PENTECOST.
INTRODUCTION
“Next to a pirate give me a slaver,” said the boy. A sky pilot in charge
of a bethel in a far eastern port, finding that prayers, sermons and
psalms were not sufficient to keep his sea-faring flock on the course he
wished them to steer, reinforced his efforts with moral stories, which
he read to them when the day drew towards those hours during which
“Himself” of the lower regions is said to be most active. Instead of his
reinforcement having the desired effect, he was grieved to see his
congregation soon reduced to a penniless few; the rest he had good
reason to fear were frequenting those haunts from which he had wrought
to keep them. The poor padre, at last realizing that he was losing
ground in his fight with evil, sought the advice of an ancient seafarer,
who, when he heard of the sort of stories the parson had read to his
brother seamen, said, “Parson, read ’em yarns about pirates, slavers and
highwaymen and you’ll soon have a full bethel.”
Although pirates, slavers and highwaymen were what in our childhood we
would have described as “naughty, wicked, bad men,” kindly Time having
clothed those lewd fellows with a mantle of romance they but ill
deserve, we now love to read of their destructive adventures.
There is no record of either pirates or highwaymen ever having been
regarded as persons following an honest calling; whereas, the slave
trade, until the early part of the nineteenth century, was a perfectly
legitimate business and those engaged therein were considered as
respectable as any other traders. Man, being by nature a slaver, it is
quite probable that in those far-away days when he carried a lanyard
fast to his stern, some unfortunate animal was forced to carry the end
of it for him, when he was making a passage.
The Spaniards, ten years after their discovery of the West India isles,
sent out negro slaves to do the hard work in their new possessions for
which the original inhabitants were found to be unfit. Although all the
maritime nations of Europe engaged in the western slave trade, the
English, according to some authorities, during the two and a half
centuries they were engaged in that traffic, took more than double the
number of negroes from the coast of Africa than all other nations
combined.
Life was ever cheap in teeming Africa, where the process of reproduction
was both rapid and continuous, and Nature exercised her “right of might”
without let or hindrance. The working of that unchangeable law, “eat and
be eaten,” was there apparent on every hand.
In the account of Capt. John Lok’s voyage to Guinea, in 1555, the
negroes are described as “a people of beastly living, without a God,
lawe, religion, or common wealth, and so scortched by the heat of the
sunne, that in many places they curse it when it riseth.”
In 1568, Capt. John Hawkins helped three negro kings take a town of
negroes, and the narrator, John Hartop, says: “We took and carried
thence for traffique to the West Indies five hundred negroes. The three
Kings drove seven thousand negroes into ye sea at low water, at the
point of the land, where they were all drowned in the ooze, for they
could not take their canoes to save themselves.”
Capt. William Snelgrave’s book, _A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea
and the Slave Trade_, published in 1734, contains interesting
information about negro life and death. The captain says: “I have in my
younger years traded to many places in this tract especially at Old
Callabar, where, in the year 1704, I saw a sad instance of barbarity.
The King of the place, called Jabrue, being fallen sick, he caused, by
the advice of his priests, a young child about ten months old, to be
sacrificed to his god, for his recovery. I saw the child after it was
killed, hung on the bough of a tree, with a live cock tied near it, as
an addition to the ceremony.”
In 1727, Captain Snelgrave, with other white men, visited the camp of
the King of Dahome a few weeks after that chief had conquered the people
of Whidaw. Soon after their arrival at the camp, a messenger came to
them, desiring them to go to the King’s gate. “Accordingly we went,”
says the captain, “and on our way saw two large stages on which were
heaped a great number of dead men’s heads, that afforded no pleasing
sight or smell. Our interpreter told us they were the heads of four
thousand of the Whidaws who had been sacrificed by the Dahomes to their
God.” The white men saw other gruesome sights including the sacrifice of
many men, women and children. Their interpreter told them that the “head
of the victim was for the King, the blood for the Fetiche, and the body
for the People.”
And so down through time the killing went on until the bloody shambles
found at Benin when the British took that place in 1897.
The number of Africans taken to the Americas and West Indies, during the
three and a half centuries of the slave traffic to those countries, was
probably small compared with the number violently done to death in
various ways in that steamy coastland of blood, lust and tomtoms. The
writer when a boy in a South African port, met an old man who had lived
with the Zulus for many years. When asked what the Zulus reckoned their
losses in men to have been at the battle of Isandhlwana, he replied,
“The Zulus don’t keep any account of their men, but are very careful to
do so of their cattle, which they, like many other African tribes, think
more valuable than their own kind.”
Captain Snelgrave, a slaver of great experience, offers a few words in
justification of the trade.
“As for the manner how those people became slaves, it may be reduced
under these several heads.
“1. It has been the custom among the negroes, time out of mind, and is
so to this day, for them to make slaves of all the captives taken in
war. Now, before they had an opportunity of selling them to white
people, they were often obliged to kill great multitudes, when they had
taken more than they could well employ in their own plantations, for
fear they should rebel and endanger their master’s safety.
“2. Most crimes among them are punished by mulcts and fines; and if the
offender has not wherewithal to pay his fine, he is sold for a slave.
This is the practice of the inland people, as well as of those on the
sea side.
“3. Debtors who refuse to pay their debts, or are insolvent, are
likewise liable to be made slaves; but their friends may redeem them.
And if they are not able and willing to do it, then they are generally
sold for the benefit of their creditors. But few of these come into the
hands of the Europeans, being kept by their countrymen for their own
use.
“4. I have been told, that it is common for some inland people to sell
their children for slaves, tho’ they are under no necessity for so
doing; which I am inclined to believe. But I never observed that the
people near the sea coast practise this, unless compelled thereto by
extream want and famine, as the people of Whidaw have lately been.
“Now, by these means it is that so many negroes become slaves, and more
especially by being taken captives in war. Of those the number is so
great, that I may safely affirm, without any exaggeration, that the
Europeans of all nations, that trade to the coast of Guinea, have in
some years, exported at least seventy thousand. And tho’ this may no
doubt be thought at first hearing, a prodigeous number; yet, when ’tis
considered how great the extent of this coast is, namely from Cape Verd
to Angola, which is about 4000 miles in length; and that polygamy is
allowed in general among them by which means the countrys are full of
people, I hope it will not be thought improbable that so many are yearly
exported from thence.
“Several objections have often been raised against the lawfulness of
this trade, which I shall not here undertake to refute. I shall only
observe in generall, that tho’ to traffic in human creatures, may at
first appear barbarous, inhuman and unnatural, yet, the traders herein
have as much to plead in their own excuse, as can be said of some other
branches of trade, namely, the advantage of it; and that not only in
regard of the merchants, but also of the slaves themselves, as will
appear from these following reasons.
“First, it is evident, that abundance of captives, taken in war, would
be inhumanely destroyed, was there not an opportunity of desposing of
them to the Europeans. So that at least many lives are saved, and great
numbers of usefull persons kept in being.
“Secondly, when they are carried to the plantations, they generally live
much better there, than they ever did in their own country; for as the
planters pay a great price for them,’tis their interest to take care of
them.
“Thirdly, the English plantations have been so much improved, that ’tis
almost incredible, what great advantages have accrued to the nation
thereby; especially to the Sugar Islands, which, lying in a climate near
as hot as the coast of Guinea, the negroes are fitter to cultivate the
lands there than white people.
“Then as to the criminals amongst the negroes; they are by this means
effectually transported, never to return again; a benefit we very much
want here.
“In a word, from this trade proceed benefits, far outweighing all,
either real or pretended mischiefs and inconveniences, and let the worst
that can be said of it, it will be found, like all other earthly
advantages, tempered with a mixture of good and evil.”
Judged by the ethics of today, however, the slave trade was wrong, and
cannot be defended even by the law of economics, of which it was the
result.
The philanthropic frenzy of the abolitionists, few of whom had ever seen
a slave ship with her cargo aboard, created, by their exaggerated
statements, a wrong impression of the conditions aboard such craft,
which usually were among the cleanest and best found merchantmen afloat.
The common conception of the treatment of slaves aboard slavers,
previous to the abolition of the slave trade, is very different from
what it really was. In reality the slaves were much better cared for
than free white emigrants and other poor passengers were until the
second decade of the nineteenth century. The reason for this difference
in favor of the slaves is not far to seek. As in the cattle trade, the
healthier the cargo, the greater the profit; whereas in the case of the
poor white passengers, who had to pay their passage money before
embarking, the sooner they died, the better for the shipowner.
In support of the above statements, the following is quoted from _Notes
on the West Indies_, by George Pinckard, M.D., London, 1806. Doctor
Pinckard’s work was written in 1795-1796 in the form of letters to a
friend.
“It will be quite within your recollection how long, and how I have
wished to visit the ships trading to Africa and to witness personally
the manner of treating those poor beings of sable skin, who are torn
from their native home by the iron hand of commerce, to be transported
to a home of slavery; and you will be pleased to learn that in this
wish, I have had an early opportunity of being gratified.
“A slave ship belonging to North America, and bound to Savannah in
Georgia, had arrived from the coast of Guinea just before we came into
harbour [Barbadoes] and was lying very near to us, with a cargo of
negroes on board. Fearing she might sail for America and being unwilling
to lose the first occasion that offered, of administering to a curiosity
which beat strong in our breasts, Master Cleghorn and myself took off a
boat, the morning after we came to anchor, and went to visit the Guinea
man. We considered ourselves fortunate in finding both master and mate
of the ship disposed to shew us every civility, and to indulge us in
ready reply to the questions which our curiosity suggested....
“The cargo consisted of a hundred and thirty slaves, of whom two-thirds
were males and one-third females. The two sexes were kept seperate by a
partition, or bulk-head, built from side to side, across the ship;
alloting the waist to the men and to the women, the quarterdeck. A great
majority of them were very young, being from ten to eighteen years of
age. We were pleased to observe that an air of cheerfullness and
contentment prevailed among them. In a few only we remarked despondency,
and dejection of countenance. Both sexes were without apparel, having
only a narrow band of blue cloth put around the waist, and brought to
fasten before, so as to serve the office of the fig-leaf worn by our
first parents in the fruitful garden of Eden.
“As we walked through the different groups of them, they fixed their
eyes upon us, with seeming curiosity, and some of the boys, like those
of fairer skin, were inclined to be playful and to exhibit youthful
tricks. One or two of the females, unchecked by the reserve of
education, occasionally glanced an expressive look or displayed a
significant gesture. Many of them had marks upon the skin, which
appeared to have been made by a cutting instrument. These, we learned,
were distinctive of the nation to which they had belonged. Some had
their teeth cut, or filed to sharp points, giving them a very hideous
and canine appearance. They looked well fed and healthy, although some
of them had an eruption, called the ‘Cra-Cra,’ upon the skin.
“Their sleeping berths were the naked boards. Divided into two crowded
parties they reposed, during the night, upon the bare planks below—the
males on the main deck—the females upon the deck of the aft cabin. In
the day time they were not allowed to remain in the place where they had
slept, but were kept mostly upon the open deck, where they were made to
exercise, and encouraged by the music of their loved banjor, to dancing
and cheerfulness. We saw them dance and heard them sing. In dancing they
scarcely moved their feet, but threw about their arms and twisted and
writhed their bodies into a multitude of disgusting and indecent
attitudes. Their song was a wild and savage yell, devoid of all softness
and harmony, and loudly chanted in harsh monotony.
“Their food is chiefly rice which they prepare by plain and simple
boiling. At the time of messing they squat around the bowl in large
bodies, upon their heels and haunches, like monkies, each putting his
paw into the platter to claw out with his fingers. We saw several of
them employed in beating the red husks off the rice, which was done by
pounding the grain in wooden mortars, with wooden pestles, sufficiently
long to allow them to stand upright while beating in mortars placed at
their feet. This appeared to be a labour of cheerfulness. They beat the
pestle in time to the song and seemed happy; yet nothing of industry
marked their toil, for the pounding was performed by indolently raising
the pestle and then leaving it fall by its own weight.
“I am most happy to conclude my report of this visit by informing you
that we discovered no marks of those horrors and cruelties said to be
practised on board the ships occupied in this sad traffic of human
flesh; and which are represented as so frightfully augmenting the
manifold ills of slavery. Chains, stripes, and severities did not seem
to have been in the catalogue of means employed in conveying these poor
Africans to their American masters. Our minds, necessarily, suffered in
contemplating the degrading practices of civilized beings towards the
less cultivated heathen of their species; but the eye was not shocked by
the abuses of tyranny and inhumanity. The comfort and health of the
slaves was promoted with every care.
“Being fond of washing in cold water, they were encouraged to the free
use of it; and their persons, as well as the whole ship, were kept
remarkably clean. They were plentifully fed; and, in the day time, were
dispersed about the ship so as to be prevented, as much as possible,
from assembling together in close, unwholesome crowds. Mirth and gaiety
were promoted among them; they were roused to bodily exercise and care
was used to divert their minds from dwelling upon their change of state
and loss of home: and I may truly say, that a more general air of
contentment reigned among them than could have been expected. While many
were dancing and singing and playing together, others were giving their
assistance in working the ship; and, we even learned that several of
them had made themselves highly usefull on the passage and were already
becoming expert sailors. They all seemed to regard the master of the
vessel more in affection than fear; and although strictly obedient, they
did not at all appear to be under the influence of terror. Crowded in
some degree, they, necessarily must be, particularly in the place where
they slept; but every attention was paid to prevent the injury which
might derive from it and to keep them in health.
“We went down below to see their place of repose where the hard planks
form one common bed and each individual employed his arm as his pillow.
The men could not stand between decks, without stooping, and when they
lay down the boards were so closely spread that it was scarcely possible
to set a foot between their naked bodies. They were always taken upon
deck early in the morning and the sleeping berth was thoroughly cleaned
and washed; but still it was highly offensive to European olfactories
and plainly indicated, that were it not for the great attention paid to
cleanliness and ventilation, disease must inevitably be generated. Their
nakedness is, perhaps, their best security; for although they had
neither bed-clothes nor personal covering, nor any kind of baggage, or
furniture in the place, we perceived that all the cleaning and airing
employed could not subdue the stench created by their sleeping together
in such crowded heaps. Although they are fond of washing, and seem to
have some sense of personal cleanliness, they have none of cleanliness
of place nor of common decency, for, notwithstanding the strictest
injunction against it, they cannot always be prevented from the filthy
habit of depositing their natural excretions upon the spot where they
sleep....
“The next day after our visit to the American slaveship, an opportunity
offered of seeing one of our own nation, a Liverpool Guinea-man, a ship
of much greater burden, fitted out expressly for the trade, with a
sufficient number of hands and of guns on board to protect her against
the enemy’s privateers and calculated for a cargo of five hundred
slaves. We were taught to believe that we should find the negroes much
better accommodated in this, than in the American ship; but we could not
observe that the superiority was either great or striking. Although the
vessel was larger, the number of slaves was more than proportionally
greater. In other respects the accommodations were nearly equal. The
Liverpool ship was kept remarkably clean; but the American was not less
so and, between the deck, the American ship was the most commodious,
being higher and having more room in proportion to the cargo, from which
the slaves had the advantage of being less close and confined during the
night.
“The difference in point of health is peculiarly striking between the
troops convoyed in transports from England and the slaves brought in
Guinea ships from Africa. Perhaps, from the present mode of conducting
slave ships, might be derived some useful hints for the management of
our transports. The slaves are much more crowded than the soldiers, yet
far more healthy. It becomes us, therefore, to ascertain the cause of
this and I much suspect that it will be found in the difference of
treatment and accommodation. According to the present method of
conducting them, I might venture it as an opinion that a Guinea ship
would carry—with less danger of disease being generated among them—a
cargo of slaves more than thrice as numerous as a transport would carry
of soldiers.”
Professor Edward Ashworth Ross says in his _The Old World in the New_:
“Were the Atlantic dried up today, one could trace the path between
Europe and America by the cinders from our steamers; in the old days it
would have revealed itself by human bones.”
The conditions of oversea passage then brought about a shocking
elimination of the weaker. The ships were small and crowded, the cabins
close, and the passage required from six to ten weeks. “Between decks,”
writes a colonist, “there can hardly a man fetch his breath by reason
there ariseth such a funk in the night that it causeth putrification of
the blood and breedeth disease much like the plague.”
William Penn urged in a circular, that those who came over should keep
as much upon deck as might be, “and to sprinkle vinegar about the
cabin.” The ship on which he came over lost a third of her passengers by
smallpox.
In 1639, the wife of the Governor wrote that the ship on which she came
out had been “so pestered with people and goods; so full of infection
that after a while they saw little but throwing people overboard.” One
vessel lost 130 out of 150 souls. One sixth part of three thousand
Germans sent over in 1710 perished during a voyage that lasted from
January to June. No better fared a shipload of Huguenot refugees in
1689,—a ship that left Rotterdam, with 150 Palatines and landed fewer
than fifty after a voyage of twenty-four weeks. In 1738, “malignant
fever and flux” left only 105 out of 400 Palatines. In 1775, a brig
reached New York having lost 100 Highlanders during the passage. It was
estimated that between the years 1750 and 1755, 2,000 corpses were
thrown overboard from ships plying out of Rotterdam. In 1756, Muhlenberg
thus describes the horrors of the passage. “During the voyage there is
aboard these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, vomiting, many kinds
of sickness, fever, dysentery, scurvy, mouth rot, and the like. All of
which come from sharply salted food and meat; also from very bad and
foul water, so that many die miserably.... Many hundred people
necessarily perish in such misery and must be cast into the sea. The
sighing and crying and lamenting on board the ship continues night and
day.”
The excellent regulations for the preservation of health on board
slavers continued until the trade was declared illegal by the various
nations engaged therein, after which it was carried on by smugglers, a
set of piratical scoundrels, the riffraff of the maritime nations. The
slaves were no longer carried in comfortable, broad-beamed, bluff-bowed
craft, but in sharp-built, fast vessels with comparatively small deck
and hold space, aboard of which the poor negroes often suffered
hardships, disease and death. These craft were driven for all they were
worth in all sorts of weather, especially when being chased, which made
it frequently necessary to batten the hatches down. Under such
conditions the state of the living cargo must have been terrible indeed.
One no longer hears of slaves helping to work the ship or of their being
taught the use of arms to assist their white masters to defend
themselves.
In an old book of voyages there is an account of the voyage of the
French slaver _Le Rodeur_, of 200 tons burden, which sailed from the
port of Havre for the river Calabar, on the coast of Africa, where she
arrived and anchored at Bonny, March 14, 1819. During a stay of three
weeks she obtained 160 negroes and sailed for Guadaloupe on April 6th.
The following authentic account of this voyage, intended for the eye of
his mother, was kept by a lad of twelve, named J. B. Romaigne. He was
the son of a planter of Guadaloupe and had been sent out as a passenger
in _La Rodeur_, under the especial care of the captain. This document is
highly valuable for its simplicity and for the light it throws upon the
human heart in circumstances that seem to baffle observation.
I
“It is now just a week since we sailed; but, indeed, it is not my fault
that I have not sooner sat down to write. The first two days I was sick,
and the other five were so stormy that I could not sit at the table
without holding. Even now we are rolling like a great porpoise yet I can
sit very well and keep the pen steady. Since I am to send you what I do
without copying it over again at the end of the voyage, I shall take
what pains I can; but I hope, my dear mother, you will consider that my
fingers are grown hard and tarry with hauling all day on the ropes, the
Captain being determined, as he says, to make me a sailor. The Captain
is very fond of me and is very good-tempered; he drinks a great deal of
brandy; he is a fine, handsome man and I am sure I shall like him very
much.
II
“I enquired of the Captain today, how long it would be before we should
get to Guadaloupe; and he told me we had a great distance to go before
we should steer that way at all. He asked how I should like to have a
little black slave and I said very well; that I was to have plenty of
them at Guadaloupe. He asked me what I could do with them. ‘Feed them,’
I said. ‘That is right,’ said the Captain; ‘it will make them strong.
But you will make them work won’t you?’ added he. ‘Yes, to be sure,’
said I. ‘Then I can tell you you must flog them as well as feed them.’
‘I will,’ said I, ‘it is what I intend, but I must not hurt them very
much.’ ‘Of course not maim them,’ returned he, ‘for then they could not
work; but if you do not make them feel to the marrow, you might as well
throw them into the sea.’
III
“Since we have been at this place, Bonny Town in the Bonny river, on the
coast of Africa, I have become more accustomed to the howling of these
negroes. At first, it alarmed me, and I could not sleep. The Captain
says that if they behave well they will be much better off at
Guadaloupe; and I am sure, I wish the ignorant creatures would come
quietly and have it over. Today, one of the blacks whom they were
forcing into the hold, suddenly knocked down a sailor and attempted to
leap overboard. He was caught, however, by the leg by another of the
crew, and the sailor, rising up in a passion, hamstrung him with a
cutlass. The Captain, seeing this, knocked the butcher flat upon the
deck with a handspike. ‘I will teach you to keep your temper,’ said he,
with an oath. ‘He was the best slave in the lot.’ I ran to the main
chains and looked over; for they had dropped the black into the sea when
they saw that he was useless. He continued to swim, even after he had
sunk under water, for I saw the red track extending shoreward; but by
and by, it stopped, widened, faded, and I saw it no more.
IV
“We are now fairly at sea again, and I am sure my dear Mother, I am
heartily glad of it. The Captain is in the best temper in the world; he
walks the deck, rubbing his hands and humming a tune. He says he has six
dozen slaves on board, men, women and children, and all in prime
marketable condition. I have not seen them, however, since we set sail.
Their cries are so terrible that I do not like to go and look down into
the hold. At first, I could not close my eyes; the sound froze my very
blood; and, one night, jumping up in horror, I ran to the Captain’s
state-room. The lamp shone upon his face; it was as calm as marble, he
slept profoundly, and I did not like to disturb him.
V
“Today, word was brought to the Captain, while we were at breakfast,
that two of the slaves were dead, suffocated, as was supposed, by the
closeness of the hold; and he immediately ordered the rest should be
brought up, gang by gang, to the forecastle, to give them air. I ran up
on deck to see them. They did not appear to me to be very unwell; but
these blacks, who are not distinguished from one another by dress, are
so much alike one can hardly tell.
“However, they had no sooner reached the ship’s side, than first one,
then another, then a third, sprang up on the gunwale, and darted into
the sea, before the astonished sailors could tell what they were about.
Many more made the attempt, but without success; they were all knocked
flat to the deck, and the crew kept watch over them with handspikes and
cutlasses till the Captain’s pleasure should be known with regard to the
revolt.
“The negroes, in the meantime, who had got off, continued dancing about
among the waves, yelling with all their might, what seemed to me a song
of triumph, in the burden of which they were joined by some of their
companions on deck. Our ship speedily left the ignorant creatures
behind; their voices came fainter and fainter upon the wind; the black
head, first of one, then of another, disappeared; and then the sea was
without a spot; and the air without a sound.
“When the Captain came up on deck, having finished his breakfast, and
was told of the revolt, his face grew pale, and he gnashed his teeth.
‘We must make an example,’ said he, ‘or our labour will be lost.’ He
then ordered the whole of the slaves in the ship to be tied together in
gangs and placed upon the forecastle, and having selected six, who were
known to have joined in the chorus of the revolters and might thus be
considered as the ringleaders, he caused three of them to be shot, and
the other three hanged, before the eyes of their comrades.
VI
“Last night I could not sleep; cold sweats broke over my body. I thought
the six negroes were passing to and fro through the cabin, and looking
in at the door of the Captain’s stateroom. The Captain, I could hear,
was sound asleep, and this made me more afraid. At last I began to pray
so loud, that I awoke him, and he asked me, what was the matter. ‘I am
saying my prayers,’ said I. ‘That is a good boy,’ replied he, and, in an
instant he was as sound asleep as before.
VII
“The negroes, ever since the revolt, were confined closely to the lower
hold and this brought on a disease called ophthalmia, which produced
blindness. The sailors, who sling down the provisions from the upper
hold, report that the disease is spreading frightfully and today, at
dinner, the Captain and the surgeon held a conference on the subject.
The surgeon declared that, from all he could learn, the cases were
already so numerous as to be beyond his management; but the Captain
insisted that every slave cured was worth his value and that it was
better to lose a part than all. The disease, it seems, although
generally fatal to the negro, is not always so. The patient is at first
blind; but some escape, eventually, with the loss of one eye or a mere
dimness of vision. The result of the conversation was, that the infected
slaves were to be transferred to the upper hold and attended by the
surgeon the same as if they were white men.
VIII
“All the slaves and some of the crew are blind. The Captain, the
surgeon, and the mate are blind. There is hardly enough men left, out of
our twenty-two, to work the ship. The Captain preserves what order he
can and the surgeon still attempts to do his duty, but our situation is
frightful.
IX
“All the crew are now blind but one man. The rest work under his orders
like unconscious machines; the Captain standing by with a thick rope,
which he sometimes applies, when led to any recreant by the man who can
see. My own eyes begin to be affected; in a little while, I shall see
nothing but death. I asked the Captain if he would not allow the blacks
to come up on deck. He said it was of no use; that the crew, who were
always on deck, were as blind as they; that if brought up, they would
only drown themselves, whereas, if they remained where they were, there
would, in all probability, be at least a portion of them salable, if we
had ever the good fortune to reach Guadaloupe.
“We rolled along on our dreadful pain, with no other steersman than
fate; for the single individual of the crew who was our last hope and
stay, had added a thousand fold to the calamity of his fellows by
sharing in it himself.
“You cannot comprehend our situation. It will not do to figure yourself
tossing on the black and midnight deep, with not a star to cheer you,
and not a hand to help; for even then you could see; you could see the
glitter of the waters and the white crest of the wave and half see, half
conjecture, the form of the objects around you. In the midst of all, you
would at least possess an absolute conviction that, in a few hours more,
a new sun would rise out of the ocean, a new morning dawn upon the
world.
“Our night was not like that of the sea, the darkness of which is
mingled with light like the faint memory of day and relieved by the
certainty of approaching morning. We were blind, stone blind, drifting
like a wreck upon the ocean and rolling like a cloud before the wind.
The Captain was stone blind, yet had hopes of recovering his sight,
while most of the others were in despair. A guard was continually
placed, with drawn swords, at the store room, to prevent the men getting
at the spirit-casks and dying in the frenzy of intoxication. Some were
cursing and swearing from morning till night, some singing abominable
songs; some kissing the crucifix and making vows to the blessed saints.
A few lay all day long in their hammocks, apparently content to starve
rather than come abroad for food. For my part, I snatched at anything I
could get to eat; cookery was unthought of. I thought myself fortunate
when I was able to procure a cupfull of water to soften a biscuit as dry
and as hard as a stone.
X
“Mother, your son was blind for ten days, although now so well as to be
able to write. I can tell you hardly anything of our history during that
period. Each of us lived in a little dark world of his own, peopled by
shadows and phantasms. We did not see the ship, nor the heavens, nor the
sea, nor the faces of our comrades.
“Then there came a storm. No hand was upon the helm, not a reef upon the
sails. On we flew like a phantom ship of old, that cared not for wind or
weather, our masts straining and cracking; our sails bursting from their
bonds, with a report like that of musketry; the furious sea one moment
devouring us up, stem and stern, and the next casting us forth again, as
if with loathing and disgust. Even so did the whale cast forth the fated
Jonah. The wind, at last, died moaningly away, and we found ourselves
rocking, without progressive motion, on the sullen deep. We at length
heard a sound upon the waters, unlike that of the smooth swell which
remained after the storm, and our hearts beat with a hope which was
painful from its suddenness and intensity. We held our breath. The sound
was continued; it was like the splashing of a heavy body in smooth
water; and a simultaneous cry arose from every lip on deck and was
echoed by the men in their hammocks below and by the slaves in the hold.
“Our cry was answered! We shouted again, our voices broken by sobs, and
our burning eyes deluged with tears. Our shout was still answered; and,
for some minutes, nothing was heard but an interchange of eager cries.
“The Captain was the first to recover his self-possession, and our
voices sank into silence when we heard him speak the approaching vessel
with the usual challenge.
“‘Ship Ahoy! Ahoy! What ship?’
“‘The _Saint Leon_ of Spain. Help us for God’s sake!’
“‘We want help ourselves,’ replied our Captain.
“‘We are dying of hunger and thirst. Send us on board some provisions
and a few hands to work the ship and name your own terms.’
“‘We can give you food, but we are in want of hands. Come on board of us
and we will exchange provisions with you for men,’ answered our Captain.
“‘Dollars! dollars! We will pay you in money, a thousand fold; but we
cannot send. We have negroes on board; they have infected us with
ophthalmia, and we are all stone-blind.’
“At the announcement of this horrible coincidence, there was a silence
among us, for some moments, like that of death. It was broken by a fit
of laughter, in which I joined myself; and, before our awful merriment
was over, we could hear, by the sound of the curses which the Spaniards
shouted against us, that the _St. Leon_ had drifted away.
“This vessel, in all probability, foundered at sea, as she never reached
any port.
XI
“The man who preserved his sight the longest, recovered the soonest; and
to his exertions alone, under the providence of God and the mercy of the
blessed saints, is it owing that we are now within a few leagues of
Guadaloupe, this twenty-first day of June 1819. I am myself almost well.
The surgeon and eleven more are irrecoverably blind; the Captain has
lost one eye; four others have met with the same calamity; and five are
able to see, though dimly, with both. Among the slaves, thirty-nine are
completely blind and the rest blind of one eye or their sight otherwise
injured.
“This morning the Captain called all hands on deck, negroes and all. The
shores of Guadaloupe were in sight. I thought he was going to return God
thanks publicly for our miraculous escape.
“‘Are you quite certain,’ said the mate, ‘that the cargo is insured?’
“‘I am,’ said the Captain. ‘Every slave that is lost must be made good
by the underwriters. Besides, would you have me turn my ship into a
hospital for the support of blind negroes? They have cost us enough
already. Do your duty.’
“The mate picked out thirty-nine negroes who were completely blind, and,
with the assistance of the rest of the crew, tied a piece of ballast to
the legs of each. The miserable wretches were then thrown into the sea.”
The Abolitionist party was probably older and stronger in Great Britain
than in any other country and it was there that the press gang
flourished for centuries and was not abolished until long after the
slave trade. By that unjust system multitudes of free-born British
seamen were condemned to a life in many respects worse than that of the
negro slave. On board men-of-war, life was unnatural and the discipline
such that it would have broken the spirits of others than hard-bitten
sailormen. Orators howled and poets sang in aid of the poor Africans
torn from their native shore, but devil a word was said or sung for the
victims of the press. Had their dusky brothers, like the impressed
sailors, stood in the breach between them and their enemy, they would
have done their best to keep them there as long as the menace to their
smug comfort existed.
ERNEST H. PENTECOST.
SLAVE SHIPS AND SLAVING
CHAPTER I
THE GUINEA COAST
The slave coast of West Africa lies between the river Senegal, just
north of Cape Verde, and the Congo River country, six degrees south of
the equator. It is a low-lying coast, with many sandy beaches, though
much of it is bordered by delta-lands, covered with poisonous swamps,
through which wind the uncounted channels of small rivers that penetrate
the country. There are few harbors and the trader must find an anchorage
inside the bar at the mouth of some river or lay offshore, at safe
distance, while trade is carried on in canoes and boats that ride the
long rollers pounding on the beach. A country well populated by negroes,
it supplied for nearly four centuries the slave labor required by the
West Indies and the two Americas,—a trade inseparable from cruelty,
disease and death. Goree and Gambia,—the Gold Coast and the Tooth
Coast,—Whidah, Old Calabar and Bonny, are some of the names that have a
suggestive meaning in connection with the abhorrent trade in human
flesh.
Not long after the gulf of Guinea was discovered by Portuguese
navigators and at least two decades before Columbus sailed from Palos, a
slave market was set up at Lisbon at which negroes from the Guinea coast
were sold to any who would buy. It was the Moors who had told the
Portuguese of the black-skinned people living in great numbers to the
south of the great desert,—a race cursed of God and predestined as
slaves.
By 1502, the first shipload of Africans had been landed at Hispaniola,
to work in the mines, and the slave-bearing fleet plied to and from the
Guinea coast very nearly up to the time of the abolition of slavery in
Brazil, in 1888.
At first, the slave vessels bargained with the negroes in villages near
the coast for such slaves, gold or wax as they might be able to supply.
It usually followed that a ship must sail along the coast for some
distance, picking up a few negroes at one place and a little ivory or
gold at another. At some stops no slaves or ivory would be found and it
required a long time to pick up a decent cargo. The coast was
pestilential for the European and the trade with the treacherous negroes
was exceedingly dangerous. Soon the plan was adopted of planting small
settlements of Europeans at intervals along the slave coast, defended by
forts, sometimes of considerable size and strength. These were called
slave factories and it was the business of the factor or commander to
negotiate with the negroes and stimulate them to activity in organizing
slave-hunting expeditions. As the slaves were brought in from the back
country, they would be purchased by barter and then housed and guarded
in sheds or warehouses, known as barracoons, until the arrival of slave
ships.
Factories of this kind were planted by the English, French, Dutch and
Portuguese, all along the western coast, from Cape Verde to the Congo.
The location usually chosen was near the mouth of some river, so as to
tap easily the slave supply up country. Sometimes, however, a small
island, offshore, was selected on which to build a factory, because it
was cooler and a more healthful spot.
The walls of the larger forts enclosed a considerable space of ground,
on which were built barracks, storehouses for merchandise and sheds for
the slaves. The huts of the negroes employed in the service of the
factory, would be outside the walls of the fort, but under the
protection of its guns. The principal fort of the English was Cape Coast
Castle, on the Gold Coast, and not far away was St. George del Mina,
erected by the Portuguese, but later falling into the hands of the
Dutch. The French built Fort Louis at the mouth of the Senegal and also
a fort on Goree, an island near Cape Verde. Fort James was on the Gambia
and there were important forts at Anamaboe, Accra and Whidah. Most of
these forts mounted from fifty to sixty guns and were not only
impregnable to the negroes, but capable of standing a regular siege by a
European force.
[Illustration:
CAPE COAST CASTLE, THE PRINCIPAL ENGLISH SETTLEMENT ON THE GOLD COAST
From a colored aquatint by J. Hill, published in 1806, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
Under the command of the governor or commandant were soldiers employed
in the service of the company, and a number of clerks, mechanics and
junior factors, the latter in charge of the traffic with the interior
towns. These men would ascend the rivers in small sailing vessels or
armed boats and exchange European manufactures for slaves, gold dust and
ivory furnished by the negroes. Sometimes they would open a sort of shop
or trading post in a populous town and remain there for several months
at the pleasure of the local king or chief. Many of these men were
outcasts at home or destitute of means and therefore willing to engage
to go to the coast of Africa where they knew they could lead a life of
comparative indolence, with little or no restraint. There they might
indulge nearly every human passion with utter freedom, whether it be
confirmed drunkenness or unrestrained intercourse with negro girls. They
knew that the deadly climate was likely to claim them eventually, so it
was “a short life, and a merry one” for many an outcast free of home
ties.
The soldiers in the forts seldom were called upon for active duty and
spent their time in smoking, drinking palm wine and gaming. In fact,
much of the time they were physically unfit for any service and within
two years after their arrival on the Coast, they would be carried off by
fever or dissipation. A stranger, on visiting one of these African
forts, felt that there was something both horrible and ludicrous in the
appearance of its garrison, for the soldiers appeared ghastly,
debilitated and diseased, and their tattered and soiled uniforms,
resembling each other only in meanness and not in color, suggested the
thought that these men were a band of drunken deserters or starved and
maltreated prisoners of war.[1]
-----
Footnote 1:
John Howison, _European Colonies_, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1821.
-----
Sir John Hawkins was the first Englishman to transport slaves from the
Guinea coast to America. This was in 1562, and his prosperous voyage
which “brought great profit to the adventurers,” led to other similar
ventures. In 1618, King James granted a charter to a stock company to
trade with Guinea, but private adventurers and interlopers broke in upon
the preserves of the company and forced the trade open.
In 1662, another exclusive company was chartered with the king’s
brother, the Duke of York, at its head, and this company undertook to
supply the English plantations with three thousand slaves annually. It
was known as the “Company of Royal Adventurers of England for Carrying
on a Trade to Africa,” and for a year or two traded successfully and
brought gold dust to England in such quantity that King Charles II
ordered the minting of a new gold coin, of the value of twenty-one
shillings, to be known as a _guinea_. These coins, made of the gold
imported by the African Company, had, in its honor, a small elephant
under the bust of the King, as a mark of distinction, done, it is said,
to encourage the importation of gold. In 1664, the Dutch admiral, De
Ruyter, captured the Guinea forts of the company, including Cormentyn
Castle, and a number of ships, so that its losses amounted to over
£200,000, which eventually forced the company to surrender its charter.
In 1672, the Royal African Company was chartered and for over a century
conducted a more or less successful trade with the Guinea coast. It
encouraged the English manufacture of several kinds of woolen and cotton
goods and opened up a considerable market for Sheffield wares. The
importations were elephant’s teeth, dye woods, wax and gold dust, the
latter reaching England in such quantity that forty or fifty thousand
guineas would be minted at a time. But the dominating feature of the
trading operations of the company was the advantageous purchase of
negroes in Guinea, to be carried to the American colonies and there sold
into slavery, the return cargo being muscovado sugar to supply the
expanding English market.
In 1790, the number of forts and factories established on the coast was
about forty; fourteen belonging to the English, fifteen to the Dutch,
three to the French, four to the Portuguese and four to the Danes; and
it has been estimated that the number of negroes sold or kidnapped into
slavery, annually, about that time, could not fall far short of one
hundred thousand, while an estimate of the total number carried away
into slavery, previous to the year 1800, shows that African mothers
provided about thirty million victims for the slave ships.
The ship trading on the slave coast discovered that the manner of trade
varied with the locality. On coming to anchor in the river Gambia,
opposite James Fort, a boat was sent ashore to announce the arrival to
the alkaide or chief of the town, who at once came aboard to receive the
anchorage money. This was ten gallons of liquor for the king, two iron
bars for the alkaide and perhaps a few bottles of wine, beer or cider
for presents. After a detention of four to seven days, the king would
send his people to receive his custom, amounting to the value of 140
iron bars in merchandise. Later, the ship was supplied with a first and
second linguist, two messengers and six or more butlers. The first
linguist served as interpreter between the broker, who sold the slaves
for the owner, and the factor, trader or master of the ship. The second
linguist acted as interpreter for an officer of the ship, either in the
tender, long-boat or factory on shore. The messengers were employed in
looking out for trade on shore,—slaves, ivory, gold, provisions, etc.
and for carrying letters to and from vessels, factories, etc. The
butlers were employed to row in boats, cut wood, water the ship, in
fact, were hired to preserve the health of the ship’s crew, by saving
them from exposure to the sun on board and the damps on shore.
Thus provided, the ship proceeded up river for about one hundred leagues
to Yanamaroo, in the kingdom of Yancy, where more liquor was supplied
for an anchorage and then the messengers were sent out to the principal
people, for twenty or thirty miles around, soliciting slaves and trade.
The tender or long-boat would also be dispatched farther up the river
with merchandise for trade. It was at this port that ships generally
began and finished their trading.
The slaves sold by these blacks were for the most part prisoners of war.
But not infrequently men would sell their own children or the children
of neighbors, that they had kidnapped,—stolen is perhaps a better word.
Some slaves were also brought from a distance but usually when offered
were in poor and weak condition.
The linguist would bring the slave broker on board or to the factory,
who would inquire what price the master of the ship was willing to pay
for a slave and the commission he was to receive and this was never
settled until the broker had visited all the factories and every ship in
port. Having no better offer, the broker would then bring on board the
owner of the slaves, who examined the merchandise offered, agreed upon
the articles and then sent for the slaves, who would be examined by the
ship’s surgeon. If approved, the owner would then be paid the
merchandise he had selected, less one bar of iron, duty for the king.
Men slaves would then be put in irons on the main deck; boys on the main
deck, not ironed; and women and girls, not ironed, on the quarter deck.
The broker was then given his commission, which completed the
transaction.[2]
-----
Footnote 2:
_Report to the House of Lords on the Abolition of the Slave Trade_, 2
vols., London, 1789.
-----
Much of the ivory obtained there had been picked up in the woods and
having laid out in the rain and wind for some time was for the most part
scurfy and hollow.
The northern coast of the gulf of Guinea is divided into particular
sections which, in order, have been named the “Grain Coast,” extending
from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas, a country producing much rice and maize
(Indian corn); the “Ivory or Tooth Coast,” extending from Cape Palmas to
the river Lagos, and formerly having a considerable trade in elephant
ivory; the “Gold Coast,” between Assinee and the river Volta, so named
for the large amounts of gold dust obtained there, which came from the
mountains and streams at the north; and lastly, the “Bight of Benin,”
lying between Cape St. Paul’s and Cape Formosa, which clasps within its
curve, the “Slave Coast” and the coast of Whidah and Lagos, in former
times much resorted to by slavers and pirates.
[Illustration:
THE GUINEA COAST ABOUT THE YEAR 1700
From the map in Churchill’s _Collection of Voyages_, engraved by R. W.
Seale
]
Cape Coast Castle, the principal English fort in slaving days, guarded a
part of the Gold Coast and behind it was the Fantee and Ashantee
country, which supplied great numbers of slaves for the American market.
The castle was built near the sea and not only was dominated by three
hills, not far behind it, but its location was only nine miles from the
Castle of St. George at Mina, belonging to the Dutch, and only a short
mile distant was Fredericksburg, a Danish fort. The only landing place
was a small sandy flat just under the castle, on which the blacks could
run their canoes without danger of splitting. The agent general of the
“Royal Company of Africa,”[3] who spent much time at Cape Coast Castle,
remarked upon the unhealthfulness of the place notwithstanding the rocky
shore and the surrounding high land. He wrote:
“Their fondness for their beloved liquor punch, is so great, even among
the officers and factors, that, whatever comes of it, there must be a
bowl upon all occasions, which causes the death of many of them.... I
have often represented to some of the principal men how to live more
regularly, viz., to abstain from the black women, whose natural hot and
lewd temper soon wastes their bodies, to drink moderately, especially of
brandy, rum, and punch; and to avoid sleeping in the open air at night,
as many, when heated with debauchery, do, having nothing on but a shirt,
thinking thus to keep cool, but, on the contrary, they murder
themselves; for nothing is more pernicious to the constitution of
Europeans, than to lie in the open air, as I have been sufficiently
convinced by experience. I always kept to my bed, as well as I could
well bear it, and both night and day wore a dressed hare’s skin next to
my bare stomach, for above two years together, which kept it in good
disposition and helped digestion very much; though I must say it was
sometimes, and especially in the excessive hot nights, very troublesome
and occasioned much sweating. The air, though not so cold, is much
thinner and more piercing than in England, and corrodes iron much
faster.
“The Castle has a lofty wall around it and had no fresh water except
what is saved in a very large cistern, during the rains, which supplies
both the garrison and shipping. In order to destroy Guinea worms, ship
masters are accustomed to put two or three spoonsful of quick lime into
each water cask filled from the cistern.”
-----
Footnote 3:
John Barbot, “Description of North and South Guinea,” in Churchill’s
_Collection of Voyages_, London, 1746.
-----
The inland negroes supplied the market with fruit, corn and palm wine,
the maize or Indian wheat being produced in such quantity that much was
sold to shipping and to blacks from other parts. The country was also
very rich in gold and slaves, many of the latter coming from a
considerable distance in the interior. The Fantees and Ashantees were
esteemed most highly and were more hardy than the inland blacks.
Anamaboe, an important roadstead, lies a few leagues to the east of Cape
Coast Castle. It was formerly a point at which slaves were to be had in
considerable number and the road was generally full of shipping. The
blacks were a clever and villainous people and frequently adulterated
their gold so the trader must narrowly watch all transactions. The town
was located on a sandy beach, strewn with rocks, close to the sea, the
surf being so heavy that ships’ boats could not land and all trade was
carried on in the canoes of the natives.
At Accra, further to the eastward, the coast is bolder, with a good
landing and plentiful supplies of provisions, and gold of the purest
refinement. This country usually was at war with neighboring nations and
accordingly had many prisoners to sell into slavery, so that sometimes a
ship happening on the coast at just the right time, could obtain a
lading of slaves in a fortnight and at a very low cost.
The use made by the natives of European manufactures obtained in trade
is interestingly described by John Barbot, in his account of Guinea.
“The broad linen serves to adorn themselves, and their dead men’s
sepulchers within; they also make clouts thereof. The narrow cloth to
press palm-oil; in old sheets they wrap themselves at night from head to
foot. The copper basins to wash and shave, the Scotch pans serve in lieu
of butcher’s tubs, when they kill hogs or sheep; from the iron bars the
smiths forge out all their weapons and country and household tools and
utensils. Of friezes and perpetuanas they make girts four fingers broad,
to wear about the waist, and hang their sword, dagger, knife, and purse
of money or gold, which they commonly thrust between the girdle and
their body. They break Venice coral into four or five parts, which
afterwards they mould into any form, on whetstones, and make strings or
necklaces, which yield a considerable profit. Of four or five ells of
English or Leyden serges they make a kind of cloth to wrap about their
shoulders and stomach. Of chintzes, perpetuanas, printed calicoes,
tapseils and nicanees, are made clouts to wear round their middles. The
wrought pewter, such as dishes, basons, porringers, &c. serve to eat
their victuals out of. Muskets, firelocks, and cutlaces they use in war.
Brandy is most commonly spent at their feasts. Knives to the same
purposes as we use them. With tallow they anoint their bodies from head
to toe, and even use it to shave their beards, instead of soap. Venice
bugles, glass beads and contacarbe serve all ages and sexes, to adorn
their heads, necks, arms and legs, and sarsaparilla is used by such as
are infected with the venereal disease.”
Lying to the eastward of the Gold Coast is a stretch of country known as
the Slave Coast, because the whole trade there was confined to slaves,
there being very little gold. It extends from the river Volta to Jackin.
The country is flat and low, rising gradually as it runs up inland, and
landing along the coast is difficult, not to say dangerous, because of
the terrible surf, which at nearly all times of the year cannot be
passed without great hazard. From April to July, which is the rainy
season, the waves run so high that whoever ventures to land should mind
the saying “he ought to have two lives who ventures.” The bar-canoes,
however well manned, were frequently overset with loss of goods and also
lives, for the waters swarm with monstrous sharks, sometimes thirty feet
long, that soon make way with any man who happens to fall near them.
These sharks usually swim in company and when a dead slave was thrown
overboard, one shark would bite off a leg, another an arm, while others
would sink down with the body; and all this happened in much less time
than it takes to describe the gruesome feast. Great numbers of sharks
always followed the course of slave ships, as if they knew that one or
more bodies would be thrown, daily, to their ravenous jaws.
As the slaves came down to the coast from Dahomey and the inland
country, they were put into a large shed, built for that purpose, near
the beach, and when brought out for sale, the ship’s surgeons would
carefully examine every bit of their anatomy down to the smallest
member, men and women alike being stark naked. Those found to be sound
would be set aside and soon after be branded, with a hot iron, on the
breast (later it was more customary to brand on the shoulder) with the
mark of the company or the individual trader, so as to prevent the
natives from substituting slaves in poorer condition. Care was usually
taken that the women should not be burned as deeply as the men. The
branded slaves would then be returned to the shed and sometimes it would
be two or more weeks before the surf would be low enough to make it safe
to send them off to the slave ships anchored in the roadstead. They were
always stripped of every rag of clothing before they entered the
bar-canoes and as they stepped into the canoe, a native priest standing
by would strew sand over their heads to exorcise the evil spirit and
preserve them from being overset in the passing through the rollers.
[Illustration:
CHRISTIANSBORG, THE DANISH SETTLEMENT ON THE GOLD COAST
From the engraving by J. Hill, published in 1806, in the Macpherson
Collection
]
To trade on the Slave Coast, particularly after the king of Dahomey had
subjugated the coast tribes, necessitated much ceremony and many
presents, to say nothing of the employment of numerous retainers and
servants. The king must be paid his customs at the outset. Then came the
hire of the factory house and the canoes and canoemen and it was
customary to hire a conductor to take care of the goods brought up from
the beach and also the slaves going down to the canoes. Two brokers or
interpreters were required; two boys for servants; a doorkeeper and a
boy, to serve at the tent on the beach; a messenger to carry to the king
the news of the ship’s arrival and the captain’s compliments; a gong
beater, to announce the opening of trade; a trunk keeper, to take care
of the slaves while on shore; six water rollers; a woman to bring water;
and a washer-woman.
Fees must also be paid to the viceroy, who came with his people to
receive the captain and conduct him to the fort,—usually a Spanish hat,
a piece of silk, a cask of flour and another of beef or pork. The
captain of the waterside, at the ship’s departure, was given a piece of
cloth and an anker of brandy; and there was a fee for putting up a tent
on the beach. Porters had to be hired and there were other expenses for
entertainment, so that the preliminary costs of lading a slave ship, on
this coast, about the year 1790, amounted to a value of about £368; and
about the same time slaves were costing five ounces of gold, or £10,
apiece.
This entire coast from the river Sherboro, just south of Sierre Leone,
to the river Benin, at New Calabar (which is the part of Africa with
which Europeans were best acquainted previous to the year 1800),—in all
this tract of at least fifteen hundred miles of seacoast, there is not
one navigable river, bay or harbor, into which a ship can enter; nor is
there one river or creek into which a sailing boat can go above ten
miles from the sea. Very few creeks will even admit a boat and not one
on the Gold Coast, except at Chama and Mines. The entire shoreline,
almost in every part, is difficult of access, because of the heavy surf
that breaks upon the beach and it is only possible to land in a light
canoe and even in that way it is frequently impracticable for many days
together. In many places near the shore there is scarcely water enough
for even a canoe and the waves break so fiercely and there is so wide a
stretch of broken water, that all communication between shipping and the
shore is frequently interrupted for weeks at a time, and seldom can a
landing be effected with safety. At the easterly end of the Bight of
Benin, the entire coast is inhospitable and very little frequented and
for the most part is drowned occasionally by the sea or the heavy rains
in August and September.[4]
-----
Footnote 4:
_New Sailing Directions for the Coast of Africa_, London, 1799.
-----
A very important part of the coast, in old slaving days, was Calabar,
Old and New, and the Bonny River. Ships of considerable burden could
anchor on the hard, sandy ground, in eight fathoms, in the river at New
Calabar and also at Bonny and as these towns tapped an extensive
back-country, they traded in slaves in large numbers. As New Calabar was
badly afflicted with mosquitoes, shipping usually lay at anchor near
Foko Point. The blacks living there, through frequent contact with
Europeans, were of a more civilized sort than elsewhere along the coast,
and half a dozen vessels would sometimes lie at anchor in the river at
one time. From 12,000 to 15,000 slaves were exported annually from this
locality, during a long period of years, the English, French and Dutch
participating in the trade. These slaves were brought down the rivers
from market towns, a hundred and more miles away, having originally come
from a considerable distance in the interior. Some of them undoubtedly
were prisoners of war, but many were kidnapped by raiding parties or
sold into slavery because of crime or the necessity of relatives, and
not infrequently in consequence of debt.
The black traders of Calabar and Bonny came down the rivers with slaves
about once a fortnight. There would be twenty or thirty canoes come down
at a time, and sometimes even more, and each canoe would carry twenty to
thirty slaves. The arms of some of the men would be tied with grass rope
and a man who happened to be stronger than common might also be pinioned
above the knee. In this condition the slaves would be thrown into the
bottom of the canoes, where they would lie, able to move but slightly,
sometimes in great pain and often almost covered with water. On landing,
they would be taken to the trader’s sheds, where they would be fed,
rubbed down with palm oil and made up for sale.
“Bonny River is a noble stream, spacious and deep and wider than the
Thames in Sea Reach. The land is low and covered with lofty cocoanut,
palm tree, pine, plantain and banana trees. On the north side is the
kingdom of Benin and on the south, Bonny, independent of each other. New
Calabar can be seen here at the distance to the northwest. Plenty of
palm wine is made (or rather got) here, for they have only to make an
incision in the top of a tree in the evening, hang a calabash under it,
and in the morning it will be full. It is of a whitish color and tastes
like cider.
“Our slaves had two meals a day, one in the morning consisting of boiled
yams and the other in the afternoon of boiled horse-beans and slabber
sauce poured over each. This sauce was made of chunks of old Irish beef
and rotten salt fish stewed to rags and well seasoned with cayenne
pepper. The negroes were so fond of it that they would pick out the
little bits and share them out; but they didn’t like the horse-beans.
“The brandy that we brought out for trade was very good but the darkies
thought it was not hot enough and didn’t bite—as they called it;
therefore, out of every puncheon we pumped out a third of the brandy,
put in half a bucketful of cayenne pepper, then filled it up with water
and in a few days it was hot enough for Old Nick, himself, and when they
came to taste it, thinking that it was from another cask, they would say
‘Ah, he bite.’”[5]
-----
Footnote 5:
William Richardson, _A Mariner of England_, London, 1908.
-----
In some of the following chapters will be found detailed accounts of
trading at Calabar and Bonny, the procuring of slaves and what happened
during the voyage to the West Indies.
About twenty-five leagues to the east of Bonny River is Old Calabar,
where ships formerly made fast to large trees on the river bank and
traded for provisions and slaves. The climate is very unhealthy and as
trade there went on very slowly in time it came to be a place to avoid.
About ten leagues farther to the eastward is the Rio del Rey, which
formerly supplied many slaves and some fine, large elephant’s tusks. But
the country has no fresh water except what the blacks collect from the
tops of their houses when it rains and the river has much thick, foggy
weather. An old English pilot wrote of this river:
“Here an European must look out for himself, for the inhabitants are so
subtly mischievous that you’ll be betrayed before you are aware; and
they are so barbarously cruel, that the parents sell their children, the
husband his wife, one brother and sister the other, and in decency and
order are scarce a degree above the beasts. This description was written
in the last century and we don’t find that the inhabitants are altered
in the least since that time.”[6]
-----
Footnote 6:
_New Sailing Directions for the Coast of Africa_, London, 1799.
-----
South of the Rio del Rey lies the country of the Cameroons, a tall,
lusty people, who carried on some trade with Europeans; the Gaboon
River, a good place for trade and also for cleaning and refitting
vessels; Loango, a rich and important kingdom, whose people worked in
metal and were more civilized than the nations to the north of them; and
lastly, the great region about the Congo River, its trade, in former
times, largely controlled by the Portuguese.
The slave trade was abolished by law by Great Britain in 1807; by
Denmark in 1812; by Holland in 1814; by France in 1818; and by Spain in
1820, after the receipt of a subsidy of £400,000 from Great Britain, but
the prohibition was a farce as far as the Spanish authorities were
concerned, and the trade in slaves from West Africa to Cuba and Porto
Rico was only checked by the vigilance of British and French cruisers.
The United States, in its southern part, was vitally interested in
slavery, but the slave trade with the African Coast was abolished in
1807. Portugal abolished the slave trade in 1830 and received therefor a
subsidy from Great Britain, but as a matter of fact, the export of
slaves from Portuguese Africa did not really come to an end until Brazil
abolished slavery in 1888.
To enforce the suppression of the African slave trade Great Britain sent
her war vessels to the West Coast and later, as treaties were entered
into with other countries, the activities of her blockading vessels did
much to lessen the number of negroes carried overseas.
In 1820, the United States sent three war vessels to the African coast
to aid in the suppression of the slave trade; but the appropriation of
$100,000 made by Congress in 1819, for enforcing the Act, was reduced to
$50,000 in 1823, and soon after was reduced to a few ineffective
thousands.
In 1842, by the Ashburton treaty with Great Britain, the United States
engaged to keep on the Coast of Africa a “sufficient and adequate” naval
force for the suppression of the slave trade, and after that a small
squadron was kept on the African station.
The blockading fleets had a long coastline to cover. One by one the
well-known slave factories were destroyed and one by one the slaving
fleet grew smaller. The gulf of Guinea, because of the character of its
coastline, was soon free of traders, and debarred from using the Spanish
settlements on or off the Cameroons coast, the slave traders of
nineteenth-century Cuba and Brazil established themselves on the Rio
Pongo, a no-man’s land northwest of Sierra Leone. There came the Fulah
traders from the Mandingo and upper Niger countries; the adjoining
rivers and islands of Portuguese Guinea also fed a similar slave trade,
and it was some time before the slave depots at Rio Pongo and Bobama
were broken up by the joint action of British and French gunboats.
The Cuban ships then found their way to the eastern side of the Sierra
Leone colony, to the Gallinas lagoon and the river Sulima,[7] along the
unclaimed “Grain Coast,” now Liberia, and from 1822 to 1839 an average
of five thousand slaves were shipped annually to Cuba, Porto Rico, South
Carolina, Georgia and Brazil, from this one locality alone. Pedro
Blanco, a native of Malaga, was the leading spirit of this slaving
factory and one of his principal lieutenants was Theodore Canot, a
French seaman.[8] Blanco lived near the Gallinas lagoon, with a large
harem, surrounded by every luxury that money could buy in Europe or
America. His drafts were as promptly cashed in Cuba, London or Paris as
on the West African coast. He employed large numbers of negroes as paid
watchers or spies, and from a hundred lookouts along the beach and on
the islands of the lagoon, they scanned the horizon for the approach of
British cruisers. By their signals they saved incoming or outgoing slave
ships from capture. In 1839, Blanco retired from the trade with a
fortune of nearly a million sterling and at last ended his days quite
pleasantly on the Italian Riviera.
-----
Footnote 7:
Johnston, _The Negro in the New World_, New York, 1910.
Footnote 8:
Mayer, _Captain Canot; or Twenty Years of an African Slaver_, New
York, 1854.
-----
The slave-trading factories on the coasts of Sierra Leone and Liberia
had all been destroyed by about 1847, but slave smuggling was carried on
from inland stations, by prearranged connections, for long years after,
although not on so large a scale as before. A lading of negroes, from
the interior, would be brought to the coast and concealed at a place
agreed upon. On a certain day or not long after, a vessel would appear
off the beach and display a recognized signal. Immediately the negroes
would be rushed to the shore and carried aboard in canoes and the ship’s
boats and four hours later a distant sail on the horizon was the only
visible reminder of another trade in human flesh.
[Illustration:
ELMINA, ON THE GOLD COAST, NEAR CAPE COAST CASTLE
From a colored aquatint published about 1830, in the Macpherson
Collection
]
Cruisers were active and so were the slave smugglers, for the profits
were enormous. In 1858, a citizen of Savannah, Georgia, proposed an
expedition to the coast of Africa, for “a cargo of African apprentices
to be bound for the term of their natural lives,” and estimated the
costs at $300,000 and the net profits at $480,000, which did not include
the value of the steamer, already paid for. It is a significant fact
that during the year 1859, only two years before the Civil War,
according to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, eleven
slavers were captured by United States war vessels.
CHAPTER II
SIR JOHN HAWKINS, SLAVE TRADER
The first Englishman to engage in the slave trade between the Guinea
coast and America was Capt. John Hawkins, a younger son of Capt. William
Hawkins of Plymouth, who was trading on the coast of Brazil as early as
1630, “in a tall and goodlie ship of his owne.” Young Hawkins was born
in 1532 and also followed the sea. He made several voyages to the Canary
Isles and while there formed a trade alliance with a Spanish merchant,
Pedro de Ponte, of Teneriffe, who suggested to him the feasibility of a
trade in negro slaves to be obtained in the gulf of Guinea and sold to
the sugar planters in the Spanish West Indies. Between voyages Hawkins
made inquiry of his father and others as to the conditions existing in
the West Indies, but his principal source of information was found among
the traders in the Canaries. He was assured that negroes were greatly
desired in Hispaniola (Haiti) and that they might easily be had on the
African coast. Pedro de Ponte agreed to furnish a pilot familiar with
Spanish America and the state of the trade there and Hawkins finally
decided to make a trial of the venture.
He returned to London from his last Canary voyage, in the summer of
1562, and at once laid the project before his father-in-law, Benjamin
Gonson, the Treasurer of the Admiralty, who thought so well of it that
Thomas Lodge, the governor of the Russia Company and a member of the
Grocer’s Company; Alderman Lionel Ducket, an enterprising merchant who
afterwards became Lord Mayor of London; Sir William Winter, and several
others were interested and “became liberal contributors and adventurers
in the action.”[9] These men were venturers in the full meaning of the
word, for no English fleet had yet entered into the commercial field in
the New World long monopolized by Spain. Any prudent Englishman could
easily forecast trouble with that mighty power in case the proposed
voyage was carried out to a conclusion.
-----
Footnote 9:
Hakluyt, _The principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries made by
the English Nation_, London, 1589.
-----
Forty-five years before this date, Charles V had formally licensed the
importation of negro slaves into the West Indies. In 1551, 17,000
licenses for slave importation from Africa to the West Indies were
offered for sale by the Spanish government and two years later a
monopoly of the African slave trade was granted for seven years
obligating an importation of 23,000 negroes. It was this monopoly that
Captain Hawkins proposed to break and only bold men became shareholders
in his venture.
[Illustration:
MAP OF THE COAST OF AFRICA FROM SIERRA LEONE TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE
From an original by Arnoldus F. a Langren, engraved in 1599, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
In the fall of 1562, three “private” ships were fitted out,—the
_Solomon_, of one hundred and twenty tons burden, the _Swallow_, of one
hundred tons, and the _Jonas_, a bark of only forty tons. The vessels
were manned by less than a hundred men, “for feare of” sickness and
other “inconveniences, whereunto men in long voyages are commonly
subject,” and with a cargo of English goods aboard, the little fleet set
sail in October, 1562, and laid a course for the island of Teneriffe,
where Captain Hawkins “received friendly intertainement” at the hands of
Senor de Ponte and his friends.
“From thence hee passed to Sierra Leona, upon the coast of Guinea, which
place by the people of the country is called Tagarin, where he stayed
some good time, and got into his possession, partly by the sword and
partly by other meanes, to the number of 300 negroes at the least,
besides other merchandises, which that Country yeldeth. With this praye
he sailed over the Ocean sea unto the Island of Hispaniola, and arrived
first at the port of Isabella: and there hee had reasonable utterance of
his English commodities, as also of some part of his Negroes, trusting
the Spaniards no further than by his owne strength he was able still to
master them. From the port of Isabella he went to Porte de Plata, where
he made like sales, standing always upon his gard: from thence also hee
sailed to Monte Christi;[10] another port on the north side of
Hispaniola, and the last place of his touching, where he had peaceable
trafique and made vent of the whole nomber of his Negroes: for which he
received in those 3 places, by way of exchange, such quantity of
merchandise, that he did not onely lade his owne 3 shippes with hides,
ginger, sugers, and some quantitie of pearles, but he fraighted also two
other hulkes with hides and other like commodities, which he sent to
Spaine. And thus leaving the Island, hee returned and disimboked,[11]
passing out by the Islands of the Caycos,[12] without further entring
into the Bay of Mexico, in this his first voyage to the West India, and
so with prosperous successe and much gaine to himselfe and the aforesaid
adventurers, he came home and arrived in the moneth of September
1563.”[13]
-----
Footnote 10:
Isabella, Port Plata and Monte Christi were all ports on the north
shore of Hispaniola, or St. Domingo.
Footnote 11:
Disimboked: _i.e._, went into the main ocean.
Footnote 12:
The Caicos bank, north of St. Domingo.
Footnote 13:
Hakluyt, _The principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries made by
the English Nation_, London, 1589.
-----
In attempting to dispose of part of his gains in Spain, Hawkins
displayed an almost incredible assurance. He professed to rely on old
commercial treaties between the two countries, but when his second in
command arrived in Cadiz, the cargoes were promptly seized and half of
the profits of the venture were thus lost. Moreover, an order was at
once dispatched to the West Indies absolutely forbidding any future
trade with English vessels.
The success of Captain Hawkins’ first slaving voyage was so great that
he had no difficulty in obtaining powerful backing for a second
interloping venture. Even the queen became a shareholder and lent the
expedition the _Jesus of Lubeck_, a vessel of seven hundred tons that
had been bought for the English navy, by Henry VIII, from the Hanse
traders of Lubeck. Elizabeth’s stake in the venture may be judged from
the fact that the _Jesus_ was valued at £4,000, about £40,000 in present
day values.
The slaving fleet of four vessels, consisting of the _Jesus_, 700 tons;
the ship _Solomon_, 140 tons; the bark _Tiger_, 50 tons; and the pinnace
_Swallow_, 30 tons, supplied with ordnance and well victualled and
manned by 170 men, sailed from Plymouth, Oct. 18, 1564, bound for
Teneriffe and the information that Senor de Ponte might be able to
furnish.
The sailing orders, governing the southerly voyage, were as follows:
“The small shippes to be always a head and a weather of the _Jesus_, and
to speake, twise a day with the _Jesus_, at least.
“If in the day the Ensigne bee over the poope of the _Jesus_, or in the
night two lights, then shall all the shippes speake with her.
“If there be three lights aboord the _Jesus_, then doth she cast about.
“If the weather be extreme, that the small shippes cannot keep companie
with the _Jesus_, then all to keep companie with the _Solomon_, and
foorthwith to repaire to the Island of Teneriffe, to the Northward of
the road of Sirroes.
“If any happen to any misfortune, then to shewe two lights and to shoote
off a piece of Ordnance.
“If any loose company, and come in sight again, to make three yawes
[_veerings of the ship_] and strike [_lower_] the Myson [_the mizzen
sail_] three times.
“Serve God daly [_have daily prayers_], love one another, preserve your
victuals, beware of fire, and keepe good companie [_the fleet keep
together_].”
When only three days out a great storm arose and continued for a day and
a night so that the little fleet lost company and Hawkins put into the
port of Ferrol, on the Spanish coast, to refit. While here, the
brigantine _Minion_, one of Queen Elizabeth’s ships, came in with news
of a disaster that a few days before had befallen her consort, the
_Merlin_ of London.
“Through the negligence of one of her gunners, the powder in the
gunners’ roome was set on fire, which with the first blast struck out
her poope, and therewithall lost three meen, besides many sore burned
(which escaped by the Brigantine being at her sterne), and immediately,
to the great losse of the owners and mose horrible sight to the
beholders, she sanke before their eyes.”
Captain Hawkins’ fleet reached Teneriffe early in November and after
coming to anchor in the port of Adecia he hoisted out his ship’s pinnace
and went ashore proposing to send word of his arrival to Senor de Ponte,
who lived at Santa Cruix, twenty leagues distant. As the boat neared the
share, a company of some eighty men, armed with harquebusses, halberts,
pikes, swords and targets, suddenly appeared and disputed his landing.
Hawkins at once cried out that he was a friend of Senor de Ponte, to
whom he desired to send a letter, and the commander “put his men aside.”
Two days later Senor de Ponte arrived and “gave him as gentle
entertainment as if he had been his own brother.”
The ships reached Alcatraz island, off the African coast and south of
the river Gambia, early in December, after various adventures. One day,
on the voyage down the coast, the ship’s pinnace, with two men in her,
sailing beside the _Jesus_, by the neglect of the men was overset. The
wind was high and before the ship could be brought about, the overturned
pinnace was out of sight and there was small hope of her recovery. But
Captain Hawkins, “having well marked which way the pinnesse was by the
Sunne, appointed 24 of the lustiest rowers in the greate boat to rowe to
windewards and so recovered, contrary to all men’s expectations, both
the pinnesse and the men sitting upon the keele of her.”
While riding at anchor at Alcatraz island, the two barks went to another
island and landed eighty men in armor for the purpose of capturing
slaves. But the negroes were wary and fled into the woods “leaping and
turning their tailes, that it was most strange to see and gave us great
pleasure to behold them,” wrote John Sparke, a gentleman adventurer who
accompanied Hawkins on this voyage.[14]
-----
Footnote 14:
Hakluyt, _The principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries made by
the English Nation_, London, 1589.
-----
As his men were unable to find the towns where these negroes lived,
Hawkins continued his southerly course and three days later, on the 12th
of December, 1564, came to anchor at an island called Sambula. The
negroes living there were Sapies, and three years before they had been
conquered by the Samboses (the modern Sambos), a tribe that lived beyond
Sierra Leone. The men of the fleet were kept busy going ashore every day
to capture the negroes, burning and spoiling their towns, and many were
taken, none of whom, however, turned out to be of the Sambos tribe. They
had fled to the mainland at the first alarm.
On the beach were found about fifty canoes,—dugouts about twenty-four
feet long and three feet wide, having a beak head and carved sides
painted in red and blue. These were able to carry twenty to thirty men,
the rowers standing upright. Sparke comments that four rowers and a
steersman, in one of these canoes, could make as good time as a pair of
oars in a wherry, in the Thames at London.
By the 21st of December, the raiding parties had taken all the negroes
they could find and had also carried on board as much fruit, rice and
other food as they could stow, so on that day the fleet made sail for
the river called Callowsa, the Portuguese being located there about
twenty leagues from the sea. Hawkins left his two ships at the mouth of
the river and going up trafficked with the Portuguese and three days
later started on his return with two caravels loaded with negroes.
Misfortune befell him, however, on the way down the river, for the
Portuguese had told him of a negro town called Bimba, located near the
river bank, where there was a great quantity of gold and only forty men
and a hundred women and children. Captain Hawkins and his men were in
high spirits over their success thus far and sighting an easy capture of
an additional hundred slaves, to say nothing of the gold known to be in
the village, forty armed men, with Portuguese guides, were landed at the
indicated point. The men had been ordered to keep together for mutual
protection and offense, but on reaching the negro village the company
broke up into ones and twos in a mad search for the gold. In the midst
of the ransacking of the houses some two hundred negroes fell upon them
and many of Hawkins’ men were wounded and all driven back to the boats
in confusion, where several were drowned and others perished in the deep
ooze.
“Thus wee returned backe,” wrote Sparke, “somewhat discomforted,
although the Captaine in a singular wise manner, with countenance very
cheerful outwardly, as though he did little weigh the death of his men,
nor yet the great hurt of the rest, although his heart inwardly was
broken in pieces for it, done to this ende, that the Portingals, being
with him, should not presume to resist against him, or take ocasion to
put him to further displeasure or hindrance, for the death of our men:
having gotten by our going ten Negroes and lost seven of our best men,
whereof Master Field, Captaine of the _Solomon_, was one, and we had 27
of our men hurt.”
The barks and the caravels reached the ships at the mouth of the river
on the 28th of December and two days later the fleet set sail for
Taggarin, across the river from where now stands Freetown, the capital
of the Sierra Leone, where a colony of liberated slaves was founded in
1791 by Englishmen. From here the two barks and both the boats went into
a river called the Casseroes and brought back negroes. The _Swallow_
also went up the river “about her traffik, where they saw great townes
of the Negroes, and Canoes that had three score men in a peece: there
they understood of the Portingals, of a great battell, betweene them of
the Sierra Leona side, and them of Taggarin: they of Sierra Leona had
prepared 300 canoes to invade the other. The time was appointed not past
6 daies after our departure from thence, which we would have seene, to
the intent we might have taken some of them, had it not been for the
death and sickness of our men, which came by the contagiousness of the
place, which made us to haste away.”
The ships had difficulty in watering while lying here. Soon after
anchoring, the empty water casks were put ashore and filled with water
to season them, intending afterwards to fill with fresh water. While the
men were ashore, some of them at their boats, they were set upon by
negroes and a number were wounded. The negroes also cut the hoops from
twelve of the water butts, which was a serious loss considering the
water supply required for so many people during the voyage to the West
Indies. Again, just before sailing, some of the _Solomon’s_ men went
ashore at night to fill water casks and just as they were ready to leap
on land they espied a negro standing on a rock with nine or ten others
behind him, who immediately disappeared among the rocks. This put fear
into the hearts of the sailors and they returned at once to the ship.
The next day it was learned from the Portuguese, that the king of Sierra
Leone had designed to capture some of the sailors. “But God, who worketh
all things for the best, would not have it so, and by him wee escaped
without danger, his name bee praysed for it,” afterwards wrote John
Sparke.
[Illustration:
DUTCH SHIPS TRADING ON THE GUINEA COAST. FROM DE BRY’S “VOYAGES,” 1601
(A) Ship. (B) Negro merchants. (C) How goods are passed from the
canoes to the shore.
(D) Where the merchants have to pay a tax to the chief. (E) Canoe
being carried up the beach
]
The slaving fleet set sail for the West Indies on Jan. 19, 1565, and
during the voyage was becalmed for twenty-eight days, to say nothing of
experiencing contrary winds and a tornado or two. As the store of fresh
water was none too great, before long both Englishmen and negroes were
pinched “and that which was worst, put us in such feare that many never
thought to have reached to the Indies, without great death of Negroes
and of ourselves; but Almightie God, who never suffereth his elect to
perish, sent us the sixteenth of Februarie, the ordinarie Breese, which
is the Northwest wind, which never left us till we came to an Island of
the Cannybals, called Sancta Dominica, where we arrived the ninth of
March.” They came to a desolate part of the island where the men were
unable to find fresh water, save some rain water that remained in a
puddle in a dale, “whereof we filled for our Negroes.”
A week later, Margarite, an island off the coast of Venezuela, was
reached, where they obtained meat and supplies from the alcade, but the
Spanish governor would have nothing to do with them and sent a caravel
to the viceroy with news of their arrival. Word came back forbidding all
traffic and soon all the inhabitants of the town, including the
governor, abandoned their homes and fled to the mountains. With plenty
of fresh supplies and a full cargo of negro slaves aboard, the fleet set
sail for Cumana, on the Spanish main, where they found soldiers newly
arrived and so were not able to sell a negro. “A marvelous goodly
watering place,” was found about two leagues from Cumana, where fresh
water came into the sea and where black-haired Indians, wearing no
beards, came aboard bringing cakes made of a “kinde of corne called
Maize, in bigness of a pease, the eare whereof is much like to a
teasell, but a span in length, having thereon a number of graines.” They
also brought hens, potatoes and pineapples which were traded for beads,
pewter, whistles, glasses, knives and other trifles.
On March 28, 1565, the fleet again set sail and the next day passed near
the island of Tortuga and two days later Captain Hawkins, sailing near
the coast in the pinnace belonging to the _Jesus_, saw many Caribs on
the shore and made in to trade with them, narrowly escaped capture—“as
God would have it.” On April 3d, he reached Burboroata, near the present
town of La Guaira, in Venezuela, where by a show of strength and
persuasive guile he was permitted to bring his ships into the harbor and
also to obtain from the Spanish officials a license to sell thirty “lean
and sicke Negroes which he had on his shippe like[ly] to die upon his
hands, having little or no refreshing for them.”
The sale of these negroes went on slowly. The Spaniards claimed that the
price asked was too high, and Hawkins “shewed his writings what he paid
for his Negroes, declaring also the great charge he was at in his
shipping and men’s wages.” Another grievance was the customs charge
amounting to thirty ducats on each slave (about £66, in modern money).
The governor would not abate this amount so Hawkins showed his teeth and
with “one hundred men well armed with bowes, arrowes, harquebusses and
pikes, hee marched to the towne wardes, and beying perceived by the
Governor, hee straight with all expedition sent messengers to know his
request.” When told that 7½ per cent duty was enough and if it was not
granted that Hawkins and his men “would displease” them, the governor
quickly sent word that “all things should bee to his content.”
While at anchor here a French slaver, the _Green Dragon_ of Havre,
Captain Bontemps, arrived from the Guinea coast with news that he had
been driven off by Portuguese galleys before completing his cargo of
slaves; that Capt. David Carlet with his supercargo and a dozen sailors
had been taken prisoners and accounts of other misadventures, of loss of
men and great lack of fresh water that had occurred, “which was most
sorrowful for us to understand,” wrote Master Sparke.
Curaçao was reached on the 6th of May, where they had difficulty in
finding an anchorage. Here they trafficked for hides “and found great
refreshing both of beefe, mutton and lambes,” the flesh being so
abundant that when they brought the hides the flesh was given to them so
that “the worst in the ship thought scorn not onely of mutton, but also
of sodden lambe, which they disdained to eate unrosted.”
Rio Hache, on the coast of what is now Bolivia, was reached on the
nineteenth and the Spanish authorities denying Hawkins a license to
trade he replied, that “seeing that they had sent him this for his
supper, hee would in the morning bring them as good a breakfast.” When
morning came he shot off a whole-culverin, to summon the town, and with
a hundred men in armor, rowed towards the shore. In his great boat were
two brass falcons and in the bow of each of the other boats were small
cannon called “double-bases.” Drawn up on the beach were thirty horsemen
and about one hundred and fifty foot soldiers “making great bragges with
their cries,” but a round from the two falcons “put them in no small
feare,” so that “they broke their arraie and fell flatte to the
grounde,” and then “dispersed themselves.” Hawkins landed his men and
began marching on the town, which brought out the Spanish treasurer, in
great fear, who granted all demands and “so we made our traffique
quietly with them,” continues the narrative.
While lying in the river they saw many “crocodiles” and lost a negro who
was carried away by one as he was filling water casks by the river bank.
“His nature is ever when he would have his praie, to crie and sobbe like
a Christian bodie, to provoke them to come to him and then he snatcheth
at them, and thereupon came this proverbe that is applied unto women
when they weepe, _Lachryma Crocodili_, the meaning whereof is, that as
the Crocodile when he crieth, goeth about most to deceive, so doth a
woman most commonly when she weepeth.”
Having disposed of his entire cargo of negroes, Captain Hawkins set sail
on May 31st for the island of Jamaica, proposing there to complete his
cargo of hides, but mistaking the island for Hispaniola he ran by to the
leeward and was unable to get up again by reason of the force of the
current, so the little fleet made for Santa Cruz on the island of Cuba,
which also was overpassed and thereby was lost a rich profit on a great
store of hides to be had at either place. Storms and contrary winds in
time brought on great want of fresh water. On the 16th of June, the Isle
of Pines was reached, where they “reasonably watered” from brackish
pools of rainwater found near the shore and made haste to get away from
the exposed anchorage. Scarcely were the anchors weighed and foresails
set than a storm swept down on them and one of the barks was obliged to
cut her cable in hawse in order to save herself.
After passing Cape St. Antonio, at the westerly end of Cuba, they sailed
to the westward, “to fetch the wind,” and also to take advantage of the
current which brought them in sight of the Dry Tortugas on July 5th,
where they loaded a pinnace with birds and took many turtles; also
finding many turtle’s eggs which “they did eat very sweetly.” An effort
was then made to reach the harbor at Havana, but it was passed in the
night and with a short store of water, so that “every man was contented
to pinch his own bellie,” a course was set for the Florida coast. The
little fleet, swept along by the Gulf Stream, made rapid northing and
after one or two mishaps reached the river of May, now the St. Johns,
where a Huguenot colony had been established three years before. Captain
Hawkins found the settlement greatly weakened and with only a small
supply of food. He sold them twenty barrels of meal, four pipes of beans
and other necessaries and also the fifty-ton bark, for which he received
seven hundred crowns.
The homeward voyage was continued on July 28, 1565, and was prolonged by
contrary winds, so that victuals were scanted. On August 23d they were
on the bank off Newfoundland, in one hundred and thirty fathoms. A great
many cod were caught here, which relieved their distress. A week later
two French fisherman were spoken and more fish were obtained in exchange
for Spanish gold and silver; “but they, not looking for anything at all,
were glad in themselves to meete with such goode intertainement at sea,
as they had at our handes. After which departure from them, with a good
large winde the 20 of September we came to Padstow in Cornewall, God be
thanked, in safetie, with the losse of 20 persons in all the voyage, and
profitable to the venturers of the said voyage, as also to the whole
Realme, in bringing home both golde, silver, pearles and other jewels
great store. His name therefore be praised for evermore, Amen.”
CHAPTER III
THE VOYAGE OF THE SHIP _HANNIBAL_ OF
LONDON, IN 1693
It was my misfortune, as well as many others, this last war with France,
in my voyage home from Venice and Zant, in the _William_ of two hundred
tons and twenty guns, to fall into the clutches of three great French
men of war of seventy guns each, in the soundings, about sixty leagues
S.W. from Cape Clear in Ireland. There being so great an inequality in
our strength, and no hopes of escaping, I thought it prudence to submit
without any resistance, and not have my men killed and wounded to no
purpose; for they had five hundred men each, and I but thirty in all;
therefore I was forced to let might overcome right, and upon summons by
a shot athwart our fore foot, from the _Crown_, of seventy brass guns,
which came first up with us, to strike our ensign and become their
prize.[15]
-----
Footnote 15:
This early narrative of a slaving voyage has been abstracted from
Capt. Thomas Phillips’ “Journal,” printed in Churchill’s _Collection
of Voyages_, vol. VI, London, 1746.
-----
After my return to England, I was for some time destitute of imployment,
until Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys, Knt., out of his extraordinary generosity
and good will to me, understanding that the ship _Hannibal_ of four
hundred and fifty tons, and thirty-six guns, was to be sold, gave me
orders to buy her. Having done this he was pleased to deposit the money
for her presently out of his own pocket; and after, by his interest, to
bring in his worthy brother, John Jeffreys, Esq.; Sam. Stanyer, Esq.;
then sub-governor of the African company, and some other eminent
merchants, to be part-owners with me, and then to recommend me and the
ship to the Royal African Company of England; from whom, upon his
account I found acceptance. Being entered into their service, on a
trading voyage to Guinea, for elephant’s teeth, gold, and negro slaves;
and having the needful cargoes on board wherewith to purchase them, as
well as supplies of merchandise, stores, &c. for the company’s castles
and factories; my business being compleated at London, I took boat for
Gravesend the fifth of September in the year 1693, and got on board
about eleven at night, with money to pay my men their river-pay, and one
month’s pay advance-money, as per agreement.
Sunday the 10th in the morning, we broke ground from Gravesend, and
drove with the ebb to the upper end of the Hope, where we chop’d to an
anchor, and in the evening I went up to Gravesend.
Tuesday the 12th. This morning about three o’clock we got under sail,
with a brave gale at W. At nine we were past the Nore, where we drove
till one in the evening, waiting for water, at which time we bore away
for the red sand, and about four got through the narrow, and at six
anchored off the North Foreland, in nine fathom water.
Wednesday the 13th. At four this morning we got up our anchors, with the
wind at S.W. and after several tacks, about eleven we came to an anchor
in the Downs, in eight fathom water. We were detained in the Downs with
every blustering weather and contrary winds until the twenty-fifth of
October when the wind veering to the north, we got up our anchors, and
about seven in the evening were under sail. At noon the next day we saw
the isle of Wight, bearing north-west. We got our anchors up, and our
ship clear for the sea, and removed two of our guns that were open in
the waist into the after-ports in the great cabin.
[Illustration:
PROSPECT OF THE CUSTOM HOUSE, LONDON, IN 1714, WITH SHIPPING OF THE
PERIOD
From an engraving by John Harris, in the Macpherson Collection
]
Friday the 27th. From yesterday noon till twelve this day we have had a
brave topsail gale from north to north-east, steering away west. We run
from four in the evening yesterday, 112′ west, by the best computation I
could make, for our log-line breaking in the night, we lost our log and
were forced to make guess-work. We saw many ships on all sides, but
spoke with none, except one Portuguese of two-hundred tons, bound from
Oporto to London, laden with wine, for some quantities of which
commodity we had a great desire to traffick with him; but it blowing so
hard, and night being come on, hinder’d our design, so that we bid him
farewell, and left him to proceed on his voyage, as we did on ours.
Unbent our cables, and clap’d on house-boards, clear’d our ship, and
appointed by men their quarters in case of engaging an enemy, having
seventy men belonging to the ship, and thirty-three of the African
company’s passengers, for their castles in Guiney, so that we made in
all, men and boys, a hundred and three.
Wednesday the first. At three this morning, the mate that had the watch
came to acquaint me that they discover’d four strange ships with lights
to windward of us. When I came upon deck I perceiv’d one with a light
standing as we did, upon which we got our half ports off,—chests and
hammocks up, and order’d every man to their several quarters, to get
them clear for an engagement. About eleven, being clear day, we had all
things in order, and ready for a fight, at which time I plainly saw four
tall ships with all sails set standing directly with us. I am sure they
were men of war of sixty and seventy guns each, as near as I could
discover through my glass, but of what nation I could not tell, tho’ we
had great reason to believe them French, our frigats seldom or never
cruising so far to the S. and W. They stood towards us with all sails
set in a line, upon which I made a signal, by hoisting and lowering my
ensign four times, to give notice to Capt. Shurley of our new
companions, and crowded with all sails to speak with him, he being about
a mile distant upon my lee bow, and the only one of our fleet then in
company, we having lost the rest last night and the night before. When I
came up with him it blew so hard that we could not hear each other, tho’
we had good speaking-trumpets, therefore we were forced to endeavour to
understand one another by signs, by which I perceived that he was of my
opinion, that since they were so many, not to stand the brunt with them,
two to one being odds at football, we being deep loaden merchant ships,
and they frigats, built and fitted only for fight, but rather to go away
large, and endeavour, by often varying our course, to lose them, it
blowing very hard at S. and being thick dirty weather, which was likely
to continue and increase, which I was not sorry for, since I do verily
believe it saved us a French voyage; therefore we hal’d up our
mainsails, clapt the helm aweather, and bore away under foresail and
maintopsail, with two reefs in, upon the cap, W.N.W. and N.W. till nine,
handed maintopsail, and went away N.W. till ten, having lost sight of
the ships that pursued us e’er since we went large. At eleven, it
blowing a hard storm, having very thick weather and grown sea, lest we
should lose each other, Capt. Shurley brought to under a mizen; my
foresail being up I went to do the like, but in haling out our mizen the
strap of the sheet-block broke, so that e’er we could brail him up he
was by the violence of the gale split to pieces, which occasion’d us to
lower the yard down and unbend him, upon which the ship labouring much
for want of sail, found it convenient to set the mainsail, and having
got the tack aboard, e’er we could gather the sheet aft we split the
mainsail, and were forced to hale down the yard and furl him, and bear
away before the wind N. and N. by W. with only the bunt of our foresail
loose. In furling our mainsail one of our seamen, John Southern, being
careless of himself, fell off the yard-arm and was drown’d, which I was
extremely sorry for, but it was beyond human power to save him, it
blowing a mere fret of wind, and a very great sea, and having no sails
to command the ship.
Tuesday the 2d. From twelve yesterday until two in the evening, we went
away N. with our bare poles, running four miles an hour; at which time,
having brought to a new mizen and reef’d him, we hoisted the yard and
set him, and brought her to under a mizen, then unbent our mainsail that
was split, and with much pains and trouble, we bent another; and having
reef’d him we furl’d him; About four we furl’d our fore-sail snug, and
hoisted the mizen stay-sail, to keep the ship to, and her head upon the
sea, she labouring most dreadfully. At twelve last night the violence of
the storm being abated, we set the main-sail, and lay under it and mizen
till daylight; when having righted up the ship a little, to my great
trouble and surprise, we found that our fore-mast was sprung about three
feet above the partners in the forecastle; the crack being very large,
and opening above an inch upon every rent of the ship, which, to see,
made my heart ake; we found it likewise upon searching, to be almost
rotten to the heart in that place; whereupon I sent for my officers, to
consult what was most proper to be done upon this unexpected accident,
and how best to secure him; but finding some of them begin to urge that
there was no proceeding on so long a voyage with such a mast, and that
it was convenient to bear up for Plymouth, while we were so near it, to
furnish ourselves with another, I thought it convenient to quash this
motion in the bud, and declar’d I was resolv’d to proceed on my voyage,
though I should be forced to go with a jury-mast, rather than return
again to England; and forthwith order’d my carpenters to go to work to
secure him, by paying four new capston bars of good oak, and nine feet
long each, round him, where he was sprung, and spike them very well, and
afterwards clapt four good wooldings upon him, which I was in hopes
would sufficiently secure him, we every day approaching nearer a fair
weather country; and when our carpenters had done what I had order’d
them, it seem’d very firm, and did not complain all the voyage after. In
crowding yesterday morning with maintop-sail to speak with Capt.
Shurley, upon sight of the four strange ships, we wrench’d the head of
our main-mast; and this morning set some men to woold the hull of the
maintop-mast, to the head of the main-mast, to keep him fast, else the
cap would slue much where the head of the mast was wrung.
Saturday the 18th. This morning we found out that one of the Royal
African Company’s soldiers, for their castles in Guiney, was a woman,
who had enter’d herself into their service under the name of John Brown,
without the least suspicion, and had been three months on board without
any mistrust, lying always among the other passengers, and being as
handy and ready to do any work as any of them; and I believe she had
continued undiscover’d till our arrival in Africa, had not she fallen
very sick, which occasion’d our surgeon to visit her, and order’d her a
glister, which when his mate went to administer, he was surpriz’d at
what he discovered, which occasion’d him to make a farther inquiry,
which, as well as her confession, manifesting the truth of her sex, he
came to acquaint me of it, whereupon, in charity, as well as in respect
to her sex, I order’d her a private lodging apart from the men, and gave
the taylor some ordinary stuffs to make her woman’s cloaths; in
recompence for which she prov’d very useful in washing my linen, and
doing what else she could, till we deliver’d her with the rest at Cape
Coast castle. She was about twenty years old, and a likely black girl.
Wednesday the 22d. About four o’clock in the morning it being day-light,
Pico Tenerif bore due east of us, at which time being near Oratava road,
we discern’d two sail between us and the shore, one of which we
perceived to be a ship, and the other seem’d a barca longa; in a short
time we saw the ship standing off to us, with all sails set, whereupon
we tack’d off to the N. to have time to put our ship in a posture of
defence, in case she prov’d an enemy, and with all expedition got our
hatch ports off, our chests and hamocks up, our close quarters up, guns
and small arms all ready, and about twelve we were every way clear and
ready for an engagement, at which time we furl’d our main-sail, and
handed all our small sails, flung our arms, clapp’d on our stoppers, our
puddings, and plattings under our parrels, and being but little wind
hal’d up our fore-sail, and lay by for the ship that was so earnest to
speak with us.
Thursday the 23d. From noon yesterday we had but faint small breezes of
wind until three in the evening, at which time the ship that stood after
us was got within random gun-shot of us, appearing a fine long snug
frigate; so that now we no longer doubted but she was an enemy,
therefore letting fly my colours, we fir’d a shot athwart his fore foot;
upon which he shew’d an English ensign; but for all his cheat we knew
what he was, and were in all kinds ready to give him his welcome, we
jogging easily under our fighting sails till four, at which time, being
within carbine shot of us, he run out his lower tier of guns (which I
did not expect, nor was well pleased to see) nine of each side, and
struck his false colours, and hoisted the French white sheet. I
perceiv’d he was resolv’d to pluck a crow with me; therefore, after
drinking a dram, and encouraging all, order’d all my men to their guns,
to behave themselves courageously, and expected his broad-side, which
when within pistol-shot, he gave us, and his volley of small shot. We
return’d his civility very heartily with ours; after which he shot
a-head of us, and brought to, and fell along our larboard side, and gave
us his other broad-side, as we did him; then each of us loaded and fired
as fast as we could, until ten o’clock at night, when his foretop mast
came by the board; then he fell astern of us, and made the best of his
way to lee-ward, with his boat towing a-head, and took his leave of us.
We gave him a levet with our trumpets, and what guns we had loaded, to
bid him farewell, being heartily glad to be rid of such a troublesome
guest. I was extremely glad that by God’s assistance we defended the
ship, though she was most miserably shatter’d and torn in her mast and
rigging, having had eleven shot in our main mast, three quite through
him, and several lodg’d in him and gaul’d him standing three or four
inches deep; eight shot in our fore-mast, two quite through; our
main-top shot to pieces; our main-topmast splinter’d half away; our
mizen yard shot in two pieces; our sprit-sail, top-mast jack, and jack
staff, shot away; our ancient staff shot by the board, so that had no
colours flying most part of the ingagement but the king’s pendant,
which, by authority of my letter of mart, I fought under; we had several
shot through our yards, with much more too long to insert. As to the
rigging, I know not how to begin or end with it, it was so tore by long
bars of iron they fired; our main shrouds we were forced to knot in
fourteen places, and had but one shroud standing of the larboard side
when Monsieur tow’d off. We knotted our fore shrouds, in nine places;
our main-top chain and main tie were shot to pieces, so that the yard
hung wholly by the parrel and pudding: our stay, sheets and tacks were
shot in several places; and of the running rigging few or none escaped
their small shot, which flew very thick; we had not above thirty shot
placed in our hull, four of which were under water; he fired very high
for the most part, at our mast, yards and rigging, to bring our mast by
the board, and had we had a top-sail gale, they must have all gone away;
but it was our good fortune to have smooth water (a thing not common in
that place), and little wind, until we had opportunity, by stoppers,
preventers, knotting and splicing, to secure them indifferently. We
fired low all into his hull, and loaded our low guns (which were all
demiculverin) constantly with both double and round shot, and our
quarter deck guns with round shot, and tin cases full of musket bullets,
so that we must certainly have killed him a great many men; our three
boats and booms were shot thro’ in many places; and we had a suit of
sails quite spoil’d, some being shot thro’ like strainers. We had five
men kill’d outright, and about thirty-two wounded; among the last was my
brother, my gunner, carpenter, and boatswain; the carpenter had his arm
shot off, and three others their legs; five or six of my best men were
dreadfully blown up by their carelessness in laying the lighted matches
among some cartridges of powder; our harper had his scull fractur’d by a
small shot; the rest are but slight small shot and splinter wounds, and
bruises,—and hope will do all well; our surgeon, Mr. William Gordon,
being a diligent man, and an excellent artist in his profession. The
fight lasted six hours, from four till ten o’clock, being all that while
within pistol shot, little wind, and small water, and firing as fast as
both sides could load our guns. We often gave them huzza’s during the
engagement, and they would answer with _Vive le roys_; but when he towed
away under our stern his note was changed, for I never heard such
dreadful screeching and howling as was on board of him, so that he must
needs have a great many men wounded. I judged him to be about 48 guns,
and a man of war. After he left us we steered W. by S. with a small gale
at N.E. and spent all the night in fixing our rigging as well as we
could, to be in some posture to receive him, if he should incline to
have another bout with us in the morning; but our men being tired all
day, and the best of them kill’d or wounded, we could do but little,
tho’ they had all the encouragement that I could give them and as much
punch as they would drink. This morning, when it was light, we saw the
enemy about three leagues distance, standing to the northward from us,
having, I presume, had his belly-full the night before, and which,
without fallacy, I was very glad of, not desiring to have any more to do
with such a quarrelsome fellow.
Friday the 24th. These twenty-four hours we have spent in knotting our
shrouds, and fixing our other rigging as well as we could; knotted our
main shrouds in fourteen places, and the foreshrouds in nine, and after
set them up very tort, to secure our poor shattered mast; we were forced
to keep our chain-pump and both hand-pumps constantly going, to keep the
ship free, she making a great deal of water, through the four shot holes
rec’d under water, which we could not come at to stop effectually by
reason of the sea. This day we lived on bread and cheese and punch, not
being able to dress any meat, by reason our hearth and furnaces were
shot thro’, which our armourer was about mending. We had a hogshead of
brandy shot in our lazaretta, whose loss we much regretted. The poor
ship looked miserably with her shot rigging dangling about, and as full
of splinters as a carpenter’s yard full of chips.
Sunday the 26th. Yesterday in the evening we set up our shrouds tort
again, the heat of the weather and the drawing of the knots having much
slackened them; our shot mizen-yard being splic’d and fish’d, we bent a
new mizen to him, and got him up and set him; we unbent our foresail
(which had thirty large shot-holes thro’ him, some half-yard wide, done
with the long bars of iron they fired, and innumerable musket-shot
holes) and brought to another; we woolded three large crows to the
foremast, to succour a great gaul about eight inches deep which he had
received in the engagement, about ten foot above the forecastle; set our
carpenters to work about mending the shot-holes in our bolts.
Monday the 27th. Yesterday’s evening our carpenters spent in mending the
bottom of our yaul, so that now we have one boat that will swim, ready
to be hoisted out upon any sudden accident of a man’s falling overboard,
or the like. We kept our pumps constantly plying, to free the ship, in
which the Royal African Company’s soldiers did us good service in the
day-time. This morning, as soon as it was clear light, we saw a ship
upon our weather bow, bearing of us S. by W. distance about a league,
standing as we did; immediately we called up all hands to put the ship
in a fighting posture, and in truth our men were very dextrous at it, so
that we were clear for a fight in less than an hour’s time (being
improved by the last engagement). In about half an hour after we were
every where ready, we perceived her to hale close upon a wind, crowding
with all the sail she could towards the Barbary coast. She seemed to us
a good ship, and I do believe it might be Capt. Daniell in the
_Mediteranean_, bound to Angola. When we saw him shun us we kept on our
own course being not very desirous to force a quarrel, having so lately
been well bang’d, tho’ all our men that were unwounded were very
resolute to give him a rough salute, had he had any thing to say to us;
he keeping still close hal’d, about twelve o’clock was out of sight. We
then put our half ports on again, unflung our yards, and got off our
close quarters, and set our carpenters about mending the rest of our
boats. This false alarm hinder’d the paying of our tropick bottles. This
day our bag-piper’s leg was cut off a little below the knee.
Saturday the 2d. From noon yesterday until six in the evening we steered
along the island of St. Jago, at which time took in our small, and hal’d
up our low sails, and stood to the E. off, under our topsails only,
Santa Mayo then bearing E.N.E. distance five leagues. At ten we braced
our fore-topsail to the mast, and lay by for daylight to get into the
harbour of Praya, to rift our ship; at six in the morning made sail and
stood in for the port, and about ten we got in. We rid somewhat more
than a cable’s length from each shore, and about a mile from the bottom
of the bay, which is fine and sandy, with a large cocoanut orchard near
the water side.
Sunday the 3d. Yesterday we unbent the main-sail; and having lowered the
yard, got it fore and aft, in order to splice a piece ten foot long to
the starboard yard-arm, where it was broke. About three o’clock this
morning got our guns over, and gave the ship a heel to port, in order to
stop our leaks on the starboard side, where we received three shots
under water afore the chestree. Our carpenters spent till two in the
evening in stopping them, our men in the mean time giving the ship a
scrub as low as they could; then we heeled the ship the other way, and
found a very large shot-hole in the larboard-bow, about a foot under
water. Our carpenters spent the rest of the day in stopping that, and
righted the ship before night. About nine this morning I went with some
of my officers to pay my respects to the governor at St. Jago town,
having our trumpets in the pinnace’s head.
After we had rowed about seven miles, we came about a point into the bay
near the town. We run our boat ashore right against the gate; where
being landed, and seeing only a few negroes and children, our trumpets
sounded a levet, which soon brought an officer down to us, who conducted
us to the governor’s palace at the upper part of the town; where we saw
no body but negro women, who talked to us many smutty English words,
making lascivious undecent gestures with their bodies, which were all
naked, excepting a little clout about their waste, hanging down to the
middle of the thigh.
We were informed that the governor was at church; but our trumpets had
alarmed him so, that we had not waited long ere he appeared, advancing
towards us at the head of the congregation. There were two young
captains and the priest accompanied him, his horse being led after him
in pretty good equipage. When he was come where we were, we saluted him
with our hats, which he and his company returned very courteously. Then
he desir’d us to walk in, and led us thro’ a court into a large hut,
with an iron balcony facing the sea, towards which it had a fine
prospect. After we were seated I acquainted him we were come to pay our
respects to him, and gave him an account of our voyage, and what induced
us to put into his port, desiring he would permit us to furnish
ourselves with what fresh water and provisions we had occasion for. He
replied, That since he was perswaded we were upon an honest account, we
might furnish ourselves with what e’er the island afforded; which favour
I thankfully acknowledged. I fancied him all this time a little uneasy
by reason he saw so many of my officers and passengers with me, and that
he had an inclination to give me some treat, but that he was afraid they
would devour him; therefore calling one of them to me, I whispered him
to go with the rest and take a walk for an hour; which they soon did,
making their excuse to the governor, that they had a desire to see the
town, which he was not backward to grant them, none remaining with me
but my brother.
Soon after they were gone, we had a napkin laid, and a loaf of good
white bread; then he went into the next room and brought out a box of
marmalad, and a square case bottle half full of Madeira wine in which he
drank to me; but had it not been out of perfect civility, I had rather
have pledged him in water; for it was so thick, foul and hot, that it
had like to have made me commit an indecency in his excellency’s
presence; but having laid a foundation of good punch in the morning
aboard, it fortified my stomach so as that I had power to contain
myself. Afterwards I gave him an invitation to come and dine aboard our
ship, where he should find a cordial welcome, as well as all due
respect. He received the invitation kindly, but assured me, that he had
not been on board any ship since he had been governor there, and that if
he were inclined to go, the inhabitants would lose their lives ere they
would permit him, lest any harm should befal him, or tricks be put upon
him, as there have been on some governors of these islands, by pirates
and privateers, who when they have got them aboard, have carried them
away if they did not forthwith give orders to bring them such a quantity
of provisions as they demanded, for which they would pretend to give a
bill of exchange payable at London, but drawn upon John-a-Nokes, or the
pump at Algate, as Avery’s bill was to the governor of St. Thomas’s
isle.
Monday the 4th. This day our carpenters spliced a piece to the
main-yard, and clap’d two good iron hoops and two wooldings up it. We
unbent our shot topsails, and brought others to the yards; fitted our
shatter’d main-stay, sent the longboat for water, of which she filled
sixteen punchions. We had fine weather, and a curious easy gale at N.E.
In the morning I went ashore at the cod of the bay, which I found
covered with ragged merchants; some with oranges, lemons, cocoa-nuts,
pine apples, bananas, &c. Here one with a couple of small hens in his
hand, there another with a little monkey upon his knee; a little
farther, one with a goat betwixt his legs, another near him with a hog
tied to his arm, and our seamen so busy trafficking with them for old
ragged shirts, drawers, or any other moveables (for nothing came amiss)
that the trade was very brisk and diverting. After we had pleased
ourselves some time with this rag market, we walked up the hill to
deliver the cheese I had promised the governor, which I intrusted with
the before-named old officer, presenting himself with another. Here I
met with a gentleman of the island who was come on purpose to offer to
supply me with what provisions I wanted, and to take what money I could
muster, and the rest in goods for it. I gave him orders for fifteen
goats, ten sheep, four hogs, sixty hens, five hundred oranges, and five
hundred lemons, which he promised should be ready at the seaside in the
morning. The negroes here go naked, except a cloth about their middles,
and a roll of linen the women wear about their heads. The cloaths they
wear are of cotton, and chequered or striped with blue. I have been told
they make great quantities of these cloaths to sell, being much
esteemed, and a very good commodity upon the Gold Coast in Guiney; but
for my part I saw none but what the women wore; neither did any body
mention or offer any such to me for sale.
Tuesday the fifth. This morning, according to promise, I found the
provision we had bespoke at the water-side, which we bought very
reasonably, and paid for them three pounds in Spanish money which I had
picked up among my officers, and the rest in muskets, coral, and painted
linen. I went and took leave of the old officer, intending to go no more
ashore, and about noon returned aboard, where our men were busy setting
our shrouds well up fore and aft. Our carpenters had sawed a spare
maintopmast we had into two halves, with which this morning they fished
the foremast, which was very crazy. After having fayed and spiked the
fishes, they clap’d four good wooldings upon them. We got up our low
yards, and made all clear to sail next morning. Last night Thomas
Cronow, an honest stout Welshman, one of our sailors, died of his wounds
received in the late engagement, one of his legs being carried off about
the ancle, and half his other foot by the same shot. He was rowed some
distance from the ship and his body committed to the deep.
Wednesday the 6th. This morning at four we got our stream anchor and
hauser aboard, then having loosed and hoisted our topsails, hove up our
small bower, and stood out to sea, with the wind at N.E., a fine fresh
gale.
Thursday the 7th. Yesterday in the evening we cleaned all fore and aft
between decks; and having covered the gratings close with tarpaulins, we
burnt three buckets of tar to keep the ship wholesome and prevent
infection and distempers. We hoisted in our pinnace and yaul; and having
clap’d the boat rope and a hauser upon the longboat, towed her astern.
We unbent our cables, got up our anchors, clap’d on house-boards, and
took up one reef in our topsails.
Saturday the 23rd. From noon yesterday we steer’d along shore for Cape
Mounseradoe, with a small gale of wind. At daylight, we saw the cape,
and soon after descried three vessels riding at anchor under it; one of
which seem’d a large ship. We not knowing what they might be, made our
ship clear, and order’d all things ready for a battle, when we perceived
a boat, rowing off towards us, who having discover’d what we were, came
aboard us, being the pinnace of the _East India Merchant_, Captain
Shurley, my consort, who had sent her to intreat me to put in there to
his assistance, he having, off the cape, had his fore-mast and fore-yard
split to pieces, with a thunder-bolt, and his fore-topgallant-sail set
on fire by the precedent flash of lightning. I intended to wood and
water at Junco, about twelve leagues more to the E. where is a good
river, and plenty of wood; but understanding this disaster that had
befallen Captain Shurley, I alter’d my resolution, and made all the way
I could to get into Mounseradoe road, which, with the sea breeze, I did,
and about four in the evening let go my anchor in eight fathom water. We
found the other two vessels to be one Gubbins, an interloper, come from
Barbadoes, chiefly laden with rum, to trade for gold and slaves, of
which I bought about 500 gallons of him cheap, and sold it to good
advantage. The other vessel was the _Stanier_ sloop, with M. Colker on
board her, who was agent of Cherborough, and came thence to trade along
the coast for teeth, &c.
The people here are civil and courteous, but great beggars, the king and
cappashires continually haunting us for dashes (which is their word for
presents). Here is store of good rice, and cheap, which they brought us
in abundance; and for our better conveniency of trading with them, as
well as to lodge our carpenters that lay ashore in the nights to cut
wood, we erected two tents with old sails, upon the spit of sand at the
mouth of the river. The chief commodity we traded for was rice, of which
I bought about five tuns, paying mostly for it in booges or cawries,
which are the goods they chiefly esteem, for a pint of which we could
buy 30 lb. of rice. The other goods they approved of were iron bars and
red Welsh plains; but they had nothing considerable to trade with us for
them. We bought some fowls of them which they call “Cocadecoes,” being
not bigger than our English chickens, and eat dry. We also purchas’d
some limes, wild oranges, pine apples, and two or three small goats.
They had a few small elephants teeth, but not worth our regard.
The 28th came in here Capt. John Soans, in the _Jeffry_; and having
supply’d himself with some wood, water, and rice, set sail again for the
Bight, on Thursday the 3d of Jan. having left with me a packet of
letters directed for Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys, to be forwarded to Europe,
with the first conveniency. Agent Colker, set sail for Sherberow in the
5th, and Gubbins, in the Barbadoes interloper, the same morning for the
Gold Coast, by whom I sent letters to the African Company’s three chief
merchants at Cabo Corse Castle, signifying my agreement with the company
to slave upon the Gold Coast, and bespeaking their diligence in
procuring what numbers they could for me against my arrival there, with
what else was needful. I was forced to stay here ten days after I had
compleated my business, for Capt. Shurley to refit his ship, which at
length being done, we both set sail with the morning breeze, on the 9th
of Jan. 1693/4 for the coast. The negroes of this place, express’d a
great affection for the English, and as much hatred to the French; two
of them took Capt. Shurley’s and my name, assuring us their next sons
should be called so.
Saturday the 13th. Yesterday till about four in the evening, being off
the river of Sestos, we came to an anchor in nine fathom water. This
morning I went ashore in my pinnace with some goods to trade, and Capt.
Shurley sent his with his purser in her, being so ill that he could not
go himself.
About eight miles up the river is the town where king Peter their
monarch lives; but I could not spare time to go and visit him, and in
truth had no great inclination to venture so far in a boat, having been
informed that the negroes here are very treacherous and bloody, as some
of our European traders have found to their cost. The goods in demand
here are brass kettles, pewter basons of several sizes, boogas or
cowries, freezes, Welsh plains, red and blue, knives, &c., some of each
of which we carried ashore; but they had nothing to traffick with us for
them, except a few little calves teeth (for so they call the young
elephants) which were not worth our notice, and which they held very
dear. We bought some hens, limes, and oranges; were offer’d some rice,
but much dearer than we bought at Mounseradoe, where we had supply’d
ourselves.
[Illustration:
NEGRO SLAVES FROM LOANGO, AFRICA
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an Expedition to
Surinam_, London, 1796
]
Sunday the 14th. Finding no trade to encourage our stay at Sestos, we
got up our stream-anchor this morning, and set sail with a small gale at
W.
Monday the 15th. From noon yesterday we steer’d along shore till two in
the evening, at which time came several canoos aboard us from Sanguin
river, where the Grain or Malagetta coast begins. They brought us
pepper, or, as they call it, Malagetta, which is much like our Indian
pepper and for ought I know, as good. It was brought in ozier baskets. I
bought 1000 weight of it at one iron bar (value in England three
shillings and six pence) and a dashy of a knife or two to the broker.
The reason of our buying this pepper is to give it to our negroes in
their messes to keep them from the flux and dry belly-ach, which they
are very incident to.
Tuesday the 16th. At noon this day we were off of Wappo, whence came off
to us more canoos, with Malagetta to sell, of which I bought three
hundred weight for three two-pound pewter basons. We might have bought
much more, but having enough for our purpose, we turn’d them ashore, and
pursue’d our course.
Wednesday the 17th. Yesterday my poor brother grew very ill and
delirious; and notwithstanding all the endeavours used by my own and
Capt. Shurley’s doctor for his recovery, about three in the evening this
day he took his leave of this troublesome world, and left me full of
affliction for the loss of him. He had been sick of a malignant fever
about eight days, and many of my men lay ill of the same distemper.
January the 18th. Having yesterday doubled Cape Palmas, about five in
the evening we came to an anchor in nineteen fathom water, where we rode
till six this morning. We got under sail, when the coffin being ready,
the deceas’d was nailed up therein; and our pinnace being hoisted out,
he was lower’d into her, and myself, my doctor and purser went in her to
bury him, the colours of our own ship and _East-India Merchant_ being
lowered half-mast down, our trumpets and drums sounding and beating, as
is customary upon such melancholy occasions. We row’d the corpse about
1/4 of a mile from the ship to seaward; and the prayers of the church
being read, I help’d to commit his body to the deep, which was the last
office lay in my power to do for my dear brother. Then the _Hannibal_
fired sixteen guns at 1/2 minute distance of time, which was the number
of years he had lived in this uncertain world; and the _East-India
Merchant_ fired ten guns.
Sunday the 21st. At six we weigh’d anchor, and stood along to the east.
About ten came two canoos aboard us from Caba-la-ho, and were follow’d
by several others with stores of good teeth, which invited us to come to
anchor; but ere the negroes in the canoos would come aboard, they
required that the captain of the ship should come down the out side of
the ship, and drop three drops of the sea water into his eye, as a
pledge of friendship, and of safety for them to come aboard; which I
very readily consented to and perform’d, in hopes of a good market for
their large fair teeth, which I had a longing desire to purchase. Then
they came aboard, but seeing so many men on deck, were mistrustful, and
went into their canoos again. I was much concerned at their fearfulness,
and with much persuasion prevailed on them to return, which they did,
and having given each that came in a good coge of brandy, I shewed them
some of my commodities, and they brought in some teeth. I was astonished
when first they came near the ship, to hear no other speech come from
them but “Qua, Qua, Qua, Qua,” like a parcel of ducks; from which I
presume this teeth coast hath had the appellation of Quaquaa coast, it
reaching from Cape Palmas to Bassam Picolo, where was the first gold I
meet with. I have no where upon the coast met with the negroes so shy as
here, which makes me fancy they have had tricks played them by such
blades as Long Ben, alias Avery, who have seiz’d them and carried them
away. The goods they most covet are pewter basons, the larger the
better, iron bars, knives, and large screw’d pewter jugs, which they did
much affect.
Saturday the 27th. At two in the evening yesterday we got up our
anchors, and sailed along shore until six, when came a four-hand canoo
aboard us from Bassam, assuring us of good trade of gold and slaves in
the morning, if we would anchor, and that they would stay with us all
night, which we permitted them, hoisting up their canoo in the tackles,
and let go our anchors in fourteen fathom water. In the morning those
aboard fell to trade, of whom I took thirty-six achies of gold in
fatishes for pewter and iron bars.
Sunday the 28th. The negroes yesterday promised us a good trade this day
if we stay’d. Accordingly this morning came aboard of me two canoos, of
which I took sixteen ounces of gold in fatishes, for iron bars, pewter,
and knives, viz. for one iron bar 1½ achy, for a dozen of knives, one
achy, for a four-pound pewter bason, one achy, with several knives for
dashes to those that traded briskly. Here the negroes are not so well
skilled in trade as upon the Gold Coast, for we could put the
bank-weights upon them; but to leeward, on the Gold Coast, they knew our
Troy weights as well as ourselves, and have weights of their own, which
they compare ours with. Like-wise at this place goods yield a better
price than among our factories to leeward, by reason that here they
can’t supply themselves at all times as they can there; therefore when
they have an opportunity of ships passing by, they buy what they want,
tho’ they give a better price for it; but they have but small quantities
of gold to trade with.
Wednesday the 31st. Last night I was taken with a violent racking pain
the right side of my head; and Capt. Shurley being very ill of a fever,
sent for Mr. Gordon, my doctor, to have his advice. On Sunday the pain
in my head increased, and I was taken with a dimness in my eyes, that I
could not see ten yards off, and a dizziness in my head, that I could
not stand nor walk without assistance.
Wednesday the 13th, in the morning we got under sail, and having doubled
Cape Apollonia, in the evening we came to an anchor at Axem in eight
fathom water, about two miles from the Dutch fort. Here we had but
little trade, therefore after we got aboard we weigh’d, and stood along
shore till night, when anchored in 18 fathom water, a-breast the
Brandenburg fort, near Cape Tres Puntar.
The 20th in the morning Capt. Shurley and I went ashore to our castle at
Succandy, where we found the factor, Mr. Johnson, in his bed raving mad,
cursing and swearing most wretchedly at us, not in the least knowing
Capt. Shurley, tho’ he had a long former acquaintance with him. I pity’d
from my soul this poor man, who had plunged himself into this condition
thro’ resentment of an affront put upon him by one Vanbukeline, the
copeman or merchant of the Mine-castle, which, as we were informed by
his second (who was a young lad, and had been a bluecoat-hospital boy)
was as follows: One Taguba, a noted negro woman in Cape Corce town,
being got with child by some of the soldiers of our castle there, was
brought to bed of a Malatto girl, who growing to be about 11 years old,
Mr. Johnson a factor, then at Cabo Corce, had a great fancy for her, and
purposed to take her for his wife (as they take wives in Guiney); and
about that time he being removed to Succandy, to be chief factor, to
make sure of the girl, took her there to live with him till she was of
age fit for matrimonial functions, using much tenderness and kindness to
her, and taking great pleasure and satisfaction in her company for two
or three years. When she was grown man’s meat, and a pretty girl,
Vanbukeline by bribes and presents corrupted her mother Taguba, and
prevailed with her to go to Succandy, and under pretence of making a
visit to her daughter, to steal her away and bring her to him, he having
ordered a swift canoo to lie ready under the Dutch fort at Succandy for
that end. The mother accordingly came, and having been kindly treated by
Mr. Johnson, who suspected nothing, went with her daughter to take a
walk, and being come near the canoo that lay perdue, the canoo men took
hold of her and put her per force into it, her mother following, and
carried them both away to the Mine-castle, and delivered the young one
to Vanbukeline, who soon cracked that nut which Mr. Johnson had been so
long preparing for his own tooth. When I dined with the Dutch general at
the Mine, I saw her there, being brought in to dance before us, very
fine, bearing the title of madam Vanbukeline. This, and some other old
differences between that Dutchman and he, did so disturb and vex him,
that it threw him into distempers, and quite turned his brain. We were
entertained by the young second as well as he could; and about three in
the evening we went aboard. I have been informed since my being here,
that the adjacent negroes, instigated by Vanbukeline and the Dutch
general, had in the night surprized and seiz’d the fort, cut Johnson the
factor to pieces, and plundered all the goods and merchandise.
On the 27th in the afternoon we came to an anchor in Cape Corce road in
eight fathom water, and saluted our castle with 15 guns, which they
returned. The merchandise and stores we brought for the castle, we sent
in our longboat as near the shore as she dare go, and the canoos came
and unlade her; which being flat bottom’d, play upon the sea until they
perceive a smooth, then with violence run themselves ashore, take out
the goods, and launch off again. We landed out of the _Hannibal_, at
this place, thirty soldiers for the company, in as good health as we
received them aboard in England; but in two months time that we lay here
to complete our business, they were near half dead, and scarce enough of
the survivors able to carry their fellows to the grave.
The commodities that are most in demand upon the Gold Coast, are blue
and red perpetuanoes, pewter basons of several sizes, from one to four
pound weight, old sheets, large Flemish knives, iron bars, cases of
spirits, blue sayes, if well dyed, and coral, if large and of a good
colour. These goods will seldom or never fail of a good market. I also
carried there on account of the African company, muskets, niconees,
tapseals, baysadoes, brass kettles, English carpets, Welsh plains, lead
bars, firkins of tallow, powder, etc. None of which did answer
expectation, being forced to bring back to England a great part of them;
and those we sold were at a very low rate.
Near the great gate of the castle is a dungeon for the confinement of
heinous malefactors, such as murderers, traitors, &c. till an
opportunity presents to send them into England to be tried, and receive
the rewards of their villainy. Which dark apartment one of my trumpeters
whose name was William Lord, hansel’d; for being ashore drinking punch
with some of the inferior officers of the castle, there happened a
difference between him and one of the serjeants, who gave him a
challenge to meet him with his sword near the redoubt, which the
trumpeter promis’d, and was as good as his word; and both lugging out,
it was the serjeant’s chance to be thrust into the belly; upon which he
resign’d his sword, begg’d his life, and sunk down. Upon knowledge
whereof at the castle, the trumpeter was seized and clap’d into the
dungeon, which as soon as I understood, I desir’d the agents that their
surgeon and mine might visit the serjeant, search his wound, and consult
the consequence thereof, if mortal or not, which they freely agreed to;
and in about an hour after the surgeons return’d, and made their report,
both concurring that it was not mortal nor dangerous, the sword having
only passed about five inches, glancing into the abdomen, without going
thro’ the belly, or injuring any of the entrails. Whereupon the
trumpeter was releas’d; who, after thanks given the agents, immediately
repair’d aboard the ship, as his best asylum, where he was out of the
reach of their power.
But though he was so lucky this time, yet I suspect a halter will be his
fate; for, tho’ a stout fellow, he was a most dissolute wicked wretch;
and for his villainies and irregularities aboard, I was forced, at St.
Thomas’s island, to clap him in irons, hands and feet, and keep him so
upon my poop eight weeks till my arrival at Barbadoes, where I purpos’d
to put him on board one of his majesty’s men of war that knew how to
handle such refractory sparks; but upon his seeming repentance and
earnest intreaty I was prevail’d upon to forbear, to my great vexation
afterwards; for he soon got ashore there, and run away from my ship,
concealing himself in some of the idle houses in Bridgetown, till, by
his extravagancies, he had not only spent all his wages, but run so far
in debt, that he could have no longer entertainment or credit; whereupon
he enter’d himself on board a small New-England frigat of twenty guns,
and an excellent sailer, which some Barbadoes merchants bought and
mann’d, and fitted out warlikely, and brought Colonel Russell, the
governor to be part-owner with them, who gave her his commission. The
pretence of her voyage was for Madagascar to purchase negroes; but as I
privately understood then, and since have been well assured, her design
was for the Red Sea, to make the best of her market with the Mogul’s
ships, which having done, and bought a few negroes for a colour, she
might boldly and safely return to Barbadoes with her treasure, as long
as the governor was interested, and a party concerned, and so near of
kin to the English admiral. I sold a certain judge and merchant there
then, a large parcel of fire-arms for her use, more than was customary
or necessary for such a small vessel to carry only for her defence on a
trading voyage. What became of her since I know not.
At Cabo Corce we took in part of the Indian corn ordered us for the
provision of our negroes to Barbadoes, the allowance being a chest which
contains about four bushels for every negro. Having landed all the
castle cargo, which took us up a great deal of time, the _East-India
Merchant_ and our ship having each 300 tons of goods, and no boats to
load it in but our own longboats, which could not work both at the same
time, and sometimes the sea so high, that we could do nothing for six or
seven days together, the canoos not being able to come off to fetch the
goods, which occasion’d our long stay here, together with filling our
water, disposing of our windward cargo as much as we could, the castle
refusing to take the remainder ashore on any terms, settling accounts
with the company’s chief merchants, taking corn aboard, &c. All which
having at length effected, on the 24th of April, about five in the
evening, I took my leave of the company’s worthy factors here, who had
heap’d upon me abundance of civilities during my stay with them, and
whose candour I shall always gratefully remember, as well as that of all
the honest gentlemen of our nation upon this whole coast, who
endeavour’d to out-vie each other in their favours and kind
entertainments of us in their several factories, being overjoy’d at our
arrival, and no less troubled and concern’d for our departure. But go we
must; and accordingly, after a great many reciprocal endearments, I
wish’d them all a merry Christmas, and took boat, having two chests of
gold for the African Company in London, with me, in her.
When we came aboard we got in the chests of gold, and hoisted our
pinnace upon the booms, but were acquainted by my mate, that when he
came to an anchor with the small bower in the tornado, bringing up the
ship, the cable broke, so that he was forced to let go the best bower,
by which we rid all night.
April the 25th. This morning we took our leave of the castle, paying our
respects with fifteen guns, which they return’d, it being too late to
salute them last night. About eight o’clock sent our longboat on the
buoy to weigh the small bower anchor, and get him aboard, but he was so
settled in the ground with the tornado, that in heaving a strain the
buoy-rope broke, and the boat drove to leeward. We afterwards sent our
boats with a tow-line and double-headed shot to sweep for him, but to no
purpose, for they could not find him all day, therefore were forced to
leave him behind. Captain Shurley got into Animabo this day, but the
seeking for our anchor hinder’d us.
[Illustration:
THE DUTCH CASTLE CORMANTINE, NEAR ANAMABOE ON THE GOLD COAST
From an engraving in Ogilby’s _Africa_, London, 1670
]
The 26th at six in the morning we hove up our best bower, and stood to
the E. for Animabo. About nine o’clock we were abreast Anishen, which is
a thatch’d house, where our African Company have a small factory, and
lies about a league short of Animabo, where about ten o’clock we arriv’d
and anchor’d in seven fathom water, about a mile and half off shore, the
castle bearing N.W. which we saluted with seven guns, and were return’d
the same. We moor’d our ship with ketch-anchor and hauser; and after
dinner I went ashore to Mr. Searle, the factor here, to know where and
when we should send for the corn assign’d us here by the chief merchants
at Cape Corce, there being not enough to supply us there, and therefore
we were to call for the rest at this place and Aena, to complete our
quantity of 700 chests each. Mr. Searle immediately order’d what
quantity he had to be deliver’d us whenever our boats came for it, and
entertain’d us very lovingly till night, when Capt. Shurley and I went
aboard. Animabo lies in the kingdom of Fantine and is a pretty large
town; the Negro inhabitants are accounted very bold and stout fellows,
but the most desperate treacherous villains, and greatest cheats upon
the whole coast, for the gold here is accounted the worst, and most
mix’d with brass, of any in Guinea; it lies about four leagues to the
east of Cabo Corce. Our castle is pretty strong, of about eighteen guns,
where we were very kindly entertain’d by Mr. Searle some days, and by
Mr. Cooper at Aga on other days. Aga is a small thatch’d house, about
half a mile to the east from Animabo on the sea-shore, having little or
no defence except a few muskets. It has a large yard and fine pond for
ducks. Mr. Cooper, the factor, who is a very ingenious young gentleman,
gave us a cordial reception, having the company of his wife (as he
call’d her) to dine with us, as we had of Mrs. Searl’s at Animabo, being
both Mulattos, as was Mr. Ronon’s at Cabo Corce. This is a pleasant way
of marrying, for they can turn them off and take others at pleasure;
which makes them very careful to humour their husbands, in washing their
linen, cleaning their chambers, &c. &c. and the charge of keeping them
is little or nothing.
We lay at Animabo until the 2d day of May, when Captain Shurley and I
having each of us got off 180 chests of corn, fill’d two boats of water,
and dispos’d of what we could of the remainder of our windward cargo, we
took leave of Mr. Searle and Mr. Cooper, and got up our anchors, and
stood to the E. along shore about two leagues distant; and at night came
to an anchor in fifteen fathom water.
May the 3d. This morning we got under sail, and stood along shore for
Winiba. We had several canoos come off, which occasion’d our lying by
often in hopes of trade, but found little, they wanting gold. At eight
in the evening we anchor’d, lest we should out-shoot our port.
May the 4th. This morning at eight made sail, and at eleven came to an
anchor at Winiba in nine fathom good ground; and having moor’d ship
after dinner, went ashore to see for our canoos, which Mr. Nicholas
Buckerige, the factor here, had promis’d to procure us for our use at
Whidaw.
Here we got each of us one five-hand canoo, and set our canoo-men and
carpenters to work to fit them with knees and timbers to strengthen
them. We hal’d our long-boat ashore and trimmed him, being leaky and
much worm-eaten. We fill’d some water, and cut good store of fire-wood,
by the queen’s permission. This queen is about fifty years old, as black
as jet, but very corpulent. We went with Mr. Buckerige to pay our
respects to her under a great tree where she sat. She received us very
kindly, and made her attendants dance after their manner before us. She
was very free of her kisses to Mr. Buckerige, whom she seemed much to
esteem; and truly he deserved it from all that knew him, being an
extraordinary good-humoured and ingenious gentleman, and understood this
country and language very well. We presented her with an anchor of
brandy each, and some hands of tobacco, which she received with
abundance of thanks and satisfaction, and so bid her good night. She was
so extremely civil before we parted, to offer each of us a bed-fellow of
her young maids of honour while we continued there, but we modestly
declined her majesty’s proffer, and that night lay ashore with Mr.
Buckerige. Next day we were forced to keep a fast; for the cook being
dressing of dinner, among which there was a young pig roasting at a
quick fire, the flame of it reached the dry palm branches that thatch’d
the kitchen, which immediately took fire and spread so in an instant,
that, in less than a quarter of an hour, our dinner and kitchen were
converted to ashes.
Our business being compleated at Winiba by the 9th instant, we went
aboard and got our ships under sail for Acra, Mr. Buckerige going my
passenger, to pay a visit to Mr. Bloome the factor there. Capt. Shurley
has been long sick of a flux and fever, and is now very ill, and I
troubled with violent convulsions in my head, that I can get no sleep
without opiates, and so giddy that I cannot walk without assistance. We
stood along shore all day with an early sail to the east, and at night
came to an anchor in 14 fathom water, with our stream-anchor and cable,
which we have chiefly used along the whole coast for the easiness of
weighing him.
The next day arrived at Acra two Danish ships of 26 guns a-piece; as
they passed by our ships they saluted us with nine guns each, which we
returned, and they came to an anchor about a mile to the east of us.
They were sent on purpose from Denmark to compound with the black
general for the surrendering of their fort, and to settle it again, for
which end they had brought with them a governor, soldiers, provisions,
ammunition, merchandize, &c. They made some propositions to the black
general while we were here, but his demands were so exorbitant that they
would not comply with them; tho’ since I understood that the fort was
delivered to them, and having resettled it, went for Whidaw to purchase
slaves, and in their voyage thence to the West Indies, put into the
island of Princes for water, where Avery, the pirate fell in with them,
fought, took, plundered, and burnt them, which was the unhappy end of
their voyage. The poor Danish general went from us aboard his
countrymen, but not without reluctancy, and fear of being harshly
treated in Denmark; but it seems Long Ben (as they called that rogue
Avery) prevented that.
Captain Thomas Shurley, commander of the _East India Merchant_, my
consort, departed this life here, having been long sick of a fever and
flux. He was handsomely buried in Acra castle, a la Soldado, his own
ship firing guns at half a minute distance, during the time the corpse
was rowing ashore. Mr. Bloome, myself, Mr. Buckerige, and the chief of
the Dutch factory, held up the pall. After he was buried, according to
the service of the church of England, his own ship fired 30 guns, the
_Hannibal_, 26, Acra fort, 20, and the Dutch and Black’s fort, 16 each:
He was very averse to making a will, and took it amiss when I urged him
to it; he left the command of his ship to his first mate, Mr. Clay, and
as to his own concerns, said his purser, Mr. Price, knew how all lay.
May the 20th. This morning about nine o’clock we arrived at Whidaw,
being about sixty leagues from Acra to the east, and let go our anchor
in eight fathom water, about two miles off shore, and moor’d with our
stream anchor right against the landing place, a little to the west of
the great thick tuft of trees that looks like a barn, and other trees at
the east end of it, making like a tower. This day got our canoos and all
things else ready, in order to go ashore to-morrow to purchase our
slaves.
May the 21st. This morning I went ashore at Whidaw, accompany’d by my
doctor and purser, Mr. Clay, the present captain of the _East India
Merchant_, his doctor and purser, and about a dozen of our seamen for
our guard, arm’d, in order here to reside till we could purchase 1300
negro slaves, which was the number we both wanted, to compleat 700 for
the _Hannibal_, and 650 for the _East India Merchant_, according to our
agreement in our charter-parties with the Royal African Company; in
procuring which quantity of slaves we spent about nine weeks, during
which time what observations my indisposition with convulsions in my
head, &c. would permit me to make on this country, its trade, manners,
&c. are as follows, viz.
Whidaw, or Quedaw, lies in the latitude of 6° 10′ N. latitude, being the
pleasantest country I have seen in Guiney, consisting of champaigns and
small ascending hills, beautified with always green shady groves of
lime, wild orange, and other trees, and irrigated with divers broad
fresh rivers, which yield plenty of good fish; towards the sea-shore it
is very marshy, and has divers large swamps.
Our factory, built by Captain Wiburne, Sir John Wiburne’s brother,
stands low near the marshes, which renders it a very unhealthy place to
live in; the white men the African Company send there, seldom returning
to tell their tale; ’tis compass’d round with a mud wall, about six foot
high, and on the south-side is the gate; within is a large yard, a mud
thatch’d house, where the factor lives, with the white men; also a
storehouse, a trunk for slaves, and a place where they bury their dead
white men, call’d, very improperly, the hog-yard; there is also a good
forge, and some other small houses: To the east are two small flankers
of mud, with a few popguns and harquebusses, which serve more to terrify
the poor ignorant negroes than to do any execution. While we were here
the factor made a wide deep ditch, round the factory, and had my
carpenters to make a draw-bridge over it, which has render’d it now
pretty secure; for before it was enterable every rainy time, the walls
being washed down, and when the rains were over, built up again. And
here I must observe that the rainy season begins about the middle of
May, and ends the beginning of August, in which space it was my
misfortune to be there, which created sickness among my negroes aboard,
it being noted for the most malignant season by the blacks themselves,
who, while the rains last, will hardly be prevail’d upon to stir out of
their huts, and myself and the poor men found it so by dear experience,
the rains that fall down then being more like fountains than drops, and
as hot as if warmed over a fire.
The factory is about 200 yards in circumference, and a most wretched
place to live in, by reason of the swamps adjacent, whence proceed
noisome stinks, and vast swarms of little flies, call’d musketoes, which
are so intolerably troublesome, that if one does not take opium,
laudanum, or some other soporifick, ’tis impossible to get any sleep in
the night; and that one I lay there was the most uneasy that I ever
felt, for I had not lain down above an hour in the factor’s bed, but I
was so vex’d and tormented by those little malicious animals, that I was
forced to get up again, and dress myself, put gloves on my hands, and
tie a handkerchief over my face till day-light, which notwithstanding
these troublesome devils would sting thro; and the place so stung would
be much inflam’d, and rise into a knob, much provoking the exercise of a
man’s nails; and had king James the first, been there some time, he
would have been convinc’d that scratching where it itches was not the
greatest pleasure in the world, as ’tis said was his opinion.
The best means I could find to allay the inflammation, was to rub the
parts affected with lime-juice, or vinegar, which, tho’ for the present
it produced a smart, the ease it gave, in a short time, made abundant
recompence; therefore to shun the spirit of this cursed little flie as
much as we can, as well as to give us some cool air (that which is
confin’d in a close place in this country, appearing as intensely hot to
an European, as if he suck’d in the heat at the mouth of an oven in
England), we have negro boys to fan us all night with large fans made of
skins.
This factory, feared as ’tis, proved very beneficial to us, by housing
our goods which came ashore late, and could not arrive at the king’s
town where I kept my warehouse, ere it was dark, when they would be very
incident to be pilfer’d by the negro porters which carry them, at which
they are most exquisite; for in the day-time they would steal the
cowries, altho’ our white men that attended the goods from the marine
watched them, they having instruments like wedges, made on purpose to
force asunder the staves of the barrels, that contain’d the cowries,
whereby the shells dropt out; and when any of our seamen that watch’d
the goods came near such porters, they would take out their machine, and
the staves would insensibly close again, so that no hole did appear,
having always their wives and children running by them to carry off the
plunder; which with all our threats and complaints made to the king, we
could not prevent, tho’ we often beat them cruelly, and piniar’d some,
but it was all one, what was bred in the bone, &c. whatever we could do
would not make them forbear.
The factory prov’d beneficial to us in another kind; for after we had
procured a parcel of slaves, and sent them down to the sea-side to be
carry’d off, it sometimes proved bad weather, and so great a sea, that
the canoos could not come ashore to fetch them, so that they returned to
the factory, where they were secured and provided for till good weather
presented, and then were near to embrace the opportunity, we sometimes
shipping off a hundred of both sexes at a time.
We had our cook ashore, and eat as well as we could, provisions being
plenty and cheap; but we soon lost our stomachs by sickness, most of my
men having fevers, and myself such convulsions and aches in my head,
that I could hardly stand or go to the trunk without assistance, and
there often fainted with the horrid stink of the negroes, it being an
old house where all the slaves are kept together, and evacuate nature
where they lie, so that no jakes can stink worse; there being forced to
sit three or four hours at a time, quite ruin’d my health, but there was
no help.
When we were at the trunk, the king’s slaves, if he had any, were the
first offer’d to sale, which the cappasheirs would be very urgent with
us to buy, and would in a manner force us to it ere they would shew us
any other, saying they were the Reys Cosa, and we must not refuse them,
tho’ as I observed they were generally the worst slaves in the trunk,
and we paid more for them than any others, which we could not remedy, it
being one of his majesty’s prerogatives. Then the cappasheirs each
brought out his slaves according to his degree and quality, the greatest
first, &c. and our surgeon examined them well in all kinds, to see that
they were sound wind and limb, making them jump, stretch out their arms
swiftly, looking in their mouths to judge of their age; for the
cappasheirs are so cunning, that they shave them all close before we see
them, so that let them be never so old we can see no grey hairs in their
heads or beards; and then having liquor’d them well and sleeked with
palm oil, ’tis no easy matter to know an old one from a middle-aged one,
but by the teeths decay. But our greatest care of all is to buy none
that are pox’d, lest they should infect the rest aboard; for tho’ we
separate the men and women aboard by partitions and bulk-heads, to
prevent quarrels and wranglings among them, yet do what we can they will
come together, and that distemper which they call the yaws, is very
common here, and discovers itself by almost the same symptoms as the
_Lues Venerea_ or clap does with us; therefore our surgeon is forc’d to
examine the privities of both men and women with the nicest scrutiny,
which is a great slavery, but what can’t be omitted. When we had
selected from the rest such as we liked, we agreed in what goods to pay
for them, the prices being already stated before the king, how much of
each sort of merchandize we were to give for a man, woman, and child,
which gave us much ease, and saved abundance of disputes and wranglings,
and gave the owner a note, signifying our agreement of the sorts of
goods; upon delivery of which the next day he receiv’d them; then we
mark’d the slaves we had bought in the breast, or shoulder, with a hot
iron, having the letter of the ship’s name on it, the place being before
anointed with a little palm oil, which caused but little pain, the mark
being usually well in four or five days, appearing very plain and white
after.
When we had purchased to the number of 50 or 60, we would send them
aboard, there being a cappasheir, intitled the captain of the slaves,
whose care it was to secure them to the waterside, and see them all off;
and if in carrying to the marine any were lost, he was bound to make
them good to us, the captain of the trunk being oblig’d to do the like,
if any run away while under his care, for after we buy them we give him
charge of them till the captain of the slaves comes to carry them away:
There are two officers appointed by the king for this purpose, to each
of which every ship pays the value of a slave in what goods they like
best for their trouble, when they have done trading; and indeed they
discharg’d their duty to us very faithfully, we not having lost one
slave thro’ their neglect in 1300 we bought here.
There is likewise a captain of the sand, who is appointed to take care
of the merchandise we have come ashore to trade with, that the negroes
do not plunder them, we being often forced to leave goods a whole night
on the sea shore, for want of porters to bring them up; but
notwithstanding his care and authority, we often came by the loss and
could have no redress.
When our slaves were come to the sea-side, our canoos were ready to
carry them off to the longboat, if the sea permitted, and he convey’d
them aboard ship, where the men were all put in irons, two and two
shackl’d together, to prevent their mutiny, or swimming ashore.
The negroes are so wilful and loth to leave their own country, that they
have often leap’d out of the canoos, boat and ship, into the sea, and
kept under water till they were drowned, to avoid being taken up and
saved by our boats, which pursued them; they having a more dreadful
apprehension of Barbadoes than we can have of hell, tho’ in reality they
live much better there than in their own country; but home is home, &c.
We have likewise seen divers of them eaten by the sharks, of which a
prodigious number kept about the ships in this place, and I have been
told will follow her hence to Barbadoes, for the dead negroes that are
thrown over-board in the passage. I am certain in our voyage there we
did not want the sight of some every day, but that they were the same I
can’t affirm. We had about 12 negroes did wilfully drown themselves, and
others starv’d themselves to death; for ’tis their belief that when they
die they return home to their own country and friends again.
The best goods to purchase slaves here are cowries, the smaller the more
esteemed; for they pay them all by tale, the smallest being as valuable
as the biggest, but take them from us by measure or weight, of which
about 100 pounds for a good man-slave. The next in demand are brass
neptunes or basons, very large, thin, and flat; for after they have
bought them they cut them in pieces to make anilias or bracelets, and
collars for their arms, legs and necks. The other preferable goods are
blue paper sletias, cambricks or lawns, caddy chints, broad ditto,
coral, large, smooth, and of a deep red, rangoes large and red, iron
bars, powder and brandy.
With the above goods a ship cannot want slaves here, and may purchase
them for about three pounds fifteen shillings a head, but near half the
cargo value must be cowries or booges, and brass basons, to set off the
other goods that we buy cheaper, as coral, rangoes, iron, &c. else they
will not take them; for if a cappasheir sells five slaves, he will have
two of them paid for in cowries, and one in brass, which are dear
slaves; for a slave in cowries costs us above four pounds in England;
whereas a slave in coral, rangoes, or iron, does not cost fifty
shillings; but without the cowries and brass they will take none of the
last goods, and but small quantities at best, especially, if they can
discover that you have good store of cowries and brass aboard, then no
other goods will serve their turn, till they have got as much as you
have; and after for the rest of the goods they will be indifferent and
make you come to their own terms, or else lie a long time for your
slaves, so that those you have on board are dying while you are buying
others ashore; therefore every man that comes here, ought to be very
cautious in making his report to the king at first, of what sorts and
quantities of goods he has, and be sure to say his cargo consists mostly
in iron, coral, rangoes, chints, &c. so that he may dispose of those
goods as soon as he can, and at last his cowries and brass will bring
him slaves as fast as he can buy them; but this is to be understood of a
single ship: or more, if the captains agree, which seldom happens; for
where there are divers ships, and of separate interests, about buying
the same commodity they commonly undermine, betray, and out-bid one the
other; and the Guiney commanders’ words and promises are the least to be
depended upon of any I know who use the sea; for they would deceive
their fathers in their trade if they could.
The road where our ships ride is very good and clean ground, and gradual
soundings. The best anchoring is in eight fathom water, against a great
tuft of trees that make like a barn, about a mile and a half off the
shore, on which there runs such a prodigious swell and surf, that we
venture drowning every time we go ashore and come off, the canoos
frequently over-setting, but the canoo-men are such excellent divers and
swimmers, that they preserve the lives of those they have any kindness
for, but such as they have any displeasure to they will let shift for
themselves, therefore ’tis very prudent for all commanders to be kind
and obliging to them, their lives lying in their hands, which they can
make them lose at pleasure, and impute all to accident, and they could
not help it; and there are no amends to be had.
The canoos we buy on the Gold Coast, and strengthen them with knees and
weather-boards fore and aft, to keep the sea out, they plunging very
deep when they go against a sea. They are made of the trunk of the
cotton tree hollow’d, from a two hand to a twelve hand canoo, the
largest being not above four foot broad, but twenty-eight or thirty foot
long. Those that are most fit for the use at Whidaw, are five hand or
seven hand canoos; of which each ship that buys many slaves ought to
carry two, for they are very incident to be staved by the great sea when
they overset, and here is none for supply, and without them there is no
landing or coming off for goods or men.
The canoo-men we bring from Cape Corce, being seven in number, of which
one is boatswain, and is commonly one of the most skilful canoo-men in
Guiney; he commands the rest, and always steers the canoo, and gives his
orders to the rest, when to row or when to lie on their paddles, to
watch a smooth or shun a great sea they see coming. Their pay is certain
and stated, half of which we pay them in gold at Cape Corce; and the
rest in goods when we have done with them at Whidaw; ’tis also customary
to give them a canoo to carry them back, and cut up the other for
fire-wood, unless an opportunity offers to sell it, which is very rare.
They lost us six or seven barrels of cowries, above 100 bars of iron,
and other goods, by the oversetting of the canoos in landing them, which
we could never recover, or have the least satisfaction for, but were
forced to give them good words, lest they should, in revenge, play us
more such tricks. We kept two men ashore here constantly to fill water,
which lay and eat at the factory, which fill’d our small hogsheads in
the night, and roll’d them over the sand to the sea-side, ready to raft
off in the morning, before the sea breeze came in, which is the only
time, we having no other way to get it off but by rafting, and in
hauling off to the longboat the great sea would often break our raft,
and stave our cask, whereby we lost a great many.
The longboat was chiefly employ’d in bringing water aboard, which we
started into our butts in the hold, and sent the small cask ashore again
next morning, of which we had two gangs on purpose. We had a little deal
yaul which did us great service in bringing off cows, hogs, staves,
letters, &c. from the canoos, with only two boys in her.
When our slaves are aboard we shackle the men two and two, while we lie
in port, and in sight of their own country, for ’tis then they attempt
to make their escape, and mutiny; to prevent which we always keep
centinels upon the hatchways, and have a chest of small arms, ready
loaden and prim’d, constantly lying at hand upon the quarter-deck,
together with some granada shells; and two of our quarter-deck guns,
pointing on the deck thence, and two more out of the steerage, the door
of which is always kept shut, and well barr’d. They are fed twice a day,
at 10 in the morning, and 4 in the evening, which is the time they are
aptest to mutiny, being all upon deck; therefore all that time, what of
our men are not employ’d in distributing their victuals to them, and
settling them, stand to their arms; and some with lighted matches at the
great guns that yaun upon them, loaden with partridge, till they have
done and gone down to their kennels between decks. Their chief diet is
call’d dabbadabb, being Indian corn ground as small as oat-meal in iron
mills, which we carry for that purpose; and afterwards mix’d with water
and boil’d well in a large copper furnace, till ’tis as thick as a
pudding. About a peckful of which in vessels, call’d crews, is allow’d
to 10 men, with a little salt, malagetta, and palm oil, to relish.
[Illustration:
(A) HAND-CUFFS FOR SLAVES. (B) LEG SHACKLES. (C-E) THUMB SCREWS. (F-H)
“SPECULUM ORIS,” TO OPEN CLOSED JAWS.
From Clarkson’s _Abolition of the Slave Trade_, London, 1808
]
They are divided into messes of ten each, for the easier and better
order in serving them. Three days a week they have horse-beans boil’d
for their dinner and supper, great quantities of which the African
Company do send aboard us for that purpose. These beans the negroes
extremely love and desire, beating their breast, eating them, and crying
“Pram! Pram!” which is, “Very good!” They are indeed the best diet for
them, having a binding quality, and consequently good to prevent the
flux, which is the inveterate distemper that most affects them, and
ruins our voyages by their mortality. The men are all fed upon the main
deck and forecastle, that we may have them all under command of our arms
from the quarter-deck, in case of any disturbance; the women eat upon
the quarter-deck with us, and the boys and girls upon the poop. After
they are once divided into messes, and appointed their places, they will
readily run there in good order of themselves afterwards. When they have
eaten their victuals clean up (which we force them to for to thrive the
better), they are order’d down between decks, and every one as he passes
has a pint of water to drink after his meat, which is serv’d them by the
cooper out of a large tub, fill’d beforehand ready for them. When they
have occasion to ease nature, they are permitted by the centinels to
come up, and go to a conveniency which is provided for that purpose, on
each side of the ship, each of which will contain a dozen of them at
once, and have broad ladders to ascend them with the greater ease.
When we come to sea we let them all out of irons, they never then
attempting to rebel, considering that should they kill or master us,
they could not tell how to manage the ship, or must trust us, who would
carry them where we pleased; therefore the only danger is while we are
in sight of their own country, which they are loath to part with; but
once out of sight out of mind. I never heard that they mutiny’d in any
ships of consequence, that had a good number of men, and the least care;
but in small tools where they had but few men, and those negligent or
drunk, then they surpriz’d and butcher’d them, cut the cables, and let
the vessel drive ashore, and every one shift for himself. However, we
have some 30 or 40 Gold Coast negroes, which we buy, and are procur’d us
there by our factors, to make guardians and overseers of the Whidaw
negroes, and sleep among them to keep them from quarrelling, and in
order, as well as to give us notice, if they can discover any caballing
or plotting among them, which trust they will discharge with great
diligence; they also take care to make the negroes scrape the decks
where they lodge every morning very clean, to eschew any distempers that
may engender from filth and nastiness. When we constitute a guardian, we
give him a cat of nine tails as a badge of his office, which he is not a
little proud of, and will exercise with great authority. We often at
sea, in the evenings, would let the slaves come up into the sun to air
themselves, and make them jump and dance for an hour or two to our
bag-pipes, harp, and fiddle, by which exercise to preserve them in
health; but notwithstanding all our endeavour, ’twas my hard fortune to
have great sickness and mortality among them.
Having bought my complement of 700 slaves, viz. 480 men and 220 women,
and finish’d all my business at Whidaw, I took my leave of the old king
and his cappasheirs, and parted, with many affectionate expressions on
both sides, being forced to promise him that I would return again the
next year, with several things he desired me to bring from England; and
having sign’d bills of lading to Mr. Peirson, for the negroes aboard, I
set sail the 27th of July in the morning, accompany’d with the _East
India Merchant_, who had bought 650 slaves, for the island of St.
Thomas, from which we took our departure, on August 25th, and set sail
for Barbadoes.
We spent in our passage from St. Thomas to Barbadoes two months eleven
days, in which time there happened such sickness and mortality among my
poor men and negroes, that of the first we buried 14, and of the last
320, which was a great detriment to our voyage, the Royal African
Company losing ten pounds by every slave that died, and the owners of
the ship ten pounds ten shillings, being the freight agreed on to be
paid them by the charter-party for every negro delivered alive ashore to
the African Company’s agents at Barbadoes; whereby the loss in all
amounted to near 6500 pounds sterling. The distemper which my men as
well as the blacks mostly died of, was the white flux, which was so
violent and inveterate, that no medicine would in the least check it; so
that when any of our men were seized with it, we esteemed him a dead
man, as he generally proved. I cannot imagine what should cause it in
them so suddenly, they being free from it till about a week after we
left the island of St. Thomas. And next to the malignity of the climate,
I can attribute it to nothing else but the unpurg’d black sugar, and raw
unwholesome rum they bought there, of which they drank in punch to great
excess, and which it was not in my power to hinder, having chastised
several of them, and flung over-board what rum and sugar I could find;
and was forced to clap one Lord, our trumpeter, in irons, for his being
the promoter of their unseasonable carousing bouts, and going in one of
his drunken fits with his knife to kill the boatswain in his bed, and
committing other enormities; but tho’ he remained upon the poop day and
night in irons for two months, without any other shelter than the canopy
of heaven, he was never troubled with any sickness, but made good the
proverb, “That naught’s never in danger,” or “that he who is born to be
hang’d,” &c. I have given some account of him elsewhere, therefore shall
say no more here.
The negroes are so incident to the small-pox, that few ships that carry
them escape without it, and sometimes it makes vast havock and
destruction among them; but tho’ we had 100 at a time sick of it, and
that it went thro’ the ship, yet we lost not above a dozen by it. All
the assistance we gave the diseased was only as much water as they
desir’d to drink, and some palm-oil to anoint their sores, and they
would generally recover without any other helps but what kind nature
gave them.
One thing is very surprizing in this distemper among the blacks, that
tho’ it immediately infects those of their own colour, yet it will never
seize a white man; for I had several white men and boys aboard that had
never had that distemper, and were constantly among the blacks that were
sick of it, yet none of them in the least catch’d it, tho’ it be the
very same malady in its effects, as well as symptoms, among the blacks,
as among us in England, beginning with the pain in the head, back,
shivering, vomiting, fever, &c. But what the smallpox spar’d, the flux
swept off, to our great regret, after all our pains and care to give
them their messes in due order and season, keeping their lodgings as
clean and sweet as possible, and enduring so much misery and stench so
long among a parcel of creatures nastier than swine; and after all our
expectations to be defeated by their mortality. No gold-finders can
endure so much noisome slavery as they do who carry negroes; for those
have some respite and satisfaction, but we endure twice the misery; and
yet by their mortality our voyages are ruin’d, and we pine and fret
ourselves to death, to think that we should undergo so much misery, and
take so much pains to so little purpose.
I deliver’d alive at Barbadoes to the company’s factors 372, which being
sold, came out at about nineteen pounds per head one with another.
Having got aboard near 700 hogsheads of sugars, at nine and ten
shillings per hundred freight for Muscovadoes, and 11 for Clay’d; some
cotton at 2 _d._ per lb. and ginger at 8 _s._ per cent. we got all clear
to sail against the 2d of April, the _Tiger_ man of war being then ready
to carry Colonel Kendal to England, and to take under her convoy such
ships as were ready to sail at that time, of which there were small and
great about 30, seven of which were merchant-men of 28 guns and upwards
each, and were order’d by Capt. Sherman to make the line of battle, in
case we met an enemy, he being pleased to appoint me, in the _Hannibal_,
to lead on the star-board tack, and Capt. Buttrom in the _Faulkenburg_,
on the larboard tack, in case of engaging, while himself kept the
centre; and the other ships of the line were disposed for seconds.
Colonel Kendal having disengaged himself from the multitude of gentlemen
that came to attend him, and wish him a good voyage, the 2d of April in
the evening got aboard the _Tiger_, with a discharge of all the cannon
round the town; and the third, in the evening, we set sail for England,
with the _Chester_ man of war in our company, which Colonel Cothrington,
the general of the Leeward Islands, had sent from Antigua to Barbadoes,
to strengthen our convoy, till we were past Diseada, upon advice he had
receiv’d, that there was a squadron of French men of war from Martinico,
waiting for us thereabouts.
Wednesday the 3d. Yesterday about four in the evening we got under sail,
and stood out of Carlisle bay, and then laid our fore topsail to the
mast, and drove to leeward to wait for the rest of the fleet: At seven
were abreast the hole. We had great popling sea, but little wind at
night, till this day noon.
Friday the 19th. In the morning ’twas my unhappiness to be seized with
violent convulsions in my head, together with a vertigo, so that I could
not stand, and all things I look’d on turn’d round. The vertigo was much
allay’d soon, but the convulsions continued so severe upon me, that I
was forced for most part to keep my bed, till we made the island of
Scilly, which was upon the 22d of May, in which time the hearing of my
left ear was much impair’d, I having lost the hearing of my right ear
upon the coast of Guiney, by a former fit. And now, having none to look
after me (my doctor having died of the plague in Barbadoes), my deafness
increased daily.
When I came to London, thro’ the kindness and good-will of my friends
and acquaintance, who were sorry to see me return in that condition, I
was advised to a great many applauded physicians, who all pretended they
would cure my deafness. I went under the care of several of them, who
were the most celebrated in that famous city, by whose orders I was
tormented by the apothecaries, with doses of nasty physick every day,
for four or five months time, and butcher’d by the surgeons with
blisters, issues, setons, &c. and spent about 100 guineas among them,
without receiving a farthing benefit; wherefore I did conceive it more
prudence to bear my deafness as contentedly as I could, than any longer
to undergo so much misery and charge to no purpose; accordingly I shook
hands with the doctors, and being rendered unfit for my employment by my
deafness, I settled my affairs in London, took my leave of it, and came
down to Wales, among my relations in Brecknock, my native town, there to
spend the rest of my life as easily as I can, under my hard misfortune.
CHAPTER IV
THE SLAVING VOYAGE OF THE _ALBION-FRIGATE_
OF LONDON
This narrative of a voyage to New Calabar River, or Rio Real, on the
Coast of Guinea, is taken from the journal kept by by Mr. James Barbot,
the supercargo, and part owner with other adventurers of London, in the
_Albion-Frigate_, of 300 tons and 24 guns, a 10 per cent ship.[16]
-----
Footnote 16:
Churchill’s _Collection of Voyages_, vol. V, London, 1746.
-----
We sailed from the Downs, on the thirteenth of January, 1698-9, and
arrived before Madeira island, the third of February, whence we
proceeded immediately after we had got some wine and refreshments
aboard. On the tenth, we built up our sloop on our deck and the same
day, in the night-time, a whale gave a violent shock to the ship, rising
from the deep, exactly under our keel and about the middle of it, and
afterwards plunging with a great noise. The man at the helm affirmed he
could not move it any way for above a minute.
In the latitude of twelve degrees, five minutes north, we saw two sails
and later hail’d one of them, which proved to be a Londoner, one Fleet,
commander, who came aboard us and said he had been three days from the
river Gamboa, steering for the Gold Coast of Guinea. That afternoon we
were surrounded by large shoals of porpoises or sea hogs, and caught one
with the cramp iron.
On the 25th of February, we anchored before Sestro river where we stayed
for nearly a month getting in wood, water, rice, malaguette, fowls and
other refreshments and provisions. King Peter was still alive and well,
but we got few elephant’s teeth because they were held very dear. On the
7th of April we came before Axim, the first Dutch fort on the Gold Coast
and the next day anchored before the Prussian fort, Great
Fredericksburgh, where the Prussian general received us very civilly,
but told us he had no occasion for any of our goods. Trade everywhere on
that coast was at a stand by reason of the vast number of interlopers
and other trading ships and also because of the wars among the natives.
The fort was a very handsome fortress mounted with about forty guns. The
general told me that six weeks before, on his return from Cape Lopez to
Tres-Pontas, he had been assaulted by a pirate, who was forced to let
him go, being too warmly received; and that there were two or three
other pirates cruising about that cape.
On the tenth, a small Portuguese ship anchored by us; the master, a
black, said that he was three weeks from St. Tome, and that about three
months before, he saw there, four tall French ships coming from the
Coast of Guinea, loaded with slaves, mostly at Fida. Those ships were
sent by the French King with a particular commission to purchase slaves
to indemnify the freebooters of St. Domingo, for their pretensions to
the booty taken formerly at Cartagena, by Mess. De Pointis and Du Casse,
in lieu of money, and thereby engage them to return to St. Domingo and
push on their settlement there, which they had abandoned.
The blacks near the fort, through malice, had diverted the channel of
the fresh water ashore, to hinder us taking any, of which we complained
to the Prussian general, who thereupon gave orders to let us have water.
He also lent us some of his bricklayers to set up our copper aboard, for
our slaves, beforehand. We had abundance of our men sick and several
already dead, the weather being intolerably scorching hot, and we could
get hardly any provisions save a few goats, very dear. From the
Portuguese captain we had one goat, one hog, and seven chickens for five
akies in gold. Here we also had the fortune to discover that above one
hundred pounds worth of horse-beans, we had bought at London, for
subsisting our slaves, during the voyage, were quite rotten and spoiled,
for want of being well stowed and looked after ever since.
[Illustration:
NEGROES BEING CARRIED OUT TO A SLAVE SHIP; AND CASTLES ON THE GOLD
COAST
From an engraving in Churchill’s _Collection of Voyages_, London, 1756
]
On the 17th of April, we were before Mina castle and found seven sail in
the road, three or four of them tall ships, among which, two frigats,
each of about thirty guns and a hundred and thirty men, cruizers at the
coast, who had taken three interlopers of Zealand, one of which carried
thirty-six guns, who having made a brave resistance, the commander was
to be tried for his life. One of the frigates having been already two
years at the Coast, was ready to return home, with a thousand marks of
gold.
On the twenty-first we set sail, saluting the castle with seven guns,
and anchored at Anamaboe where we purchased with much trouble and at a
very dear rate, a quantity of Indian wheat and sold many perpets and
much powder. We paid three akies for every chest of corn, but having
lost all our large stock of horse-beans, we were forced to get corn at
all rates. Here the blacks put a great value upon perpets, in painted
wrappers; oil-cloths with gilt leads, with large painted arms of
England. We bought a boat load of fuel at three akies for each hundred
billets, very dear wood.
On the fifteenth, we arrived at Acra and anchored about a league and a
half from shore. Here we stayed for eleven days, trading for gold,
slaves and some few teeth; diverting ourselves by turns, with the
English, Dutch and Danish commanders of the forts, but more intimately
with Mr. Trawne, the Danish chief, who had his lady with him. On making
sail, as we worked our small bower aboard, both cable and buoy-rope
breaking, we were forced to sail, leaving the anchor behind, which was
hitched among the rocks at the bottom. We had purchased sixty-five
slaves along the Gold Coast, besides gold and elephants’ teeth and after
saluting the three European forts, each with nine guns, we steered for
New Calabar to buy more slaves, being followed by our small sloop under
sail.
On this passage we met with much heavy weather having continually a high
sea, dismal dark, and very cold days and nights, being as raw a cold as
in the channel of England in September. Our sorry sloop was properly the
occasion of much of our misfortune and retardment.
At last, at three o’clock in the afternoon of the 17th of June, we came
to an anchor off New Calabar river, on five and a half fathom muddy
sand, by guess north and south of Foko point, and the next morning, by
day-break, we sent our longboat with three men to sail to land for
intelligence and to bring some black to pilot us into Calabar, together
with samples of some merchandise. We spyed a ship lying in Bandy [Bonny]
river, as much as we could see it, and the next day sent one of the
pilots in the pinnace to sound the bar. He returned at seven at night,
with much trouble, the wind and sea being so high. Our long-boat not
returning, as expected, by the 22d we began to be much concerned. The
weather all the while was very cold and it blowing very hard from
south-south-west. We found, as the Portuguese master had told us at
Tres-Pontas, the month of June, hereabouts, to be a _Diablo_, as he
expressed it.
At eleven o’clock on the morning of the 23d, we spyed a boat near the
bar; but being come aboard at one, found it was a great canoo with nine
black rowers, besides other blacks, and the master of our long-boat, who
reported that coming out and finding it impossible to get over the bar,
he dropped his grappling and a few hours afterwards the rope broke and
he was so forced back into Bandy [Bonny] river, leaving his grappling on
a buoy rope. The King of Bandy [Bonny], William, had sent us two or
three of his pilots, in the canoo, with certificates of several English
masters of ships they had piloted formerly safe in, some of them drawing
thirteen foot of water. Our frigat then drew fourteen foot and a half
water.
Our man reported that the ship we could see within the river was
English, commanded by one Edwards, who had got his complement of slaves,
being five hundred, in three weeks time, and was ready to sail for the
West Indies. He reported farther, that as soon as the blacks could see
our ship off at sea, they immediately went up the river to buy slaves,
besides a hundred and fifty that were in the town when he left it; and
that King William had assured him, he would engage to furnish five
hundred slaves for our loading, all lusty and young. Upon which we
consulted aboard with the officers and unanimously agreed to carry up
the ship, if possible, for the greater expedition.
On the 24th, being early and the weather fair, we set all hands to get
in our sheet-anchor, the only one we had; but it being so deep stuck in
the mud, could not bring it up, which put us to our utmost efforts. But
whether the anchor was so deep in the mud, or among rocky stones, I
cannot say, the ship pitching violently, two strands of our cable gave
way, tho’ it was a new one, which caused us immediately to chop it off,
and then to wind on the warp, on which we had fastened a buoy, being an
iron-bound hogshead.
At one in the afternoon, weighing our anchor, our warp broke and with
precipitation obliged us to chop off our cable, to get under sail to
save the ship as well as our persons, if possible, at this time in great
consternation, having thus lost all our anchors and on the bar.
Thus we sailed south-southeast better than an hour and a half, about two
leagues from the place where we had lain at anchor, and then stood
northwest for some time, all the while with the lead in hand to sound
the depths. At three o’clock we fell on a sudden on three and a half,
then came to three and finally to two and a half fathoms. All then
thought the ship lost, as often touching on the ground astern,
especially the third stroke was very violent; but then, by providence,
happening to set all our sails, the ship passed over and got in well and
received no harm. At about five o’clock we got the opening of Bandy
[Bonny] river, and the sight of Captain Edward’s ship, riding before the
King’s town. The moonshine served us to get the same tide to an anchor
on fourteen fathom, before the town, on a small anchor of three hundred
weight, the only one we had left; and the tide being strong, it required
a long time, the ship driving, before it took hold of the ground
sufficiently. Captain Edwards sent us soon after, a small anchor of six
hundred weight, for that night only, until he could spare us a large
anchor.
The next morning we saluted the black king of Great Bandy, with seven
guns; and soon after fired as many for Captain Edwards, when he got
aboard, to give us the most necessary advice concerning the trade we
designed to drive there. At ten he returned ashore, being again saluted
with seven guns. We also went ashore to compliment the King and make him
overtures of trade, but he gave us to understand that he expected one
bar of iron for each slave, more than Edwards had paid for his; and he
also objected much against our basons, tankards, yellow beads, and some
other merchandize, as being of little or no demand there at that time.
On the 26th we had a conference with the King and principal natives of
the country, about trade, which lasted from three o’clock till night,
without any result, they insisting to have thirteen bars of iron for a
male and ten for a female slave; objecting that they were now scarce,
because of the many ships that had exported vast quantities of late. The
King treated us at supper and we took leave of him. The next morning he
sent for a barrel of brandy, at two bars of iron per gallon and at ten
o’clock we went ashore and renewed our conference but concluded nothing.
Four days later we had a new conference at which the King’s brother made
us a discourse ending by saying they would be content with thirteen bars
for males and nine bars and two brass rings for females, and the next
day the trade was concluded on these terms; and the King promised to
come aboard and be paid his duties.
There was a heavy rain all the morning, the next day, and at two o’clock
in the afternoon, we fetched the King from the shore. He came attended
by all his Caboceiros and officers, in three large canoos, and was
saluted with seven guns. He had on an old-fashioned scarlet coat, laced
with gold and silver, very rusty, with a fine hat on his head, but was
bare-footed. His brother, Pepprell, came with him and was a sharp blade
and a mighty talking black, always making sly objections against
something or other and teasing us for this or that _Dassy_ or present,
as well as for drams, &c. It were to be wished that such a one as he
were out of the way, to facilitate trade.
We filled them with drams of brandy and bowls of punch, till night, at
such a rate that they all being about fourteen, with the King, had such
loud clamorous tattling and discourses among themselves, as were hardly
to be endured. With much patience, however, all our matters were at last
adjusted indifferently, after their way, and the King ordered the public
cryer to proclaim permission of trade with us, with the noise of his
trumpets, made of elephant’s teeth, we paying sixteen brass rings to the
fellow for his fee. The blacks objected much against our wrought pewter
and tankards, green beads, and other goods, which they would not accept
of.
We gave the usual presents to the King and his officers. To the King—a
hat, a firelock, and nine bunches of beads instead of a coat; to the
officers—two firelocks, eight hats and nine narrow Guinea stuffs. We
also advanced to the King, by way of loan, the value of 150 bars of
iron, in sundry goods, in order to repair forthwith to the inland
markets to buy yams.
All the regulations having been agreed upon, supper was served, and it
was comical, as well as shocking, to observe the behaviour of the
blacks, both King and subjects making a confused noise, and all of them
talking together and emptying the dishes as soon as set down; everyone
filling his pockets with meat as well as his belly, especially of hams
and neat’s tongues; falling on all together, without regard to rank or
manners, as they could lay their hands on food, and having drank and
eaten till they were ready to burst, they returned ashore receiving a
salute of seven guns as they went.
Two days afterwards the King sent aboard thirty slaves, men and women,
out of which we picked nineteen and returned him the rest, and so from
day to day, either by means of our armed sloop making voyages to New
Calabar town and to Dony, or by our contract with the King, by degrees
we had aboard 648 slaves of all sexes and ages, including the sixty-five
we purchased at the Gold Coast, all very fresh and sound, very few
exceeding forty years of age. The King supplied us with yams and
bananas, and plantains, which are a sort of banana dried, yet somewhat
green, a food well liked by the natives. The yams, however, are not fit
to be taken out of the ground before the month of July.
The town of Great Bandy [Bonny] is built on a little island, much as
that of Calabar, it being marshy, swampy ground, and somewhat larger,
but like it in buildings, and its people employ themselves in trade, and
some at fishing, by means of long and large canoos, some of them sixty
foot long and seven broad, rowed by sixteen, eighteen or twenty
paddlers, carrying European goods and fish to the upland blacks and
bringing back to the coast, by way of exchange, a vast number of slaves
and some large elephant’s teeth. The principal thing that passes as
current money among the natives, is brass rings, for the arms and legs,
which they call _bochie_; and they are so particular in the choice of
them that they will often turn over a whole cask before they find two to
please their fancy.
The English and Dutch trade them a great deal of copper in small bars,
about three feet long and weighing about a pound and a quarter each,
which the blacks of Calabar work with much art, splitting the bar into
three parts, which they polish as fine as gold and twist the three
pieces together very ingeniously, like cords, to make into arm rings.
But the most current goods for trade are iron bars, striped Guinea
clouts of many colours, horse-bells, hawks-bells, rangoes, pewter basons
of one, two, three and four pounds weight; tankards of pewter, small
glazed beads, yellow, green, purple and blue and purple copper armlets
or arm rings, of Angola make, the latter being peculiar to the
Portuguese.
Their large canoos are made of the trunks of big trees and framed much
like the canoos at the Gold Coast, but much longer, sometimes being
seventy feet in length. They are very sharp pointed at each end and are
fitted with benches athwart, for the convenience of the paddlers who sit
as near the sides of the canoos as possible. They commonly hang at the
head of the canoo two shields and along the sides, bundles of spears.
Every canoo also has a hearth in the head of it, on which they dress
their victuals and they also have a contrivance by which they can set up
an awning made of mats. Some have a sort of quarter-deck made of strong
reeds, but the slaves, when they carry any, lie exposed to all weathers.
Such canoos are navigated with eighteen to twenty hands and when armed
for war commonly carry seventy or eighty men, with all necessary
provisions, generally yams, bananas, chickens, hogs, goats or sheep and
palm wine and palm oil.
Fevers, above all other distempers, destroy the greatest number of
people, especially newcomers from Europe, carrying them off in less than
eight days sickness. If the patient escapes, he may reasonably expect to
live there several years in health, provided he is temperate as to wine
and women. Cholics are frequent and so terrible as to distract the
sufferer for three or four days. The cause is mostly attributed to the
excessive use of women or to the evening dews. This cholic has swept
away an incredible number of people since there were colonies here. The
venereal distemper is very common, the blacks seeming to be little
concerned at it as they have a way to cure with mercury; but few
Europeans who get it escape dying miserably. I cannot therefore but
seriously recommend to all such as happen to go thither, to forbear
having to do with any black women as they value their own lives.
While we were by degrees taking in our complement of slaves at Great
Bandy [Bonny], our mates, with the assistance of Captain Edwards and
some of the more experienced native pilots, were employed several days
in our pinnace and canoos, in sounding the channels and depths of the
bar and banks, so that a chart could be made for the benefit of
seafaring men trading thither.
On the 22d of August, 1699, we let fly our colours and fired a gun, for
a signal to the blacks of our being near ready to sail and to hasten
aboard with the rest of the slaves and the yams contracted for. We also
traded our sloop with her masts, tack-sails, etc., to a Zealand
interloper, for an anchor of about eleven hundred weight, a high
extortion, if ever any was, but necessity forced us to comply to so hard
a bargain, having only one small anchor left, and at six in the evening
we sailed from Bandy [Bonny], with the tide of ebb, and working the ship
down near the shore dropped anchor at ten o’clock in nine fathoms of
water. At break of day we set sail and by following the channel
discovered by our mates when exploring for soundings, we skirted the bar
and soon found four and then five fathoms water.
Some captains have been faulty in not putting their ships in due order
before they left the Guinea coast, a thing much to be minded. The
shrouds and stays should be well set and tarred with all the running
ropes and blocks. If the port or road will allow it, ships should be
cleaned as low as possible and well tallowed, to give them the better
way. Besides this, during the passage care should be taken, in good
weather, to have the ship well caulked, without and within, as well as
the decks.
As to the management of the slaves aboard, we lodged the two sexes
apart, by means of a strong partition at the main-mast. The fore part
was set apart for the men and behind the mast for the women. In large
ships, carrying five or six hundred slaves, the deck ought to be at
least five and a half or six foot high, making it the more airy and
convenient and consequently far more healthy for them. We built a sort
of half deck along the sides, with deals and spars brought from England,
which extended no farther than the side of our scuttles, and so the
slaves lay in two rows, one above the other, and as close together as
they could be crowded.
The Dutch Company’s ships exceed all other Europeans in their
accommodations. Some have small ports or lights along the sides, well
secured with iron bars, which they open from time to time for air, which
much contributes to the preservation of the poor wretches who are so
thickly crowded together.
The Portuguese are not to be compared with the English, Dutch or French,
in point of neatness aboard their ships, but they are commendable in
that they bring with them to the Coast, a quantity of coarse, thick
mats, to serve as bedding for the slaves, and shift them for fresh mats
every fortnight or three weeks. These mats are not only softer for the
poor wretches to lie upon, than the bare deals or decks, but also must
be much healthier for them, because the planks contract more or less
dampness.
We were very nice in keeping the places where the slaves lay clean and
neat, appointing some of the ship’s crew to do that office constantly
and several of the slaves themselves to be assistants to them and thrice
a week we perfumed betwixt decks with a quantity of good vinegar in
pails, and red-hot iron bullets in them, to expel the bad air, after the
place had been well washed and scrubbed with brooms; after which the
deck was cleaned with cold vinegar, and in the daytime, in good weather,
we left the scuttles open and shut them again at night.
It has been observed that some slaves fancy they are being carried away
to be eaten, which makes them desperate, and others are so on account of
their captivity, so that if care be not taken, they will mutiny and
destroy the ship’s crew in hopes to get away. One day, about one in the
afternoon, after dinner, according to custom we caused them, one by one,
to go down between decks, to have each his pint of water. Most of them
were yet above deck and many of them were provided with knives which we
had indiscreetly given them two or three days before, not suspecting the
least attempt of this nature from them. It afterwards appeared that
others had pieces of iron which they had torn off the forecastle door,
having premeditated this revolt. They had also broken off the shackles
from the legs of several of their companions, which also served them.
Thus armed they suddenly fell upon our men and stabbed one of the
stoutest, who received fourteen or fifteen wounds from their knives so
that he expired shortly. Next they assaulted our boatswain and cut one
of his legs so round the bone that he could not move, the nerves being
cut through.
Others cut the cook’s throat to the pipe and yet others wounded three of
the sailors and threw one of them overboard from the fore-castle, who,
however, by good providence, got hold of the bowlin of the foresail and
saved himself, along the lower wale of the quarterdeck, where we stood
in arms, firing on the revolted slaves, of whom we killed some and
wounded many, which so terrified the rest that they gave way and
dispersed themselves, some between decks and some under the fore-castle.
Many of the most mutinous leaped overboard and drowned themselves with
much resolution, shewing no manner of concern for life.
Thus we lost twenty-eight slaves and having mastered them, caused all to
go betwixt decks, giving them good words. The next day, however, we had
them all again upon deck and caused about thirty of the ringleaders to
be severely whipt by all our men.
To prevent a recurrence of such misfortune we used to visit them daily,
narrowly searching every corner between decks, and taking care not to
leave any tools or nails or other things in the way, which, however,
cannot always be so exactly observed, where so many people are in the
narrow compass of a ship. We caused as many of our men as convenient to
lie in the quarter-deck, and gun-room, and our principal officers in the
great cabin, where we kept all our small arms in readiness with
sentinels constantly at the door and avenues to it, being thus ready to
disappoint any further attempts our slaves might make on a sudden. These
precautions contributed much to keep them in awe and if all those who
carry slaves duly observed them, we should not hear of so many revolts
as have happened.
It is true, we allowed them much more liberty and used them with more
tenderness than most other Europeans would think prudent, as we had them
all on deck, every day in good weather. They took their meals twice a
day, at ten in the morning and five at night, which being ended we made
the men go down again between decks. As for the women, they were almost
entirely at their own discretion to remain upon deck as long as they
pleased, and many of the men enjoyed the same liberty, by turns, and
few, or none, were kept fettered or in shackles. Besides, we allowed
each of them, betwixt their meals, a handful of Indian wheat and
mandioca and now and then short pipes and tobacco to smoke by turns;
also, some cocoa-nuts, and to the women, a piece of coarse cloth to
cover them.
We took care they did wash from time to time, to prevent vermin, which
they are subject to. Towards evening the blacks would divert themselves
on the deck, as they thought fit; some conversing together, others
dancing, singing or sporting after their manner, which often made us
pastime, especially the females, who, being apart from the males and on
the quarter deck and many of them young sprightly maidens, full of
jollity and good humour, afforded us abundance of recreation.
We messed the slaves twice a day. The first meal was of our large beans
boiled, with a certain quantity of Muscovy lard, which we had from
Holland, well packed up in casks. The other meal was of pease or of
Indian wheat and sometimes meal of mandioca. This was obtained at
Prince’s Island, the Indian wheat at the Gold Coast, and was boiled with
either lard or suet or grease, by turns, and sometimes with palm oil and
malaguette or Guinea pepper.
I found they had better stomachs for beans than Indian wheat or yams.
Horse beans are also very proper for slaves in lieu of large beans,
which keep well put up in dry fats or casks.
We distributed them by ten in a mess, about a small flat tub made for
that use by our coopers, in which their victuals were served, each slave
having a little wooden spoon to feed himself handsomely and more cleanly
than with his fingers, and they were well pleased with it. At each meal
we allowed every slave a full cocoa-nut shell of water and from time to
time a dram of brandy, to strengthen their stomachs. The Dutch commonly
feed their slaves three times a day with indifferent good victuals, and
much better than they eat in their own country. The Portuguese feed them
mostly with mandioca.
As for the sick and wounded, our surgeons, in their daily visits betwixt
decks, finding any indisposed, caused them to be carried to the
_lazaretto_ under the fore-castle, a room reserved for a sort of
hospital, where proper remedies could be applied. This could not
leisurely be done between decks because of the great heat that is there
continually, which is sometimes so excessive that the surgeons would
faint away and the candles would not burn, and besides, in such a crowd
of brutish people there are many so greedy that they will snatch from
the sick the fresh meat or liquor that is given them. Nor is it
advisable to put sick slaves into the long-boat upon deck for being thus
exposed in the open air and lying there in the cool of the nights after
coming out of the excessively hot hold, they are soon taken with violent
cholics and bloody fluxes and die in a few days time.
At parting from New Calabar River, we lay the head south by east,
keeping as near the wind as was reasonable to weather the island of
Ferdinand Po and thence ordering the navigation for St. Tome, to wood
and water and for provisions. In the month of September we may very well
get our passage from Bandy [Bonny] Point to St. Tome’s road in fifteen
or sixteen days. At that time of year we found the weather commonly so
cold, though so near the line, as to be raw and pinching as on the coast
of Brittany and at night every man aboard, though never so hardy, was
glad to put on more clothes.
The slaves of New Calabar are a strange sort of brutish creatures, very
weak and slothful, but cruel and bloody in their temper, always
quarreling, biting and fighting and sometimes choking and murdering one
another without mercy, and whoever carries such slaves to the West
Indies, has need to pray for a quick passage, that they may arrive there
alive and in health. A ship that takes in five hundred slaves, must
provide above a hundred thousand yams, which is difficult because it is
hard to stow them as they take up much room; and yet no less ought to be
provided. Our store of yams was spent when we anchored at St. Tome after
a fortnight’s passage from Bandy [Bonny] Point.
From St. Tome we ran to the southward of the line three and a half or
four degrees, keeping still the luff, and the farther southward we
sailed, the stronger we found the gales. At four degrees south, we
commonly meet with the trade wind which carries us to the northward of
the equator pretty fast.
[Illustration:
THE CEREMONY OF “CROSSING THE LINE”
From an engraving in Drake’s _Collection of Voyages_, London, 1771
]
In passing the line is observed an ancient custom, common to all
European sailors, which is, that those who have never been under the
tropics, are obliged to give the ship’s crew a piece of money or
something to drink, from which no man is excused. If any man happens to
be so great a miser as to refuse paying of this duty, the sailors,
dressed like officers, carry him bound before a tribunal, in which a
seaman in a long robe is seated, representing a judge, who examines him,
hears what he has to say for himself and then pronounces sentence, which
is, that he be ducked three times in the sea, after this manner. The
person condemned is tied fast with a rope, the other end of which runs
through a pulley at the yard arm, by which he is hoisted up and then let
run amain three times under water. It is seldom that some one fails to
give the company this diversion which is practiced with the utmost rigor
in passing the line. This ceremony of ducking is called by the French,
sea baptism, but they usually pump them into a tub of salt water instead
of ducking in the sea. This custom is observed by all nations in passing
the line and there are many other sports used by the sailors which
afford passengers good diversion.
As soon as a slave ship arrives at port in the West Indies, the planters
and other inhabitants flock aboard to buy as many slaves as they have
occasion for. The price being agreed upon, they search every slave, limb
by limb, to see whether they are sound and strong and it is diverting
enough to see the examining even of those parts which are not to be
named. This done, every buyer carries away his slaves and provides them
with nourishment, clothing and health. We sold off all our slaves
briskly at about seven thousand pounds weight of brown sugar, a piece,
the Indian pieces, as they term it there, and set sail on our return
voyage deeply laden with sugar, cotton and other goods. The frigate was
very leaky but we continued our voyage without any remarkable accident,
only our leaks increased very much so that we had much toil to keep up
the ship to the end of our voyage, our two pumps going without
intermission day and night, which extremely fatigued our crew, though
numerous, and made us all very uneasy.
At length, by God’s providence, we spyed land to leeward of us, being
part of the English coast near Dartmouth and four days later we came to
an anchor in the river Thames and so ended our voyage.
CHAPTER V
THE LIVERPOOL AND BRISTOL SLAVERS
The growth of the English slave trade was largely based upon the
development of the sugar industry in the West Indies. It was not until
after Barbadoes and Antigua were colonized, about 1625, that slave labor
in quantity was needed in order to raise the cane and produce the
muscovado or raw sugar, to be sent to the sugar boilers in London or
Bristol. Slaves were a necessary feature of this trade, which grew in
importance as England gained possession of other West India islands and
in time slave labor produced sugar enough to supply not only the demands
of England and her colonies but also a considerable amount for
exportation.
It is now difficult for us to realize that before this development came
about in the West Indies, our English ancestors were only able to obtain
sugar in limited quantity, principally from Spanish sources, and were
dependent upon honey and other substitutes. At a later day, William
Cowper, an English poet, was moved to express his longing for the
products of slave labor, in the following lines:
“I own I am shocked at the purchase of slaves,
And fear those who buy them and sell them are knaves;
What I hear of their hardships, their tortures and groans,
Is almost enough to draw pity from stones.
I pity them greatly, but I must be mum,
For how could we do without sugar and rum?”
“The Company of Royal Adventurers of England to Africa” was organized in
1662 and shortly after turned over its trading-rights to “The Royal
African Company” which entered into assiento or contract, in 1689, to
supply the Spanish West Indies with slaves. This lasted until 1698, when
the trade was thrown open by the breaking up of the Assiento Company. In
1713, a treaty was signed between England and Spain whereby the former
was granted a monopoly of the Spanish Colonial slave trade for thirty
years with the provision that at least 4,800 slaves be supplied
annually. The kings of Spain and England were each to receive one-fourth
of the profits of the trade and the Company could import as many slaves
as it wished and sell them, except in three ports, at as high a price as
it was able to obtain.
How many negroes were carried to America in English ships? From 1680 to
1688 the African Company sent out 249 vessels and shipped 60,783 slaves,
losing 14,387 lives in “the middle passage.” In 1701, the records show
that 104 ships cleared for Africa. During the twenty years between 1713
and 1733, about 15,000 slaves were annually carried to America, in
English vessels. In 1771, there were 192 clearances. The Revolutionary
War nearly stopped the traffic; but by 1786 the clearance had risen to
146 vessels.[17] In the year 1768, out of a total number of 97,000
slaves carried to America and the West Indies, English shipping took
about 60,000. In 1780, there were nearly 700,000 negro slaves in the
West Indies[18] and according to the census of 1790, there were 697,897
slaves in the United States. No one knows how many Africans were held in
slavery by the Spanish and Dutch and no account has been taken of the
vast number in the Portuguese possessions in Brazil and elsewhere.
-----
Footnote 17:
_See_ Bandinel, _Some Account of the Trade in Slaves from Africa_,
London, 1842; and Du Bois, _Suppression of the African Slave-Trade_,
Cambridge, 1896.
Footnote 18:
Edwards, _The British Colonies in the West Indies_, London, 1798.
-----
During the seventeenth century the English trade with Guinea and the
West Indies centered in the Port of London, but about 1701, the
merchants of Bristol embarked in the slave trade and shortly were
sending out over fifty vessels annually. The effect on the London trade
was apparent at once. In 1701, London was employing 104 vessels in the
Guinea trade. Six years later, the number was reduced to only thirty
ships.
Bristol was forced into the slave trade by the successful competition of
Liverpool in the exportation to the West Indies and America of
provisions, and coarse checks and other Manchester manufactures. The
checks of Manchester, carried in Liverpool vessels, ousted from the
American market the German, French and Scotch osnaburgs exported from
Bristol, and the merchants of the latter port were forced to employ
their vessels in another trade, with such success that by 1720, the year
when the “South Sea Bubble” burst with so great financial disaster,
London had very nearly abandoned the slave trade. Meanwhile, the
Liverpool adventurers, with smaller capital, were carrying on a
flourishing contraband trade in the West Indies, where Spain exacted a
duty of 300 per cent on checks and osnaburgs. But this trade ceased in
1747, with the signing of the new Spanish treaty. When this contraband
trade was at its height, the annual profit to the Liverpool merchants
was estimated at £273,467; and this wealth laid the foundation of the
fortunes of several mercantile houses in Liverpool and led them to
embark in the Guinea trade, when they were cut off from profits in the
West Indies.
Previous to this time, Liverpool had been competing with Bristol in the
slave trade, but in a small way. Between 1709 and 1730, only one vessel
of thirty tons burden sailed from the Mersey for Africa. But upon the
adoption of new regulations in 1730, fifteen vessels, of an average
burden of seventy-five tons each, cleared from Liverpool for the African
coast. In 1751, the number had increased to fifty-three vessels with an
aggregate burden of 5,334 tons, and the following year, eighty-seven
slavers were owned in Liverpool,[19] with a carrying capacity for at
least 25,000 slaves. In this trade the Liverpool merchants out-distanced
all competitors and won for their town the distinction of being the
chief slaving port in Europe.
-----
Footnote 19:
They traded with the following places: 5 with Benin, 11 with Angola, 3
with New Calabar, 11 with Old Calabar, 38 with the Windward and Gold
Coast, 12 with Bonny, and 8 with Gambia. Williamson, _Liverpool
Memorandum Book_, 1753.
-----
“The reason the port of Liverpool could undersell the merchants of
London and Bristol, was the restriction in their outfits and method of
factorage. The London and Bristol Merchants not only allowed ample
monthly pay to their captains, but cabin privileges, primage and daily
port charges; they also allowed their factors five per cent on the sales
and five per cent on the returns, and their vessels were always manned
by seamen at a monthly rate. The Liverpool merchants proceeded in a more
economical but less liberal plan. The generality of their captains were
on annual salaries, or, if at monthly pay, four pounds were thought
great wages at that time. No cabin privileges were permitted, primage
was unknown amongst them, and as to port charges, not a shilling was
given, while five shillings a day was the usual pay from Bristol and
seven and six from London. The captains from these ports could,
therefore, occasionally eat on shore and drink their bottle of Madeira;
whereas, the poor Liverpool skipper was obliged to repair on board to
his piece of salt beef and biscuit, and bowl of new rum punch, sweetened
with brown sugar. The factors, instead of a rate per centum, had an
annual salary and were allowed the rent of their store, negro hire and
other incidental charges; therefore, if the consignments were great or
small, the advantages to the factor suffered no variation. Their portage
was still more economical as their method was to take poor boys
apprentice for long terms, who were annually increased, became good
seamen, were then second mates and then first mates, then captains, and
afterwards factors on the islands. This was the usual gradation at the
time, whereby few men, at monthly pay, were required to navigate a
Liverpool vessel.”[20]
-----
Footnote 20:
Williams, _History of Liverpool Privateers_, London, 1897.
-----
[Illustration:
VIEW OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, FROM THE FORT, IN 1798
From a colored aquatint by John T. Serres, in the Macpherson
Collection
]
From this time on the Guinea trade flourished. Fast sailing vessels,
especially adapted for the trade, were built on the banks of the Mersey
and busts of blackamoors and elephants, emblematical of the African
trade, adorned the Town Hall. Not all the negroes were disposed of in
the West Indies as is shown by numerous advertisements in the current
newspapers, of slaves to be sold at auction, by “inch of candle,” or
otherwise; and the young bloods of the town sometimes amused themselves
by circulating hand bills in which young women were offered for sale.
In 1756, the following articles, suitable for a Guinea voyage, were
advertised to be sold at auction at the Merchant’s Coffee house:
One iron furnace and copper, 27 cases with bottles, 83 pairs of
shackles, 11 neck collars, 22 handcuffs for the travelling chain, 4 long
chains for slaves, 54 rings, 2 travelling chains, 1 corn mill, 7
four-pound basons, 6 two-pound basons, 3 brass pans, 28 kegs of
gunpowder, 12 cartouch boxes, 1 iron ladle, 1 small basket of flints.
Another advertisement, the following year, lists one large negro hearth
with 2 iron furnaces, 1 copper ditto for 450 slaves, 1 decoction copper
kettle, ditto pan, a parcel of shackles, chains, neck collars and
handcuffs, 1 iron furnace, 245 gallons, with a lead top, sufficient to
boil 10 barrels of liquor.
The methods by which a slaving voyage out of Liverpool was conducted at
that time, are shown in the following owner’s letter of instructions
printed in Gomer Williams’ interesting account of the Liverpool slave
trade.
Liverpool, 14 April, 1762.
Cap^n Ambrose Lace,
Sir.—You being Master of the ship _Marquis of Granby_, and now clear^d
out of the Custom house, and ready to sail for Africa, America, and back
to Liverpoole, the Cargoe we have ship^d on Board is agreeable to the
Annexed Invoice, which we consign you for sale, For which you are to
have the usual Commission of 4 in 104 on the Gross Sales, and your
Doctor, Mr. Lawson, 12d. per Head on all the slaves sold, and we give
you these our orders to be observed in the course of your intended
voyage. With the First Favourable wind you must sail and proceed in
company with the _Douglas_, Cap^n Finch, who has some Business at the
Isle of Man, when you must accompany him not waiting longer for him than
six days. When finished at the Isle of Man, you are to make the Best of
your way in Company thro the So. Channell, and as you are Both Ships of
Force, and we hope Tolerably well mann^d you will be better able to
Defend yourselves against the Enemy we therefore Recommend your keeping
a good Look out that you may be Prepair^d against an attack, and should
you be Fortunate enough to take any vessell or vessells From the Enemy,
we recommend your sending them Home or to Cork whichever will be most
convenient so as not to Distress your own ship, and on your arrival at
Old Callebar if one or more ships be there you will observe to make an
agreement with the Master or Masters so as not to advance the Price on
each other and we doubt not you will use your utmost endeavours to keep
down the Comeys which in Generall are to extravagant there and For which
you have no Return at least not worth any thing to the Ownery and as
your Cargoe is larger than we expected we hope will be able to Purchase
550 slaves, and may have to spare £400 to lay out in Ivory which we
Recommend your Purchasing From the Beginning of your Trade and pray mind
to be very Choice in your Slaves. Buy no Distemper^d or old Ones, But
such as will answer at the Place of Sale and stand the Passage and as
Callebar is Remarkable for great Mortality in Slaves we Desire you may
take every Prudent Method to Prevent it, viz.—not to keep your Ship to
Close in the Day time and at Night to keep the Ports shut as the night
Air is very Pernicious. The Privilege we allow you is as Follows:
yourself ten Slaves, your first mate Two, and your Doctor Two, which is
all we allow except two or three Hundred w^t of screveloes amongst your
Officers, but no Teeth, which you will take care to Observe, as we will
not allow any thing more. When Finished at Callebar you are to make the
Best of your way For Barbadoes, where you will Find Letters Lodged For
you at the House of Messrs. Wood & Nicholas, how you are to proceed
which will be to Guadaloupe or Martinico or any other of the Leeward
Islands, whichever is the best Markett which you may advise with the
House of Mess^{rs} Wood & Nicholas unto which place to Proceed, or any
other Person you Can Confide in. We expect your Cargoe of Slaves will be
taken up at £[21]st^g per Head, and what more they sell For to be For
the Benefitt of the Owners and to have the Ship Loaden in the Following
Manner viz: about One Hundred Casks good Mus^o Sugar for the Ground
Tier, the Remainder with First and Second white Sugars, and Betwixt
Decks with good Cotton and Coffee, and the Remainder of the neat
Proceeds in Good Bills of Exchange at as short Dates as you can. If the
aforementioned Prices cannot be obtain^d For your Slaves at either
Guadaloupe or Martinico, or the Leeward Islands as aforesaid we then
desire as little time may be Lost as Possible, but proceed for Jamaica
and on your arrivall there apply to Mess^{rs} Cuthbert & Beans,
Mess^{rs} Hibberts, Mess^{rs} Gwyn and Case, or any other House you
think will do best for the Concern, unto whom Deliver your Cargoe of
Slaves which you think will make the Most of them, if Possible, by a
Country Sale and to have your agreement in writing, and the Ship Loaden
in the Following Manner; as much Broad Sound Mahogany as will serve for
Dunnage, the Hold fill^d with the very Best Mus^o Sugar and Ginger and
Betwixt Decks with good Cotton and Pimento and about Ten Puncheons Rum,
the Remainder of the neat Proceeds of your Cargoe in Bills of Exchange
at as short Dates as you can get them. The House you are to sit down
with must Fournish you with what money you may want for Payment of wages
and other necessary Disbursements of your ship which we recommend the
utmost Frugality. In annex^d you have invoice of Slops for the use of
the seamen and apprentices. What the seamen have you must lay an advance
on to pay Interest of Money, &c. The Apprentices only Prime cost. We
recommend your keeping Good Rules and good Harmony amongst your Crew and
a good watch. Particularly whilst you have any Slaves on Board, and
Guard against accidents of Fire, Particularly in Time of Action. Suffer
no Cartridges to be Handed out of the Magazine without Boxes, which will
Prevent any Powder being sprinkled on the Deck and in Case of your
Mortality (which God Forbid) your first Mate, Mr. Chapman must succeed
you in command. Pray mind to embrace every opportunity that Offers
advising us of your Proceedings, For our Government as to Insurance &c.
We wish you a Prosperous Voyage and Safe Return and are your assured
friends.
Crosbies & Trafford Cha^s Goore
Wm Rowe Will^m Boats
Robert Green Cha^s Lowndes
Tho^s Kelly
P.S. You and your officers’ slaves are to be equal Q^y Male and Female.
-----
Footnote 21:
Obliterated.
-----
And this letter may well be supplemented by the following letters to
Captain Lace from “Grandy King George,” King of the Old Town Tribe, at
Old Calabar. They are addressed to “Mr Ambrose Lace and Company,
Manchents in Liverpool,” and are interesting examples of the literacy of
the English trader or sea captain to whom the letter was dictated by the
African King.
Ould Town, Ould Callabar, January 13, 1773.
Marchant Lace, Sr,—I take this opertunety of Wrighting to you and to
acquant you of the behaveor of Sum ships Lately in my water there was
Capt Bishop of Bristol and Capt Jackson of Liverpool laying in the river
when Capt Sharp arived and wanted to purchese his cargoe as I supose he
ought to do but this Bishop and Jackson consoulted not to let him slave
with out he payed the same Coomey[22] that thy did thy sent him out
of the River so he went to the Camoroons and was away two munths
then he arived in my water again and thy still isisted upon his
paying the Coomey acordingly he did a Nuff to Blind them so I gave
him slaves to his content and so did all my peeple, till he was full and
is now ready to sail only weats for to have a fue afairs sattled and
this sall be done before he sails to his sattisfection, and now he may
very well Laffe at them that was so much his Enemy before, for that same
day thy sent him out of the River this Jackson and Bishop and a brig
that was tender to Jackson at night began to fire at my town without the
least provocation and continued it for twenty-four hours for which I
gave them two cows but it seems as after wards Jackson confirmed
that Bishop and him was to cary away all our pawns as it was lickely
true for Jackson did cary of his but more than that before he sailed he
tould me that if I went on bord of Bishop, I shuld be stoped by him and
my hed cut of and sent to the Duke at Nuetown, but I put that out of his
power for to cut of my hed or cary of the pawns by stoping his boats and
sum of his peeple and so I would Jackson had I known his entent when he
informed me of Bishop, but he took care not to divulge his own secrets
which he was much to bleam if he did so my friend marchant Lace if
You Send ship to my water again Send good man all same your Self or same
marchant black. No Send ould man or man want to be grandy man, if he
want to be grandy man let he stand home for marchant one time, no let
him com heare or all Same Capt. Sharp he very good man, but I no tell
before that time Capt. Sharp go to Camoroons he left his mate till he
came back again, so they say I do bad for them but I will leave you to
Judg that for if any ship fire at my town I will fire for ship again
Marchant Lace Sr there is Mr Canes Capt. Sharp and second mate a
young man and a very good man he is very much Liked by me and all my
peeple of Callabar, so if you plase to sand him he will make as quick a
dispatch as any man you can send and I believe as much to your advantage
for I want a good many ship to cum, for the more ships the more treade
wee have for them for the New town peeple and has blowed abuncko for no
ship to go from my water to them nor any to cum from them to me tho
Bishop is now lying in Cross River but thy only lat him stay till
this pelaver is satteled for I have ofered him 10 slaves to Readeem the
Pawns and let him have his white people, but he will not for I dount
want to do any bad thing to him or any ship that cums to my water but
there is 4 of my sons gone allredy with Jackson and I dont want any more
of them caried of by any other vausell the coomy in all for my water
now is 24 thousand cop^{rs} besidges hats case and ship gun, Marchant
Lace I did as you bob me for Lett^{rs} when this tend^r com I no chop
for all man for you bob me No Chop to times for bionbi I back to much
Cop^r for Coomy so I do all same you bob me who make my father grandy no
more white man so now marchant Lace send good ship and make me grandy
again for war take two much cop^r from me who man trade like me that
time it be peace or break book like me so Marchant Lace if you Send Ship
now and good cargo I will be bound shee no stand long before shee full
for go away.
-----
Footnote 22:
Coomey was the duty paid to the king for the privilege of trading.
-----
The following is another lucid passage from “Grandy King George’s”
correspondence:
And now war be don Wee have all the Trade true the Cuntry so that wee
want nothing but ships to Incorige us and back us to cary it on so I
hope you and marchant Black wount Lat ous want for that InCurigement O^r
the other marchants of that Pleasce thut has a mind for to send their
ships thy shall be used with Nothing but Sivellety and fare
trade other Capt^{ns} may say what they Please about my doing them
any bad thing for what I did was thier own faults for you may think Sr
that it was vary vaxing to have my sons caried of by Capt Jackson and
Robbin sons and the King of Qua son thier names is Otto Imbass Egshiom
Enick Ogen Acandom Ebetham Ephiyoung Aset and to vex ous more the time
that wee ware fireing at each other thy hisseted [hoisted?] on of our
sons to the yard arm of Bishop and another to Jacksons yard arm and then
would cary all of them away and cut of my hed if it had not been
Prevented in time and yet thy say I do them bad only stoping Sum of
thier peeple till I get my Pawns from them Marchant Luce when you
Send a ship send drinking horns for Coomey and sum fine white mugs and
sum glass tanckards with Leds to them [ ] Send Pleanty of ship guns the
same as Sharp had I dount care if there was 2 or 3 on a Slave Send one
Chints for me of a hundred yard ° 1 Neckonees of one hundred yards 1
photar of a hundred y’s 1 Reamall 1 hund. yards one Cushita of a hundred
yds one well baft of the same Send sum Leaced hats for trade and
Licor bottles and cases to much [to match?] for all be gon for
war Send sum Lucking glasses at 2 Cop^{rs} and 4 Cop^{rs} for trade
and Coomey to and send Planty of hack and Bally for Trade and Coomey and
Small Bells Let them be good ones and send sum Lango Sum Large and sum
small and sum Curl beads Send me one Lucking glass six foot long and six
foot wide Let it have a strong wooden freme Send two small Scrustones
that their Leds may Lift up send Plenty of Cutlashs for Coomey of 2
Cop^{rs} price Let your Indgey goods be Right good and your ship no
stand long send me one table and six Chears for my house and one two
arm Schere for my Salf to sat in and 12 Puter plates and 4 dishes 12
Nifes and 12 forcks and 2 Large table spoons and a trowen and one Pear
of ballonses 2 brass Juggs with their Covers to lift the same as a
tanckard and two Cop^r ones the same two brass falagons of two
gallons each Pleanty for trade of puter ones Send Plenty of Puter
Jugs for trade send me two Large brass beasons and puter ones for trade
Send me one close stool and Send me one Large Red [illegible] Send
me one gun for my own shuting 5 foot barill and two pueter p*** pots.
Send me one good Case of Rezars for my Saveing Send me sum Vavey
brade Iron bars of 16 foot long Send 100 of them Send Large caps of 2
Cop^{rs} for Coomey &c Please to show this to Marchant black and
shend sum Large Locks for trade Sum chanes for my Salf two brass tea
kittles and two scacepang a fue brass Kittles 12 or fifteen Cop^{rs}
each Send Pleanty of canes for Coomey and one long cane for my self
gould mounted and small Neals for Coomey and you may pay your Coomy Very
Reasonable Saws or aney tools No Send Small Iron moulds for to cast
mustcats and sum small 3 pounders Send me sum banue [brand new?]
canvess to make sails for my canows and sum large Leg monelones with
hendges [hinges?] to thim to lock with a Screw and two large iron wans
for two sarve in the Room of irons and Send me one whip shaw and one
cross cut shaw Send red green and white hats for trade Send me one
red and one blue coat with gould Lace for to fit a Large man Send
butt^r and Suger for to trade Send sum green sum red sum blue Velvet
caps with small Leace and Send Sum files for trade, So no more at
Preasent from your best friend
GRANDY KING GEORGE.
Give my Complements to the gentlemen owners of the brigg _Swift_ Mr
Devenport Marchant Black and Capt^n Black and as allso Mr Erll. Please
to have my name put on Everything that you send for me.
These Liverpool slavers met with many strange adventures and
misadventures.
In March, 1752, the _Clayton_ snow,[23] Captain Patrick, of Liverpool,
200 tons burden, armed with four two-pounders and ten swivel guns, was
taken off Fernando Po, by pirates, also from Liverpool. These proved to
be nine men and a boy belonging to the _Three Sisters_, Captain Jenkins,
who had run away with the ship’s long-boat. The pirate took the
opportunity of luffing up under the lee quarter of the _Clayton_ when
all her hands were forward, except the captain and gunner, and then
boarded with sword and pistol in hand, wounded the captain in several
places, captured the ship, kept the crew in irons one night, and the
next morning put them on board their own long-boat and turned them
adrift. The pirates had brought with them in their boat a bale of
scarlet cloth and another of handkerchiefs, and told the _Clayton’s_
crew that if they “would go a-roving they should be clothed with
scarlet.” Four, unable to resist this dazzling proposal, voluntarily
entered as rovers, and the chief mate and two boys were impressed into
the pirate service. The rest of the crew were twelve days in getting
into the river Bonny, where the king seized their long-boat, and the men
had to enter on board different slavers trading there.
-----
Footnote 23:
A common type of slaver at this time was a snow, of about 140 tons,
square sterned, 57 feet keel, 21 feet beam, 5 feet between decks, 9
feet in the hold—a miniature Malbolge when crammed with slaves like
sardines in a box.
-----
[Illustration:
VIEW OF CLARENCE COVE, ISLAND OF FERNANDO PO
Colored aquatint after a painting by W. J. Huggins, in 1833, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
Captain Baille, commander of the slave ship _Carter_, writing to his
owners in Liverpool, from the River Bonny, on January 31, 1757, reveals
the method sometimes resorted to by slave captains to compel the native
chiefs to trade with them. He says:
“We arrived here the 6th of December, and found the _Hector_, with about
100 slaves on board, also the _Marquis of Lothian_, of Bristol, Capt.
Jones (by whom I now write), who was half slaved, and then paying 50
Barrs, notwithstanding he had been there 3 months before our arrival. I
have only yet purchased 15 slaves at 30 and 35 Barrs; but as soon as the
bearer sails, I propose giving more; for at present there is a dozen of
our people sick, besides the two mates, some of whom are very bad, and I
have been for these last 8 days in a strong fever, and frequently
insensible. Yesterday morning I buried Thomas Hodge, and on the 13th
James Barton. Capt. Nobler of the _Phoenix_ arrived here the 3d, and on
the 19th our trade was stopt (as it had often been before); upon which
we all marched on shore to know the reason and applied to the King
thrice, though he constantly ordered himself to be denied, and wou’d not
admit us. However, we heard his voice in doors, and as he used us so
ill, we went on board, and determined (after having held a Council), to
fire upon the town next morning, which we accordingly did, in order to
bring them to reason but found that our shot had little effect from the
river, upon which we agreed that the _Phoenix_ and the _Hector_ shou’d
go into the Creek, it being nigher the town, whilst Captain Jones and I
fired from the river. The _Phoenix_ being the headmost vessel went in,
and the _Hector_ followed about a cable’s length astern. The _Phoenix_
had scarce entred the Creek before they received a volley of small arms
from the bushes which were about 20 yards distant from the ship, and at
the same time several shot from the town went through him, upon which
they came to anchor, and plied their carriage guns for some time; but
finding there was no possibility of standing the decks, or saving the
ship, he struck his colours, but that did not avail, for they kept a
continued fire upon him, both of great and small arms. His people were
thrown into the utmost confusion, some went down below, whilst others
jumpt into the yaul which lay under the ship’s quarter, who (on seeing a
number of canoes coming down to board them) desired Capt. Nobler to come
down to them, which he at last did, as he found the vessel in such a
shattered condition, and that it was impossible for him to get her out
of the Creek before the next ebb tide, in case he cou’d keep the canoes
from boarding him. With much difficulty, they got on board the _Hector_,
but not without receiving a number of shot into the boat. The natives
soon after boarded the _Phoenix_, cut her cables, and let her drive
opposite the town, when they began to cut her up, and get out her
loading, which they accomplished in a very short time. But at night in
drawing off some brandy, they set her on fire, by which accident a great
many of them perished in the flames. The _Phoenix’s_ hands are
distributed amongst the other three ships, and all things are made up,
and trade open, but very slow, and provisions scarce and dear.”
The _Marquis of Lothian_ was afterwards taken and carried into
Martinico.
The following letter, dated Barbadoes, February 28, 1758, was written by
Captain Joseph Harrison, commander of the slave ship _Rainbow_, to his
owners, Messrs. Thomas Rumbold & Co., of Liverpool:
“We arrived here on the 25th inst. in company with Capt. Perkins from
Bonny, and Capt. Forde from Angola, whom we fell in with at St.
Thomas’s. The packet arrived here from England the day after us. I
expect to sail from hence for South Carolina in five days, having on
board 225 slaves, all in good health except eight. On the 23rd of June
last, I had the misfortune to fall in with a French brig privateer, of
fourteen 6-pounders, to leeward of Popo. We engaged him four hours, and
were so near for above four glasses, that I expected every moment we
should run on board him, as he had shot away all my running rigging and
the fluke of my small bow anchor. My standing rigging and sails were
mostly cut to pieces, and the privateer was in a little better
condition. Fifteen of his shot went through and through my sides, we
being scarce the length of the ship from one another. I lost in the
engagement, my boatswain—William Jackson—Robert Williams—and Henry
Williams. My first and second mates, three landsmen, and one servant
were wounded. The privateer being well satisfied sheered off. We were
three days in repairing our rigging &c., and on the 28th got over the
Bar of Benin and found only one vessel there, viz. a Portuguese sloop at
Warree. I purchased eight slaves on the windward coast, and 261 at
Benin, besides 5400 weight of ivory. Leaving the river, Nov. 9th, we
arrived at St. Thomas’s Dec. 17th, from whence our three vessels sailed,
Jan. 4th. I have buried all my officers, except my first and third mates
and gunner. Having lost since left Liverpool, 25 white people and 44
negroes. The negroes rose on us after we left St. Thomas’s; they killed
my linguister whom I got at Benin, and we then secured them without
farther loss. We have an account of five privateers being to windward of
Barbadoes, by a retaken vessel brought in here this day, so that we
shall run a great risk when we leave Barbadoes.”
The system of trade carried on by the Liverpool merchant was as follows:
Ships were built and fitted to carry slaves; the out cargoes consisted
of Manchester and Yorkshire goods, hatchets, cutlasses, knives,
gunpowder and trinkets, pistols, muskets, etc., from Birmingham and
Sheffield; these goods were bartered for slaves on the west coast of
Africa; the ships then carried their cargoes of slaves to the West
Indies where the slaves were sold for spice, sugar, and rum and these
commodities were then carried to Liverpool and sold, thereby making
three profits to the merchants in one voyage.
The following curious particulars regarding the customs paid at Whydah,
when trading for slaves, were drawn up for the guidance of the captain
of a Liverpool slaver.
“State of the Customs which the ships that make their whole trade at
Whydah pay to ye King of Dahomey:
{ Thes slaves paid to y^e Caborkees
Eight Slaves for Permission { after which he gives you two small
of Trade gongon Beater and { children of 7 or 8 years old which
Broakers { the King sends as a return for the
{ Customs.
1 Slave for Water and washerwoman { These slaves paid to
2 Do for the Factory house { whom supplies you
7 Do for the Canoe { These to the Fort
6 Anchors Brandy is 1 Slave
20 Cabess of Cowries is 1 Do
40 Sililees 1 Do
200 lb Gunpowder 1 Do And if any other goods must be in
25 Guns 1 Do proportion but you must observe to
10 Long Cloths 1 Do pass the Goods Least in Demand.
10 Blue Basts 1 Do
10 Patten Chints 1 Do
40 Iron Barrs 1 Do
“After the Customs are paid which should be done as soon as possable for
the traders dare not trade till the Kings Customs are paid, the Vice Roy
gives you the nine following Servants viz. one Conductor to take care of
the goods that comes and go’s to and from the waterside which you
deliver him in count and he’s obliged to answer for things delivred him
he’s paid 2 Gallinas of Cowries every time he conducts any thing whether
coming or going and one flask of brandy every Sunday.
“Two Brokers which are obliged to go to the traders houses to look for
slaves and stand Interpiter for the Purchas the are paid to each two
Tokees of Coweres day and one flask of brandy every Sunday and at the
end of your trade you give to each of them one Anchor of Brandy and one
p^s of Cloth.
“Two Boys to serve in the house the are paid each two tokees day at the
end of your trade p^s of cloth.
“One Boy to Serve at the tent water side 2 Tokees }
day. }
“One Doorkeeper paid 2 Tokees day 1 p^s Cloth for }
him and ye above. }
“One Waterwoman for the factory 2 Tokees day at end of trade One p^s of
Cloth.
“One Washer Woman 2 Tokees day and six Tokees everytime you give her any
Linnen to Wash and one p^s of Cloth at ye end of trade.
“N.B. the two last Servants are sometimes one if so you only pay one.
“To the Cannoemen for bringing the Captain on shore one Anchor Brandy
and to each man a hatt and a fathom Cloth. To the Boatswain a hat 1/2
p^s Cloth one Cabes Cowrees a flask of brandy every Sunday and a bottle
every time the cross the Barr with goods or Slaves and every time the
pass a white man and at the end of trade for carring the Capt^n on board
one anchor of Brandy and four Cabeses Cowrees.
“N.B. The above Bottles flasks &c was usely given to ye Conoemen but now
the Capt^n gives y^m one Anchor of Brandy and one Cabese of Cowrees
every Sunday for the weeks work. To the Gong Gong Beater for announcing
trade 10 Gellinas of Cowrees and one flask of Brandy.
“To the Kings Messenger for Carring News of the ships Arrivell and
Capt^{ns} Compliments to the King ten Gallinas.
“To the Trunk keeper a bottle brandy every Sunday and a peice of Cloth
when you go away if you are satisfied with his service.
“To the Capt^n of the Waterside on your arrivell one anchor of brandy
and at your Dep^t one p^s Cloth and one anchor of brandy.
“To the six Waterrowlers two tokees day each and two Bottles Brandy
besides which you pay them 2, 3 or 4 tokees of cowrees each Cask
according to the size at the end of trade two p^s Cloth and one anchor
Brandy.
“To the Vice Roy who go’s with his people to Compliment the Cap^t at his
arrivell and Conduct him to the Fort one Anchor Brandy and two flasks
but if Coke be their four flasks Brandy.
“To the Vice Roy for his owne Custom 1 p^s Silk 15 yards 1 Cask of
Flower one of Beef but if you are short of these you may give him some
thing else in Lew of them:
“To making the Ten one Anchor Brandy 4 Cabess Cowrees.
“To the Capt^n Gong Gong that looks after the house at night one bottle
day and one p^s Cloth if your content.
“You pay 3 Tokees of Cowrees for every load such as one Anchor 40
Sililees 10 p^s Cloth and so in proportion for small goods but when
loads are very heavy you pay more as ten Gallinas for a Chest of pipes
&c.
The Tokee is 40 Cowrees }
The Gallina is 200 ——— }
The Cabess is 4000 ——— }
“N.B. their go’s five tokees to one Gallina and twenty Gallinas makes
one Cabess.”
Here is a bill of lading for slaves shipped in a Liverpool ship printed
in “Liverpool as it was during the last quarter of the Eighteenth
Century.”
SHIPPED by the grace of God, in good order and well
condition’d by James [surname illegible], in and upon the good
Ship call’d the MARY BOROUGH, whereof is Master, under God,
for this present voyage, Captain David Morton, and now riding
at Anchor at the Barr of Senegal, and by God’s grace bound for
Georgey, in South Carolina, to say, twenty-four prime Slaves,
six prime women Slaves, being mark’d and number’d as in the
margin, and are to be deliver’d, in the like good order and
well condition’d, at the aforesaid Port of Georgia, South
Carolina (the danger of the Seas and Mortality only excepted),
unto Messrs. Broughton and Smith, or to their Assigns: he or
they paying Freight for the said Slaves at the rate of Five
pounds sterling per head at delivery, with Primage and Avrage
accustom’d. [Sidenote: Marked on
the Right
Buttock
O
O] IN WITNESS whereof, the Master or Purser of the said Ship
hath affirm’d to three Bills of Lading, all of this tenor and
date; the one of which three bills being accomplish’d, the
other two to stand void; and so God send the good ship to her
desir’d port in safety, Amen.
Dated in Senegal, 1st February, 1766,
DAVID MORTON.
A voyage made in 1803-1804, by the ship _Enterprise_, may be taken as a
typical example of the working of the system at that time. The owner’s
instructions were as follows:
Liverpool, 18 July 1803.
Cap. Caesar Lawson,
Sir.—Our ship _Enterprize_, to the command of which you are appointed,
being now ready for sea, you are immediately to proceed in her, and make
the best of your way to Bonny on the Coast of Africa. You will receive
herewith an invoice of the Cargo on board her which you are to barter at
Bonny for prime Negroes, Ivory, and Palm Oil. By Law this vessel is
allowed to carry 400 Negroes, and we request that they may all be males
if possible to get them, at any rate buy as few females as in your
power, because we look to a Spanish market for the disposal of your
cargo, where Females are a very tedious sale. In the choice of the
Negroes be very particular, select those that are well formed and
strong; and do not buy any above 24 years of Age, as it may happen that
you will have to go to Jamaica, where you know any exceeding that age
would be liable to a Duty of £10 pr head. While the slaves are on board
the Ship allow them every indulgence Consistent with your own Safety,
and do not suffer any of your officers or Crew to abuse or insult them
in any respect. Perhaps you may be able to procure some Palm Oil on
reasonable terms, which is likely to bear a great price here, we
therefore wish you to purchase as much as you can with any spare cargo
you may have. We have taken out Letters of Marque against the French and
Batavian Republic, and if you are so fortunate as to fall in with and
capture any of their vessels Send the Same direct to this Port, under
the care of an active Prize Master, and a sufficient number of men out
of your ship; and also put a Copy of the Commission on board her, but do
not molest any neutral ship, as it would involve us in expensive Lawsuit
and subject us to heavy Damages. A considerable part of our property
under your care will not be insured, and we earnestly desire you will
keep a particular look out to avoid the Enemy’s Cruisers, which are
numerous and you may hourly expect to be attacked by some of them. We
request you will Keep strict and regular discipline on board the ship;
do not suffer Drunkenness among any of your Officers or Crew, for it is
sure to be attended with some misfortune, such as Insurrection, Mutiny
and Fire. Allow to the ship’s Company their regular portion of
Provisions &c and take every care of such as may get sick. You must keep
the ship very clean and see that no part of her Stores and Materials are
embezzled, neglected, or idly wasted. As soon as you have finished your
trade and laid in a sufficient quantity of Yams, wood, water, and every
other necessary for the Middle Passage, proceed with a press of sail for
Barbadoes, and on your arrival there call on Messrs. Barton Higginson &
Co. with whom you will find Letters from us by which you are to be
govern’d in prosecuting the remainder of the voyage. Do not fail to
write to us by every opportunity and always inclose a copy of your
preceding Letter.
[Illustration:
GEORGETOWN, DEMERARA, SHOWING THE BRITISH BARK “CAESAR” ENTERING THE
HARBOR, SEPTEMBER, 1839
From a colored aquatint, after a painting by W. J. Huggins, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
You are to receive from the House in the West Indies, who may sell your
cargo, your Coast Commission of £2 in £102 on the Gross Sales, and when
this Sum with your Chief Mate’s Privilege and your Surgeon’s Privilege,
Gratuity and head money are deducted, you are then to draw your
Commission of £4 in £104 on the remaining amount. Your Chief Mate, Mr.
James Cowill, is to receive two Slaves on an average with the Cargo,
less the Island and any other duty that may be due or payable thereon at
the place where you may sell your Cargo; and your Surgeon, Mr. Gilbt.
Sinclair, is to receive two Slaves on an average with the Cargo less the
Duty beforementioned, and one Shilling S^{tg} head money on each slave
sold. And in consideration of the aforementioned Emoluments, neither you
nor your Crew, nor any of them, are directly or indirectly to carry on
any private Trade on your or their accounts under a forfeiture to us of
the whole of your Commissions arising on this voyage. In case of your
Death, your Chief Mate, Mr. Cowill, is to succeed to the Command of the
Ship, and diligently follow these and all our further orders. Any Prize
that you may capture, direct the Prize Master to hoist a white flag at
the fore and one at the main top Gallant Mast-heads, on his approach to
this Port, which will be answered by a signal at the light House.
We hope you will have a happy and prosperous voyage, and remain
Sir, Your ob Serv^t
THOMAS LEYLAND & CO.
P.S. Should you capture any vessel from the Eastward of Cape of Good
Hope, Send her to Falmouth and there wait for our orders. In case of
your Capturing a Guineaman with Slaves on board, Send her to the address
of Messrs. Bogle, Jopp & Co. of Kingston, Jamaica.
I acknowledge to have received from Messrs. Thomas Leyland & Co. the
Orders of which the aforegoing is a true Copy, and I engage to execute
them as well as all their further orders, the Dangers of the Seas only
excepted, as witness my hand this 18 July 1803.
CAESAR LAWSON.
On the owner’s account book is entered the following memoranda of the
voyage:
SHIP ENTERPRIZE, 1st Voyage.
Sailed from Liverpool, 20 July 1803
August 26th detained the Spanish Brig _St. Augustin_, Capt. Josef Ant^o
Ytuno, in Lat. 22, 47 North, Long. 26, 14 West; bound from Malaga to
Vera Cruz, which vessel arrived at Hoylake on the 25th October.
September 10th Recaptured the _John_ of Liverpool in Lat. 4, 20 North,
Long. 11, 10 West with 261 Slaves on board, and on the 2nd November she
arrived at Dominica.
September 23rd the _Enterprize_ arrived at Bonny, and sailed from thence
on the
December 6th the _St. Augustin_ sailed from Liverpool.
9th January 1804 the _Enterprize_ arrived at the Havanna and sold there
392 Negroes. On the 28 March she sailed from the Havannah and arrived at
Liverpool 26 April 1804.
The outfit of the _Enterprize_ cost £8148 18 s. 8 d.; her cargo of
trading goods, £8896 3 s. 9½ d.; total £17,045 2 s. 5½ d. In January,
1804, Captain Lawson delivered to Messrs. Joaquin Perez de Urria, at
Havanna, 412 Eboe slaves (viz., 194 men, 32 men-boys, 66 boys, 42 women,
36 women-girls, and 42 girls) to be sold on account of Messrs. T.
Leyland & Co. Nineteen of the slaves died, and one girl, being subject
to fits, could not be disposed of. The net profit on the round voyage,
after selling the 392 remaining slaves, paying damages for detaining the
_St. Augustine_, and crediting salvage of the _John_, profit on teeth,
logwood, sugar, etc., amounted to £24,430 8 s. 11 d.
It appears from a calculation printed in Williams’ work on the Liverpool
slave trade, that during the eleven years from 1783 to 1793, 878 slavers
owned in Liverpool, imported to the West Indies, 303,737 slaves whose
estimated value amounted to the total of £15,186,850—a brilliantly
successful traffic that brought great wealth to the principal
adventurers and an unhappy reputation to the busy port of Liverpool.
A tragedian, George Frederick Cooke, the predecessor of Kean, while
drunk, staggered on to the stage of the Theatre Royal in Liverpool, one
evening and was hissed and hooted by the audience for presenting himself
in such a condition. Steadying himself, the outraged actor shouted, “I
have not come here to be insulted by a set of wretches, every brick in
whose infernal town is cemented with an African’s blood.”
Time brings its compensations. Liverpool is now one of the greatest
maritime ports in the world, a great _entrepôt_ for the nations of the
New World, whose development at one time demanded the labor and lives of
kidnapped Africans transported overseas in the holds of ships hailing
from that port.
CHAPTER VI
MUTINIES ABOARD SLAVE SHIPS IN THE EARLY
DAYS
Among the shipmasters engaged in the Guinea trade, in the early part of
the eighteenth century, was one Capt. William Snelgrave, who sailed in
ships owned by London merchants. He met with many strange adventures on
the African coast; had the misfortune to be captured, in 1719, by Capt.
Thomas Cocklyn, the pirate, when he narrowly escaped with his life; and
several times was in danger of capture at the instance of negro kings
with whom he was trafficking for slaves.
In March, 1727, he arrived in the road of Whidaw, in the _Katharine
Galley_ of London, a short time after the king of Dahomey had fallen on
the country and destroyed nearly the entire population. The fields were
strewed with human bones and the populous country with which he was
familiar was a dismal sight. Sailing a short distance along the coast,
on the 3d of April he anchored in the road of Jaqueen and went up to the
town, which is about three miles from the sea.
The following day a messenger came from the king of Dahomey with an
invitation for the English captain to visit his camp, which lay about
forty miles inland. The messenger, who spoke excellent English which he
had learned in the factory at Whidaw, assured Captain Snelgrave that he
would be quite safe while in the Dahomey country and kindly used. When
the captain showed some distrust, the black messenger told him that if
he didn’t accept the invitation it would deeply offend the king, which
might prevent him from trading on the recently conquered coast, beside
other bad consequences, so Captain Snelgrave agreed to go and a Dutch
shipmaster volunteered to accompany him and also two or three others.
The company set off at nine o’clock in the morning. The captain had six
hammock-men who relieved each other by turn, two at a time carrying the
hammock pole. When he became tired of lying in the hammock, there was a
small horse, little larger than an ass, on which he rode, and traveling
over good roads, at the rate of about four miles an hour, about nine the
next morning they reached the camp, having spent the night on some mats
spread on the ground in hovels that had not been destroyed by the army.
A captain of the court, with about five hundred soldiers carrying
firearms, drawn swords, shields and banners, came out to meet the
company and escorted them to some chairs (taken from the Whidaws) set
out beneath trees where the natives flocked about in such numbers that
they were in danger of being crushed. Thousands of these people, who had
come from inland kingdoms, had never before seen a white man.
At noon, a dinner of cold ham and fowls was brought, and notwithstanding
the watchfulness of several servants with flappers, it was almost
impossible to keep the meat free from the swarms of flies that had
probably bred in the heaps of dead men’s heads piled on stages not far
away. These evil smelling stages were passed not long after, as they
went towards the king’s court, and the linguist said they comprised the
heads of four thousand of the Whidaws who had been sacrificed about
three weeks before.
They slept that night in hammocks and the next morning about nine
o’clock were escorted to a large palisadoed area where the king of
Dahomey was sitting in a gilt chair that he had recently captured from
the king of Whidaw. He wore a gown flowered with gold, and behind him
were a number of women, naked from the waist up, holding large umbrellas
to shelter him from the hot sun. After paying their respects to his
Majesty and drinking his health in palm wine, the linguist told Captain
Snelgrave that “it was the King’s Desire that they should stay some time
with him, to see the Method of paying the Soldiers for Captives taken in
War, and the Heads of the slain.”
Over eighteen hundred captives had been brought into camp the evening
before. They were Tuffoes, living about six days’ journey distant,
between the Whidaw country and Dahomey. After the wiping out of the
Whidaws, the king of Dahomey had sent home twelve of his wives and a
great number of slaves and quantity of loot, guarded by five hundred
men. While passing through the Tuffoe country this guard was attacked
and routed, the women were killed and the loot was captured. As soon as
the conquest of Whidaw was completed, the king sent part of his army to
the Tuffoe country and the eighteen hundred captives, that Captain
Snelgrave saw brought into camp, were one of the results of that
retaliatory campaign.
The captives were now brought before the king. He selected a
considerable number to be kept as slaves for his own use or to be sold
to Europeans; some two hundred were presented to his courtiers and court
officials; and the rest of the prisoners were ordered to be sacrificed
to the king’s _fetiche_ or guardian angel. This human sacrifice took
place that afternoon, about a quarter of a mile from the camp, where
small stages, about five feet high, had been erected. The first victim
was a fine-looking man, about fifty years old, who showed no fear. He
stood by one of the stages with his hands tied behind him. A feticheer,
or priest, laid hands on the victim’s head and said some words of
consecration lasting about two minutes and then at a sign, a man
standing behind with a broad sword, cut off the head of the victim with
one blow, and threw it on the stage. The body lay on the ground for a
time so that the blood might drain off and slaves then dragged it away
to a place adjoining the camp.[24]
-----
Footnote 24:
Over a century later, Commander Forbes of the British Navy witnessed a
similar sacrifice in the Dahomey country, when twelve victims, lashed
hands and feet and tied in small baskets, were carried around the
court and after a ceremony thrown from a parapet into a pit below.
“The fall, upwards of twelve feet, may have stunned the victims and
before sense could return, their heads were cut off and the bodies
thrown to the mob, who, now armed with clubs and branches, brutally
mutilated the bodies and dragged them to a distant pit.” Forbes,
_Dahomey and the Dahomans_, London, 1850.
-----
About four hundred captives were sacrificed in this manner. The men went
to the stages, bold and unconcerned, but the cries of the women and
children were most affecting and soon excited the fears of the Dutch
captain that the priests might take it into their heads that white
victims might be more acceptable to their _fetiche_ than men of their
own color. But no affront was shown the Europeans and after two hours
spent standing near the stages they returned to their tent. The next
morning they discovered that the bodies of the sacrificed had been taken
away in the night by the people, who had boiled and feasted on them, as
holy food.
At an audience with the king, the next day, an agreement was made
whereby slaves, sufficient for a cargo, should be sent down to the shore
at Jaqueen and that Captain Snelgrave should have three males to one
female and be obliged to accept only those that he selected. The return
journey was made without incident and at full speed, for the hammock-men
were so much affected by the great sacrifice of Tuffoe people that they
ran most of the way back to Jaqueen and arrived in an exhausted
condition.
Two days later the slaves sent down by the king began to arrive in the
town and one of the great captains of the king’s court soon followed, to
settle all matters in dispute. The day he appeared, the linguist brought
to Captain Snelgrave two female slaves, saying that the king desired him
to buy them, but as one was about fifty years old he told the linguist
that she was past her labor and therefore declined to buy her. The young
slave he purchased at the agreed price. Not long after the linguist
reported that the older woman, by order of the great captain, had been
sacrificed to the sea, for she had offended the king, and not having
been sold, she must be destroyed. The linguist suspected this must be
done because the woman had assisted some of the king’s women in their
love affairs and so incurred his emnity. On being questioned he related
that “the Woman’s Hands being tied behind her, and her Feet across, she
was put into the _Cannoe_, and carried off about half a Mile from the
Shore; And then he ordered the Rowers to throw her over board; which
they had no sooner done but he saw some Sharks tear her to pieces in an
Instant.”
The next day a letter was brought ashore, from the mate of the
_Katharine Galley_, which gave an account of the remarkable preservation
of this slave woman. It happened that about the time the canoe of the
linguist returned to the shore, one of the boats of the _Katharine
Galley_ left the moorings to go on board the ship and about halfway out
came upon a human body lying on its back, every now and then spurting
water out of its mouth. It was a woman, tied hand and foot, whom they
hauled aboard, untied and rolled about to get the salt water out of her
stomach. They took her on board the ship and sent word of her taking up
to Captain Snelgrave.
While the preservation of the woman from sharks and her timely rescue by
the boat’s crew seemed quite providential, yet the captain was thereby
placed in an awkward position, for should the king discover the fact he
might pretend that his _fetiche_ had been disappointed of this sacrifice
and so desire revenge or a large present. To order the woman killed was
out of the question so the captain sent orders to his mate to keep the
rescue a secret and this was successfully done. The woman was
exceedingly grateful for her rescue and during the voyage returned good
service by helping to keep the slaves easy in their minds, especially
the female negroes who usually were troublesome on account of their
noise and clamor. On reaching the West Indies she was sold to Charles
Dunbar, the surveyor general of Barbadoes, reputed to be a good master.
The _Katharine Galley_ sailed from Jaqueen road, July 1, 1727, having on
board over six hundred negroes and reached Antigua, W. I., after a
tedious passage of seventeen weeks, where the cargo, having stood the
voyage very well, came to a good market, and after lying there nearly
three months for a return cargo of sugar, she sailed the last of
February and got safe into the river Thames, on April 25, 1728, having
made the round voyage in seventeen months.
Captain Snelgrave sailed in the Guinea trade for nearly thirty years and
became familiar with all its details. The narrative that he wrote and
which was published in London, in 1754,[25] may be considered a valuable
contribution to our knowledge of the conduct of the trade at that time.
He writes that it had been the custom, time out of mind, for negroes to
make slaves of their captives taken in war, and when they had taken more
than they could well employ on their plantations they were often obliged
to kill many. It followed that they welcomed an opportunity to sell
their surplus slaves to traders. Most crimes among the negro tribes were
punished by mulcts and fines and if the offender could not pay he was
sold for a slave. This was the practice of the inland people as well as
those living on or near the sea shore. By this means so large a number
of negroes became slaves that the trade on the Guinea coast, in the
opinion of Captain Snelgrave, before the year 1730, had resulted in the
exportation of at least seventy thousand natives. During the voyage to
the West Indies and the American coast, the condition of the slaves in
their narrow quarters on board ship was not only most uncomfortable, at
the best, but usually a sickening and horrible experience that sometimes
led to mutiny and wholesale death.
-----
Footnote 25:
_A New Account of Guinea, and the Slave Trade_, by Capt. William
Snelgrave, London, 1754.
-----
[Illustration:
GROUP OF NEGROES JUST LANDED TO BE SOLD FOR SLAVES
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an Expedition to
Surinam_, London, 1796
]
“These Munities,” writes Captain Snelgrave, “are generally occasioned by
the Sailors ill usage of these poor People, when on board the Ships
wherein they are transported to our Plantations. Wherever, therefore, I
have commanded, it has been my principal Care, to have the Negroes on
board my Ship kindly used; and I have always strictly charged my white
People to treat them with Humanity and Tenderness; In which I have
usually found my Account, both in keeping them from mutinying and
preserving them in health.
“And whereas it may seem strange to those that are unacquainted with the
method of managing them, how we can carry so many hundreds together in a
small Ship, and keep them in order; I shall just mention what is
generally practised. When we purchase grown People, I acquaint them by
the Interpreter, ‘That, now they are become my Property, I think fit to
let them know what they are bought for, that they may be easy in their
Minds:’ (For these poor People are generally under terrible
Apprehensions upon their being bought by white Men, many being afraid
that we design to eat them; which, I have been told, is a story much
credited by the inland Negroes;) ‘So after informing them, That they are
bought to till the Ground in our Country, with several other Matters; I
then acquaint them, how they are to behave themselves on board, towards
the white Men; that if any one abuses them, they are to complain to the
Linguist, who is to inform me of it, and I will do them Justice: But if
they make a Disturbance, or offer to strike a White Man, they must
expect to be severely punished.’
“When we purchase the Negroes, we couple the sturdy Men together with
Irons; but we suffer the Women and Children to go freely about: And soon
after we have sail’d from the Coast, we undo all the Mens Irons.
“They are fed twice a day, and are allowed in fair Weather to come on
Deck at seven a clock in the Morning, and to remain there, if they think
proper, till Sun setting. Every Monday Morning they are served with
Pipes and Tobacco, which they are very fond of. The Men Negroes lodge
separate from the Women and Children; and the places where they all lye
are cleaned every day, some white Men being appointed to see them do
it....
“The first Mutiny I saw among the Negroes, happened during my first
Voyage in the Year 1704. It was on board the _Eagle Galley_ of London,
commanded by my Father, with whom I was Purser. We had bought our
Negroes in the River of _Old Callabar_ in the Bay of _Guinea_. At the
time of their mutinying, we were in that River, having four hundred of
them on board, and not above ten white Men who were able to do Service:
For several of our Ship’s Company were dead and many more sick; besides,
two of our Boats were just then gone with twelve People on Shore to
fetch Wood, which lay in sight of the Ship. All these Circumstances put
the Negroes on consulting how to mutiny, which they did at four a clock
in the Afternoon, just as they went to Supper. But as we had always
carefully examined the Mens Irons, both Morning and Evening, none had
got them off, which in a great measure contributed to our Preservation.
Three white Men stood on the Watch with Cutlaces in their Hands. One of
them who was on the Forecastle, a stout fellow, seeing some of the Men
Negroes take hold of the chief Mate, in order to throw him over board,
he laid on them so heartily with the flat side of his Cutlace, that they
soon quitted the Mate, who escaped from them, and run on the Quarter
Deck to get Arms. I was then sick with an Ague—and lying on a Couch in
the great Cabbin, the Fit being just come on. However, I no sooner heard
the Outcry, _That the Slaves were mutinying_, but I took two Pistols,
and run on the Deck with them; where meeting with my Father and the
chief Mate, I delivered a Pistol to each of them. Whereupon they went
forward on the Booms, calling to the Negroe Men that were on the
Forecastle; but they did not regard their Threats, being busy with the
Centry (who had disengaged the chief Mate), and they would have
certainly killed him with his own Cutlace, could they have got it from
him; but they could not break the Line wherewith the Handle was fastened
to his Wrist. And so, tho’ they had seized him, yet they could not make
use of his Cutlace. Being thus disappointed, they endeavoured to throw
him overboard, but he held so fast by one of them that they could not do
it. My Father seeing this stout Man in so much Danger, ventured amongst
the Negroes, to save him; and fired his Pistol over their Heads,
thinking to frighten them. But a lusty Slave struck him with a Billet so
hard, that he was almost stunned. The Slave was going to repeat the
Blow, when a young Lad about seventeen years old, whom we had been kind
to, interposed his Arm, and received the Blow, by which his Arm-bone was
fractured. At the same instant the Mate fired his Pistol, and shot the
Negroe that had struck my Father. At the sight of this the Mutiny
ceased, and all the Men-negroes on the Forecastle threw themselves flat
on their Faces, crying out for Mercy.
“Upon examining into the matter, we found, there were not above twenty
Men Slaves concerned in this Mutiny; and the two Ring-leaders were
missing, having, it seems, jumped overboard as soon as they found their
Project defeated, and were drowned. This was all the Loss we suffered on
this occasion. For the Negroe that was shot by the Mate, the Surgeon,
beyond all Expectation, cured. And I had the good Fortune to lose my
Ague, by the fright and hurry I was put into. Moreover, the young Man,
who had received the Blow on his Arm to save my Father, was cured by the
Surgeon in our Passage to Virginia. At our Arrival in that place we gave
him his Freedom; and a worthy Gentleman, one Colonel Carter, took him
into his Service, till he became well enough acquainted in the Country
to provide for himself.
“I have been several Voyages, when there has been no Attempt made by our
Negroes to mutiny; which, I believe, was owing chiefly, to their being
kindly used, and to my Officers Care in keeping a good Watch. But
sometimes we meet with stout stubborn People amongst them, who are never
to be made easy; and these are generally some of the Cormantines, a
Nation of the Gold Coast. I went in the year 1721, in the _Henry_ of
London, a Voyage to that part of the Coast, and bought a good many of
these People. We were obliged to secure them very well in Irons, and
watch them narrowly: Yet they nevertheless mutined, tho’ they had little
prospect of succeeding. I lay at that time near a place called Mumfort,
on the Gold Coast, having near five hundred Negroes on board, three
hundred of which were Men. Our Ship’s Company consisted of fifty white
People, all in health: And I had very good Officers; so that I was very
easy in all respects.
“This Mutiny began at Midnight (the Moon then shining very bright) in
this manner. Two Men that stood Centry at the Fore-hatch way, where the
Men Slaves came up to go to the house of Office, permitted four to go to
that place; but neglected to lay the Gratings again, as they should have
done: Whereupon four more Negroes came on Deck, who had got their Irons
off, and the four in the house of Office having done the same, all the
eight fell on the two Centries, who immediately called out for help. The
Negroes endeavoured to get their Cutlaces from them, but the Lineyards
(that is the Lines by which the handles of the Cutlaces were fastened to
the Mens Wrists) were so twisted in the Scuffle, that they could not get
them off before we came to their Assistance. The Negroes perceiving
several white Men coming towards them, with Arms in their hands, quitted
the Centries, and jumped over the Ship’s side into the Sea.
“I being by this time come forward on the Deck, my first care was to
secure the Gratings, to prevent any more Negroes from coming up; and
then I ordered People to get into the Boat, and save those that had
jumped over-board, which they luckily did: For they found them all
clinging to the Cables the Ship was moored by.
“After we had secured these People, I called the Linguists, and ordered
them to bid the Men-Negroes between Decks be quiet (for there was a
great noise amongst them). On their being silent, I asked, ‘What had
induced them to mutiny?’ They answered, ‘I was a great Rogue to buy
them, in order to carry them away from their own Country; and that they
were resolved to regain their Liberty if possible.’ I replied, ‘That
they had forfeited their Freedom before I bought them, either by Crimes,
or by being taken in War, according to the Custom of their Country; and
they being now my Property, I was resolved to let them feel my
Resentment, if they abused my Kindness: Asking at the same time, Whether
they had been ill used by the white Men, or had wanted for any thing the
Ship afforded?’ To this they replied, ‘They had nothing to complain of.’
Then I observed to them, ‘That if they should gain their Point and
escape to the Shore, it would be no Advantage to them, because their
Countrymen would catch them, and sell them to other Ships.’ This served
my purpose, and they seemed to be convinced of their Fault, begging, ‘I
would forgive them, and promising for the future to be obedient, and
never mutiny again, if I would not punish them this time.’ This I
readily granted, and so they went to sleep. When Day-light came we
called the Men-Negroes up on Deck, and examining their Irons, found them
all secure. So this Affair happily ended, which I was very glad of; for
these People are the stoutest and most sensible Negroes on the Coast:
Neither are they so weak as to imagine as others do, that we buy them to
eat them; being satisfied we carry them to work in our Plantations, as
they do in their own Country.
“However, a few days after this, we discovered they were plotting again,
and preparing to mutiny. For some of the Ringleaders proposed to one of
our Linguists, If he could procure them an Ax, they would cut the Cables
the Ship rid by in the night; and so on her driving (as they imagined)
ashore, they should get out of our hands, and then would become his
Servants as long as they lived.
“For the better understanding of this I must observe here, that these
Linguists are Natives and Freeman of the Country, whom we hire on
account of their speaking good English, during the time we remain
trading on the Coast; and they are likewise Brokers between us and the
black Merchants.
“This Linguist was so honest as to acquaint me with what had been
proposed to him; and advised me to keep a strict Watch over the Slaves:
For tho’ he had represented to them the same as I had done on their
mutinying, before, That they would be all catch’d again, and sold to
other Ships, in case they could carry their Point, and get on Shore; yet
it had no effect upon them.
“This gave me a good deal of uneasiness. For I knew several Voyages had
proved unsuccessful by Mutinies; as they occasioned either the total
loss of the Ship and the white Men’s Lives; or at least by rendering it
absolutely necessary to kill or wound a great number of the Slaves, in
order to prevent a total Destruction. Moreover, I knew many of these
Cormantine Negroes despised Punishment, and even Death itself: It having
often happened at Barbadoes and other Islands, that on their being any
ways hardly dealt with, to break them of their Stubbornness in refusing
to work, twenty or more have hang’d themselves at a time in a
Plantation. However, about a Month after this, a sad Accident happened,
that brought our Slaves to be more orderly, and put them in a better
Temper: And it was this. On our going from Mumfort to Annamaboe, which
is the principal part on the Gold Coast, I met there with another of my
Owner’s Ships, called the _Elizabeth_. One Captain Thompson, that
commanded her, was dead; as also his chief Mate: Moreover, the Ship had
afterwards been taken at Cape Laboe on the windward Coast, by Roberts
the Pirate, with whom several of the Sailors belonging to her had
entered. However, some of the Pirates had hindered the Cargoe’s being
plundered, and obtained that the Ship should be restored to the second
Mate: Telling him, ‘They did it out of respect to the generous Character
his Owner bore, in doing good to poor Sailors.’
“When I met with this Vessel I had almost disposed of my Ship’s Cargoe:
and the _Elizabeth_ being under my Direction, I acquainted the second
Mate, who then commanded her, That I thought it for our Owner’s
Interest, to take the Slaves from on board him, being about 120, into my
Ship; and then go off the Coast; and that I would deliver him at the
same time the Remains of my Cargoe, for him to dispose of with his own
after I was sailed. This he readily complied with, but told me, ‘He
feared his Ship’s Company would mutiny, and oppose my taking the Slaves
from him.’ And indeed, they came at that instant in a Body on the
Quarter-deck; where one spoke for the rest, telling me plainly, ‘that
they would not allow the Slaves to be taken out by me.’ I found by this
they had lost all respect for their present Commander, who indeed was a
weak Man. However, I calmly asked the reason, ‘Why they offered to
oppose my taking the Slaves?’ To which they answered, ‘I had no business
with them.’ On this I desired the Captain to send to his Scrutore, for
the Book of Instructions Captain Thompson had received from our Owner;
and he read to them, at my request, that Part, in which their former
Captain, or his Successor (in case of Death) was to follow my Orders.
Hereupon they all cried out, ‘they should remain a great while longer on
the Coast to purchase more Slaves, if I took these from them, which they
were resolved to oppose.’ I answered, ‘That such of the Ship’s Company
as desired it, I would receive on board my own; where they should have
the same Wages they had at present on board the _Elizabeth_, and I would
send some of my own People to supply their Places.’ This, so reasonable
an Offer, was refused, one of the Men who was the Ship’s Cooper telling
me, that the Slaves had been on board a long time, and they had great
Friendship with them: therefore they would keep them. I asked him,
‘Whether he had ever been on the Coast of Guinea before?’ He replied no.
Then I told him, ‘I supposed he had not by his way of talking, and
advised him not to rely on the Friendship of the Slaves, which he might
have reason to repent of when too late.’ And ’Tis remarkable this very
person was killed by them the next Night, as shall be presently related.
“So finding that reasoning with these Men was to no Purpose, I told
them, ‘When I came with my Boats to fetch the Slaves, they should find
me as resolute to chastise such of them as should dare to oppose me, as
I had been condescending to convince them by arguing calmly.’ So I took
my leave of their Captain, telling him, ‘I would come next Morning to
finish the Affair.’
“But that very Night, which was near a month after the Mutiny on board
of us at Mumfort, the Moon shining now very bright, as it did then, we
heard, about ten a Clock, two or three Musquets fired on board the
_Elizabeth_. Upon that I ordered all our Boats to be manned, and having
secured every thing in our Ship, to prevent our Slaves from mutinying, I
went myself in our Pinnace (the other Boats following me), on board the
_Elizabeth_, in our way we saw two Negroes swimming from her, but before
we could reach them with our Boats, some Sharks rose from the bottom,
and tore them in Pieces. We came presently along the side of the Ship,
where we found two Men-Negroes holding by a Rope, with their Heads just
above water; they were afraid, it seems, to swim from the Ship’s side,
having seen their Companions devoured just before by the Sharks. These
two Slaves we took into our Boat, and then went into the Ship, where we
found the Negroes very quiet, and all under Deck: but the Ship’s Company
was on the Quarter-Deck, in a great Confusion, saying, ‘The Cooper, who
had been placed centry at the Fore-hatch way, over the Men-Negroes, was,
they believed, kill’d by them.’ I was surprised to hear this, wondering
that these cowardly fellows, who had so vigorously opposed my taking the
Slaves out, a few hours before, had not Courage enough to venture
forward, to save their Ship-mate; but had secured themselves by shutting
the Quarter-deck-door, where they all stood with Arms in their Hands. So
I went to the fore-part of the Ship with some of my People, and there we
found the Cooper lying on his back quite dead, his Scull being cleft
asunder with a Hatchet that lay by him. At the sight of this I called
for the Linguist, and bid him ask the Negroes between Decks, ‘Who had
killed the white Man?’ They answered, ‘They knew nothing of the matter;
for there had been no design of mutinying amongst them:’ Which upon
Examination we found true; for above one hundred of the Negroes then on
board, being bought to Windward, did not understand a word of the Gold
Coast Language, and so had not been in the Plot. But this Mutiny was
contrived by a few Cormantee-Negroes, who had been purchased about two
or three days before. At last, one of the two Men-Negroes we had taken
up along the Ship side, impeached his Companion, and he readily
confessed he had kill’d the Cooper, with no other View, but that he and
his Countrymen might escape undiscovered by swimming on Shore. For on
their coming upon Deck, they observed, that all the white Men set to
watch were asleep; and having found the Cook’s Hatchet by the
Fire-place, he took it up, not designing then to do any Mischief with
it; but passing by the Cooper, who was centry, and he beginning to
awake, the Negroe rashly struck him on the head with it, and then jump’d
overboard. Upon this frank Confession, the white Men would have cut him
to Pieces; but I prevented it, and carried him to my own Ship. Early the
next morning, I went on board the _Elizabeth_ with my Boats, and sent
away all the Negroes then in her, into my own Ship: not one of the other
Ship’s Company offering to oppose it. Two of them, the Carpenter and
Steward, desired to go with me, which I readily granted; and by way of
Security for the future Success of the Voyage, I put my chief Mate, and
four of my under Officers (with their own Consent), on board the
_Elizabeth_; and they arrived about five Months after this, at Jamaica,
having disposed of most part of the Cargoe.
[Illustration:
SECTION SHOWING METHOD OF STOWING SLAVES, IN 1786, ON THE SHIP
“BROOKES” OF LIVERPOOL
From Clarkson’s _Abolition of the Slave Trade_, London, 1808
]
“After having sent the Slaves out of the _Elizabeth_, as I have just now
mentioned, I went on board my own Ship, and there being then in the Road
of Anamaboe, eight sail of Ships besides us, I sent an Officer in my
Boat to the Commanders of them, ‘To desire their Company on board my
Ship, because I had an Affair of great Consequence to communicate to
them.’ Soon after, most of them were pleased to come; and I having
acquainted them with the whole Matter, and they having also heard the
Negroe’s Confession, ‘That he had killed the white Man’; They
unanimously advised me to put him to death; arguing, ‘That Blood
required Blood by all Laws both divine and human; especially as there
was in this Case the clearest Proof, namely the Murderer’s Confession:
Moreover this would in all probability prevent future Mischiefs; for by
publickly executing this Person at the Ship’s Fore-yard Arm, the Negroes
on board their Ships would see it; and as they were very much disposed
to mutiny, it might prevent them from ‘attempting it.’ These Reasons,
with my being in the same Circumstances, made me comply.
“Accordingly we acquainted the Negroe, that he was to die in an hour’s
time for murdering the white Man. He answered, ‘He must confess it was a
rash Action in him to kill him; but he desired me to consider, that if I
put him to death, I should lose all the Money I had paid for him.’ To
this I bid the Interpreter reply, ‘That tho’ I knew it was customary in
his Country to commute for Murder by a Sum of Money, yet it was not so
with us; and he should find that I had no regard to my Profit in this
respect: For as soon as an Hour-Glass, just then turned, was run out, he
should be put to death’; At which I observed he shewed no Concern.
“Hereupon the other Commanders went on board their respective Ships, in
order to have all their Negroes upon Deck at the time of Execution, and
to inform them of the occasion of it. The Hour-Glass being run out, the
Murderer was carried on the Ship’s Forecastle, where he had a Rope
fastened under his Arms, in order to be hoisted up to the Fore-yard Arm,
to be shot to death. This some of his Countrymen observing, told him (as
the Linguist informed me afterwards), ‘That they would not have him be
frightened; for it was plain I did not design to put him to death,
otherwise the Rope would have been put about his neck, to hang him.’ For
it seems they had no thought of his being shot; judging he was only to
be hoisted up to the Yard-arm, in order to scare him: But they
immediately saw the contrary; for as soon as he was hoisted up, ten
white Men who were placed behind the Barricado on the Quarter-deck,
fired their Musquets, and instantly killed him. This struck a sudden
Damp on our Negroe-Men, who thought, that, on account of my Profit, I
would not have executed him.
“The Body being let down upon the Deck, the Head was cut off, and thrown
overboard. This last part was done, to let our Negroes see, that all who
offended thus, should be served in the same manner. For many of the
Blacks believe, that if they are put to death and not dismembered, they
shall return again to their own Country, after they are thrown
overboard. But neither the Person that was executed, nor his Countrymen
of Cormantee (as I understood afterwards), were so weak as to believe
any such thing; tho’ many I had on board from other Countries had that
Opinion.
“When the Execution was over, I ordered the Linguist to acquaint the
Men-Negroes, ‘That now they might judge, no one that killed a white Man
should be spared:’ And I thought proper now to acquaint them once for
all, ‘That if they attempted to mutiny again, I should be obliged to
punish the Ringleaders with death, in order to prevent further
Mischief.’ Upon this they all promised to be obedient, and I assured
them they should be kindly used, if they kept their Promise: which they
faithfully did. For we sailed, two days after, from Annamaboe for
Jamaica; and tho’ they were on board near four Months, from our going
off the Coast, till they were sold at that Island, they never gave us
the least reason to be jealous of them: which doubtless was owing to the
Execution of the white Man’s Murderer.
“These three Mutinies, I have here related, are all that ever happened
where I was present, tho’ I have gone many Voyages to the Coast of
Guinea. But I have heard of several, that have ended in a very tragical
manner. However, to avoid being tedious, I shall relate only one, which
is very remarkable, and happen’d on board the _Ferres Galley_ of London,
Capt. Messervy; who, by his overcare, and too great Kindness to the
Negroes on board his Ship, was destroyed by them, and the Voyage at last
came to nothing. I met this Gentleman at Anamaboe on the Coast of
Guinea, in January 1722. At his coming on board my Ship, he informed me
of his good fortune, in that he had purchased near 300 Negroes in a few
Days, at a place called Cetre-Crue, on the windward part of the Coast of
Guinea, which happened in this manner.
“It seems the Inhabitants of this place, which lies near the Sea-side,
had been often misused by some inland People, who for a long time had
treated them in a villainous manner, whenever they went to their Towns
with Salt, or any other Commodities to sell. For knowing the People of
Cetre-Crue, did in a great measure depend on them for their Food, which
is Rice, they took their Commodities, and gave them just what quantity
of Rice they pleased, in exchange. The Cetre-Crues having long
complained of this injury, without redress, resolved to bear it no
longer, but to revenge themselves by Arms. And they were crowned with
Success, destroying and taking all the Inhabitants of the principal Town
where they used to go and buy Rice.
“Captain Messervy happened to anchor near Cetre-Crue just at that time,
and had the opportunity of purchasing a great many of the Captives at an
easy rate. For the Conquerors were glad to get something for them, at
that instant, since, if a Ship had not been in the Road, they would have
been obliged to have killed most of the Men-Captives, for their own
Security.
“After the Captain had told me this story, he desired me to spare him
some Rice, having heard, I had purchased a great many Tuns to the
Windward; where he had bought little, not expecting to meet with so many
Slaves. This request I could not comply with, having provided no more
than was necessary for my self, and for another of my Owner’s Ships,
which I quickly expected. And understanding from him, that he had never
been on the Coast of Guinea before, I took the liberty to observe to
him, ‘That as he had on board so many Negroes of one Town and Language,
it required the utmost Care and Management to keep them from mutinying;
and that I was sorry he had so little Rice for them: For I had
experienced that the Windward Slaves are always very fond of it, it
being their usual Food in their own Country; and he might certainly
expect dissatisfactions and Uneasiness amongst them for want of a
sufficient quantity.’
“This he took kindly, and having asked my Advice about other Matters,
took his leave, inviting me to come next day to see him. I went
accordingly on board his Ship, about three a clock in the afternoon. At
four a clock the Negroes went to Supper, and Captain Messervy desired me
to excuse him for a quarter of an hour, whilst he went forward to see
the Men-Negroes served with Victuals. I observed from the Quarter-Deck,
that he himself put Pepper and Palm Oyl amongst the Rice they were going
to eat. When he came back to me, I could not forbear observing to him,
‘How imprudent it was in him to do so: For tho’ it was proper for a
Commander sometimes to go forward and observe how things were managed,
yet he ought to take a proper time, and have a good many of his white
People in Arms when he went; or else they having him so much in their
Power, might encourage the Slaves to mutiny: For he might depend upon
it, they always aim at the chief Person in the Ship, whom they soon
distinguish by the respect shown him by the rest of the People.’
“He thanked me for this Advice, but did not seem to relish it; saying,
‘He thought the old Proverb good, that _The Master’s Eye makes the Horse
fat_.’ We then fell into other Discourse, and among other things he told
me, ‘He designed to go away in a few days.’ Accordingly he sailed three
days after for Jamaica. Some Months after I went for that place, where,
at my arrival, I found his Ship, and had the following melancholy
account of his Death, which happened about ten days after he left the
Coast of Guinea in this manner.
“Being on the forecastle of the Ship, amongst the Men-Negroes, when they
were eating their Victuals, they laid hold on him, and beat out his
Brains with the little Tubs, out of which they eat their boiled Rice.
This Mutiny having been plotted amongst all the grown Negroes on board,
they run to the fore-part of the Ship in a body, and endeavoured to
force the Barricado on the Quarter-Deck, not regarding the Musquets or
Half Pikes, that were presented to their Breasts by the white Men,
through the Loop-holes. So that at last the chief Mate was obliged to
order one of the Quarter-deck Guns laden with Partridge-Shot, to be
fired amongst them; which occasioned a terrible Destruction: For there
were near eighty Negroes kill’d and drowned, many jumping overboard when
the Gun was fired. This indeed put an end to the Mutiny, but most of the
Slaves that remained alive grew so sullen, that several of them were
starved to death, obstinately refusing to take any Sustenance; And after
the Ship was arrived at Jamaica, they attempted twice to mutiny, before
the Sale of them began. This, with their former Misbehaviour, coming to
be publickly known, none of the Planters cared to buy them, tho’ offered
at a low Price. So that this proved a very unsuccessful Voyage, for the
Ship was detained many Months at Jamaica on that account, and at last
was lost there in a Hurricane.”
CHAPTER VII
THE SHIP DOCTOR’S NARRATIVE
On the arrival of the ships at Bonny[26] and New Calabar, it is
customary for them to unbend the sails, strike the yards and topmasts
and begin to build what they denominate a _house_. This is effected in
the following manner. The sailors first lash the booms and yards from
mast to mast in order to form a _ridge-pole_. About ten feet above the
deck, several spars, equal in length to the ridge-pole, are next lashed
to the standing rigging and form a wall-plate. Across the ridge-pole and
wall-plate, several other spars or rafters are afterwards laid and
lashed at the distance of about six inches from each other. On these,
other rafters or spars are laid lengthwise, equal in extent to the
ridge-pole, so as to form a kind of lattice or net-work, with
interstices of six inches square. The roof is then covered with mats,
made of rushes of very loose texture, fastened together with rope-yarn
and so placed as to lap over each other like tiles. The space between
the deck and the wall-plate is likewise enclosed with a kind of lattice
or net-work formed of sticks lashed across each other and leaving
vacancies of about four inches square. Near the mainmast a partition is
constructed of inch deal boards which reaches athwart the ship. This
division is called a _barricado_. It is about eight feet in height and
is made to project about two feet over the sides of the ship. In this
barricado there is a door at which a sentinel is placed during the time
the negroes are permitted to come upon deck. It serves also to keep the
different sexes apart; and as there are small holes in it, where
blunderbusses are fixed and sometimes a cannon, it is very convenient
for quelling insurrections that now and then happen. Another door is
made in the lattice or network at the ladder by which you enter the
ship. This door is guarded by a sentinel during the day and is locked at
night. At the head of the ship there is a third door, for the use of the
sailors, which is secured in the same manner as that at the gangway.
There is also in the roof a large trap-door through which the goods
intended for barter, the water casks, &c., are hoisted out or in.
-----
Footnote 26:
This account of slaving is abstracted from Alexander Falconbridge’s
_Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa_, London, 1788.
-----
The design of this house is to secure those on board from the heat of
the sun, which in this latitude is intense, and from the wind and rain
which at particular seasons are likewise extremely violent. It answers
these purposes, however, but very ineffectually. The slight texture of
the mats admits both the wind and the rain, whenever it happens to be
violent, and at the same time it increases the heat of the ship to a
very pernicious degree, especially between decks. The increased warmth
occasioned by this means, together with the smoke produced from the
green mangrove (the usual firewood) which, for want of a current of air
to carry it off, collects and infects every part of the ship, render a
vessel during its stay here very unhealthy. The smoke also, by its
acrimonious quality, often produces inflammations in the eyes which
terminates sometimes in the loss of sight.
Another purpose for which these temporary houses are erected is to
prevent the purchased negroes from leaping overboard. This, the horrors
of their situation frequently impel them to attempt; and they now and
then succeed notwithstanding all the precautions that are taken, by
forcing their way through the lattice work.
The slave ships generally lie a mile below the town, in Bonny River, in
seven or eight fathoms of water. Sometimes fifteen sail, English and
French, but chiefly the former, meet here together. Soon after they cast
anchor, the captains go on shore to make known their arrival and to
inquire into the state of the trade. They likewise invite the kings of
Bonny to come on board, to whom, previous to breaking bulk, they usually
make presents (in that country termed _dashes_) which generally consist
of pieces of cloth, cotton, chintz, silk handkerchiefs and other India
goods and sometimes brandy, wine or beer.
[Illustration:
CARRYING SLAVES TO A PORTUGUESE SLAVE BRIG LYING IN BONNY RIVER
From a drawing by T. F. Birch, made in January, 1837, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
` When I was at Bonny, a few years ago, it was the residence of two
kings whose names were _Norfolk_ and _Peppel_. The houses of these
princes were not distinguished from the cottages or huts of which the
town consists, in any other manner, than by being of somewhat larger
dimensions and surrounded with warehouses containing European goods
designed for the purchase of slaves. These slaves, which the kings
procure in the same manner as the black traders do theirs, are sold by
them to the ships. And for every negro sold there by the traders, the
kings receive a duty which amounts to a considerable sum in the course
of a year. This duty is collected by officers, stationed on board the
ships, who are termed _officer boys_; a denomination which it is thought
they received from the English.
The kings of Bonny are absolute, though elective. They are assisted in
the government by a small number of persons of a certain rank, who style
themselves _parliament gentlemen_; an office which they generally hold
for life. Every ship, on its arrival, is expected to send a present to
these gentlemen, of a small quantity of bread and beef, and likewise to
treat them as often as they come on board. When they do this, their
approach to the ship is announced by blowing through a hollow elephant’s
tooth which produces a sound resembling that of a post-horn.
After the kings have been on board and have received the usual presents,
permission is granted by them for trafficking with any of the black
traders. When the royal guests return from the ships they are saluted by
the guns.
From the time of the arrival of the ships to their departure, which is
usually about three months, scarce a day passes without some negroes
being purchased and carried on board; sometimes in small and sometimes
in larger numbers. The whole number taken on board depends in a great
measure on circumstances. In a voyage I once made, our stock of
merchandise was exhausted in the purchase of about 380 negroes, when it
was expected to have procured 500. The number of English and French
ships then at Bonny had raised the price of negroes so much as to
occasion this difference.
The reverse (and a happy reverse I think I may call it) was known during
the war of the American Revolution. When I was last at Bonny, I
frequently made inquiries on this head of one of the black traders whose
intelligence I believe I can depend upon. He informed me that only one
ship had been there for three years during that period; and that was the
_Moseley Hill_, Captain Ewing, from Liverpool, who made an extraordinary
purchase, as he found negroes remarkably cheap from the dulness of
trade. Upon further inquiring of my black acquaintance what was the
consequence of this decay of their trade, he shrugged up his shoulders
and answered, “_Only making us traders poorer and obliging us to work
for our maintenance._” One of these black merchants being informed that
a particular set of people, called Quakers, were for abolishing the
trade, he said _it was a very bad thing, as they should then be reduced
to the same state they were in during the war, when, through poverty,
they were obliged to dig the ground and plant yams_.
I was once upon the coast of Angola, also, when there had not been a
slave ship at the river Ambris for five years previous to our arrival,
although a place to which many usually resort every year; and the
failure of the trade for that period, as far as we could learn, had no
other effect than to restore peace and confidence among the natives;
which, upon the arrival of ships, is immediately destroyed by the
inducement then held forth in the purchase of slaves. And during the
suspension of trade at Bonny, as above-mentioned, none of the dreadful
proceedings which are so confidently asserted to be the natural
consequence of it, were known. The reduction of the price of negroes and
the poverty of the black traders appear to have been the only _bad_
effects of the discontinuance of trade; the _good_ ones were, _most
probably_, the restoration of peace and confidence among the natives and
a suspension of kidnapping.
After permission has been obtained for _breaking trade_, as it is
termed, the captains go ashore, from time to time, to examine the
negroes that are exposed to sale and to make their purchases. The slaves
are bought by the black traders at fairs, which are held for that
purpose, at the distance of upwards of two hundred miles from the sea
coast; and these fairs are said to be supplied from an interior part of
the country. Many negroes, upon being questioned relative to the places
of their nativity, have asserted that they have travelled during the
revolution of several moons (their usual method of calculating time)
before they have reached the places where they were purchased by the
black traders. At these fairs, which are held at uncertain periods, but
generally every six weeks, several thousands are frequently exposed to
sale who had been collected from all parts of the country for a very
considerable distance round. During one of my voyages, the black traders
brought down, in different canoes, from twelve to fifteen hundred
negroes which had been purchased at one fair. They consisted chiefly of
men and boys, the women seldom exceeding a third of the whole number.
From forty to two hundred negroes are generally purchased at a time by
the black traders, according to the opulence of the buyer, and consist
of all ages, from a month to sixty years and upwards. Scarcely any age
or situation is deemed an exception, the price being proportionable.
Women sometimes form a part of them, who happen to be so far advanced in
their pregnancy as to be delivered during their journey from the fairs
to the coast; and I have frequently seen instances of deliveries on
board ship. The slaves purchased at these fairs are only for the supply
of the markets at Bonny and Old and New Calabar.
There is great reason to believe that most of the negroes shipped from
the coast of Africa are _kidnapped_. But the extreme care taken by the
black traders to prevent the Europeans from gaining any intelligence of
their modes of proceeding; the great distance inland from which the
negroes are brought; and our ignorance of their language (with which,
very frequently, the black traders themselves are equally unacquainted)
prevent our obtaining such information on this head as we could wish. I
have, however, by means of occasional inquiries made through
interpreters, procured some intelligence relative to the point and such,
as I think, puts the matter beyond a doubt.
On board one of the slave ships a negro informed me that being one
evening invited to drink with some of the black traders, upon his going
away they attempted to seize him. As he was very active he evaded them
and got out of their hands, but was prevented from effecting his escape
by a large dog which laid hold of him. These animals are kept by many of
the traders for that purpose and being trained to the sport do very
effective work.
I was also told by a negro woman that as she was on her return home one
evening, from some neighbours to whom she had been making a visit by
invitation, she was kidnapped and notwithstanding she was big with
child, was sold for a slave. This transaction happened a considerable
way up the country and she had passed through the hands of several
purchasers before she reached the ship. A man and his son, according to
their own information, were seized by professed kidnappers, while they
were planting yams, and sold for slaves. This also happened in the
interior parts of the country; and after passing through several hands
they were purchased for the ship to which I belonged.
It frequently happens that those who kidnap others are themselves, in
their turn, seized and sold. A negro in the West Indies informed me that
after having been employed in kidnapping others he had experienced this
reverse. And he assured me that it was a common incident among his
countrymen.
Continual enmity is thus fostered among the negroes of Africa and all
social intercourse between them destroyed; which most assuredly would
not be the case had they not these opportunities of finding a ready sale
for each other.
During my stay on the coast of Africa, I was an eyewitness of the
following transaction:—A black trader invited a negro who resided a
little way up the country, to come and see him. After the entertainment
was over the trader proposed to his guest to treat him with a sight of
one of the ships lying in the river. The unsuspicious countryman readily
consented and accompanied the trader in a canoe to the side of the ship,
which he viewed with pleasure and astonishment. While there, some black
traders on board, who appeared to be in the secret, leaped into the
canoe, seized the unfortunate man and dragging him into the ship
immediately sold him.
Previous to my being in this employ I entertained a belief, as many
others have done, that the kings and principal men bred negroes for sale
as we do cattle. During the different times I was in the country, I took
no little pains to satisfy myself in this particular; but
notwithstanding I made many inquiries, I was not able to obtain the
least intelligence of this being the case. All the information I could
procure, confirmed me in the belief that to kidnapping and to crimes
(and many of these were fabricated as a pretext) the slave trade owes
its chief support.
Here is an instance that tends to prove that artifice is often made use
of. Several black traders, one of whom was a person of consequence and
exercised an authority somewhat similar to that of our magistrates,
being in want of some particular kind of merchandise and not having a
slave to barter for it, they accused a fisherman at the river Ambris,
with extortion in the sale of his fish; and as they were interested in
the decision they immediately adjudged the poor fellow guilty and
condemned him to be sold. He was accordingly purchased by the ship to
which I belonged and brought on board.
As an additional proof that kidnapping is not only the general but
almost the sole mode by which slaves are procured, the black traders in
purchasing them, choose those which are the roughest and most hardy;
alleging that the smooth negroes have been _gentlemen_. From which we
may conclude they mean that nothing but fraud or force could have
reduced these smooth-skinned gentlemen to a state of slavery.
In order to prove that the wars among the Africans do not furnish the
number of slaves they are supposed to do, I may say that I never saw any
negroes with recent wounds; which must have been the consequence, at
least with some of them, had they been taken in battle. And it being my
particular province, as the surgeon, to examine the slaves when they are
purchased, such a circumstance could not have escaped my observation. As
a farther corroboration it might be remarked, that on the Gold and
Windward Coasts, where fairs are not held, the number of slaves procured
at a time are usually very small.
The preparations made at Bonny by the black traders, upon setting out
for the fairs which are held up the country, are very considerable. From
twenty to thirty canoes, capable of containing thirty to forty negroes
each, are assembled for this purpose; and such goods put on board as
they expect will be wanted for the purchase of the number of slaves they
intend to buy. When their loading is completed they commence their
voyage with colors flying and music playing and in about ten or eleven
days generally return to Bonny with full cargoes. As soon as the canoes
arrive at the trader’s landing-place, the purchased negroes are cleaned
and oiled with palm oil and on the following day they are exposed for
sale to the captains.
The black traders do not always purchase their slaves at the same rate.
The speed with which the information of the arrival of ships upon the
coast is conveyed to the fairs, considering that it is the interest of
the traders to keep them ignorant, is really surprising. In a very short
time after any ships arrive upon the coast, especially if several make
their appearance together, those who dispose of the negroes at the fairs
are frequently known to increase their prices; and these fairs are not
the only means, though they are the chief, by which the black traders on
the coast are supplied with negroes. Small parties of from five to ten
are frequently brought to the houses of the traders, by those who make a
practice of kidnapping and who are constantly employed in procuring a
supply while purchasers are to be found.
When the negroes that the black traders have to dispose of, are shown to
the European purchasers, they first examine them relative to their age.
They then minutely inspect their persons and inquire into the state of
their health; if they are afflicted with any disease or are deformed or
have bad eyes or teeth; if they are lame or weak in the joints or
distorted in the back or of a slender make or are narrow in the chest;
in short, if they have been or are afflicted in any manner so as to
render them incapable of much labor. If any of the foregoing defects are
discovered in them they are rejected. But if approved of, they are
generally taken on board the ship the same evening. The purchaser has
liberty to return on the following morning, but not afterwards, such as
upon re-examination are found exceptionable.
The traders frequently beat the negroes which are objected to by the
captains and use them with great severity. It matters not whether they
are refused on account of age, illness, deformity or for any other
reason. At New Calabar, in particular, the traders have frequently been
known to put them to death. Instances have happened at that place, when
negroes have been objected to, that the traders have dropped their
canoes under the stern of the vessel and instantly beheaded them in
sight of the captain.
On the Windward Coast another mode of procuring slaves is pursued; that
is, by _boating_, a mode that is very destructive to the crews of the
ships. The sailors who are employed upon this trade go in boats up the
rivers, seeking for negroes among the villages situated on the banks of
these streams. But this method is very slow and not always effectual.
After being absent from the ship during a fortnight or three weeks, they
sometimes return with only from eight to twelve negroes.
I have good reason to believe that of the one hundred and twenty negroes
purchased for the ship to which I then belonged, then lying at the river
Ambris, by far the greater part, if not the whole, were kidnapped. This,
with various other instances, confirms me in the belief that it is
kidnapping that supplies the thousands of negroes annually sold off the
Windward and other Coasts where boating prevails.
As soon as the wretched negroes fall into the hands of the black
traders, they experience an earnest of the sufferings which they are
doomed in future to undergo. And there is not the least doubt that even
before they can reach the fairs, great numbers perish from cruel usage.
They are brought from the places where they are purchased, to Bonny,
&c., in canoes, at the bottom of which they lie, having their hands tied
with a kind of willow twigs and a strict watch is kept over them. Their
usage in other respects, during the time of the passage, which generally
lasts several days, is equally cruel. Their allowance of food is so
scanty that it is barely sufficient to support nature and they are also
much exposed to the violent rains which frequently fall, being covered
only with mats that afford but a slight defence; and as there is usually
water in the bottom of the canoes they are scarcely ever dry.
And after they become the property of Europeans their treatment is no
less severe. The men, on being brought aboard ship, are immediately
fastened together, two and two, by handcuffs on their wrists and by
irons rivetted on their legs. They are then sent down between the decks
and placed in a space partitioned off for that purpose. The women also
are placed in a separate space between decks, but without being ironed.
An adjoining room, on the same deck, is set apart for the boys.
At the same time, however, they are frequently stowed so close as to
admit of no other position than lying on their sides. Nor will the
height between decks, unless directly under the grating, allow them to
stand; especially where there are platforms on either side, which is
generally the case. These platforms are a kind of shelf, about eight or
nine feet in width, extending from the side of the ship towards the
centre. They are placed nearly midway between the decks, at the distance
of two or three feet from each deck. Upon these the negroes are stowed
in the same manner as they are on the deck underneath.
In each of the apartments are placed three or four large buckets, of a
conical form, nearly two feet in diameter at the bottom and only one
foot at the top and in depth about twenty-eight inches, to which, when
necessary, the negroes have recourse. It often happens that those who
are placed at a distance from the buckets, in endeavouring to get to
them, tumble over their companions, in consequence of their being
shackled. These accidents, although unavoidable, are productive of
continual quarrels in which some of them are always bruised. In this
situation, unable to proceed and prevented from getting to the tubs,
they desist from the attempt; and as the necessities of nature are not
to be resisted, they ease themselves as they lie. This becomes a fresh
source of broils and disturbances and tends to render the condition of
the poor wretches still more uncomfortable. The nuisance arising from
these circumstances is not unfrequently increased by the tubs being much
too small for the purpose intended and their being usually emptied but
once every day. The rule for doing so, however, varies in different
ships according to the attention paid to the health and convenience of
the slaves by the captain.
When the ships have disposed of all their merchandize in the purchase of
negroes and have laid in their stock of wood, water and yams, they
prepare for sailing by getting up the yards and topmasts, reeving the
running rigging, bending the sails, and by taking down the temporary
house. They then drop down the river to wait for a favorable opportunity
to pass over the bar which is formed by a number of sandbanks lying
across the mouth of the river, with navigable channels between them. It
is not uncommon for ships to get upon the bar and sometimes they are
lost.
About eight o’clock in the morning the negroes are generally brought
upon deck. Their irons being examined, a long chain, which is locked to
a ring-bolt fixed in the deck, is run through the rings of the shackles
of the men and then locked to another ring-bolt fixed in the deck. By
this means fifty or sixty and sometimes more are fastened to one chain
in order to prevent them from rising or endeavoring to escape. If the
weather proves favorable they are permitted to remain in that situation
till four or five in the afternoon when they are disengaged from the
chain and sent below.
The diet of the negroes while on board, consists chiefly of horse-beans
boiled to the consistence of a pulp; of boiled yams and rice and
sometimes of a small quantity of beef or pork. The latter are frequently
taken from the provisions laid in for the sailors. They sometimes make
use of a sauce composed of palm-oil mixed with flour, water and pepper,
which the sailors call _slabber-sauce_. Yams are the favorite food of
the Eboe or Bight negroes, and rice or corn of those from the Gold and
Windward Coasts; each preferring the produce of their native soil.
In their own country the negroes in general live on animal food and
fish, with roots, yams and Indian corn. The horse-beans and rice, with
which they are fed aboard ship, are chiefly brought from Europe. The
latter, however, is sometimes purchased on the coast where it is
superior to any other.
The Gold Coast negroes scarcely ever refuse any food that is offered
them and they generally eat larger quantities of whatever is placed
before them than any other species of negroes, whom they also excel in
strength of body and mind. Most of the slaves have such an aversion to
the horse-beans that unless they are narrowly watched, when fed upon
deck, they will throw them overboard or in each other’s faces when they
quarrel.
They are commonly fed twice a day; about eight o’clock in the morning
and four in the afternoon. In most ships they are only fed with their
_own food_ once a day. Their food is served up to them in tubs about the
size of a small water bucket. They are placed round these tubs, in
companies of ten to each tub, out of which they feed themselves with
wooden spoons. These they soon lose and when they are not allowed others
they feed themselves with their hands. In favorable weather they are fed
upon deck but in bad weather their food is given them below. Numberless
quarrels take place among them during their meals; more especially when
they are put upon short allowance, which frequently happens if the
passage from the coast of Guinea to the West India Islands proves of
unusual length. In that case, the weak are obliged to be content with a
very scanty portion. Their allowance of water is about half a pint each
at every meal. It is handed round in a bucket and given to each negro in
a pannekin, a small utensil with a straight handle, somewhat similar to
a sauce-boat. However, when the ships approach the islands with a
favorable breeze, the slaves are no longer restricted.
[Illustration:
A VIEW OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
From a line engraving after a painting by T. Mellish, published about
1750, by John Bowles, London, in the Macpherson Collection
]
Upon the negroes refusing to take food, I have seen coals of fire,
glowing hot, put on a shovel and placed so near their lips as to scorch
and burn them. And this has been accompanied with threats of forcing
them to swallow the coals if they persisted in refusing to eat. This
generally had the desired effect. I have also been credibly informed
that a certain captain in the slave-trade, poured melted lead on such of
his negroes as obstinately refused their food.
Exercise being considered necessary for the preservation of their health
they are sometimes obliged to dance when the weather will permit their
coming on deck. If they go about it reluctantly or do not move with
agility, they are flogged; a person standing by them all the time with a
cat-o’-nine-tails in his hand for that purpose. Their music, upon these
occasions, consists of a drum, sometimes with only one head; and when
that is worn out they make use of the bottom of one of the tubs before
described. The poor wretches are frequently compelled to sing also; but
when they do so, their songs are generally, as may naturally be
expected, melancholy lamentations of their exile from their native
country.
The women are furnished with beads for the purpose of affording them
some amusement. But this end is generally defeated by the squabbles
which are occasioned in consequence of their stealing from each other.
On board some ships the common sailors are allowed to have intercourse
with such of the black women whose consent they can procure. And some of
them have been known to take the inconstancy of their paramours so much
to heart as to leap overboard and drown themselves. The officers are
permitted to indulge their passions among them at pleasure and sometimes
are guilty of such brutal excesses as disgrace human nature.
The hardships suffered by the negroes during the passage are scarcely to
be conceived. They are far more violently affected by seasickness than
Europeans and it frequently terminates in death, especially among the
women. But the exclusion of fresh air is the most intolerable. For the
purpose of admitting fresh air, most of the ships in the slave-trade are
provided, between the decks, with five or six air-ports on each side of
the ship, of about six inches in length and four in breadth; in addition
to which, some few ships, but not one in twenty, have what they
denominate _wind-sails_. But whenever the sea is rough and the rain
heavy it becomes necessary to shut these and every other conveyance by
which the air is admitted. The fresh air being thus excluded, the
negroes’ rooms very soon grow intolerably hot. The confined air,
rendered noxious by the effuvia exhaled from their bodies and by being
repeatedly breathed, soon produces fevers and fluxes which generally
carry off great numbers of them.
During the voyages I made, I was frequently a witness to the fatal
effects of this exclusion of the fresh air. One instance will serve to
convey some idea, though a very faint one, of their terrible sufferings.
Some wet and blowing weather having occasioned the port-holes to be shut
and the grating to be covered, fluxes and fevers among the negroes
ensued. While they were in this situation, I frequently went down among
them till at length their rooms became so extremely hot as to be only
bearable for a very short time. But the excessive heat was not the only
thing that rendered their situation intolerable. The deck, that is, the
floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had
proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a
slaughter-house. It is not in the power of the human imagination to
picture a situation more dreadful or disgusting. Numbers of the slaves
having fainted they were carried upon deck where several of them died
and the rest with great difficulty were restored. It had nearly proved
fatal to me also. The climate was too warm to admit the wearing of any
clothing but a shirt and that I had pulled off before I went down;
notwithstanding which, by only continuing among them for about a quarter
of an hour, I was so overcome with the heat, stench and foul air that I
nearly fainted; and it was only with assistance that I could get on
deck. The consequence was that I soon after fell sick of the same
disorder from which I did not recover for several months.
A circumstance of this kind sometimes repeatedly happens in the course
of a voyage; and often to a greater degree than that which has just been
described, particularly when the slaves are much crowded, which was not
the case at that time, the ship being more than a hundred short of the
number she was to have taken.
A certain Liverpool ship once took on board at Bonny, at least seven
hundred negroes. By shipping so large a number, the slaves were so
crowded that they were obliged to lie one upon another. This occasioned
such a mortality among them that without meeting with unusual bad
weather or having a longer voyage than common, nearly one half of them
died before the ship arrived in the West Indies.
That it may be possible to form some idea of the almost incredible small
space into which so large a number of negroes were crammed, the
following particulars of this ship are given. According to Liverpool
custom she measured 235 tons. Her width across the beam was 25 feet.
Length between the decks, 92 feet, which was divided into four rooms,
thus:
Store room, in which no negroes were placed 15 feet
——————
Negroe’s rooms—men’s rooms—about 45 feet
women’s ditto—about 10 feet
boy’s ditto—about 22 feet
——————
Total room for negroes 77 feet
——————
Exclusive of the platform before described, from 8
to 9 feet in breadth and equal in length to that
of the rooms.
The ships in this trade are usually fitted out to receive only one third
women negroes, or perhaps a smaller number, which the dimensions of the
room allotted for them, above given, plainly show but in a greater
disproportion.
One would naturally suppose that an attention to their own interest
would prompt the owners of the Guinea ships not to permit their captains
to take on board a greater number of negroes than the ship would allow
room sufficient for them to lie with ease to themselves or, at least,
without rubbing against each other. However that may be, a more striking
instance than the above, of avarice, completely and deservedly
disappointed, was surely never displayed; for there is little room to
doubt but that in consequence of the expected premium usually allowed to
the captains, of £6. per cent. sterling on the produce of the negroes,
this vessel was so crowded as to occasion such a heavy loss.
The place allotted for the sick negroes is under the half deck, where
they lie on the bare planks. By this means those who are emaciated
frequently have their skin and even their flesh entirely rubbed off, by
the motion of the ship, from the prominent parts of the shoulders,
elbows and hips so as to render the bones quite bare. And some of them,
by constantly lying in the blood and mucus that had flowed from those
afflicted with the flux and which is generally so violent as to prevent
their being kept clean, have their flesh much sooner rubbed off than
those who have only to contend with the mere friction of the ship. The
excruciating pain which the poor sufferers feel from being obliged to
continue in such a dreadful situation, frequently for several weeks, in
case they happen to live so long, is not to be conceived or described.
Few, indeed, are ever able to withstand the fatal effects of it. The
utmost skill of the surgeon is here ineffectual. If plasters are applied
they are very soon displaced by the friction of the ship; and when
bandages are used the negroes very soon take them off and appropriate
them to other purposes.
The surgeon, upon going between decks in the morning to examine the
condition of the slaves, frequently finds several dead; and among the
men, sometimes a dead and living negro fastened by their irons together.
When this is the case they are brought upon the deck and laid on the
grating when the living negro is disengaged and the dead one thrown
overboard. We should here remark that the surgeons employed in the
Guinea trade are generally driven to engage in so disagreeable an
employment by the confined state of their finances. An exertion of the
greatest skill and attention could afford the diseased negroes little
relief so long as the causes of their diseases, namely, the breathing of
a putrid atmosphere and wallowing in their own excrements, remain. When
once the fever and dysentery get to any height at sea, a cure is
scarcely ever effected.
Almost the only means by which the surgeon can render himself useful to
the slaves is by seeing that their food is properly cooked and
distributed among them. It is true, when they arrive near the markets
for which they are destined, care is taken to polish them for sale by an
application of the lunar caustic to such as are afflicted with the yaws.
This, however, affords but a temporary relief as the disease most
assuredly breaks out whenever the negro is put upon a vegetable diet.
It has been asserted in favor of the captains in this trade, that the
sick slaves are usually fed from their tables. The great number
generally ill at a time, proves the falsity of such an assertion. Were a
captain even disposed to do this, how could he feed half the slaves in
the ship from his own table? For it is well known that more than half
are often sick at a time. Two or three perhaps might be fed.
The loss of slaves, through mortality, arising from the causes just
mentioned, is frequently very considerable. One half, sometimes two
thirds and even beyond that have been known to perish. On one voyage,
before we left Bonny River no less than fifteen died of fevers and
dysenteries occasioned by their confinement. On the Windward Coasts,
where slaves are procured more slowly, very few die in proportion to the
numbers which die at Bonny and at Old and New Calabar where they are
obtained much faster; the latter being of a more delicate make and
habit.
As very few of the negroes can bear the loss of their liberty and the
hardships they endure, they are ever on the watch to take advantage of
the least negligence. Insurrections are frequently the consequence;
which are seldom suppressed without much bloodshed. Sometimes these are
successful and the whole ship’s company is cut off.
One evening while a ship to which I belonged lay in Bonny River, a
number of negroes were brought on board and shortly after one of them
forced his way through the network on the larboard side of the vessel,
jumped overboard and was devoured by the sharks. During the time we were
there, fifteen negroes belonging to a vessel from Liverpool found means
to throw themselves into the river and very few were saved; the rest
fell a sacrifice to the sharks.
Circumstances of this kind are very frequent. On the coast of Angola, at
the River Ambris, the following incident happened:—During the time of
our living on shore we erected a tent to shelter ourselves from the
weather. After having been there several weeks and being unable to
purchase the number of slaves we wanted, through the opposition of
another English slave vessel, we determined to leave the place. The
night before our departure the tent was struck, which was no sooner seen
by some of the negro women on board than it was considered as a prelude
to our sailing and about eighteen of them, when they were sent between
decks, threw themselves into the sea through one of the gun ports, the
ship carrying guns between decks. They were all of them, however,
excepting one, soon picked up; the negress missing was at last found
about a mile from the shore.
A young female negro, falling into a desponding way, it was judged
necessary in order to attempt her recovery to send her on shore to the
hut of one of the black traders. Elated at the prospect of regaining her
liberty she soon recovered her usual cheerfulness, but hearing, by
accident, that it was intended to take her on board the ship again, the
young woman hung herself.
It frequently happens that the negroes on being purchased by Europeans,
become raving mad and many of them die in that state, particularly the
women. One day at Bonny, I saw a middle-aged, stout woman, who had been
brought down from a fair the preceding day, chained to the post of a
black trader’s door, in a state of furious insanity. On board the ship
was a young negro woman chained to the deck, who had lost her senses
soon after she was purchased and taken on board. In a former voyage we
were obliged to confine a female negro of about twenty-three years of
age, on her becoming a lunatic. She was afterwards sold during one of
her lucid intervals. One morning upon examining the place allotted for
the sick negroes, I noticed that one of them, who was so emaciated as
scarcely to be able to walk, was missing and was convinced that he must
have gone overboard in the night, probably to put a more expeditious end
to his sufferings.
The first place the slave ships touch at in their passage to the West
Indies, is either the Island of St. Thomas, or Princes Island, where
they usually carry their sick on shore for the benefit of the air and
also replenish their stock of water. The former of these islands is
nearly circular, being one hundred and twenty miles round, and lies
exactly under the equator, about forty-five leagues from the African
continent. It abounds with wood and water and produces Indian corn,
rice, fruits, sugar and some cinnamon. The air is rather prejudicial to
an European constitution; nevertheless it is well peopled by the
Portuguese. Princes Island, which is much smaller, lies in 1° 30′ North,
and likewise produces Indian corn and a variety of fruits and roots,
besides sugar cane. Black cattle, hogs and goats are numerous there; but
it is infested with a mischievous and dangerous species of monkeys.
During one of the voyages I made, I was landed upon the Island of St.
Thomas with nearly one hundred sick negroes who were placed in an old
house taken on purpose for their reception. Little benefit, however,
accrued from their going on shore, as several of them died there and the
remainder continued nearly in the same situation as when they were
landed, though our continuance was prolonged for about twelve days and
the island is deemed upon the whole healthy.
When the ships arrive in the West Indies the slaves are disposed of 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 previously the sick or refuse slaves, of which there are
frequently many, are usually taken 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 taken on shore and sold in the
foregoing manner, the whole of whom died before I left the island.
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_ is most common. Here, 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 are landed and placed altogether in a large yard
belonging to the merchants to whom the ship is consigned. As soon as the
hour agreed on arrives, the doors of the yard are suddenly thrown open
and in rushes a considerable number of purchasers, with all the ferocity
of brutes. Some instantly seize such of the negroes as they can
conveniently lay hold of with their hands. Others, being prepared with
several handkerchiefs tied together, encircle with these as many as they
are able; while others, by means of a rope, effect 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 fall out and quarrel with each other.
The poor astonished negroes are so much terrified by these proceedings,
that several of them, on one occasion, climbed over the walls of the
courtyard and ran wild about the town but were soon hunted down and
retaken.
[Illustration:
THE VOYAGE OF THE SABLE VENUS, FROM ANGOLA TO THE WEST INDIES
From a painting by T. Stothard, engraved for Edwards’ _History of the
West Indies_, London, 1818
]
This picture inspired the muse of a member of the British Parliament, as
follows:
“Her skin excell’d the raven’s plume,
Her breath the fragrant orange bloom,
Her eye the tropic beam:
Soft was her lip of silken down,
And mild her look as evening sun
That gilds the Cobre stream.”
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 choose. The signal being given the buyers
rushed in, as usual, to seize their prey, when the negroes became so
terrified that nearly thirty of them jumped into the sea, but they were
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 negroes were greatly terrified. The
women, in particular, clung to each other, shrieking in terror at the
savage manner in which their brutal purchasers rushed upon and seized
them.
Various are the deceptions made use of in the disposal of the sick
slaves and many of these must excite the liveliest sensations of horror.
A Liverpool captain boasted of his having cheated some Jews by the
following stratagem:—A lot of slaves afflicted with the flux, being
landed for sale, he directed the surgeon to stop the anus of each of
them with oakum. Thus prepared they were taken to the place of sale,
where, being unable to stand but for a very short time, they were
usually permitted to sit. The Jews, when they examine them, oblige them
to stand up in order that they may see if there be any discharge; and
when there is no appearance they consider it as a symptom of recovery.
In the present instance, such an appearance being prevented, the bargain
was struck and the slaves were accordingly sold. But it was not long
before discovery of the cheat followed, for 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 Jews were speedily convinced of the
imposition.
So severely 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.
The whole of their cargoes being disposed of the ships are immediately
made ready to proceed to sea. It is very seldom, however, that they are
not detained for want of a sufficient number of sailors to navigate the
ship, as the slave trade may justly be denominated the grave of seamen.
Though the crews of the ships, upon their leaving England, generally
amount to between forty and fifty men, scarcely three-fourths and
sometimes not one-third of the complement, ever return to the port from
whence they sailed, through mortality and desertion.
The time during which the slave ships are absent from England, varies
according to the destination of the voyage and the number of ships they
happen to meet on the coast. To Bonny, or Old and New Calabar, a voyage
is usually performed in about ten months. Those to the Windward and Gold
Coasts are rather more uncertain, but last in general from fifteen to
eighteen months.
CHAPTER VIII
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.
-----
Footnote 27:
James F. Stanfield, _The Guinea Voyage_, Edinburgh, 1807.
-----
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]
-----
Footnote 28:
Falconbridge, _An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa_,
London, 1788.
-----
“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.
-----
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.”
CHAPTER IX
THE BRIG _RUBY_ OF BRISTOL, AFRICAN SLAVER
A surgeon’s berth on board ship never filled my purse or kept me long on
shore.[30] I served five years in His Majesty’s Navy, but quit the
King’s service at the peace with the American States and with no better
opening offering was obliged to ship as surgeon’s mate for a voyage to
the river Bonny, on board the _Alexander_, Captain MacTaggart. When we
reached Bristol, on the return voyage from Jamaica, I was offered a
surgeon’s berth for an African voyage in the brig _Little Pearl_,
commanded by Capt. Joseph Williams, and made two rounds in her. It is
the story of the second voyage that I am to relate, after her name had
been changed to the _Ruby_, why, I never knew. Much red blood was
spilled in her, however, and the name was good enough. Certainly those
of us on board didn’t care.
-----
Footnote 30:
The material for this chapter is taken from James Arnold’s testimony
before the Parliamentary Committee as printed in the _Report to the
House of Lords on the Abolition of the Slave Trade_, 2 vols., London,
1789.
-----
The brig was low and small and when we sailed from King’s Road, the
steerage and nearly all the space between decks was filled with goods
taken out to be bartered for slaves. In the small unoccupied space
forward it was impossible for the sailors to live without being
continually wet from the head seas or the rain; and this was their
situation during the entire passage to the coast. When the _Pearl_ came
to anchor at Bimbe, this space forward was made over into a storehouse
for glass and pot-ware for trade, so the poor devils of sailors then had
no place on which they could lay their heads. After that all, except
four, slept on the bare decks and as the decks were washed every night
and there was no sun to dry them, as we arrived at the edge of the rainy
season, it was a wet berth for poor Jack. For a short time four hammocks
were allowed to be slung from the booms, but these were soon ordered
down.
We sailed from King’s Road early on the morning of the 8th of August,
1787, having on board nineteen persons, including the captain, mates,
men and boys. When the vessel was getting under weigh, all hands were
called up to sign articles and when my turn came I asked permission to
read them first, not wishing to put my name to the unknown, but Captain
Williams roughly refused, saying if I didn’t sign them I might go
ashore. As I had less than five pounds that I could call my own, it was
practically a case of Hobson’s choice and so I signed my name and walked
forward. It was the same with the rest. No one was permitted to read the
clauses in the articles.
For the first five weeks we had plenty of provisions. The sailors were
served with pease, flour, pork, beef and suet a plenty; but it was a
different story when we reached the Coast. Not only was their allowance
reduced but they were deprived of the common necessaries of life. Every
Sunday morning each man was served with three pounds of bread and this
must last him for the entire week following. Each morning he was served
out three-quarters of a pound of wretched pork or beef, that shrunk to
about four ounces and a half when it was boiled. It was impossible for a
man to have more than one meal a day with this ration and the bread
usually lasted only three days. Much of the time yams and plantains were
not to be had and to make their situation more wretched still very
little spirit was given out. Once or twice a month a pint of brandy was
served amongst eight people and three months once elapsed without their
tasting a drop of spirit notwithstanding the fact that in wooding the
ship they sometimes stood in water up to their armpits.
[Illustration:
SECTION AND DECK PLAN OF THE FRENCH BRIG “VIGILANTI,” OF NANTES,
CAPTURED IN THE RIVER BONNY, APRIL 15, 1822
]
While slavers lay on the Coast it was usual for the captains to visit
each other, and the seamen who rowed them from ship to ship were often
absent for twelve hours without eating. My lot on board, as surgeon, was
but little better in the matter of food than the men before the mast and
the only time while we were at Bimbe, when I had all I wanted to eat,
was once when I was a prisoner on shore and the natives gave me four
meals a day.
The _Ruby_ reached Bimbe, on the 25th of September. It is a small island
and lies south of Old Calabar, off the high lands of the Cameroons. In
those parts it was usual to trust the principal traders with goods from
the ships and those we had dealings with were King George, King Peter,
and Quon, a clever trader, all from the Cameroons; and King Mason and
his son Captain Dick, Peter, Bimbe Tom, Bimbe Jack and Great and Little
Tim, from the island of Bimbe. But though we trusted the traders with
goods with which they went to the fairs to buy slaves on our account,
yet it was customary for them to leave with us a pledge for their
return. This pledge took the form of their children or relations, known
as “pawns.” As the traders brought us slaves and so paid off their
indebtedness the pawns were released; but if they were unable to
discharge them at the appointed day—the day fixed for sailing—the pawns
were to be taken to the West Indies and sold and while this was agreed
upon and was wholly regular, it sometimes led to violent reactions.
While we were lying at the island of Bimbe, Captain Bibby of the
_Molly_, of Liverpool, came out of the river Cameroons with several
pawns on board belonging to King George, King Peter and the trader Quon.
Captain Bibby had given them notice that he should sail for the Cape on
a certain day and would wait there for three days before he went to sea
and if the pawns were not redeemed by that time, he should carry them to
the West Indies and sell them. It chanced that King George and the other
traders were not able at that time to redeem their pawns and so in great
haste they came to Captain Williams of the _Ruby_, asking him to spare
them some slaves and ivory so they might redeem the pawns which Captain
Bibby had threatened to take away.
Captain Williams let them have eleven slaves and five teeth which were
carried to the _Molly_ and six or seven pawns were released and brought
to the _Ruby_ to be held as security. The next day, however, the _Molly_
sailed for the West Indies having on board about thirty pawns, which so
enraged the traders that they immediately left us and returned to the
Cameroons. Here, they put a stop to all trade with the captains, five of
whom were seized and carried away into the country where they were kept
chained to trees, as we afterwards learned. It was an awkward situation
and after conference, a schooner, with slaves aboard, was dispatched to
overtake the _Molly_ and bring back the pawns that had been carried off
by Captain Bibby.
On the island of Bimbe the largest trader and man of greatest
consequence, was called Bimbe Jack. One morning he came on board with
ivory to trade. The captain had reserved his best trading guns for the
purchase of slaves and when an inferior sort were offered Bimbe Jack
refused to take them, saying that he couldn’t work them off on the other
traders. This enraged Captain Williams who immediately laid hands on him
and ordered him put in chains. An iron collar was put round his neck to
which was fastened a large chain, the end of which was put through ring
bolts on the deck and then padlocked. Black Tim, another trader who was
on board at that time, seeing what was done, quickly jumped into his
canoe, alongside the brig, and his canoe-boys pulled away at once. As it
was impossible to stop him, Captain Williams ordered two topsails to be
bent and the brig was got over the bar so that she couldn’t be cut off
by negroes from the island.
The _Ruby_ lay outside the bar for three or four days, during which
there was much heavy weather and then, because of want of water for the
middle passage, she came in again and a boat was sent ashore with water
casks and a well-armed crew. The third day after, when the watering had
been nearly completed, a trader from Bimbe came on board and demanded a
debt of salt. One or two people came with him, but his canoe-men
remained in the canoe, which was lying by the bows of the vessel. The
chief mate and some of the crew were soon busy measuring and keeping a
reckoning of the salt. There were then but ten white persons aboard, the
rest being ashore employed in watering.
In a short time, a second canoe was discovered coming to the brig, with
a slave aboard, and a third, with two slaves. The mate then began to be
suspicious and went to the captain, expressing his alarm and for his
pains was told to mind his own business and get about the measuring of
the salt. The two traders, with their slaves, were then permitted to
come aboard and went down to the captain’s cabin. While they were there,
bargaining, another canoe came alongside, with fish and while the
captain came on deck to trade, the two traders in his cabin got
possession of the key to Bimbe Jack’s shackles and going to where he sat
on the deck attempted to unlock the chain. The carpenter happened to see
this and as he called out to the captain, was seized by Bimbe Jack with
the assistance of another negro. Captain Williams was quickly
overpowered by the two traders and at the same time the negroes who were
overlooking the measuring of the salt, standing by the chief mate, the
cooper and others, pushed them all into the canoe that was lying at the
bow of the brig. Some of the other canoe-men came aboard and a
considerable number of natives who were fishing in canoes at no great
distance, soon joined them and in no time the rest of us were secured
and the vessel was completely in their power.
We were put into their canoes and Bimbe Jack was released and also three
Cameroon traders who had been detained in much the same manner. The
negroes also released all the Cameroons and Bimbe pawns on board and
eight men-boy slaves that were on deck, and prisoners, pawns and slaves
were then carried ashore.
On reaching the landing, the blacks, particularly the women, began to
pelt us with stones, fish, sand and whatever else they could lay hands
on and not content with that we were hardly on land before they began to
tear our clothes from off our backs. The captain was stripped
stark-naked and the same iron collar that he had ordered about Bimbe
Jack’s neck was clasped about his own and he was soon chained to a tree.
The carpenter and chief mate were also fastened to the same tree where
they were kept during the entire night, several natives standing guard
all the while, armed with lances and muskets. The rest of us were taken
to different trader’s houses and treated well.
Bimbe Jack, although he had been so ill-used by the captain, took
compassion on him and brought a coat to shelter him and also brought
some rum and water. The next morning he was released from the tree, but
he continued to wear the collar and chain and was well guarded. As for
the mate and the carpenter, they still remained at the tree.
It had been determined, at a palaver, that the captain, because of his
ill-treatment of Bimbe Jack, should give up to the natives all the
articles of trade that remained on board (amounting to the equivalent in
the value of thirty-six slaves); that the pawns and slaves that had been
released should be forfeited to them; and that every debt then due to
the ship should be cancelled. Upon no other terms should we be released.
There was no choice and the captain consenting, the goods were brought
ashore and we were then released and permitted to go aboard the _Ruby_.
This narrow escape made Captain Williams more cautious but he afterwards
frequently threatened that he would some day return with a ship of
sufficient force, lay siege to the island and take away all he was able.
The _Comet_, of Liverpool, was not so fortunate, for about the same time
she was cut off by natives at Ferdinand Po, while trading for yams, and
but one person was saved.
The first slave that was traded for, after the brig anchored at the
island of Bimbe, was a girl of about fifteen who was promptly named Eve,
for it was usual on slave ships to give the names of Adam and Eve to the
first man and woman brought on board. This girl was clever and
intelligent and afterwards told me that a goat had been found in her
father’s garden which she believed had been purposely put there and that
one of the great men of the village had come in the morning, and finding
the goat in the garden, had charged her father with stealing it. Nothing
would satisfy the great man, as a penalty for the offence, except the
giving up of one of his daughters to be sold as a slave. The poor man
had three girls and the great man selected Eve and sold her to the
traders who brought her to our brig. Three months afterwards, a young
girl of about eight was brought on board, who proved to be a younger
sister of Eve.
The slaves that were brought to the _Ruby_, reached there from various
causes. Most of them were bought at fairs, by traders, who brought them
to the coast, but many were kidnapped as opportunity offered, and others
were sold for debt or for adultery, either real or falsely charged.
Others were inticed to the vessel and there seized and confined. Three
weeks after the _Ruby_ arrived at Bimbe, a black trader brought a native
aboard. They were taken down into the captain’s cabin and given
something to drink and were sociable and merry; but when the two came on
deck, the trader’s companion, on a signal from the captain, was seized
by sailors and put in irons. The poor devil was afterwards carried to
the West Indies and sold as a slave. At least five of our cargo were
obtained in this manner.
One day a woman was brought out to us to be sold. As she had a child in
her arms, the captain refused to take her and she was taken back to the
shore; but the next morning she was brought out again, this time without
the child which had been killed the night before by the black trader in
order to accommodate a sale of the mother.
Not infrequently, after slaves were brought on board, they would refuse
to eat and Captain Williams would order them flogged unmercifully until
they obeyed, in fact, he usually plied the cat on the naked backs of the
blacks and seemed to find a pleasant sensation in the sight of blood and
the sound of their moans. One slave was repeatedly flogged, for two or
three days, by both the captain and the chief mate, until his body was
so lacerated that it was a gory mass of raw flesh. While the man was in
this deplorable condition, a trader came on board with a slave and the
captain, in his usual arbitrary way, insisted that the trader give up
his own slave in exchange for the man who had refused to eat. The trader
was obliged to agree to the unfair exchange, and the quite helpless
slave was dragged along the deck, like a corpse, to the trader’s canoe.
In this manner we got rid of him.
Among those brought on board was a woman who was in a very dejected
state of mind. Before long she was seized with convulsions and on
recovering she began to laugh excessively and then cried and made a
dreadful noise that greatly disturbed the ship so that the captain got
rid of her the next day.
It was his general practice on the receipt of a woman slave—especially a
young one—to send for her to come to his cabin so that he might lie with
her. Sometimes they would refuse to comply with his desires and would be
severely beaten by him and sent below. There was one young girl that he
retained for some time as his favorite and kept her in his cabin, until
one day when she was playing with his son, she accidentally tore his
shirt. When the captain learned of it, he whipped her unmercifully with
the cat and beat her up with his fists until she threw herself from him
against the pumps and in doing so injured her head so severely that she
died three days after. She had then been living with him as his mistress
for five or six months.
The captain had a frightful temper and seemed to delight in cruelty. In
October, 1787, while the _Ruby_ was lying at Bimbe, the cook was
bringing some billets of wood from the main hatchway to his galley and
carrying too great a load, left one on the main deck, which the captain
happened to see. When the cook returned from the galley the captain
knocked him flat on the deck and beat him up so badly that he was
obliged to come to me to dress his cuts. On a previous voyage this poor
fellow had been terribly beaten by the captain, because he had chanced
to say; “It is hard that the hogs should be served with pease before the
white people.”
There was always a great deal of sickness among the seamen while the
slave ships lay on the Coast and the treatment of the sick by Captain
Williams was shocking. A sick man was not allowed to go between the
decks nor to have any more shelter than when he was well. No herb tea or
wine, nor any additional nourishment was allowed and frequently a little
rice was substituted for the regular ration and the captain would say
“No work, no victuals.” He was a heartless brute. In December, 1787, one
of the seamen, William Bullson, was very sick with inflammatory fever.
One day the captain asked me how he was and when I replied that he was
nearly gone, he said “Let him die and be damned.” A few days later when
the chief mate became sick and went to the steerage, among the women,
for shelter, the captain missing him asked where he was and when told
said, “He can’t be sick enough to go to hell yet.”
The principal causes of the deaths of seamen while on a slaving voyage,
were fevers—inflammatory or putrid—and dysentery. These were usually
caused by the manner of wooding the ships, by exposure during the middle
passage, by a want of the common necessaries of life and by ill-usage;
and when they once became sick it was very difficult to save them for
want of proper and nourishing food. There were nineteen who went out in
the _Ruby_ and four of them died during the voyage.
It was usually difficult to ascertain a seaman’s real name. He was
generally called by the name of a “red or blue villain” according to the
color of his jacket and low and vulgar names were commonly used as a
means of concealing a man’s real name.
The chief mate, John Smith, was accustomed to use the cat on the men
slaves with the slightest provocation, usually bringing blood. While we
lay at Bimbe, not long before sailing for the West Indies, an
insurrection broke out among the slaves largely because of his
brutality. Hearing some noise below he went down to quiet them. It was
night and he carried a lanthorn in his hand. Thinking that he had come
down to flog them some of the slaves watched an opportunity and snatched
the lanthorn from his hand and seizing him were soon in a fair way for
killing him. Smith was a powerful man and by main strength he succeeded
in getting to the gratings and so was dragged upon deck by some of the
crew, fortunate in escaping with only a small wound in the back from a
shackle bolt. The men slaves disappointed in not revenging themselves
upon the mate and finding that they had created an alarm attempted to
force the gratings which were with great difficulty kept down and
secured. They next attempted to reach the deck through a small scuttle
which served as an entrance to a sick berth partitioned off in the fore
part of the men’s quarters, but were forced below. The insurrection now
seemed serious and the captain ordered the slaves fired upon through the
gratings and other seamen armed with muskets and blunderbusses got into
the boat and fired through the air ports in the bows of the brig. This
was kept up for some time until the slaves yielded and quiet was
restored.
At daylight, the next morning, the slaves were ordered on deck, two at a
time and their arms were pinioned as they came up. Here they were placed
under a strong guard on the quarter deck and seamen were then sent below
to search for missing men. Among the articles of trade which the small
size of the brig made it necessary to keep in the men’s room was a cask
of knives which the slaves had seen opened in the course of trade. Three
men who were out of irons had armed themselves from this cask and as the
seamen entered the men’s room they slipped through the scuttle into the
hold. By the persuasion of a black trader on board one of the men
surrendered himself quietly and the second was coming up to surrender,
but having a knife in each hand, one of the crew, thinking that he was
advancing to attack him, fired his musket and killed him on the spot.
The third man told the trader that he would sooner die than surrender as
he had entered into an oath which they call sangaree (an oath to stick
to each other and made by sucking a few drops of another’s blood).
The fellow remained in the hold about eight hours, though severely
scalded with a mixture of water and fat, which was repeatedly thrown
down upon him, until the black trader at last persuaded him that the
whites would do him no injury if he came up but certainly would kill in
the end if he held out. A rope was then let down but when he raised
himself as far as the lower deck he saw an armed sailor waiting for him,
as he supposed to kill him, and so attempted to slip down into the hold
again but was seized by the sailor and dragged on deck. In the scuffle a
seaman struck him over the head with his pistol and fractured his skull.
He was also wounded in many places by the cutlasses of the seamen who
had followed him into the hold and pricked him as opportunity offered,
while he was skulking among the casks. A great part of his skin had also
peeled off where the hot fat and water had been thrown over him so that
all in all he was a most miserable looking object. When the captain came
forward to inspect the man he ordered the mate to put an iron collar
around his neck and chain him to the foremast at the same time ordering
me not to give the black devil any medical assistance and telling the
men at their peril not to give the fellow any food. He lived for three
days in a state of stupefaction and his body was then thrown overboard
in the sight of all the slaves aboard.
Meanwhile, the head of the man who had been shot was cut off and the
poor devil who had come up on the promises of the black trader, was
treated in the same way and the two gory heads were successively handed
to the slaves, chained on deck, and they were obliged to kiss the lips
of the bloody heads. Some men who refused to obey were unmercifully
flogged by the captain and had the bloody part of a head rubbed against
their faces.
While the musket fire was going on the slaves had crowded into a corner
so that only one boy of about fifteen years was injured. The thigh bone
of this boy was shattered and when the captain discovered his condition
and that the boy would be of little value when he reached the West
Indies, if he ever did get there, he ordered bricks tied to his neck and
then had him thrown overboard alive.
The _Ruby_ remained at Bimbe for nearly eight months before she
completed her cargo. While on the middle passage the slaves were allowed
to come on deck about eight o’clock every morning in good weather. The
women were not confined but the men were always in irons, during the
entire voyage. The slaves had two meals a day consisting of plantains
and yams and while on the middle passage, rice, horse beans and
sometimes a bit of bread was given them. One pint of water per day was
served to each of them in a pannikin.
In order to keep them in good health it was usual to make them dance. It
was the business of the chief mate to make the men dance and the second
mate danced the women; but this was only done by means of a frequent use
of the cat. The men could only jump up and rattle their chains but the
women were driven in one among another all the while singing or saying
words that had been taught them:—“Messe, messe, mackarida,” that
is:—“Good living or messing well among white men,” thereby praising us
for letting them live so well. But there was another time when the women
were sitting by themselves, below, when I heard them singing other words
and then always in tears. Their songs then always told the story of
their lives and their grief at leaving their friends and country.
After the slaves received their last meal for the day they were driven
below. If the sea was rough the slaves were unable to dance and whenever
it rained hard they were kept below, and the gratings were covered with
tarpaulins which made it very hot below and nearly suffocated the
slaves. At such times I have found women in a fainting condition or
insensible. Dysentery usually followed a spell of bad weather and the
mucus and filth among the slaves below made the slave deck a horrible
place.
We sailed with a cargo of one hundred and five slaves and only lost
eight during the passage. In this we were fortunate and at no time on
the voyage or while we were at Bimbe was there danger of smallpox. An
acquaintance of mine who sailed in the _Britannia_, with 450 slaves
aboard, lost 230 on the middle passage, mostly by smallpox. A small girl
brought the infection into the vessel. When the captain discovered the
situation he ordered her placed in an empty water puncheon in the hold.
The disorder soon began to spread, notwithstanding a general
inoculation, and the sick berths were soon insufficient to hold all the
sick. Only those who were so bad as to be incapable of moving were
admitted. There they lay in one mass of scab and corruption, frequently
sticking to each other and to the deck till they were separated to be
thrown overboard.
The _Ruby_ reached the Barbadoes on June 27th, 1788, after a passage of
nearly seven weeks, and from there went to St. Vincent’s to sell the
slaves, where she found that none were wanted as the market was
overstocked. This was also the case at Grenada, where we found two
Liverpool slavers, the _Kitty_ and the _Viper_, that had been there for
some time. At last a Dutchman from Demerara, happened in port and took
our slaves through Messrs. Campbell, Baillie & Company. They sold at
£35.5.0 per head and after spending three weeks in port we sailed and
reached King’s Road on Saturday evening, August 23d, 1788.
CHAPTER X
CAPTAIN CROW, THE LAST SLAVER OUT OF
LIVERPOOL
The English slave trade was abolished by Act of Parliament on May 1,
1807. For many years Liverpool had been a great center for the African
slave trade and when the end seemed in sight, Henry Clarke, the owner of
the ship _Kitty’s Amelia_, of three hundred tons burden and mounting
eighteen guns, cleared her for a last voyage just previous to the
passing of the Abolition Bill. Her master was Capt. Hugh Crow, a
Manxman, who had been in the Guinea trade for sixteen years and who, in
after years, wrote that it had been his opinion “that the traffic in
negroes was permitted by that Providence that rules over all, as a
necessary evil, and that it ought not to have been done away with to
humour the folly or the fancy of a set of people who knew little or
nothing about the subject.” He believed that the pretended
philanthropists, through the abolition of slavery, had become indirectly
responsible for the death of thousands of slaves, because they had
caused the trade to be transferred to the ships of other nations where
cruelty and a disregard for human life was shown “to which Englishmen
could never bring themselves to resort.”
The _Kitty’s Amelia_ did not actually sail for the African coast until
July 27th, but her technical clearance before May 1st protected her
while outfitting was being completed and insurance effected with the
underwriters at fifteen guineas per cent which was five per cent lower
than the usual premium. Her crew was composed of nearly sixty men and
while making a course down St. George’s Channel, four of the best of the
crew, in spite of their protections, were impressed by H.M. frigate
_Princess Charlotte_. The ship had been commissioned as a letter of
marque and during the voyage several vessels were chased and boarded but
no prizes were taken.
She arrived at Bonny after a passage of about seven weeks and was
immediately boarded by King Holiday who anxiously inquired if it was
true that the _Kitty’s Amelia_ was to be the last ship that would come
to Bonny for negroes. Captain Crow in his memoirs[31] gives a curious
account of what was said at that long palaver. The king’s sentiments on
abolition were expressed as follows:
-----
Footnote 31:
_Memoirs of the late Captain H. Crow of Liverpool, ... with
descriptive sketches of the Western Coast of Africa_, London, 1830.
-----
“Crow,” he remarked, “you and me sabby each other long time, and me know
you tell me true mouth (speak truth); for all captains come to river
tell me you King and you big mans stop we trade, and s’pose dat true,
what we do? For you sabby me have too much wife, it be we country fash,
and have too much child, and some may turn big rogue man, all same time
we see some bad white man for some you ship, and we hear too much white
man grow big rogue for you country. But God make you sabby book and make
big ship—den you sen you bad people much far for other country, and we
hear you hang much people, and too much man go dead for you warm (war).
But God make we black and we no sabby book, and we no havy head for make
ship for sen we bad mans for more country, and we law is, s’pose some of
we child go bad and we no can sell ’em, we father must kill dem own
child; and s’pose trade be done we force kill too much child same way.
But we tink trade no stop, for all we Ju-Ju-man (the priests) tell we
so, for dem say you country no can niber pass God A’mighty.”
And Crow thought that the king’s remarks were not lacking in sense and
shrewdness.
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE TOWN AND HARBOR OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND
From a colored aquatint by W. J. Bennett, engraved in 1811, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
There were ten or twelve vessels at Bonny waiting for slaves and Captain
Crow was obliged to lie there a long time for his turn. During this
period of waiting malignant fever and dysentery broke out among the
crew. It was supposed that the sickness originated in some goods aboard
returned on the ship from a former voyage when the ship was sickly. The
rotten goods were thrown overboard, but the sickness delayed the
slaving. Terrible storms came up as the ship lay at her anchorage and
she dragged her anchors and narrowly escaped going ashore.
In time the complement of slaves was made up and the ship sailed from
Bonny for the last time with “as fine a cargo of blacks, as ever had
been taken from Africa”; but disease lingered aboard and baffled the
skill of the two doctors and as both whites and blacks were dying at an
alarming rate, Captain Crow put in to the island of St. Thomas, in the
gulf of Guinea, to recruit. Before long the sick seemed to have
recovered and the ship resumed her voyage, but they had not been long at
sea before the sickness broke out afresh and attacked both whites and
blacks. The chief mate died and Captain Crow began to fear a great
disaster, for if anything happened to him there would be no one left on
board capable of navigating the ship. To add to the terror of the
situation, about that time, fire broke out in the hold. The captain
relates:
“One afternoon, when we were ten or twelve hundred miles from any land,
and were sailing at the rate of seven or eight knots, the alarm was
given that the ship was on fire in the afterhold. I was in the cabin at
the time and springing upon deck, the first persons that I saw were two
young men with their flannel shirts blazing on their backs; at the same
time I perceived a dense cloud of smoke issuing from below, and looking
round me I found the people in the act of cutting away the stern and
quarter boats that they might abandon the vessel. At this critical
juncture I had the presence of mind to exclaim in an animating tone, ‘Is
it possible, my lads, that you can desert me at a moment when it is your
bounden duty, as men, to assist me.’ And observing them to hesitate, I
added, ‘Follow me, my brave fellows, and we shall soon save the ship.’
These few words had the desired effect, for they immediately rallied and
came forward to assist me. To show them a proper example I was the first
man to venture below, for I thought of the poor blacks entrusted to my
care and who could not be saved in the boats, and I was determined,
rather than desert them, to extinguish the fire or perish in the
attempt.
“When we got below we found the fire blazing with great fury on the
starboard side, and as it was known to the crew that there were
forty-five barrels of gunpowder in the magazine, within about three feet
only of the fire, it required every possible encouragement on my part to
lead them on to endeavour to extinguish the rapidly increasing flames.
When I first saw the extent of the conflagration, and thought of its
proximity to the powder, a thrill of despair ran through my whole frame;
but by a strong mental effort I suppressed my disheartening feelings,
and only thought of active exertion, unconnected with the thought of
imminent danger. We paused for a moment, struggling, as it were, to
determine how to proceed. Very fortunately for us our spare sails were
stowed close at hand. These we dragged out and by extraordinary activity
we succeeded in throwing them over the flames which they so far checked
that we gained time to obtain a good supply of water down the hatchway
and in the course of ten or fifteen minutes, by favour of Almighty God,
we extinguished the flames.... The accident, I found, was occasioned by
the ignorance and carelessness of the two young men whose clothes I had
seen burning on their backs. Through the want of regular officers, they
had been entrusted to draw off some rum from the store cask and not
knowing the danger to which they exposed themselves and the ship, had
taken down a lighted candle, a spark from which had ignited the
spirit.”...
“It may not be uninteresting to learn with what kind of provisions the
negroes were supplied. We frequently bought from the natives
considerable quantities of dried shrimps to make broth; and a very
excellent dish they made, when mixed with flour and palm oil and
seasoned with pepper and salt. Both whites and blacks were fond of this
mess. In addition to yams we gave them for a change, fine shelled beans
and rice cooked together, and this was served up to each individual with
a plentiful proportion of the soup. On other days their soup was mixed
with peeled yams, cut up thin and boiled, with a proportion of pounded
biscuit. For the sick we provided strong soups and middle messes,
prepared from mutton, goats’ flesh, fowls, etc., to which were added
sago and lilipees, the whole mixed with port wine and sugar. I am thus
particular in describing the ingredients which composed the food of the
blacks, to show that no attention to their health was spared in this
respect. Their personal comfort was also carefully studied. On their
coming on deck, about eight o’clock in the morning, water was provided
to wash their hands and faces, a mixture of lime juice to cleanse their
mouths, towels to wipe with and chew sticks to clean their teeth. These
were generally pieces of young branches of the common lime or of the
citron of sweet lime tree, the skin of which is smooth, green and
pleasantly aromatic. They are used about the thickness of a quill and
the end being chewed, the white, fine fibre of the wood soon forms a
brush with which the teeth may be effectually cleaned by rubbing them up
and down. These sticks impart an agreeable flavor to the mouth and are
sold in little bundles, for a mere trifle, in the public markets of the
West Indies. A draw of brandy bitters was given to each of the men and
clean spoons being served out, they breakfasted about nine o’clock.
About eleven, if the day were fine, they washed their bodies all over,
and after wiping themselves dry, were allowed to use palm oil, their
favorite cosmetic. Pipes and tobacco were then supplied to the men and
beads and other articles were distributed among the women to amuse them,
after which they were permitted to dance and run about on deck to keep
them in good spirits. A middle mess of bread and cocoa-nuts was given
them about mid-day. The third meal was served out about three o’clock
and after everything was cleaned out and arranged below, they were
generally sent down about four or five o’clock in the evening. I always
took great pains to promote the health and comfort of all on board, by
proper diet, regularity, exercise, and cleanliness, for I considered
that on keeping the ship clean and orderly, which was always my hobby,
the success of our voyage mainly depended.”
Such ideal and humane conditions on board a slaver were by no means
general as will be discovered elsewhere in the present volume.
The sickness on board the _Kitty’s Amelia_ abated as they neared the
West Indies, but by the time she arrived at Kingston, after a passage of
eight weeks from St. Thomas, the two doctors had died and the deaths on
the voyage amounted to eighty, of which thirty were whites. Captain Crow
found that the mortality on board his ship was only half that on other
ships in the harbor, where he found sixteen slavers at anchor, some of
which had been there for several months, their cargoes unsold, due to a
glutting of the market, and slaves and crews were dying daily. His
cargo, however, being in better condition than the others, he was able
to sell at a profit and return to Liverpool where he retired with a
comfortable fortune.
Captain Crow lost his right eye when very young and was known, far and
wide, as “Mind your eye Crow.” His first voyage to the Guinea Coast was
in the Liverpool slave ship _Prince_, sailing in 1790. His brother,
William Crow, was also employed in the same trade and was chief mate of
the _Othello_ when she caught fire one night at Bonny and blew up,
causing the death of several whites and about 120 blacks, among them a
brother of King Pepple.
In October, 1796, he sailed from Liverpool as mate on the slaver
_James_, and after taking in a cargo of negroes at Bonny, she weighed
anchor and had made barely five leagues when she grounded at half-ebb on
a bank and with six feet of water in her hold was carried over the tail
of the bank by the tide and came to anchor in deep water. The captain
went off in a boat to get assistance from Bonny, leaving Crow in charge
of the ship with four hundred blacks aboard. The pumps were kept going
and Crow went down into the hold with the carpenter, found the leak, and
crammed it with pieces of beef. Eventually the ship was stranded in
Bonny Creek and the slaves put aboard other vessels.
A night or two after, a horde of negroes came aboard and began to
plunder the ship. Crow, who had been left to guard the vessel, had
stowed his own belongings on the booms and supplied himself with plenty
of six-pound shot, with which he defended himself stoutly against all
attempts to dislodge him until King Pepple came alongside and commanded
the people to withdraw, and rescued Crow, who afterwards took passage to
Kingston and thence reached Liverpool.
CHAPTER XI
THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A SLAVE TRADER
I never saw my father.[32] He was a seafaring man, sailing as mate of a
coaster and was lost in a gale four months after his marriage with my
mother, the daughter of a spinner in one of the cotton mills at
Stockford, England. I can just remember her and also a room full of
strange people, a red box and a man standing beside it, talking in a
loud voice; then a dismal walk through the rain, to a field where some
men had just finished digging a hole in the ground. My home after that
was in the Stockford workhouse until one day the work-master came in
company with a swarthy-featured stranger and said: “Look sharp, my lad,
and you’ll see your uncle!” I did “look sharp” and saw a man about
thirty years old, dressed in a jaunty suit of sailor’s store clothes,
with a broad palm-leaf hat on his head, round gold rings in his ears and
heavy gold watch seals hanging from his fob. This grand-looking
personage spoke kindly to me, gave me a few half-pence, told me to cheer
up and try to be a man and then walked away with Mr. Crump, the master.
He never came to the workhouse again but I was told that he had left
some money for me with the parish overseers and promised to look after
me as I grew older.
-----
Footnote 32:
The following narrative is abstracted from _Revelations of a Slave
Smuggler: being the Autobiography of Capt. Richard Drake, an African
Trader for Fifty Years—from 1807 to 1857_, New York, 1860.
-----
One day, when I was twelve years old, there came a summons to go before
the overseers, three stout, red-faced men, in powdered wigs, who sat at
a green-covered table, with snuff boxes before them. After the master
had pulled me roughly by the arm into their awful presence, the oldest
one said: “Philip Drake, how would you like to go to your uncle?” Of
course I joyfully said—I should like to go to him and a few days later I
was hustled away at daybreak, to ride ten miles to the seaport from
which a collier was to start for the Welsh coast, to intercept the Irish
emigrant ship as it left Holyhead. I wore a pair of new leather brogans,
corduroy breeches and a real leather hat and carried a bundle of patched
clothing tied up in an old Spitalfields handkerchief. Safely tucked away
in a pocket was a letter, made formidable by a stamp in green wax,
addressed to “Maurice Halter, Boston, United States.” This was my future
passport.
It was a cold, drizzly morning when I tumbled over the wet side of the
coal-lighter, on a deck crowded with shivering men, women and children
like myself, where I was knocked about by sailors and nearly swept
overboard by a swing of the sloop’s boom, before I managed to creep
under shelter behind a huge pile of corded boxes and clothes bags. The
rain soaked through my brown stuff frock and the tossing of the sloop
sickened me long before we made Anglesley light and hove-to under the
lee of a weather-beaten packet ship, from the Irish coast, bound for
Boston in the United States. The sea was rough, causing confusion and
difficulty in transferring the collier’s freight; but at last it was
effected and with some forty other English paupers, I found myself
dumped among four hundred Irish emigrants, in the steerage of the ship
_Polly_, of Waterford, Captain Herring.
Since that day I have experienced many hardships and seen bad voyages
but my first taste of the ocean, on board the _Polly_, was a thing to be
remembered. Child as I was, I did not know what arrangement had been
made for my keeping and for two days I was totally neglected by
everybody. I crawled to a dark corner of the bulkhead and lay coiled up
with my head on my little bundle. The ship’s motion renewed my sickness
and through the long, dark night I strained and gasped for breath,
thinking to die any moment. In the morning I was unable to move. Around
me were the emigrants, some lying still, some sick, others talking,
laughing or quarreling. Women were cooking food, old men were smoking
pipes and the air was close and stifling. Cursing and groaning was heard
on every side. After the second morning I lost consciousness and before
long was raving with fever. Had it not been for the charity of a poor
family whose bed was stretched near my nook in the bulkhead there would
have been one less poor English orphan.
The packet ship _Polly_, of Waterford, must have been as bad as any
slaver that ever skulked the “Middle Passage” with battened-down
hatches. She was 202 tons burden and carried 450 odd steerage
passengers. They were so thick between decks that the air became putrid
and whenever her sick squads were ordered up the gangways, one or more
was sure to die with the first gulp of fresh air. The steerage became
pestilential before our voyage was half over, for the emigrants’ beds
were never cleaned and whole families literally wallowed in poisonous
filth. The bodies of men and women, and their tattered garments, were
incrusted and impregnated with the most offensive matter. Typhus fever
and dysentery soon broke out and then the mortality raged fearfully.
The _Polly’s_ crew, when she left Ireland, consisted of but ten men and
four died of dysentery before we were half way across the Atlantic. One
day when I had crawled to the deck and lay on a coil of chain near the
capstan, I counted thirty corpses that were hauled up during the morning
and thrown overboard. Most of the bodies were women with their long hair
tangled in their filthy garments.
The ship’s provisions began to run short after a time and were doled out
in the most niggardly way until the dysentery thinned out the
passengers, when there was enough and to spare of oatmeal and damaged
rice. But water grew scantier every day. Foul weather set in and the
_Polly_ was driven from her course into the hot latitudes and when we
made the first light, off Cape Ann, we had 186 left out of 450 odd
passengers and some of these died before landing.
The _Polly_ reached Boston in April 1802 and her passengers were placed
in quarantine on one of the islands in the harbor, and there I remained
until one day when a little old man in a snuff-colored coat and rusty
hat, came enquiring for Tommy Driscoll. During the voyage Tommy had
fallen overboard and could not be saved and when the old man heard the
story he befriended me and took me to his home in Sun Court, near Ann
Street now North Street, in the North End of Boston.
Thaddeus Mooney was an apothecary and in his shop I was taught to pound
drugs in a big mortar and to run errands for my new master. As for the
unsealed letter to Maurice Halter, Doctor Mooney made many inquiries but
without result. No one seemed to know of a Mr. Halter.
One September afternoon, two years later, as I was passing the Moon
Tavern, a noted starting post for the Eastern coaches, I caught sight of
a man sitting in one of its large bow windows which projected into the
street. There was something familiar about the swarthy face, glittering
eyes and gold earrings and suddenly it came to me that this must be my
uncle. And so it was, but Capt. Richard Willing and not Maurice Halter,
which accounted for the unsuccessful inquiries that had been made. After
a long conversation during which the captain asked many searching
questions as to what I knew about books, figures and even shop matters,
I was told that I should sail with him on his next voyage, the ship
being then at New York.
It was nearly dusk when we were rowed off to a vessel lying at anchor in
the Sound near New Rochelle, and a storm was coming up, but that night
saw us well on a southerly course which soon gave plenty of sea-room.
The next morning the captain said to me, “I want you to understand that
you’ve got no uncle on board this vessel; I’m captain of all on board;
you are to help the surgeon, as his mate, and keep your mouth shut. If
you do your duty, we shan’t quarrel—if you don’t, then look out, my
lad!”
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE CITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO
From a colored lithograph published by Lemercier, Paris, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
The crew consisted of thirty men, including the captain, mates and
surgeon whose name was Maxwell. He was a Scotchman, about thirty years
old, stout and thick, with a pock-marked face and yellow, bilious eyes.
Thanks to my experience with Doctor Mooney, I was quite as much at home
with the surgeon’s bottles and boxes as was Maxwell. The two of us slept
in berths on deck, midships, where the medicine chest was kept, and
messed with the mates. Captain Willing had his meals in the cabin.
The brig was a sharply-built craft of about three hundred tons, and a
swift sailor. She was named the _Coralline_ and was well defended with
an ample magazine and a dozen heavy carronades, as it was a time of war
when French cruisers swarmed the seas. After passing through a hurricane
off the coast of Brazil, during which the bowsprit was sprung and the
foretopmast carried away, the brig came to anchor in the wonderful
harbor at Rio, where repairs were made and all hands kept busy stowing a
mixed cargo of colored cottons, kegs of powder and rum, trinkets,
tobacco and other goods suitable for a trading voyage. The surgeon
ordered a new supply of medical stores—calomel, sulphur, Peruvian bark
and other drugs and after a month’s stay, the anchor was weighed early
one morning and a course set for the coast of Africa.
On August 22, 1805, the _Coralline_ anchored at a trading station at the
mouth of the river Volta, which enters the Bight of Benin between the
Gold Coast and the Dahomy country. Here a schooner was chartered from
the trader at the post and Captain Willing began working up the river.
Along the banks the natives could be seen working in their cornfields;
herds of cattle were browsing in the grass and towards night some
negroes in a canoe brought milk and bartered for trinkets. The next day
rice fields were seen with dozens of canals crossing in all directions.
On August 29th, the schooner anchored in front of Malee, a town of about
three thousand inhabitants, with a market place in the center, the huts
forming a semi-circle on the hillside overlooking the river. Here,
Captain Willing organized an expedition to the Kong Mountains, lying to
the northeast, to trade with the gold mines. There was a war going on at
the time, between the King of Ashantee, who ruled over Malee, and the
Dahomy nation, and many prisoners had been taken which were being
shipped down the river to be sold as slaves or sent to the mountains to
wash out gold.
We set out with a long procession of black traders and soldiers, as a
guard for the white men, and soon after leaving the town entered a dense
forest. The head man of the Ashantee soldiers was a ferocious-looking
negro, as black as jet, with wool braided in stiff hanks. His teeth were
filed sharp and his cheeks slashed with two deep cuts, colored by some
red earth, which gave him an unearthly appearance. Quobah was a giant in
height. He carried a spear and had a powder horn and pouch strapped to
his neck. Three slaves bore his arms—one carrying a heavy, curved
broadsword, another his club and a third his musket. We had nothing to
do but walk as there were plenty of blacks to carry all luggage. There
must have been one hundred and fifty in the company. The day’s journeys
were short and at night we halted in some beautiful valley and were
served like lords with African delicacies. The women ground corn, cooked
rice cakes, and milked the cows that were driven along with the party as
pack-beasts. After supper the blacks beat their tomtoms or wooden drums
and kept up singing and dancing until it was time to camp down. Then the
Ashantee soldiers set a watch; the white men swung their hammocks under
the trees and the night passed well enough except for the crying of wild
animals.
One evening we encamped on the bank of a smooth river shaded by immense
trees. The sun was setting splendidly as we ate our supper. Some of the
blacks were lounging about, smoking their pipes and others lay on the
grass while their wives fed them with butter-rolls and nice bits of a
kid that had been killed and stewed since we halted. Suddenly we were
attacked and the air seemed filled with arrows. The forest appeared
alive with savages. I was seated under a tree drinking water from a
calabash, when the attack began and almost immediately I saw a negro
making for me, armed with a huge club. Quobah, our Ashantee chief,
jumped before him, but a dozen enemies darted in from all sides and I
was beaten down before I could lift an arm.
When I came to my senses I found myself lying at the foot of a tree,
tied hand and foot. The forest seemed on fire from hundreds of torches
that had been stuck in the ground or were waved up and down in the hands
of the negroes who were running to and fro, singing and yelling like
maniacs. Their bodies were smeared with white in bars and streaks so
that they looked like skeletons as they leaped back and forth. One of
them spied me as I turned my face and suddenly jumped toward me,
screeching horribly, and dashed close to my face the thing he was
holding. It was a human head—the head of a white man—dripping with
blood. A short distance from where I lay was a log on the river bank and
every now and then a victim was dragged to this log, to be held by the
legs, with his head on the log, when a dull blow from a heavy war club
would end his life immediately.
Before sunrise the black camp was in motion. I saw our cows driven past
and behind them about fifty of the Malee soldiers and their attendants,
tied together, in couples. In the company of hideous savages that
followed were a number of female warriors with bows and arrows slung
across their naked breasts, each carrying aloft on the point of a spear,
a head or leg of one of the massacred prisoners. I had heard of the
women-warriors—the Amazons—of the Dahomey King and these led me to
imagine who were my captors.
It was a week’s march, along a well-beaten track through the forest,
before we reached our destination, the walled town of Yallaba which
fronted on a sluggish river and was rendered nearly inaccessible on
three sides by a wide swamp. Quobah and I were led before an old black
man, fat and greasy, dressed in a shirt of red muslin, such as curtains
are made of, and wearing a tarpaulin hat on his grey wool. He was seated
on a pile of soft sheepskins and I was made to kneel before this old
fellow who turned out to be the King of Yallaba. I was entirely naked as
my clothes had been stolen on the march by the chattering women. The
King pinched my flesh, rubbing it with his black hand and muttering
something in his lingo. The women then gave me milk in a gourd and led
me away.
Such was my reception at Yallaba. I soon found that my youth and white
skin had made a favorable impression on the fat King, who was called
Mammee. My fetters were removed and I was permitted to roam about the
courtyard of the square house or palace. It was not a very grand
mansion, but it extended over an acre or more and was guarded by fifty
female soldiers. I was taken in charge by the King’s women and treated
liberally with milk, curds, fruit and rice cakes, and afterwards kept
among the house slaves and helped the women to pound corn between two
flat stones and prepare fagots for fires.
It was about the middle of September, 1805, when I began my captivity in
the Yallaba valley and it was not long before I began to understand and
speak many words of the Dahomey language. The King’s youngest daughter,
a handsome girl in spite of her tawny skin, took quite a fancy to me and
was my constant teacher. Her name was Soolah and when I first saw her
she was about twelve years old.
Quobah, the Ashantee chief, was considered quite a prize and about three
months after our arrival I was told by Soolah that he was to be
sacrificed at a grand feast in honor of the King’s fetish. But in this
affair events took a strange turn. For some time a lion had been
ravaging the country about the King’s town and one morning Soolah came
to tell me that the beast had attacked the slaves who were gathering
corn and killed a dozen the night before. The King was in great trouble
and a consultation with the priests was to be held and the fetish
consulted about the alarming visitor. As a result it was decided to
sacrifice Quobah at once. Accordingly the Ashantee captive was led into
the public square and all the people gathered about to witness his
massacre. King Mammee sat on his throne of sheepskins and the priests
were all armed with immense clubs and swords.
Quobah stood with his arms folded until he heard all that his enemies
had to say and then he addressed the King and priests abruptly. He
proposed that, as he was to be sacrificed in any event, he should be
allowed to choose his own method by volunteering to go out alone and
fight the lion. The priests decided this to be lawful, the King was
satisfied and the field people of Yallaba were glad to find a champion
to attack the lion. No time was to be lost as the sun was declining and
the lion was expected to visit the valley again that evening.
Before long Quobah was brought out from his hut. He was armed with a
long spear, his own huge sword, and with my carbine, the only really
serviceable firearm in the town. He alone appeared to be unmoved as he
marched to the south gate. Scarcely had he got beyond the heavy stone
that secured the log door, before a terrific roar sounded from the
fields and an enormous lion came cantering toward the approaching man.
The priests and women began to howl and the men pounded their war drums
to frighten the lion, but he only lashed his tail the fiercer and
crouched for a spring. Quobah sunk on one knee and the next moment the
lion leaped and came down on the sharp point of Quobah’s spear which the
crafty warrior had suddenly raised, the butt resting on the ground. The
Ashantee jumped aside and left the brute floundering with the lance
through his shoulder.
At this instant another loud roar was heard from the forest and soon a
lioness came crashing through the corn followed by two half-grown cubs.
Then, indeed, it seemed that all was over with the Ashantee, for the
wounded lion had broken the spear to fragments in his struggle and was
crouching for another spring, though evidently severely wounded. Quobah
lifted the carbine and then as the lion made his second leap, the
Ashantee sprang nimbly aside and as the beast fell heavily on its
wounded shoulder he ran close to him and fired the carbine into his
jaws. When the smoke cleared we could see the lion writhing in his death
agony and the lioness snuffing the ground about a dozen feet from
Quobah. An instant later she gave a frightful roar and rose with a
flying leap, directly for the warrior, who awaited her attack and as she
fell, with all his giant strength drove his sword-blade straight into
the animal’s mouth. We heard a stifled roar but every movement was
shrouded in the cloud of dust that whirled around the man and the
beasts; then, as the dust settled, we could see the lion and the lioness
stretched side by side and Quobah lying across them, covered with blood.
The cubs sat on their haunches, a little way off. The Ashantee was still
living, but his left arm had been mangled and his breast was torn by the
lioness’ claw. He recovered in a few weeks and was solemnly set free and
allowed to go to his own country with the skins of the lion and the
lioness as his trophy.
When Quobah took his departure I ventured to ask King Mammee if I, too,
might return to my people, but the old man promptly refused, telling me
that he had other plans for my future. I continued to grow in his favor
and as I better understood the Dahoman language it seemed that I was in
a fair way to become a person of consideration and after the season of
rains this was, in a way, confirmed for I was allowed to accompany an
expedition organized to capture slaves for the great Dahoman market held
yearly at Abomey, the capital town.
The preparations for this expedition had been going on for some months
and when we set off from Yallaba there were three hundred men in the
party. We travelled easterly for two days before we joined the main body
of about twelve hundred. Four hundred of these were women soldiers.
Besides warriors there were gangs of slaves to carry provisions and
luggage and women to prepare food for the soldiers. On the seventh
morning of the march we reached the enemy’s borders and came in sight of
a peaceful village. Here our hunting began. The Abomey chief fired off
his gun and gave a shrill yell and immediately our whole army rushed
upon the village. The resistance was not very great as our approach was
unexpected and the inhabitants soon tried to escape but found themselves
completely surrounded. In less than an hour we had secured about three
hundred prisoners. The old people and infants were not considered of
value and were knocked on the head or stuck with spears as fast as they
were brought in. The captives were yoked together in couples with bamboo
collars, a long ox-hide band connecting a half dozen collars together.
Besides this, their hands were bound behind and a tall Dahoman marched
beside every couple, beating them with a heavy whip whenever they
appeared to lag.
[Illustration:
SLAVE HUNTERS ATTACKING A NEGRO TOWN
From a wood engraving in Canot’s _Twenty Years of an African Slaver_,
New York, 1854
]
Two days later we arrived near a larger town than the one we had
surprised. It was in a valley and I had a fine view of it from the top
of a wooded hill where we camped. Here our captives were made to lie
down and stakes were driven in the earth, fastening them securely. When
the night was somewhat advanced the main portion of our force set off in
small parties to creep on the unsuspecting town and in about an hour a
bright flame shot up followed by a chorus of yells, cries and groans. In
a few minutes the whole valley seemed in flames. From the brow of the
hill I could see the Dahoman warriors running about whirling their
weapons. The naked women and children were flying in all directions and
in the light from the blazing huts I could see the wretched people
rushing from the flames to be received on the spear points of their
enemies. It was nearly morning when the work of capture and massacre was
finished. More than four hundred choice slaves had been taken and after
they had been shackled we pushed on, without rest, for fear of pursuit,
as we had heard that the enemy were assembling in our rear. On the
homeward march we surprised three other small villages so that our hunt
resulted in the capture of nearly a thousand slaves. When we reached our
valley there was a great feast and old King Mammee sat on his pile of
sheepskins and distributed feathers to the principal men and the priests
made a solemn sacrifice of two young boys to the King’s fetish. The poor
lads were cut to pieces with knives by the women soldiers and afterwards
burned before the idol.
I had now been among the Yallabas nearly a year and could talk their
lingo quite glibly. Soolah, the youngest daughter of King Mammee, had
been a sort of playmate of mine from the first and during the year had
grown into quite a little woman. My associates were among the princes
and young chiefs and I shared in all the feastings of the King, who led
an indulgent life with his score of wives. My full dress consisted of a
piece of calico wrapped about the loins and a sort of cloak which Soolah
wove of mango leaves, split fine and fringed with colored threads of
unravelled cotton.
One day King Mammee sent for me and after a long harangue said that he
intended that I should become his son by marrying Soolah. He told me
that his fetish and mine would then become very powerful. My vanity was
touched by this mark of royal favor and I was not averse to the princess
who was the handsomest young negress I had ever seen and so I consented
at once. Soolah was sent for and she came, dressed in her white cotton
shift and attended by her sisters and a train of maids and the ceremony
of marriage was performed by the women leading her to my hut. After a
special feast, with singing and dancing, I became a husband at the age
of seventeen years.
I had not been living with Soolah very long before another great slave
hunt was announced which I was to accompany as doctor. This turned out
to be my last expedition with the Yallabas, for before we reached the
rendezvous of the other Dahoman war parties, we were set upon by a
superior force of hostile negroes and nearly all of our party taken
prisoners. I was stripped and tied and then marched a twenty days’
journey through a dense forest, till we reached a negro settlement on a
large river. This was Fandee, a town of the Foulah tribe, located on the
Gambia river. The Yallaba warriors were sent off in gangs to work in the
rice fields and I was taken before the Foulah prince, a man fully six
feet and a half in height, who wore gold rings in his ears, which
reminded me of my uncle. I could understand his language with my
knowledge of the Dahoman tongue and soon he had my story with the result
that I was released from strict confinement and permitted to go about
the town. The women of Fandee were quite free and attractive and very
curious about the white stranger, but though I saw many handsome forms
among them, I couldn’t help thinking with regret of my Yallaba wife
Soolah.
A month later I was taken in charge by a company of Foulahs and carried
down the river in a canoe, until we reached a trading station and slave
market where I was greeted for the first time in two years by the sound
of a white man’s voice, in my own language. Captain Fraley was a British
trader, engaged in the African trade, and had half a dozen sloops at
different stations on the Gambia, taking in cargoes of negroes to ship
from the coast. The place where I had been brought by the Foulahs was
one of these stations, called Wadee. It was merely a depot for slaves
with a few sheds built for their shelter. Captain Fraley had heard from
one of his negro agents that a white man was at Fandee and had bought me
from the Foulah prince for half a dozen muskets, a keg of rum and a
piece of Manchester cotton. “You see, my boy,” said the Bristol trader,
laughing as he shook my hand, “you’re a regularly purchased slave, but
I’m ready to bargain for your ransom on favorable terms.” I soon learned
that my uncle had escaped the Dahoman massacre, for Captain Fraley was
acquainted with him and had seen him within a year.
The captain took me on board his sloop which was to sail down the river
the next morning. She was more like a pleasure yacht than a trading
vessel, being about twenty-five tons burden, with four comfortable
lockers in her snug little cabin. I was given a cot in one of them and
during the night was awakened by a noise of groaning which startled me
so that I went on deck, though the air was chill and a thick mist
covered the river. Captain Fraley heard me and asked what was the matter
and when I inquired about the groaning noise he replied that was only
the “darkies.” Next morning all was explained. The sloop’s hold was
crowded with a cargo of eighty slaves stowed in a space of hardly thirty
feet, as the hold was only ten feet long. The blacks were placed in a
sitting position, one within another’s legs, so that each did not occupy
more than three feet of space.
We dropped down the Gambia and were joined next day by a smaller sloop
of ten tons, with forty slaves aboard, in a hold about nine by four
feet, length and width. Our own craft was afterward made to accommodate
a deck-load, as there was quite a stock of slaves waiting at all the
stations.
I found Captain Fraley a pleasant man in the cabin, but he had no
feeling where negroes were concerned as a matter of traffic. He was
engaged in extensive operations on the river Gambia and owned quite a
fleet of Bristol and Liverpool craft, which he supplied with cargoes
from his factories on the African coast. His mode of obtaining slaves
was generally by fair barter, but he also organized hunting parties on
his private account, to operate with various negro kings. It was
customary for parties of sailors and coast blacks to lie in wait near
the streams and little villages and seize the stragglers by twos and
threes, when they were fishing or cultivating their patches of corn.
Sometimes an attack was made on the huts by night and as many seized as
could be conveniently managed in the boats.
Captain Fraley had heard that my uncle was at a slave station near the
Congo river and agreed to give me a passage in one of his coasters, just
starting southward,—a Bristol brig carrying supplies to a factory on the
Angola coast from which she would bring back a cargo of slaves to the
Gambia stations where his chief depots were located. She was a heavy
sailer and when we reached Embomma, about a hundred miles from the
Congo, we found that Captain Willing had left the settlement a week
before, so there was nothing for me to do but to stay on the brig and go
to Angola and thence back to the river Gambia.
The brig was named the _Friendship_ and her captain was a Londoner—one
Thorley—a rough but honest seaman who treated me very well. The mate was
an Irishman and there were eight Portuguese and Danish sailors on board,
an English cabin-boy and two Guinea negroes. We had hardly cleared the
Congo river outward, when the Portuguese and Danes mutinied and took the
vessel. I was below talking with Captain Thorley, when we heard a noise
on deck and he ran up to see what it was about. I waited a few moments
before I followed and, to my horror, stumbled over the little cabin-boy,
lying by the companion rail, with his head split open. The crew were
just then throwing Captain Thorley overboard after having knocked him in
the head with the cook’s axe. At the same time I heard a faint cry of
“Boat! Boat!” and saw our Irish mate drifting astern. One of the
Portuguese sailors ran toward me, brandishing a handspike, but I called
out in Spanish, begging my life, and he turned away. The two Guinea men
were called from below, where they were asleep, and the Portuguese cook
brought them each a tin cup full of rum. While they were drinking it,
two of the mutineers shot them with musket balls through the stomach and
they were then thrown overboard.
I thought my turn was now sure to come, but the fellows, after talking
together a few minutes, held up a cross before me and demanded that I
should swear never to divulge what they had done, which I was glad
enough to do, though with small faith in their goodwill to me. They then
began to overhaul the brig and after plundering the officer’s chests,
filled two boats with provisions and whatever articles they thought most
valuable. I was allowed to get into one of the boats and after scuttling
the brig, they pushed off and steered for the coast which was reached on
the third day after the murders. Both boats were swamped in making a
landing, but some of the provisions and rum-kegs were washed ashore.
About noon we started for the bush, but had not walked far before a gang
of blacks appeared, armed with clubs and spears, and in a few minutes we
were all stripped and bound and I was once more a captive among the
negroes. We had fallen into the hands of a tribe of Kroomen, as the
coast negroes are called, and my ability to talk a little of their lingo
was of service. They marched us inland to their village and our rum was
distributed and a bullock killed for a feast. Here we stayed for two
days and then were taken back to the beach where we found a boat
belonging to an English ship, then in the offing, and soon were safely
on board _The Brothers_, a Liverpool slaver. I told her captain the
story of the loss of the _Friendship_ and the mutineers were at once put
in irons.
_The Brothers_ was a ship of five hundred tons, with a crew of
forty,—English, Scotch and Portuguese. She was coasting for a cargo of
slaves and had a small schooner on deck to run up the rivers. Captain
Baker, her commander, told me that my uncle was at Calabar and promised
to take me there. When we arrived at the outlet of Calabar river, I
learned that Captain Willing was on the Qua, a smaller stream about
eight miles inland and as Captain Baker hoisted out his schooner here I
went on board of her to ascend the river. When we reached the Qua river,
I found that my uncle had gone still farther inland, on a negro hunt,
but on one of his schooners, lying before the negro depot, I found my
old friend Doctor Maxwell.
The surgeon was hardly able to believe the evidence of his eyes. Instead
of the pale-faced, undersized lad of fifteen, he saw a stout, manly
fellow, tanned like a Moor. I related my adventures and a Fishman
messenger was sent off to my uncle with the news of my resurrection, as
Doctor Maxwell called it. He told me that he had been to Brazil and the
West Indies twice, since their escape from the massacre on the night of
the attack by the Dahomen. Only one white had been killed on that
occasion, a sailor, whose head I had seen. The _Coralline_ was then at a
place called Cameroons, a couple of hundred miles down the coast from
Calabar, and Captain Willing was in partnership with a rich Spaniard at
Rio and was shipping cargoes of slaves every month from various stations
on the Guinea coast. The fifth day after my arrival, a message came from
my uncle that I should join him at once and in company with a couple of
Fishmen I set off for the tramp inland.
My uncle was at a large negro town, called Gambo, and he welcomed me
most cordially and told me that my knowledge of negro tongues would make
me very useful to him as an interpreter. Next day I was presented to the
negro king of Gambo, who was called Ephraim. There was some difference
between the languages of the Dahomans and Foulahs and the Gambo natives,
but I soon contrived to pick up a stock of new words.
[Illustration:
BRANDING A NEGRESS AT THE RIO PONGO
From a wood engraving in Canot’s _Twenty Years of an African Slaver_,
New York, 1854
]
Captain Willing was making up a kaffle of slaves from the several lots
brought in by the hunting parties. A kaffle is the common name for a
train of slaves to be driven to the rivers or seacoast. He had a
standing bargain for supplies so there was no chaffering. He bought in
lots of twenty, allowing a thirty-gallon keg of brandy, a half dozen
pieces of colored cottons or twenty-five pounds of gunpowder for any
prime lot. Iron spearheads, coral beads, tobacco and gilt trinkets were
exchanged proportionately for other lots.
The business of examination and choice of stock was done in a shady wood
near the center of the town where my uncle’s quarters were. In shirt and
duck trowsers with palm-leaf hat, he would walk up and down the fettered
line of slaves. Shakoe, the mulatto overseer, was a sort of negro doctor
as well and could tell an unsound slave almost at a glance. He handled
the naked blacks from head to foot, squeezing their joints and muscles,
twisting their arms and legs, examining teeth, eyes and chest, and
pinching breasts and groins without mercy. The slaves stood in couples,
stark naked, and were made to jump, cry out, lie down and roll and hold
their breath for a long time. The women and girls were used no more
gently than the men by this mulatto inspector.
The day before we were to start from Gambo, the branding was done and a
good deal of flogging had to be done also to keep the frightened negroes
quiet. Shakoe’s lash and the heavy whips of his assistant negroes were
not idle for a moment. The slaves were fetched up singly, made to lie
down on their faces where they were held by a big negro while another
kept the branding irons hot in a fire close by and a third applied them
between the shoulders of the shrieking wretches. At first there was
horrible yelling, for the poor negroes expected to be tortured to death
and I was called upon to talk to them in their own lingo, though my
assurances didn’t have much effect. Shakoe plied his leather until it
became actually encrusted with blood.
After the scourgings and brandings were through with for that day, the
negroes were allowed double rations of rice, yams and beans and then
coupled for the march. That night King Ephraim gave a feast to my uncle
and a slave sacrifice was made to the fetish for good luck. The sick,
maimed and feeble negroes, discarded in making up the kaffle, supplied
victims enough for the occasion and several of them were cut to pieces
before we started from Gambo.
Our march to the river was a painful one. Shakoe and his assistant
“devils,” as the slaves, no doubt, considered them, marked their way
with blood. When we reached the Qua and marched along its banks to the
Calabar depot, I let the whole kaffle pass me and the slaves presented a
deplorable appearance as they moved along, scarred and bleeding.
Doctor Maxwell and the two skippers of the vessels were at the station
to receive us. Here the kaffle was overhauled and the barber’s work
done. The heads of all slaves, without distinction of age or sex, were
shaved and they were then scrubbed with sand while standing in the
water. The schooners were fitted with bulkheads, in the fashion of
regular slavers, and the sexes divided on each side. The largest males
were packed first in the hold, sitting cross-legged in rows, back to
back. They faced each other closely and a hundred were crammed into each
schooner under decks. The women and girls were all stowed in one hold.
After securing these below, about fifty were tied around the masts and
rails of both vessels, so that every available foot of space was covered
with black flesh. As it was impossible to shift them while we were in
the river, they were served their rations from wooden buckets let down
by bamboo poles to each row. We made good progress down the Calabar and
arrived at the Cameroons in five days losing only three boys and two
girls who were suffocated in the hold and thrown overboard at sea. At
Cameroons we found the _Coralline_, waiting for her freight, and I soon
trod her familiar decks.
The barracoon, where the slaves were collected, was a large building
near the landing place and the next morning after we arrived the loading
of the ship commenced early. The blacks were all stripped naked and
shipped by twos and threes, in canoes, through the surf. They were
shackled down in tiers, on the deck of the _Coralline_, sitting between
each other’s legs, fore and aft. One slave deck rested on stanchions,
over the water stowage and the blacks were strung across in gangs of six
or eight, according to size, and their ankle-bolts were secured by two
iron rods running amidships and padlocked in the center. When the rods
were drawn out the shackles would drop and a gang could take its turn to
go on deck for air.
We sailed on May 11th, 1808, bound for Dutch Guiana. There was a fine
breeze and everything was in order. The slaves were given two meals a
day, of boiled beans or rice and each had a light wooden dish and spoon
tied about the neck. The ninth day out we had an exciting time as there
was an attempted revolt. It was all due to Shakoe. The mulatto was hated
by every slave on board and that morning one of them struck him with his
shackle and then jumped overboard. Shakoe became furious and rushed down
into the hold cutting right and left with his whip. By some means a gang
got loose and broke off the iron rod that fastened their ring bolts.
They at once attacked Shakoe and beat his brains out and succeeded in
liberating half a dozen other gangs and got on deck all together. Our
watch and the negro sentinels immediately fired their muskets into the
crowd of naked blacks who had begun to arm themselves with handspikes,
buckets and any other loose missiles. Doctor Maxwell and I were on deck
at the time and Captain Willing came up in a hurry with a pistol in each
hand. Our white crew rushed aft and the mate served out arms with which
the blacks were driven back but not before two sailors were killed and
one wounded. It was a terrible affair while it lasted. The negroes
fought like wild beasts and had they succeeded in releasing all below,
we should have been overpowered and everyone slaughtered. Thirteen
blacks were shot on the deck and seven seriously wounded. All these were
flung into the sea. It was a narrow escape for the brig. Slaving is a
dangerous business at sea as well as ashore. Shakoe deserved his fate as
he abused the blacks shamefully. His head was beaten to pieces,—a
ghastly sight, and the negroes tore his whip into bits no larger than my
finger.
On July 14th the _Coralline_ anchored at Berbice, Dutch Guiana. The
blacks were landed at once and two days later were placed on sale in the
market. There was a scarcity of hands on the sugar plantations and good
prices were paid for the slaves. The Dutch maids, in short green jackets
and scarlet petticoats, walked around inspecting the naked Africans as
if it was a common thing. The auctioneer sat on a high chair at one end
of the large room and the slaves stood on a stool in front of him. He
made them turn round about, as they stood in their breech-cloths before
the people, and the purchasers walked up and felt of them to try their
flesh and soundness. The darkies were obliged to go through every sort
of motion. It seemed at times as if their arms would be pulled out of
joint or their jaws cracked by some of the Dutch boors. One dame was not
satisfied until she forced a wench to screech by squeezing her breast
cruelly. In two days the vendue was over. The grown men fetched as high
as a thousand guilders and the boys and girls and women from seven to
eight hundred, which were considered good prices.
Leaving Berbice, the _Coralline_ made a quick run to Rio de Janeiro
where I met my uncle’s partner, Don Juan de Cobral, a Portuguese trader
of great wealth, who lived in style at a country house in the mountains,
a few miles out from Rio. He had a dozen illegitimate children, whom he
was educating, and lived with their mothers on his large estate. Donna
Maria, a quadroon girl, sixteen years old, was at her father’s house
when I first went there with my uncle, and entertained us with playing
on the harp and singing. She was the handsomest young woman, with negro
blood in her veins, that I ever saw. This girl, with several of her
brothers and sisters, was sold in 1813 to help pay her father’s
creditors.
[Illustration:
A DUTCH PLANTER IN SURINAM IN HIS MORNING DRESS
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an Expedition to
Surinam_, London, 1796
]
A few days after our arrival at Rio, my uncle took me for a walk on the
promenade overlooking the wonderful bay, during which he told me that he
had withdrawn from his partnership with Don Juan. I also learned that
the English government had abolished the slave trade with her colonies
and that henceforth no slaver could sail under the British flag.
“Captain Fraley,” said my uncle, “has broken up his coast stations and
left the field clear for us. The _Coralline_ is now a Spanish vessel and
you and I, Phil, must sink our English birthrights and resign all claims
to our larger estates in Stockford.”
I laughed at my uncle’s joke and said I was as ready to sail under the
Spanish flag as any other. Shortly after this the _Coralline_ shipped a
new crew of Portuguese and Spaniards and we sailed from Rio, bound for
the Guinea coast. Cape Palmas, on the Ivory Coast, was reached on Nov.
3, 1808, where we shipped forty Kroo fishermen with their canoes and
three days later reached a place called Assinam, on the Windward Coast,
about two miles from a river said to be populous. The country thereabout
was ruled by a king known as Prince Vinegar who reminded me of my old
father-in-law, King Mammee. Here we set up covered sheds surrounded by a
picket fence and in time the settlement grew to be one of the most
thriving on the Coast and was the means of saving scores of British
merchants from ruin if it did no good otherwise. The river made a bend
near us creating a little harbor. By means of our fast schooners,
together with the _Coralline_ and her mate, an American-built brig named
the _Florida_, we kept up a constant tapping of the coast between Cape
Palmas and the Rio Gambia, where Captain Fraley’s stations were still
supplied with negroes. My uncle Richard called himself Don Ricardo and
my name was transmogrified into Felipe. Our settlement we christened Rio
Basso where we soon had extensive barracoons erected on the mainland and
on several small islands in the river. My uncle made several voyages in
the _Corraline_, with full cargoes, and before long became noted in
Africa and the West Indies as a shrewd and successful trader who never
lost a cargo, though privateers were swarming in every sea.
CHAPTER XII
FACTORY LIFE ON THE GUINEA COAST
Factory life in Africa is no desirable lot for a civilized being, but I
passed five years at Rio Basso without much tediousness. My uncle made a
liberal contract for my services and allowed me three negroes per month
to ship on my own account. I made myself familiar with King Vinegar’s
people on the river and visited many black nations further inland. Don
Miguel Barca, the factor, was a hasty tempered man but on the whole we
got on very well together. Under his management we had a couple of
hundred darkies constantly at work cutting down trees and assisting our
white force which numbered twenty—Spaniards, Portuguese and Dutchmen.
Besides being surgeon, I was accountant and paymaster and had to settle
with King Vinegar and the other chiefs for the provisions they sent in.
All this time we were loading and trans-shipping cargoes of slaves from
various parts of the coast. As soon as our barracoons were ready they
were filled with stock and no vessel had to wait an extra day for lack
of negroes.
Our first accomodations were poor enough, tents and hovels being the
only shelter; but before the rains we got under a commodious roof and in
the course of a year I had a house to myself. The factor, Don Miguel,
had a larger house than mine, for his family was extensive in the female
line. He had two quarteroon wives from the Verds and I don’t know how
many favorites, of mulatto and even darker hues.
Our barracoons, as the slave pens were called, were located close to the
river. They were built of cane, matted with vine and plastered with mud,
the whole strengthened by uprights and picket barriers. Here the slaves
were driven, on arrival, and placed in charge of gangsmen of their own
color. The gangsmen superintended the head-shaving, washing and branding
and saw that the blacks were duly secured every night to posts driven in
the ground. There was a gangsman to every twenty slaves and they took
turns through the night standing guard, with whips, to keep order.
We had a quarantine hospital built on a little island further down the
river, for treatment of sick stock, and a burial place in the sand
behind. I instructed a dozen of the more intelligent blacks in the
mysteries of simple drugging, cupping and blistering and in a short time
could boast of quite a medical board. We were generally lucky and lost
only a small average among the slaves. Out of seventy-two thousand
slaves received and transshipped from Rio Basso, in five years, we lost
only eight thousand and this included deaths by accidental drowning,
suicides, and a smallpox epidemic in 1811, when our barracoons were
crowded and when we shipped 30,000 blacks to Brazil and the West Indies.
My uncle always gave reasonable care to his slaves but some of the
traders that came to our factory for water and supplies were ruthless.
The _Pongas_, owned by an American trader, came in one day for water and
I went aboard. She was loaded on the Gambia and the poor blacks were
packed like herrings on the sitting plan instead of the horizontal
stowage adopted by the French captains from the Senegal settlements. She
was crammed with a thousand blacks, wedged in her three-foot
between-decks. In one partition of her bulkhead, sixteen by eighteen
feet, two hundred and fifty women were squeezed and many of the wenches
were big with child. The men were stowed in each other’s laps, without
an inch to move right or left. The vessel stank horribly and Don Miguel
predicted that she would lose half her cargo.
The French slavers were fitted up at that time with more regard to the
comfort of their living freight. They were amply supplied with bread,
salt and allspice, for slave diet, and each black was provided with a
pewter plate and spoon and a tobacco pipe. The slaves slept horizontally
on the decks and in fine weather were made to exercise and were kept
employed in making ropes, hats and baskets for which they received
rations of brandy and tobacco.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “HENNA,” OCT. 26, 1843, OFF MERCURY ISLAND, S.
W. COAST OF AFRICA, BY H.M. SCHOONER “ARIEL”
From a water color in the Macpherson Collection
]
In August, 1814, I was at a trading station on the Kambia trying to make
life tolerable during a dismal rainy season, with no society but the
overseer, a Brazilian Portuguese, and a few Foulah girls, our household
handmaidens. One day news arrived of a vessel at the river’s mouth, and
shortly after my worthy uncle appeared. “Phil,” he said, very abruptly,
“I have a love affair on hand.” “A love affair!” I repeated, in great
astonishment, and when he related the details, I found that Don Ricardo,
instead of being a mere money-getting, callous-hearted slave trader, was
quite a chevalier in the way of romantic amours. He wanted my assistance
on a short expedition having for its purpose the possession of a Spanish
beauty as a companion to make his life in Africa more agreeable. Of
course I agreed to go with him and when I reached the brig and saw his
cabin fitted up luxuriously for a lady’s occupancy, I began to realize
how a “love affair” can polish a slave trader into something very tender
and make a slave brig’s cabin fit for other purposes than packing negro
women for the middle passage.
Our destination was the island of Teneriffe and we cast anchor in the
harbor of Oritava. The next day my uncle took me to a convent where he
had an interview with his young lady, a splendid specimen of Spanish
beauty. That she was in love with him I hadn’t the least doubt, though
our interview took place in the public parlor. He told me that she had
been devoted by her parents to take the veil and was then in her
novitiate, but there was nothing of the nun about her, it was plain to
see. The convent was a gloomy prison-house, with iron-grated windows and
gates strong enough for a fort.
That night we went ashore in the yawl with a dozen of the crew. Eight of
them stayed on the shore and the rest followed us to the convent. My
uncle climbed the wall and soon after a fire broke out in the building.
A bell began to ring and immediately we heard shrieking of women. Then
my uncle appeared with Donna Emelia in his arms. We all hurried back to
the boat and with his lady and two men to row he went out to the brig.
He directed me to return with the crew to the convent and assist the
people. It was a frightful scene. The nuns were flying in all
directions, most of them completely naked as they slept without
clothing. Some in the upper cells could be seen through the windows,
unable to escape and tearing about in their despair. I heard, before I
left, that seven had been burned to death and also the rumor that the
fire was caused by coals spilled out of an earthen stove, but I have
always had other suspicions. At any rate, my uncle secured his
sweetheart, who seemed to be about seventeen, a queenly type with
something of the look of a sorceress. Donna Emelia appeared on deck the
next day, as merry as a cricket and as splendid as a bird of paradise
and all on board soon heard that she was the captain’s wife. My uncle
appeared to be the happiest of men.
When we arrived at the Kambia, I found Diego Ramos ready to sail for
Cuba in our American ship _Miranda_. He had taken advantage of the first
week of dry weather to bargain for a kaffle brought in by one of the
neighboring kings and had got the slaves stowed aboard during the last
days of our absence. We said nothing to him about the result of our trip
and as I had been thinking of taking a run to the West Indies, it was
soon arranged that I should go with Ramos. Don Ricardo wished to use my
bachelor house as a place in which to spend his honeymoon, as he
laughingly expressed it. “Its the only place on the coast not yet run
down by negro traders and I want Emelia to get accustomed to this life
before she meets with Don Miguel and his rough companions.” So Diego
Ramos and I took possession of our shed on the _Miranda’s_
quarterdeck—all between decks being packed with her cargo—and soon were
off, with a flowing sheet, for the isles of profitable speculation.
Our blacks were a good-natured lot and jumped to the lash so promptly
that there was not much occasion for scoring their naked flanks. We had
tamborines aboard, which some of the younger darkies fought for
regularly, and every evening we enjoyed the novelty of African war songs
and ring dances, fore and aft, with the satisfaction of knowing that
these pleasant exercises were keeping our stock in good condition and of
course enhancing our prospects of making a profitable voyage. It was
after one of these musical evenings, when the tired performers had been
stowed again between decks, to sweat through another stifling night,
that our hopes were dashed to nothing. I had turned in and was sound
asleep when there was a sudden cry of “fire.” When I came on deck the
sailors were throwing buckets of water down the forecastle gratings and
the air was soon full of the shrieks and half-stifled groans of the
suffocating blacks. In spite of every effort the flames increased and
soon broke out by the main gratings.
“All is lost,” said Diego, to me, and then raising his voice he shouted,
“Bear away, lads! lashings and spars for a raft, my hearties!” The men
at once sprang to the work of cutting away the masts and bowsprit and
hoisting out the boats. Regardless of the yells and shrieks of the
doomed blacks, Diego ordered wet tarpaulines to be thrown over the
gratings to keep down the fire. The men worked for their lives and in a
very short time we had a well-secured raft, with two casks of water on
it and a supply of provisions. Our more valuable possessions were placed
in the two boats. Fortunately the sea was calm and we got away from the
burning brig without difficulty, having first shifted the hatch gratings
and flung down the shackle-keys to the slave gangs below. I shall never
forget the dreadful screech that rung in our ears as the panic-stricken
blacks scrambled on deck and discovered that we were leaving the vessel.
Some of them jumped overboard and began to swim towards us. The shouts
of the men and the screams of the women rose in horrible discord.
The raft was large enough to accommodate nearly a hundred of the blacks
and we took on about that number after which sailors, stationed on each
side, kept off the rest with handspikes. Morning came at last with a
grey fog covering the ocean. It was then found that one of the water
casks was only half full and the other leaked. A rum keg was emptied and
filled with the precious water and then transferred to one of the boats.
In a few hours the fog dispersed and the hot sun began to beat down on
us. We had no protection from it and could only obtain a measure of
relief by wrapping wet clothing around our heads. Before night came
every white man was wild with the torture of the heat. The negroes
seemed to suffer but little, but every now and then the overseers
drenched their naked backs with buckets of salt water. The next day was
a repetition of the first and when the third began to brighten with
sickening heat, Ramos called a council of his officers and myself. Not a
sail had been seen and our men were becoming as feeble as children. It
was determined that we should abandon the raft which anchored us, as it
were, in the ocean and by taking to the boats, endeavor to reach land.
Accordingly another round of a few drops of water and a stout dram of
rum was served to each of the eager blacks, under cover of which our
bread bag and the few gallons of water left were transferred to the
boats and we then quietly shoved off, letting the raft fall astern.
The negroes were evidently bewildered, at first, on finding themselves
free of their white masters, but soon the idea that they were being
deserted seemed to penetrate their black heads and they jumped to their
feet with loud cries and frantic motions of their arms, tearing their
wool and beating their heads. Diego Ramos looked at me and showed his
white teeth. “It’s a hard case,” said he; “but the poor devils must go!
and that breaks up our year’s profits, amigo!”
Just at this moment, a joyful cry broke from one of our seamen. “Sail
ho!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Sail ho! on the weather
quarter!” Sure enough, there was a square-rigged vessel looming up with
every bit of canvas set and bearing right down on us. Every man stood up
in the boats and began to wave jackets and hands and it was not long
before we saw a signal run up in token that we had been seen and a
little later we were safely on board H.B.M. transport ship _Indus_.
Diego Ramos and I were received by her commander very politely and we at
once made confession of our business, the raft of negroes, still in
sight making all evasion useless. Nothing was said, of course, in
reference to our abandonment of the negroes and so we obtained
considerable credit from the Briton, for our humanity in constructing a
raft for the negroes and keeping their company so long.
As plain Philip Drake of Stockford, I should have fared hard on the
royal transport and taken the place of one of my own blacks, as far as
shackles were concerned; but as Don Felipe Drax, a Brazilian merchant
and passenger on board the lost brig of Don Diego Ramos, I was allowed a
seat at the cabin table, with my partner, and treated with every
forbearance that a British officer could exhibit towards foreigners
rescued from shipwreck. Captain Simmons shook his grey little head at
Don Diego’s arguments, but laughed at his jokes and altogether we had a
pleasant mess daily till the _Indus_ cast anchor in Cape Coast harbor,
at the Sierra Leone settlement, where our negroes were to be adjudicated
by the resident commissioners. The darkies were landed in canoes and
placed in the Royal Yard and in a few days the commissioners decided
they should be apprenticed among the settlers for a term of a dozen
years, by which time Don Diego said they would be christianized and worn
out. Captain Simmons and his officers were ordered salvage and my
partner and I pocketed our losses with as good grace as possible. Ramos
looked up a coaster for our passage to New Tyre, my Kambia settlement,
and not long after we sailed. This was the end of our speculation in the
_Miranda_. The firm of Ramos and Drax remained extant, but the profits
of its last venture were mostly divided between fire, water, and British
philanthropy.
On reaching the Kambia settlement I found that my uncle’s honeymoon had
changed the appearance of my thatched house. Handsome additions had been
made; verandas, balconies and lattice-work, after the Spanish style,
making the rough outside look like a palace. Great alterations had also
been made in our barracoons and a number of negro gangs were still at
work bringing timber from the forest. Piles had been driven in the shore
making an outer support for a pier. We soon learned the reason for my
uncle’s efforts toward the establishment of a regular trading factory on
the Kambia. During our absence a noted Foulah king, named Moussy, had
made overtures for a regular alliance for the purposes of traffic, and
as New Tyre was a capital location for a depot for caravans from all the
Kambia country, my shrewd uncle had lost no time, during our absence, in
enlarging the capacities of the settlement. He had also made
arrangements for the speedy delivery of a large kaffle at our
barracoons, so that, if the _Miranda’s_ voyage had turned out well, on
our return we would have been surprised by a freight that would have
sent her back to the West Indies in short order. After learning these
facts I consulted with Diego and the result was a partnership between
Don Ricardo Villeno and ourselves under the firm name of Villeno and
Co., which in time became widely known in Africa and the West Indies.
I took up my quarters in the house of Pablo Crux, our Brazilian
overseer, leaving Don Ricardo and his creole wife in possession of my
old residence. Preparations for the reception of King Moussy’s caravan
went on actively. By January 1816, our large barracoon was nearly
complete and I had opened new accounts in the name of the firm.
Before long I learned that Donna Emelia was not my good uncle’s first
lady love,—by several. It appeared there had been a Fayal girl who had
died on the Congo, a few years before, and that a light quadroon, now
with Don Miguel, was formerly the favorite of Don Ricardo. As for Donna
Emelia, she was a splendid creature. When we dined at the “residency,”
as he called his house, she would play on the harp and sing for us. Her
voice was like a nightingale’s. Booby that I was, I felt my eyes pipe,
and the young lady, I thought, enjoyed my emotion. Diego pretended that
he believed her to be only a school girl, but I though her a deep one.
My uncle was certainly infatuated with his new love and ran her errands,
picked up her handkerchief and watched her as a cat does a mouse. They
seemed to be exceedingly happy together.
[Illustration:
VIEW OF A TOWN OF THE FOULAH TRIBE OF NEGROES
From an engraving by Basire, in Astley’s _Collection of Voyages_,
London, 1745
]
About the middle of the month we had news of the caravan, coming on the
direct trail from King Moussy’s chief town. It was said to consist of
about twelve hundred picked slaves, Mandingoes, Soosoos and condemned
Foulahs. The entire caravan numbered about two thousand persons and my
uncle and Diego went out to meet it leaving me in charge of the
residency. No one was to go near his lady’s apartments, on any pretence.
The donna was a nun again and I was to guard her convent door, by
swinging my cot in the saloon. During the first night of their absence,
I was suddenly awakened by Yunga, the Foulah girl, with a message from
her mistress who was very ill with cramps. I looked up my hot drops and
hurried to the Donna’s apartment. She appeared to be in great pain and I
administered the medicine which seemed to give no relief. The Foulah
girls were sent flying in all directions for new remedies and I found
myself alone with the Donna. She flung her arms around my neck, kissed
my lips and passionately begged me to save her. I tried to calm her but
she clung to me till the returning girls nearly discovered us. Twice
during the next day I had to attend her summons and for the life of me I
couldn’t make out if she was really in pain or danger. The next day,
however, she was rational enough and insisted that I had saved her life.
She patted my check and seemed simplicity itself.
The caravan arrived on the 18th with much noise and rattle, cracking of
guns and beating of tomtoms and drums. The Foulah king was a noble
specimen of his nation; over six feet tall and dressed in a white
_tobe_, with scarf and head dress of dyed cotton cloth mixed with silk.
I was the principal interpreter at the _palabra_ and a grand kickup it
was. Some seven hundred Foulah warriors armed with clubs, swords and
bows and arrows, many also having guns, were drawn up on our plaza and
negro traders, from the interior, numbering about a score, squatted in
front and around the king and his officers. Our retainers fired a grand
salute which was followed by an opening chorus by a band of black
singers, with cymbal-strikers to accompany them. Then came the grand
feast. Our slaughtered bullock, rum, and pipes kept the savages in
admiration all day long and King Moussy became our fast friend. Donna
Emelia was in high glee at the strange sight and the Foulahs thought her
a white fetish.
The day after the grand _palabra_, the ship _Cabenda_ arrived at our
moorings, bringing a heavy cargo of goods for trade—just in time. She
was my uncle’s best vessel, a ship of 300 tons burden. We also had three
other vessels anchored off the factory, one of them named _La Senora
Emelia_, in compliment to our lady of the residency. King Moussy and his
troops were camped in a fine palm valley, about a mile from the
residency, and the slaves, in gangs, under their various owners, were
fastened by cords of twisted bamboo fibres to stakes in the ground.
Donna Emelia accompanied my uncle and Pablo Crux on a tour of inspection
and was not at all put out of face at the spectacle. I thought at the
time that the sight of over a thousand stark naked blacks was hardly the
most delicate amusement for a young “school girl,” as Diego called her.
The cargo of the _Cabenda_ was landed as rapidly as possible and two
days after her arrival our great market was in full operation. It
reminded me of the square in Fandu. In addition to the thousand or more
slaves, several tons of African merchandise was displayed,—ivory, gold
dust, rice, cattle, skins, bees-wax, black wood, honey and many other
articles of inland production. In exchange we had cotton cloth, powder,
rum, tobacco, cheap muskets and a variety of pinchbeck trinkets, corals
and the like, to please the taste of savages. This barter was only on
the side as the main business was slave buying. We allowed for a stout
negro of twenty, a value of about fourteen English shillings or three
Spanish dollars, in merchandise. Women and boys brought less. Our powder
was coarse and the guns were roughly made in England for this market.
The spirits, cotton, powder and guns came in my uncle’s coasters from
English trading stations on the Congo. We bought on the coast and paid
higher prices for these goods, in order to prevent the old factories
from breaking up as sometimes they were very convenient as a temporary
slave depot.
King Moussy and I became great cronies. It quite won the old fellow’s
heart because I could understand his lingo. He owned about two hundred
of the slaves in the caravan. The rest were ventures of smaller caravans
that paid him a tribute for the escort of his warriors. He got a
percentage on all the sales, whether slaves or goods and we paid him a
bonus of one hundred muskets, twenty kegs of powder, two pieces of
cotton and a soldier’s red coat, as his dasch or present, in
consideration of the treaty made with my uncle. He was not a bad fellow,
but cunning as a fox, and moreover he had decidedly good taste for a
savage, as he hinted to me that he would be willing to give up the
dasch, and throw in a hundred darkies, if the _Moneego_, Don Ricardo,
would sell him his wife, Donna Emelia. Our market was over by the 25th
of January and we were well rid of the negro king and his army of
cormorants who threatened to eat us out of house and home. As a result
we had bought eleven hundred first-class slaves, enough to freight two
vessels to the Brazils.
New Tyre continued to thrive. With the assistance of King Moussy we were
able to dispatch a full dozen cargoes from the Kambia alone and
including my uncle’s settlement at Rio Basso, we sent to Cuba and the
Brazils, during the year 1816, a total of 43,000 slaves, and Villeno &
Company soon became equally well known to native kings, West India
traders and European brokers. If one of our coast schooners poked her
nose up the Gambia, the Congo, the Calabra, or Bonny, almost immediately
negroes were in motion to the shore in gangs of all sizes.
Donna Emelia remained charming. She seemed never to tire of my accounts
of African life as I had seen it during my captivity with the Dahomans
and Foulahs. Diego Ramos was away most of the time, as captain of one of
our vessels, and Don Ricardo remained with his lodestone—Donna Emelia.
He built a cottage for her in Palm valley, about two miles from the
river, in a natural garden of tropical flowers and fruits. Quite an
extensive area was inclosed with high pickets and gates, like a
stockade, which was watched by several black sentinels armed with loaded
muskets.
Toward the close of 1816, my uncle went to Rio Basso and took Donna
Emelia with him. When they returned, in a few weeks, the Spanish
favorite was accompanied by a quadroon girl and her mother, a good
featured mulattress. The girl was about twenty years old and had one of
the rich, rosy faces that are sometimes seen on the coast. Her figure
was superb. My uncle introduced her to me, laughingly, as my
housekeeper, and as I was no novice to the customs of Africa, I accepted
both her and the mulattress as acquisitions to my household. But to my
surprise, that same day the quadroon made a most eloquent appeal to my
generosity, accompanied by a protestation of her love for Don Ricardo.
This opened my eyes and I called to mind what Diego Ramos had told me
concerning some of my uncle’s former favorites and of a quadroon that
had been transferred to Don Miguel, at Rio Basso. On questioning the
mulattress, I learned that her daughter had lived with Don Ricardo for
three years and borne him a child which survived but a short time.
Marina, the quadroon, was passionately attached to him and had attempted
to drown herself at Rio Basso, which caused Don Miguel to interest
himself and prevail on my uncle to allow her to return with him to New
Tyre, as a companion of Donna Emelia. But Don Ricardo, always jealous in
everything that had to do with his creole, thought best to transfer the
cast-off quadroon to his twenty-six year old nephew. On learning the
facts about her, I permitted the grateful woman to take charge of my
quarters, much to my apparent gain in point of comfort and attentive
service.
When I next dined with my uncle in Palm valley, it was to be joked
considerably by Donna Emelia, concerning my “handsome wife,” all of
which I took in good part and laughed with Don Ricardo, over our wine,
as if I was very well satisfied with his Rio Basso present.
A short time after this, Diego Ramos arrived from the Verds for a cargo.
He reported a fleet of British vessels bound for Cape Castle and a
voyage of survey up and down the coast and rivers. They had been
empowered to make descents upon all places suspected to be dependent, to
any extent, upon English men or English capital and to break up slave
factories wherever British complicity could be proven against the
managers. This was serious news for Don Ricardo and myself for we were
both British subjects, though time and change of name had made us able
to pass for Spaniards, Brazilians or creoles, as we had chosen to
appear. My uncle was well fitted to sustain either character and to
deceive the closest scrutiny, but I was not so sure of my own
versatility and neither was he. After reflection it was decided that I
must go with Diego Ramos, on his next voyage, and so be out of the way
in case the British vessels should appear before New Tyre.
We sailed Feb. 13th, 1817, in the _Cabenda_, our largest ship, loaded
with 850 slaves, a quantity of ivory and gold dust, and bound direct for
Rio de Janeiro. Nothing of importance occurred during the voyage and we
landed our slaves on April 6th, with only a small loss during the
passage. Soon after our arrival I met with my old friend Doctor Maxwell
and had a chat with him over old times. He was as grey as a badger and
portly as a porpoise. The next day we went out to the estate of Mr.
Floss, to whom our slaves were consigned, and were entertained by him.
He lived in grand style and gave concerts and balls to the neighboring
gentry. That evening there was a sumptuous entertainment, the dons and
donnas wearing their richest clothing. The men shone in all colors and
the ladies’ taffeta petticoats were fringed with gold lace and their
tight velvet jackets were laced and buttoned with pearl tassels.
The next day the very deuce was to pay and we found ourselves barricaded
in Doctor Maxwell’s house with the negroes collected in a state of
insurrection. All communication with the mansion was cut off and risings
on neighboring plantations were expected. The negroes began by setting
fire to the cane fields, devastating crops and smashing machinery in the
_ingenios_. Troops were ordered out and a battle was fought, and the
blacks dispersed to the hills from which they made sallies and burned
several country houses—including the mansion of Mr. Floss. We had been
shut up in the doctor’s house for two days when Mr. Floss reached us
pursued by a gang of negroes. He had been skulking in the fields since
his mansion was destroyed and barely succeeded in reaching our house.
Hardly had he been admitted before we were surrounded by hundreds of
yelling blacks. It was near night and they had lighted torches and
numerous weapons. We tried to parley with them but they demanded the
delivery of Floss alive into their hands, something that could not be
thought of and so we prepared for defence hoping that troops might
arrive to our assistance. We had half a dozen faithful blacks in the
house, with two Brazilian overseers, Doctor Maxwell, the superintendent,
Mr. Floss, Ramos and myself, to oppose the enraged slaves whose numbers
were constantly increasing.
Finding us resolved to defend the house, the blacks tried to set it
afire. We shot several of them but at last they succeeded in piling up
loads of dry cane and we were compelled to retreat from doors and
windows to the central court. The house was built like a hollow square,
with the _corral_ or yard in its center and there we stood at bay when
the blacks entered. I gave up all for lost when I saw the yelling devils
jumping through the fire to get at us. They were led by a gigantic negro
who sprang upon Floss. Poor Maxwell was seized by another and Ramos and
I would have shared their fate if I had not suddenly recognized the
leading savage. It was my old acquaintance, the Ashantee Quobah, whom I
had last seen after his fight with the lions at Yallaba. I knew him at
once and called out to him in the negro tongue just as he had dashed
Floss to the ground and placed his foot on him. The negroes heard what I
said and hesitated, when I quickly asked for an armistice.
Quobah flourished an enormous club, motioning the savages back, and then
turned to me. I spoke rapidly as I saw that it was a matter of life and
death and fortunately the Ashantee remembered me and ordered his furious
followers not to molest us. Ramos and I were bound with cords and
dragged out of the burning building and Floss and Maxwell were roped
about the neck and cruelly beaten with clubs and whips. The insurgents
hurried us in front of the burning house and then began a dreadful
torture and massacre. The Brazilian overseers and their negroes were cut
to pieces. Floss and Maxwell were stripped, fastened to stakes, and
sugar sap was poured over their naked bodies. The blacks then piled cane
around them and tortured them with slow fire. It was a horrible sight.
The wretched victims begged in vain for mercy until they fainted under
their agony. Then Quobah struck the Doctor a blow with his club, which
dashed his skull open, and this was a signal to the blacks to finish
their work. They scattered the burning cane and tore the charred bodies
of their victims into a thousand pieces, as they danced and trampled on
the embers. Quobah then came and cut the cords from Ramos and me and
told us to escape. His voice was hoarse and his eyes were like two balls
of fire. “Go and tell the white King how Quobah has avenged himself on
these dead brutes,” he said to me. “Quobah is ready to die, but he will
be a slave no more.” We lost no time in getting away from the scene of
the massacre and wandered about the woods until morning when we fell in
with a troop of soldiers from the presidency barracks.
The insurrection lasted for three days and Quobah, the Ashantee, it
afterwards turned out, was the head of the conspiracy. He had lately
been brought from Africa and sold to Mr. Floss and by his order, flogged
several times, to break him in. This had been Floss’s usual custom with
high-strung darkies. Poor fellow! it cost him his life. Doctor Maxwell
had also been unpopular with the blacks and I recalled some of his
former opinions. “Niggers must be treated like niggers,” was one of the
unfortunate surgeon’s maxims which I remembered.
The year 1817-1818 was marked by many other negro insurrections. In
Barbadoes, Trinidad and St. Thomas, the whites lived in constant fear of
massacre. This was said to be due to the numbers of savage Africans that
were smuggled into the British colonies from Spanish and Portuguese
islands. Laws were passed for registering all slaves, but were enforced
in only a few islands.
Quobah, the Ashantee, was never taken by the Brazilians. He fled to the
wild plains, with a few followers, and was either killed or adopted by
the Indians. It was noticed at the time, that both Brazilian and West
Indian insurgents adopted flags and were apparently organized and there
was little doubt that some plan had been concocted for a general rising
of the slaves. I afterwards heard that a negro flag was found in
Barbadoes, divided into three colors, one bearing the figure of a white
man hanging by the neck; the second, a black chief standing over a white
woman; and the third, a negro with a crown on his head and a beautiful
white woman seated by his side. It was thought at the time that some
negro agents from Hayti had stirred up the slaves both on the continent
and the islands. The Barbadoan rebels burned whole parishes and similar
devastation was done on other islands. The result was that thousands of
slaves were shot, hanged, or starved in their retreats and many sugar
estates were left without laborers. All this enhanced the price of
negroes and improved the market and Diego Ramos predicted more than
average luck for us during the next twelve months. Fortunately, the
_Cabenda’s_ freight had been settled for before the death of Mr. Floss.
His drafts were on Paris houses and were as good as gold at the French
factories on the Senegal river. France had before this abolished the
slave traffic—on paper, but her citizens were not so scrupulous or timid
as H.B.M. subjects.
We cast anchor again in the Rio Pongo about the middle of the rainy
season. All things were as before, though the settlement had been
honored by two visits from the British squadron, then very active along
the coast. My uncle, however, had passed muster. Our barracoons were
empty; the storehouses full. Don Ricardo had exhibited his Portuguese
permits which allowed him liberty to engage in such African trade as he
pleased. The Don had, moreover, exercised diplomacy in another way. He
had dispatched one of his negro agents to the Congo river, where a
British expedition of discovery was in trouble, and there contrived to
negotiate some favors from the native kings which were of special
importance to the English explorers. This had gone a great way with our
bamboozled countrymen and the house of Villeno & Company instead of
suffering spoliation, became of greater importance than ever on the
African coast.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “BORBOLETA,” MAY 26, 1845, BY THE BOATS OF H.M.
BRIG “PANTALOON,” AFTER A TWO DAYS’ CHASE OFF LAGOS, WEST AFRICA
From a colored lithograph, after a drawing by H. John Vernon, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
We had accounts of British severities on the Calabar, the Congo and
Gambia rivers, as well as near Cape Palmas. Captain Fraley’s old Bangara
factory on the Congo, had been destroyed and its manager, an American
factor named Curtis, had been summarily ejected. Another American, named
Cooke, had been carried to Sierra Leone and then sent in irons to
Portsmouth. Another factory, near the town of a native king, Mungo
Cattee, had been destroyed and nearly twenty tons of elephant’s teeth
had been seized. Other depredations had been committed by the British
but thus far both New Tyre and Rio Basso had escaped scot free.
My private establishment seemed like home again, after shipboard life,
but I noticed a change in the quarteroon girl, Marina, as soon as I set
eyes on her. The bright flush was gone from her cheeks and her black
eyes, which had been as brilliant as stars, were heavy and half closed
under their long lashes. She smiled faintly in welcoming us but soon
appeared to grow stupid and forgetful. Donna Emelia, at Palm Valley,
gave me a warm greeting and my uncle was in the best of spirits with
her, himself, and everybody.
We met two strangers at my uncle’s table,—Pedro Blanco, a Malaga sailor,
and Blas Covado, a Mexican. The first, afterwards amassed a million and
a half of silver dollars in the African trade and made a position for
himself much more important than was my uncle’s at that time, and this
was accomplished during a time when nearly every government was in arms
to suppress the traffic. As for Covada, he was obsequious to everybody
and seemed a white-livered dog. He was an accountant or factotum to my
uncle and appeared to have his confidence.
Marina’s condition puzzled me more and more. I could get little out of
the old woman save that the white lady in Palm Valley had an evil fetish
that had bewitched Marina. I also learned that the girl had passed all
the time of my absence in the cottage of Donna Emelia, as her personal
attandant. I had heard before that time, of a strange African distemper,
commonly known as the “sleepy disease,” and Marina’s appearance answered
to some of its symptoms; but her old mother, who knew of this malady,
would not believe her daughter was its subject and I soon found that she
was right. The old woman insisted that Marina always came home
“bewitched” after a visit to the Donna’s house. This startled me and I
made a search among the quarteroon’s little articles of toilet and soon
discovered evidence of what I had begun to fear. There was a small vial,
half full of a fluid; some pills; some mango pickle; all of which I
found to be impregnated with _strychnine_.
The matter of a slave girl dying, even by slow poison, was not of much
rarity in Africa, and had Marina been one of our marketable blacks, it
would have been only a consideration of our loss in dollars and cents.
The “witchcraft,” as the mulattress believed it, would have been
attributed to some malevolent fellow slave and the case forgotten in a
day or two. But my interest in the quarteroon, as my uncle’s former
favorite, coupled with her passion for him and her late residence at
Palm Valley, furnished me with grounds for conjecture and I resolved to
closely question Marina. The next day, however, her spasms returned and
in spite of all my remedies, increased in violence and in three days she
was dead. The mulattress was crazy with grief and survived her
“bewitched” daughter only a few weeks. My uncle expressed astonishment
and apparent grief and Donna Emelia was profuse with expression of
sympathy for what she called _my_ bereavement. After Marina was buried,
the Donna insisted that I should live at Palm Valley, an invitation that
Don Ricardo seconded and from that date my misfortunes in after life
commenced.
As I became better acquainted with the Donna I found that her mind was
well cultivated. She had a choice library and fascinated me with her
conversation and pretty manners. Palm Valley soon became a little
paradise for me, notwithstanding Ramos’ remark that there was an angel
and a devil in it. And this I found to be true, within a week of the day
when I went to live there. She could tempt an angel, I believe, and I
became a fool and a villain. She swore that she had loved me from the
day when we first met, but there was something in her eyes that made me
feel uneasy. She seemed at times as artless as a child and at others,
artful beyond all scrutiny. Though not twenty years of age, her head was
older than mine or my uncle’s and it was no wonder we were both
fascinated and both deceived.
The fine weather brought activity to New Tyre as to all the coast. Diego
Ramos went coasting to the Congo and Pedro Blanco with our good-natured
Dutchman, sailed for the Senegal, in a French trader. Toward the end of
the year it became advisable to send to Rio Basso for a vessel or two to
relieve us of our large stock of negroes, waiting in the Kambia
barracoons for shipment. My uncle was unwilling to leave the attractions
of Palm Valley and the Mexican, Blas Covado, was dispatched with
confidential instructions. He left New Tyre in a small sloop and
returned in due time, but instead of bringing a slave vessel he made his
appearance on the deck of a British cruiser which cast anchor opposite
our factory, landed a hundred men, and took possession of the station in
the name of the Governor of Sierra Leone.
The blow was like a thunderclap and Don Ricardo could hardly believe his
senses when he found himself with me and our three other white men,
summoned before the captain of H.B.M. sloop-of-war _Princess Caroline_,
charged with maintaining a slave establishment “contrary to the peace
and dignity of H.M. Government.” He protested his innocence, of course,
and demanded under what plea they invaded a station over which the
Portuguese flag was flying.
“Because,” the English officer replied, “you are no Portuguese, but a
cursed English renegade and slaving vagabond!”
My uncle started back and his eye flashed mischief, as I had often seen
it before, but he controlled his temper wonderfully.
“May I ask what you intend to do in my house and under _that_ flag?” he
asked, pointing to the colors on our flag-staff in front of the piazza
where we were standing.
“Burn one and pull down the other,” answered the British captain
savagely. “But first, we shall send you and your under-devils aboard
ship! Here, Mr. Bayley,” he continued, addressing a midshipman, “give
these outlaws ribbons on their wrists and take ’em to the boats.”
The young officer touched his hat and a movement was made among the
marines and sailors drawn up on the grass before the large piazza of the
residency, when suddenly my uncle thrust his hands in the bosom of his
loose marino shirt and drew out two pistols.
“Captain,” he said, speaking through his set teeth, “I demand your
authority for this, and if a man of you attempts to handcuff one of us,
I’ll blow his brains out if I die the next minute!”
The Englishman’s blue face lost some of its color for a moment, as he
saw his breast covered by one pistol-barrel while the other was levelled
at his subaltern. With an oath, he pointed to the Mexican, Blas Covado,
who had just come up between two sailors.
“There’s the King’s evidence to hang you!” he blustered. “He’ll tell you
there’s not a stone left of your Rio Basso slave-pens, as there wont be
of these by tomorrow morning, by the Lord Harry! Men, do your duty!”
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE SPANISH SLAVER “FORMIDABLE,” DEC. 7, 1834, OFF SIERRA
LEONE, BY H.M. BRIG “BUZZARD”
From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
We saw at once how matters stood and no sooner had the British officer
given his last order, than Don Ricardo’s pistol exploded and he sprang
into the open door of the residency, crying, “Follow me, Philip!” It was
a desperate chance, but we made it, with the British yelling like
bloodhounds close at our heels. We had the advantage of a knowledge of
the paths and had nearly reached Palm Valley, when we saw a dozen
soldiers emerging from a cross-path only forty rods behind us. They were
led by the treacherous Mexican, Covado. By that time, however, we were
close to our shelter and could hail our black sentinels, but we didn’t
reach the gate before we received the sailors’ fire. I felt a bullet
graze my cheek and rushed headlong through the open gateway expecting my
uncle to follow. Just then one of our negro watchmen gave a loud screech
and I heard a musket shot. Turning quickly I saw Don Ricardo stagger in
with the sentinel’s gun in his hand. He had snatched it, as he reached
our gate, and fired at our pursuers, shooting the Mexican traitor
through the head. In another moment we had closed and barred the gate
and were as secure as our stockade defences could make us. Then I
discovered that my uncle was wounded. He had been struck by a bullet in
the right breast and I had hardly time to extend my arms before he fell
into them like a log.
Don Ricardo’s wound was dangerous, I saw at once, and I staunched and
dressed it as well as I was able. He grew weaker, but about midnight was
able to speak and told the Donna and me that he was bleeding internally
and couldn’t survive. He spoke with great earnestness and asked me to
promise to protect Emelia, if necessary, with my life. She became
frantic and it was necessary for me to call the Foulah wenches and have
her taken away. My uncle then gave me the keys of his chest and told me
to take the money and papers which it contained. Soon after his mind
began to wander. I called Pablo to take my place and went to Donna
Emelia, to tell her what my uncle had said. She threw herself into my
arms, kissing and fondling and swearing that she would never leave me
and that we should live and die together. She had never appeared more
beautiful than on that night, with her dishevelled but glossy ringlets
flowing over her heaving breasts and her large black eyes sparkling with
tears. But she was far more practical than I was and soon began to speak
of escaping from Palm Valley.
I was loath to abandon my uncle, but the creole persuaded me there was
no help for it and that we should only sacrifice ourselves by remaining.
With Pablo’s assistance I packed up a few valuables and necessaries,
including all my uncle’s papers, and such ready money as I had, and then
loaded a couple of our kroos with provisions and Donna Emelia’s clothing
and went to a pleasure boat that lay in a little cove about a quarter of
a mile away in a sheltered part of the river some two miles above the
factory. Here I left the Brazilian with four kroomen and one of the
Foulah girls, while I returned for the Donna. I didn’t dare go into the
room where my uncle lay raving, in charge of the other women, but
carried Emelia in my arms, out by our rear pickets, and followed by two
blacks with more of the creole’s goods, we reached the boat which was a
pinnace that had been fitted up for short excursions on the river.
It was after midnight when we got under way with half a dozen kroos to
row, and pushed up the river under a brilliant starlight. It was not
until we were pushing off that the Brazilian became aware that Don
Ricardo had been left behind; but I satisfied him, as best I could, of
the necessity of the case. At daybreak we ran into a small creek and lay
concealed among the dense growth of sedges until night when we rowed up
the stream to a small negro village where Pablo expected to find a
friendly chief of King Moussy’s nation. We found the town deserted,
except for a few old men and children, the warriors having been called
to a great slave hunt inland. Here, in vacant bamboo huts, we found
accommodations and the creole was obliged to content herself with
quarters much less luxurious than those which my poor uncle had
furnished.
One of our faithful kroos was dispatched in a canoe to reconnoitre. The
next day he came back and reported that our storehouses, barracoons and
dwellings were in ashes. The cottage in Palm Valley had not been spared
and New Tyre was again a wilderness. But the British sloop-of-war had
gone and we soon followed in a coasting schooner belonging to our house,
which arrived just in time.
After leaving the Kambia we ran along the coast for a hundred miles,
till we spoke a French brig bound for the Senegal. By this time the
creole had made me promise to leave Africa at once. I found among my
uncle’s papers ready cash, in Bank of England notes, to the amount of
£8000, and accepted drafts of the Villeno partnership, on Spanish and
French houses, to the amount of nearly £8000, which, added to my own
cash in gold, gave me over $80,000. I directed Pablo to take the
schooner to the Congo station and await the arrival of Diego Ramos and
took passage in the French brig and shortly after reached the Senegal.
There we succeeded in finding a Bordeaux brig, the _Elisée_, bound to
her owners, with a general cargo of African products, and I engaged a
cabin for Donna Emelia, who passed as my wife, under our assumed name of
Morillo. On arriving at Bordeaux we obtained passports, as Spanish
travellers, and ten days afterward found ourselves in Paris.
My first business in Paris was to negotiate my uncle’s securities and in
a week I had turned everything into cash and in another began to spend
it. Our money was a passport better than rank or title. Before we had
had six weeks of fashionable life, we had had fully as many quarrels,
and the creole developed a temper that I had not expected. In six
months, we had spent nearly £7000, and the greater part of it on Donna
Emelia’s extravagant fancies. Nearly half of our fortune had been
squandered, but when I spoke to my wife about it she laughed. I then
insisted that we should leave Paris and at last she consented. Six
months later found us settled on a handsome _ranche_, in the
neighborhood of Matanzas, Cuba, which I had purchased for twenty
thousand Spanish dollars.
The business of sugar-growing was new to me, but I had an experienced
overseer and for a few months everything worked to my satisfaction. But
the restless disposition of Donna Emelia demanded change. We made
occasional trips to Havana but she always returned dissatisfied until,
at last, she discovered a new amusement at home. One day when I returned
from Matanzas I was met by my groom with a frightened look and when I
demanded the reason was told that my lady had been flogging his wife, a
good-looking house servant who had charge of the laundry. The girl had
offended Donna Emelia three days before and had been flogged every day
since, always in my absence. She was now in prison. The word “prison”
startled me and I went to my wife. The Donna was in good humor and
laughed and said the girl had carelessly torn a costly lace vandyke and
so had been punished and shut up, but should be released and go to her
husband that evening. I smoked my cigar and forgot about the matter
until three days afterward my groom threw himself on his knees and told
me his wife was dead or dying. This shocked me and I asked where the
wench was and he led me to an out house where I pried open the locked
door and found the negress lying absolutely naked, her back completely
flayed and covered with flies. She was fastened by an iron chain to a
post. Near by was hanging a slave whip stiff with blood. The chain had
eaten into the girl’s flesh, ulcerating her hips and stomach. She was
past relief and died that evening.
I was bewildered on learning that the slave had been beaten by Donna
Emelia’s _own hand_, to the condition in which I found her. My wife had
been in the habit of shutting herself up alone with her victim and
beating her until she became insensible. At least a score of floggings
had been administered. At once I taxed her warmly with the affair,
telling her of the girl’s death, and she wept and swore the wench had
insulted and greatly provoked her and that she had no idea of punishing
her until greatly aggravated. Her tears and seeming sorrow at last
disarmed resentment and I agreed to say no more.
Our visitors were numerous. The Donna arranged concerts, dances,
serenades and boating parties. Among other amusements, gaming was not
forgotten, and I was initiated into its mysteries by heavy losses in
which my guests profited. Among them was a youth named Da Souza, who
claimed to be a Brazilian officer of the Imperial Guard of Dom Pedro,
but I believed him to be a mulatto. He was Donna Emelia’s constant
attendant and tried to ingratiate himself with me in every way and in
time I began to tolerate him so that we came to be partners in gaming
bouts.
[Illustration:
FEMALE SAMBOE SLAVE GIVEN TWO HUNDRED LASHES
From an engraving in Stedman’s _Narrative of an Expedition to
Surinam_, London, 1796
]
One day I was asked to see a Congo girl who was sick and found her in
spasms that reminded me of the strange disease of my quadroon Marina.
When I asked what the girl had eaten, she showed me some candied limes
which her mistress had given her. This fruit I took away to analyze and
soon found it to be impregnated with strychnine, like the mangoes that
Marina had eaten before her death. There could be no doubt concerning
Donna Emelia’s devilish character. It was evident that she delighted in
cruelty and crime. Unable to think or act, I resorted to my usual
stimulus of spirits until I lost all control of myself.
What I next did I never knew, but I came to myself to realize that I was
at a gaming table with Da Souza and other of my wife’s companions. They
told me afterwards that I had been playing all night and my swindling
companions showed my signature to more than twenty notes of hand
amounting to nearly $40,000. or more than the value of my plantation and
everything else that I could call my own. It was then that my wife
showed her true character and taunted me with being a drunkard and with
gambling away my all. I retorted by accusing her of murder and she
became quite beside herself with rage and fright. We had a fearful
quarrel. She even confessed that the child with which she was pregnant
was Da Souza’s and not mine, and then I cursed the brazen woman and fled
from the house in search of the mulatto. Fortunately for him, he was not
to be found.
Three weeks after this I recovered from a miserable round of dissipation
in Havana, with less than a hundred dollars in my possession and just
then I suddenly came upon my uncle Ricardo, haggard in face and thin in
body like one in the last stage of consumption. “A word with you,” he
said, and I followed him, shaking like a leaf, to a room in a public
house on the Mole, where he faced me and asked what I deserved at his
hands. “Death!—a dog’s death!” I answered recklessly and as he had a
knife in his grasp I expected to feel its point; but he seemed suddenly
to change his purpose and covering his face with his hands he burst into
a flood of tears. I threw myself on my knees and tried to take his hand.
At first he spurned me but when I chanced to mention Emelia’s name he
listened. I made a clean breast; told him every circumstance to the last
wretched scene at our Matanzas plantation.
Don Ricardo heard me out and then asked that I swear to the truth of all
I had told him and this I did. Then he asked if I would go with him to
Donna Emelia and in a short time we were driving at post-haste for my
late _ranche_. We rode all night.
On entering the plantation grounds I met a slave who conducted us
quietly to the house which was ablaze with candles. The rooms were
crowded with men and women, the new guests of my late home. I remained
under the orange trees but Don Ricardo went forward and stepping through
the casement crossed the saloon to a sofa where Donna Emelia sat with
the mulatto, Da Souza, beside her. I saw her eyes flash and heard her
scream, which was followed by the sudden report of a pistol. My uncle
had shot himself through the heart.
CHAPTER XIII
SLAVE SMUGGLING A HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Ruined and desperate, with the last dollar of my ill-gotten wealth
squandered, I looked to Africa as the place in which to mend my
fortunes. Havana had nothing to offer and I seized the first opportunity
that presented itself,—a berth as _medico_ or surgeon, in a Spanish
schooner called the _Diana_, bound for the river Bonny. At the Bight we
joined company with four other craft and were engaged in getting out our
complement, at Bonny settlement, when we were attacked by a British
man-of-war. Having plenty of pluck and powder, we boldly defended
ourselves until compelled to strike. Many of our slaves jumped
overboard, into the jaws of sharks, and I succeeded, with a number of
the crew, in seizing one of the boats and escaping to the woods behind
the town. Here we were assisted by a Calabar chief, whom I had formerly
known, till the cruiser hauled off with her prizes and a Spanish brig
arrived and took us aboard. This was the _Boa Morte_, formerly an
American trader, commanded by Capt. Pierre Leclerc, a creole of St.
Domingo. Ten days after the departure of the cruiser, the _Boa Morte_
completed her cargo and sailed for Pensacola, in the Floridas, with nine
hundred slaves aboard. I shipped in her as a supernumerary doctor.
Captain Leclerc was a peppery little fellow, an old slaver, who had an
interest in the freight. I had my berth in the round house as every inch
of space was occupied by blacks. The cabin and hold were knocked into
slave decks and packed tight at that. Leclerc reckoned up his
anticipated profits and made a good showing. He had a hundred prime
blacks—only twenty females—all branded in good Spanish, with his name,
and he estimated that his venture ought to bring him a net of $8000.—a
tolerable set-up.
For the first few days everything went well, with only three cases of
sickness,—a low fever. Quinine made them right again although the sharks
followed us as if they smelt sickness. The sixth day out, Pedro, my
assistant, reported one of our patients blind. We had half the gangs on
deck for exercise and they danced and sang, under the driver’s whip, but
were far from sprightly. Captain Leclerc said he never knew such a
sluggish lot, yet they all appeared healthy. The next day the ophthalmia
appeared to be spreading among the slaves as eight were reported blind
and the following day the number had increased to nineteen. The captain
also was ailing and took to his berth.
The captain’s illness turned out to be smallpox, that scourge of
destruction, and two of the crew soon came down with it. It was
impossible to keep the disease from the slaves and the ship turned out
to be well named. We soon began to feed corpses to the following sharks
and one day hauled sixty bodies out of the hold. The crew revolted at
this work and we had to rely on gangs of slaves to drag the dead heaps
from among the living. Captain Leclerc before long was out of danger but
remained blind from ophthalmia.
During the first week I got only about a dozen hours’ sleep and the mate
had only six able-bodied men in his crew. We were obliged to stimulate
the blacks with rum in order to get their help in removing corpses and
I, too, found it necessary to excite myself with laudanum and liquor in
order to keep at work in my horrible surroundings. The mate said if we
had only known it in time we might have saved our cargo by poisoning the
first cases; but no one could have forseen the rapid spread of the pest.
Some of the blacks went mad and screeched like wild beasts and then
those we had made drunk almost controlled the ship. The mate was obliged
to shoot one of them or the fellow might have strangled him.
On November 17th we had a violent storm and the hatches had to be closed
while the work of death went on unseen below; but Captain Leclerc
improved and could see a little. It was a frightful hurricane. Our ship
was whirled about like a top and driven before the gale all night,
without a rag of canvas. Three days later we anchored safely in
Pensacola Bay. Our surviving negroes were landed on one of the shallow
beaches near the mouth of the Escambia river and here, with the
assistance of laborers from the neighboring town, we rigged sheds for
our sick and took measures for lime-washing and fumigating the ship.
Strange as it may seem we saved five hundred and nineteen out of our
nine hundred slaves.
After the accounts had been closed I was offered a chance to accompany
one of the consignees on a land trip during which our negroes were to be
sold. The kaffle, in charge of negro drivers, was to strike up the
Escambia river and thence across the boundary line into Georgia, where
some of our wild Africans were mixed with various squads of native
blacks and driven inland till sold off, singly or by couples, on the
road. At that time the United States had enacted laws declaring the
African slave trade illegal, but the Spanish possessions were thriving
on the inland exchange of negroes and mulattoes. Florida was a nursery
for slave-breeders and many American citizens grew rich by trafficking
in Guinea negroes and regularly smuggled them, in small parties,
throughout the Southern States.
Through the influence of my associate I became a guest at many
plantations on our line of travel, which gave me an opportunity to study
the practical working of slavery in a civilized and democratic country
and compare it with Cuba and the Brazilian empire. I also was enabled to
estimate the influence of civilization on the Congo and Ashantee stock
after a generation or two of American contact and compare their
condition on American plantations with their native life in African
forests.
We spent one night at a plantation on the Ockmulgee river, in Georgia,
and our host, Mr. Olds, spoke very frankly on the subject of
slaveholding and particularly of the local treatment of “black boys,” as
they were termed by his neighbors. A case had lately occurred of a “boy”
being hung up by the wrists, to a tree, with a wooden rail tied to his
feet, and beaten by his master until he died under the torture. This was
done on suspicion of a petty theft which had been committed by the
master’s young son who afterward confessed. A slave’s testimony was not
taken against a white man.
In Carolina, slave merchants drove their kaffles over the highways in
gangs of ten and had pens in the principal villages where they held
vendues. The number of mulattoes was astonishing. I saw some really
handsome quadroons on the auction block. The slaves seemed to be well
treated and fat, though ragged and sometimes nearly naked. The men wore
linsey woolsey shirts and trowsers and the women a petticoat of coarse
ducking and all went barefoot. There was much waste of labor in all
operations. I saw a gang of blacks, with two oxen, engaged a whole
morning in drawing a log of timber from the river, to be used in the
building of a house not far distant. In Rio Basso we should have a dozen
trees cut down and shifted by such a force in the same time.
In Virginia were the oldest plantations and they were well stocked. A
respectable citizen at Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock river, told me
that slave-breeding was the most profitable business in that quarter.
Whole farms were used as nurseries to supply the market with young
mulattoes. Irish and Scotch overseers usually had charge of the gangs.
The fertility of the negroes in Virginia seemed to be about the same as
in Africa. On a farm near Alexandria I counted thirty about to become
mothers and the huts swarmed with pickaninies of different shades.
At Philadelphia we found a brig about ready to sail for the Cape de
Verdes on a trading voyage. She was the _Adelaide_, owned by an old
skipper named Blackmore, and our business being settled I took passage
in this vessel. We made a short run to Santa Cruz, Island of Teneriffe,
and a few days after spoke an English vessel in want of water which we
supplied. This vessel was bound to the African coast and as I had no
bulky baggage was able to bargain for a berth on board and thereby
secure a direct passage to the coast. This unlucky brig was the
_Charles_ and her commander was named Graham.
[Illustration:
VIEW OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
From a colored aquatint, published in 1841, after a painting by
William J. Bennett, in the Macpherson Collection
]
As we neared the African coast the weather became squally and finally
increased to a violent gale. We lost our topmasts and the old brig began
to leak so that I was obliged to take my turn at the pump. Late at
night, with a tremendous shock, we ran on a reef and the heavy seas soon
drove us into the rigging. Fortunately she didn’t break up and when
morning came we found the brig had beaten over a line of reefs and was
fast on the inner edge in a shallow lagoon. Not long after the sun rose
a number of canoes filled with Mandingoes put off from the shore and
boarded us. While they were looting the wreck a number of us on board
launched the long boat and pushed off. When we reached shore my
knowledge of negro dialects was turned to good service and we were
permitted to send a messenger to Goree, not far distant, and three days
later a sloop, with British soldiers, arrived off the reef and a boat
was sent ashore for us. On reaching Goree, I found a coasting schooner
bound for Bonny and secured passage in her.
Among the slavers sailing out of old Calabar, at that time, was the
Brazilian brig _Gloria_ and in her I now made half a dozen trips,
occupying nearly two years, with “soldiering” time between voyages. I
never knew who owned her. She was a staunch, handsome clipper craft and
deserved better masters. On the first voyage out of Calabar we had not
been out a week before I found that the captain and crew were
desperadoes of the worst kind. Once off the coast the ship became half
bedlam and half brothel. Ruiz, our captain, and his two mates set an
example of reckless wickedness. They stripped themselves and danced with
black wenches while our crazy mulatto cook played the fiddle. There was
little attempt at discipline and rum and lewdness reigned supreme. At
first I was frightened at this state of things but my appetite for
liquor, contracted since that unfortunate intimacy with Donna Emelia,
soon brought me to the level of the rest.
Meanwhile our slaves crammed in hold, cabin and peak and packed like
herrings on shelves around our vessel’s sides, were kept down by
gratings fully half the time. The shrieks and groans of the stifling
wretches below echoed our orgies above. On the eighth day out I made my
rounds of the half deck, holding a camphor bag in my teeth for the
stench was hideous. The sick and dying were chained together. I saw
pregnant women give birth to babies while chained to corpses which our
drunken overseers had not removed. The younger women fared best at first
as they were allowed to come on deck as companions for our crew. Of this
part of their devilish practices I kept clear but drank as hard as the
rest. Toward the end of the run, which lasted nearly six weeks, the
mortality thinned out the main hold and some scores of women were driven
below as company for the males. The quarrelling and bestiality that
followed was sickening. They tore and gnawed each other in fights over
the rum rations which our captain ordered and for possession of the
miserable wenches.
At last we arrived at Bahia and landed our cargo. Nearly a third of the
slaves had died during the voyage. From Bahia we ran down to Rio for a
cargo and sailed for Africa with the same officers and crew.
This trip we cast anchor in a small river not far from the American
colony of Liberia and our captain took me ashore with his first mate and
a dozen of the crew, all of us well armed and sober. We had several
breakers of rum with us, as a “dash” for the negro chief, King
Boatswain, a half-Christian black, and spent the day feasting in his
village. When night came he summoned several hundred of his warriors and
we sallied out against a tribe of blacks called Queahs. We came upon
them while all were asleep and burnt their bamboo huts and made a
general slaughter. The men and women were massacred and the boys and
girls driven to the river where they were soon transferred to the
_Gloria’s_ bowels.
The next day Captain Ruiz invited King Boatswain to a big banquet on
board the brig. The old fellow was sick but his son came with over two
hundred of his principal men. We had abundance of rum and tobacco, the
former, thanks to my medical skill, heavily drugged with laudanum.
Before night we had every darkey under hatches and were off with a
flying jib. Our entire cargo cost no more than the “dash” given to the
savage chief.
The last voyage of the _Gloria_ was a climax of horror. We sailed from
the Verdes and were making southerly, in ballast, when we overhauled a
Portuguese schooner and ran alongside. She had a full cargo of slaves
and Captain Ruiz proposed we attack her. The crew were ready and
inspired by rum soon mastered the schooner’s hands. Our captain blew out
the brains of the only passenger aboard who we discovered had with him a
large quantity of gold dust. The Portuguese were knocked in the head
with axes and the slaves and gold dust quickly transferred to the
_Gloria_. The schooner was then scuttled and we kept on our way with 190
ill-gotten slaves in our hold. The next day we ran into a storm which
almost capsized the brig and set the negroes frantic, so that they tried
to break through the gratings. Ruiz was half drunk, as usual, and
suspecting a rising, ordered the crew to fire their muskets through the
gratings until the negroes became quiet. By this foolish freak forty
were killed and wounded and had to be thrown overboard. We ran for Accoa
and landed at Papoe, a town belonging to a Dahoman chief, where we found
six hundred blacks waiting for a Spanish slaver and four hundred of
these were purchased and paid for with the gold dust taken from the
murdered Portuguese passenger.
Hardly were we out a fortnight when it was discovered that our
roystering crew had neglected to change the sea-water in the lower
casks, which had served as ballast and which ought to have been replaced
with fresh water in Africa. We were drawing from the last casks before
the discovery was made and the horror of the situation sobered Captain
Ruiz. He gave orders to hoist the precious remnant abaft the main
grating and made me calculate how long it would sustain the crew and
cargo. I found that a half-gill a day would hold out to the Spanish Main
and it was decided, in order to save our cargo, that we should allow the
slaves a half-gill and the crew a gill each day.
Then began a torture worse than death for the blacks. They suffered
continual torment. Instead of lowering buckets of water to them, as was
customary, it became necessary to pour the water in half-pint measures.
Those farthest from the grating never got a drop and soon became raving
mad for drink. Fevers and fluxs soon added to their misery and deaths
followed so fast that in a short time at least a hundred slaves were
shackled to dead partners. Our captain and crew as well as I, drank
hard, but thirst and disease kept down all licentiousness. Matters grew
worse daily and at last Captain Ruiz ordered the hatches down and swore
he would make the run on our regular rations and take the chances with
his stock. That night we caroused and satisfied our thirst while the
negroes suffocated below. Next morning came on a storm which drove us on
our course a hundred knots and two days later Ruiz and four of the crew
were taken suddenly ill. Their tongues swelled and grew black, their
flesh turned yellow and in six hours they were dead. The first mate went
next and then three more of the crew and a black driver whose body
became leprous with yellow spots. I began to notice a strange, fetid
smell pervading the vessel and a low, heavy fog on deck, almost like
steam, and then the horrid truth became apparent. Our rotting negroes
under hatches had generated the plague and it was the death-mist that I
saw rising.
By this time all of our men but three, and myself, had been attacked and
we abandoned the _Gloria_, taking in the long boat the remnant of water,
a sack of biscuit, a beaker of rum and what gold dust and other
valuables we could hastily gather together. Nine of our late comrades
lay dead on the _Gloria’s_ deck and five were dying. After running for
two days we struck a current and in three more reached Tortola, one of
the Leeward Islands. We made a landing on the reefs and were picked up
by some fishermen.
Falling sick at Tortola, I parted from my comrades of the _Gloria_. We
had divided our ill-gotten gold dust and my share amounted to £130, with
which, after my recovery, I took a vessel for Rio de Janeiro and there
obtained a berth as surgeon once more and kept sober for nearly eighteen
months during which I made about three thousand dollars by private
ventures. But ill-luck came again to dog me when I shipped in a Spanish
schooner from Porto Rico and encountered new disasters.
She was the _Ponchecta_, a fast schooner designed to make quick passages
and smuggle her cargoes ashore on the coast of Brazil and thereby escape
an import duty of $10, per head. We had Brazilian papers and our
arrangement was to run cargoes into different rivers and creeks and then
make for Bahia and report “in ballast” or “coasting.” The _Ponchecta_
was rated by imperial license as a vessel of one hundred tons but
actually measured but eighty. This was to provide for emergencies, the
law allowing only _five_ slaves to be carried for every _two_ tons. By
getting a permit on fraudulent measurement, we could cram twenty-five
per cent. more cargo without appearing to break regulations.
The _Ponchecta_ was commanded by a Porto Rico Spaniard named Antonio
Mendez, an old slave smuggler. We shaped our course for Badagry, in the
Bight of Benin, which at that time (1828-9) was doing a thriving
business in slaves as the market was generally well stocked by kaffles
arriving through the kingdom of Dahomey. From the Rio Volta, south to
the Niger and north to the Gambia, the intervening country was then
engaged in internal slave wars of the fiercest kind. Dahomans,
Ashantees, Foulahs, Mandingoes, Sherbross, Fellatahs and Bambarras were
preying on each other like wild beasts and kept the slave market
constantly supplied. We soon had seven hundred slaves on board, in our
eighty ton vessel and while packing was going on I visited one of the
baccaroons where eight hundred sick or old slaves were confined for want
of buyers. They were considered useless stock and before we sailed were
all taken out in canoes by the Badagran negroes and knocked in the head
and thrown overboard.
Our schooner was loaded beyond capacity and the deck had to be fitted
with temporary platforms or shelves, as high as the taffrail, above
which stiff netting was drawn to prevent the shackled slaves from
leaping overboard. In walking the deck we frequently trod on a hand or
foot sticking out from the lower tier.
About a week out we encountered a severe storm and the second night
after, I was awakened by a crash, as if the skies were falling, and
springing from my bunk, near the after gangway, I ran into Captain
Mendez. “Save yourself, doctor!” he yelled, “the brig’s sinking. We’ve
been run down.” The negroes were screeching on both sides and the
sailors were running to and fro like mad. How I got into the stern boat
I never knew, but I found myself there with the captain and about half
of the crew. It was raining hard and we rowed about until daylight. The
gale had lulled but the heavy rain was like a waterspout. All this time
we could hear the screeching slaves.
When morning broke we saw the _Ponchecta_ a-lee, her decks almost awash,
and we lay by until she went down, about an hour later, full of manacled
slaves. She had been struck on the beam by the _Mersey_, an armed East
Indiaman, bound for Zanzibar, which lay by after the collision and
eventually picked us up and landed us at Kahenda on the Guinea coast.
The loss of the _Ponchecta_ left me penniless again as all I possessed
went down in her. At Kahenda we found several slavers under Brazilian
colors and Captain Mendez found a passage for himself and me in a brig
bound for Angola, the Portuguese settlement, whose Governor he knew and
there he was lucky enough to receive the command of a slaving schooner
which the Governor was dispatching to the Brazils. I resumed my place
with him, as surgeon, and made the voyage out and back without incident.
[Illustration:
BRITISH PRIZE BRIGANTINE “NETUNA,” BEATING OFF THE SPANISH SLAVER
“CAROLINE,” MAR. 20, 1826, IN THE BIGHT OF BENIN
The _Netuna_ carried 1 gun and 5 men; the _Caroline_, 10 guns and 90
men. From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. Joy, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
In March 1830 we arrived at the river Gallinas, not far from my old
station at Rio Basso, and on landing found that its thriving factories
were controlled by my old acquaintance Don Pedro Blanco, who was
particular in his regrets at the death of my uncle. He knew nothing of
Diego Ramos nor of my elopement with the Donna Emelia, my change of name
having baffled all trace of us. I was glad to accept his offer of a
situation at Gallinas and settled down as half-clerk, half doctor for
Don Pedro Blanco. When I formerly knew him on the Kambia, I had been in
possession of influence and wealth and he was an adventurer seeking a
location. Since that time I had squandered a fortune and he had
accumulated one.
Gallinas was a depot and market for slaves brought from all stations
that penetrated the Guinea coast as well as territory farther south and
my knowledge of negro dialects was of considerable value to my employer.
The river from which the town took its name was full of small islands
and on several of those near the sea, as well as on the banks, were
located factories, barracoons, dwelling-houses and store houses. The
success of Blanco had attracted a dozen other traders and agents who had
located there and the Don was something of a prince among them. In
African fashion he supported a harem and had quite a retinue of house
servants, guards, etc., besides the clerks and overseers of his
barracoons. I kept my place with him for six years and during that time
made one voyage as clerk and one as captain of a slaver.
The schooner _Napoleon_ was a ninety-ton Baltimore clipper, a model for
symmetry and speed. She came out from Cuba, in ballast, as a new craft,
and made two successful trips before, at Don Pedro’s request, I filled
the place of mate and surgeon on a voyage when she sailed with 250
full-grown men and a hundred boys and girls, for the Cuban market. The
cargo was consigned to my old friend Gomez and rated A-1. By actual
calculation the average cost per head of the 350 blacks was $16, and in
Havana the market average was $360, yielding a net profit, if safely
delivered, of $120,400. for the cargo, from which should be deducted
about $20,000. as the average cost of the clipper’s round trip,
including commissions. This would mark her earnings for the voyage, as
about $100,000. Such were the enormous profits of the slave trade in
1835. After that, with greater risks, the average of successful voyages
ran higher still.
The _Napoleon_ had trouble before her departure. The men slaves
composing her freight were some of the fiercest warriors of the Kassaos,
the Fi nation, and the Sherbroo Buttom people, who had been provoked
into a cruel war by the traders. It was only with difficulty that they
were got on board the clipper, though secured by one foot chains round
the neck as well as their ankle irons. On reaching the boats a rush was
made by several for the purpose of leaping into the sea and thumb screws
had to be clapped on them before they would be quiet. These warriors
were finely built negroes and the boys and girls were handsome and
spirited.
We had a splendid run and expected to make the Moro the next day, when
our dreaded enemy, a British cruiser, hove in sight and all sail was
crowded on the clipper. It was near sunset and we were sure that we
could slip away easily. But the cruiser proved to be a crack sailer and
overhauled us rapidly. Captain Mina was in despair as we had a stiff
breeze and a few hours more would bring us to a point of the island
where our cargo could be landed safely. Just then the wind fell off
abruptly and the moaning sea warned us of an approaching tropical
tempest. Everything was clewed up to meet the expected tornado and very
soon we had a heavy sultry squall of rain. The sky and sea turning the
color of ink; the deluge of rain stopped in about an hour but the
darkness continued. We could just see the lights of Matanzas harbor
gleaming through the mist and an idea suddenly came to me and in ten
minutes our crew were in the boats, with sweeps, towing the clipper
landward. I took my station in the leading boat and steered for the
reefs and a point of land which I well remembered enclosed my former
plantation and before the moon broke out our clipper with her topmasts
shipped was safely anchored behind some trees.
Whether the officers of the British cruiser thought the schooner had
foundered or was “the Flying Dutchman,” we never knew, but a few days
later we entered the harbor, with Porto Rico papers, and Gomez, our
consignee, placed a hundred thousand dollars credit to Blanco’s account.
Five thousand dollars of that sum I received as a _douceur_, when we
returned to Gallinas to relate the story, and the Don promised that I
should command his next vessel.
There were some half a dozen vessels then lying at anchor at Gallinas,
among them two handsome American craft, the _Fanny Butler_ and the
_Venus_ from Philadelphia, and a Brazilian bark which I liked the looks
of on account of her capacity and serviceable appearance. I proposed to
the Don that we should risk the landing of a cargo at a place called
Ponta Negra, between Bahia and Cape Frio, and he took to the project as
it promised large returns. We loaded the Brazilian bark _Aguila_ with
520 prime slaves and I hauled out of Gallinas flats, on September 6th,
1836, and set sail for the Brazils, on my first voyage as captain, in
high hopes of a fortune.
The _Aguila_ was two hundred tons burden and I had taken particular care
to have her well fumigated and amply supplied with provisions and water.
All things promised well. I had the gangs up every day, in rotation,
under their overseers, to exercise and sing. I made them dash buckets of
cold water over each other regularly and fed them well with rice and
yams. The mid-passage was safely accomplished and on sighting the
Brazilian coast I stood in for Ponta Negra to make a landing. I knew the
place well having visited it with Captain Mendez, and finding good
anchorage off the cliffs, my mate and I went ashore and leaving our boat
in a sheltered creek, we walked about half a league to the handsome
cottage and lookout of Don Felix, a noted smuggler whom I had met once
before. He received us with Brazilian hospitality, gave us a sumptuous
dinner after which we walked to his observatory to smoke our cigars. The
prospect from this elevation, of the moonlit ocean and coast, was
magnificent, but the most interesting object within sight to me was the
_Aguila_, at anchor with a cargo that was to make me a wealthy man once
more.
Don Felix puffed his cigar and sipped his wine for half an hour before
we rose for business and I was looking at my vessel, when suddenly I saw
a bright flash and the next moment an explosion rent the air while a
volume of smoke and flame shot up from the water and hung like a black
cloud before its contents descended. When this cleared away my vessel
was no longer in sight. Her magazine had blown up and every soul on
board had perished save one poor maimed sailor who managed to make the
shore.
Three months passed away before I was able to leave my bed in the
hospitable house of Don Felix. The disappointing blow left me a mere
wreck and it was a year before I felt able to undertake the shortest
voyage. It was necessary, however, for me to make a struggle for
existence and in 1838 once more I reached the African coast, acting in
the capacity of interpreter for a party of slave-traders who designed to
visit some of the interior African kings, at their capital towns. There
were three, beside myself, and we sailed from Rio and landed at Cape
Appolonia on the Gold Coast. Here we hired guides and carriers and
started across the Fantu country for Ashantee, falling in with several
black slave-traders on the way.
When we reached Coomassie, the King of Ashantee, Quacoe Dooah, was not
be seen until the third day after our arrival, but he gave orders for
our good treatment and set a guard over our goods. There must have been
over 25,000 persons collected in the great market place when we arrived.
Hundreds of well-dressed black officers were strutting about, each
wearing gold bracelets and anklets larger than slave shackles. When the
royal interpreter called on us I astonished him with my knowledge of
Ashantee.
[Illustration:
A SLAVER DRIVEN ASHORE ON THE BRAZILIAN COAST BY H.M. BRIG “FROLIC”
From a colored lithograph by H. John Vernon, published about 1840, in
the Macpherson Collection
]
Early the next morning we were awakened by the war drum announcing an
Ashantee human sacrifice and were told that five hundred men, girls and
boys were to be offered. A procession of the victims passed our huts
soon after. One poor wretch had a knife passed through both cheeks and
his two ears had been cut off and dangled from the knife blade and
handle. A long spear was thrust under his shoulder blades, through the
tendons, and he was led along by this, bleeding like a bullock. Then
followed a young woman, stark naked, with both breasts cut smoothly off
and her hips and belly stuck full of arrows. Another girl walked behind
with her two breasts skewered by a knife and a cord passed through her
nostrils by which to conduct her. There was no end to the horrible
ingenuity of torture displayed.
The next day we were present at the bloody sacrifice and saw the King of
Ashantee. He sat in a gilded wooden chair, in the midst of his chief
men. Velvet umbrellas, with immense brass-mounted handles, covered them
like a canopy. A long retinue of guards and household attendants stood
around, carrying gold swords, silver and gold dishes, tobacco pipes and
silk flags. The display of barbarian riches was dazzling and all this
wealth of the Ashantee King was derived from the enormous profits of his
slave sales. The interpreter told me that the King had sold over ten
thousand slaves since the last rainy season, a little over five months’
time, besides killing as many more in slave-hunts and sacrifices.
After an interview with the King, we followed the grand procession to
the palace. Before reaching it a great musket firing commenced, the big
drum was beaten and there was a rush of the blacks. The orgie began when
a gigantic savage dashed out the brains of a victim with his club. A
gourd was held to catch the blood, and the victim’s heart was cut out
with knives and held up to the King. I had heard that it was usual for
each chief to sink his teeth in the bloody heart, but that time this
feature of the ceremony was dispensed with. Some of the soldiers,
however, actually drank of the wretched victim’s blood, from the gourd
in which it was caught. I will not attempt to describe the rest of this
unnatural sacrifice. It was a confused massacre. Heads and limbs were
severed or sawed off by dull knives and tossed about on poles. The
bodies of men and women were disembowelled and dragged about and at last
left to the dogs to devour. Such was the sacrifice at Coomassie.
We remained there ten months bargaining for slaves and then travelled
farther inland through a beautiful country. The rainy season was spent
at the Portuguese settlement on the Rio Cacheo and in September, 1839,
we set out for Dahomey. At the capital, Abomey, the King collected his
fetish men and gave a great feast. Four thousand slaves were sold to the
traders, of which our party bought and branded seven hundred and
dispatched them in kaffles to the great slaving depot at Whydah. A
hundred of our purchase were Amazons or women soldiers of the King’s
guard who had engaged in a revolt and were punished by being sold off.
They were fine-limbed, robust females, made healthy by their exercise in
military service.
When we reached Ayudah, or Whydah, I met with a surprise. The great
slave trader who had built up the enterprise at this station was usually
spoken of as Cha-Chu, but when I met him I recognized him at once as my
old friend and Cuban enemy, De Souza, the Brazilian creole. He instantly
recalled me and after some conversation invited me to dine with him. I
accepted and the dinner turned out to be an orgie. His house was like a
palace and he had a harem filled with women from all parts of the world.
He offered to lend me a wife while I stayed at Whydah. “You shall have
French, Spanish, Greek, Caucasian, English, Dutch, Italian, African or
American,” he said, laughing; “or, if you prefer an old flame, there is
Donna Emelia.” I started and repeated the name. “Yes,” said Cha-Chu,
“She’s here, though, I confess, rather _abattu_. I’ve not seen her for a
year or two. I advise you to select a younger one.” This ended our
confab. So Emelia, the brilliant, unprincipaled woman was an inmate of
the seraglio of Cha-Chu, mingling with blacks, whites and browns. A cast
off, half-forgotten concubine. It was a wonder she had not poisoned him
long before that.
I left Whydah and returned to Brazil with the company of traders in a
large ship that carried a thousand blacks. We lost only eighty on the
voyage. After arrival I was glad to be offered a permanent position with
the trading company. My specialty was to superintend the slave nursery
or fattening farm for negroes who were not merchantable on arrival. They
were brought to the farm in feluccas to be “doctored” for the market.
The greater part, on arrival, were living skeletons and they often
dropped dead in the _corrals_ or yards. Some were ophthalmic, others
scrofulous and many were insane. The majority were reduced by dysentery
and required delicate handling in order to save them. We lost about
forty per cent. on the average of all that came to the farm. The joint
stock company that owned the fattening farm had established agencies
along the coast, at intervals, for a distance of 2600 miles and
controlled an immense smuggling traffic in negroes. Its headquarters
were at Pernambuco.
I remained in the service of this company for seven years until I became
sick of a fever and nearly died. On recovering I obtained a transfer to
another establishment on one of the Bay Islands near the coast of
Honduras in the Gulf of Mexico. Here a slave depot and farm were located
to which cargoes were brought in American clippers from slave
settlements near Cape Mesurado, Africa. The negroes were landed under
the name of colonists and the company had permits from Central American
authorities. They also had a branch farm on the Rio Grande, in Texas,
which was broken up and its stock disposed at the breaking out of the
war between the United States and Mexico.
Our island depot was admirably suited for its purpose, being near the
mainland with good anchorage on the ocean side. Our farm and nursery
were in the center of the island, on a navigable creek. Here we received
Bozal blacks and set them at work in agricultural operations and in
making goods for the African market, to exchange for their
fellow-countrymen. They were taught to gabble broken Spanish and
English, accustomed to discipline and well fed and well treated. I saw
no misery among these negroes as it was our company’s object to get them
into prime marketable condition.
This joint-stock company was connected with leading American and Spanish
mercantile houses and our island was visited almost weekly by agents
from Cuba, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia or New Orleans. During the
Mexican war we had about 1600 slaves in good condition and were
receiving and shipping constantly. The seasoned and instructed slaves
were taken to Texas, overland, and to Cuba, in sailing boats. As no
squad contained more than half a dozen, no difficulty was found in
posting them to the United States without discovery and generally
without suspicion. A single negro, sent by special agent as far as
Savannah, would pay all his costs and fifty per cent. profit in the
market. The Bay Island plantation sent ventures weekly to the Florida
Keys. Slaves were taken into the great American swamps and kept there
till wanted for the market and hundreds were also sold as runaways
captured in the Florida wilderness. We had agents in every slave State
and our coasters were built in Maine and came out loaded with lumber.
My connection with the island ended in 1853 when I came to Baltimore, on
business connected with the depot. I had with me a considerable sum of
money for a firm in New York City, on account of goods for the African
trade, and while in Baltimore went on a drunken spree that lasted a
week. When I came to myself I was in a low lodging-house, at Fell’s
Point, without a dollar in my pockets. I was helpless and soon after was
committed to the city workhouse as a vagrant. From there I begged my way
to Philadelphia and later to New York City and there I shall end my
miserable life. May God forgive me for my crimes and have mercy on me
hereafter.
CHAPTER XIV
SLAVING VOYAGES BY RHODE ISLAND VESSELS
Newport, Rhode Island, was a well-known slaving port during the
eighteenth century and Bristol was not far behind. The trade in negroes
and rum was then considered entirely respectable and legitimate and
although the voyage to the coast of Africa was one of the most hazardous
that could be made, the profits from a successful venture were very
great and the trade was continued until long after the time of the
American Revolution. The owners of vessels and the distillers of rum,
oftentimes one and the same person, found in this trade an outlet for
their industry and the preacher and the philanthropist fancied that they
saw in it a means of Christianizing a race plunged in heathen darkness.
One highly respected elder, whose “ventures” in slaving had usually
turned out well, always returned thanks, on the Sunday following the
arrival of a slaver in the harbor of Newport, “that an overruling
Providence has been pleased to bring to this land of freedom another
cargo of benighted heathen, to enjoy the blessing of a Gospel
dispensation.”[33]
In the early days, some of the most respectable and wealthy merchants of
Newport, Bristol and Providence were actively engaged in the slave trade
which was usually carried on in small craft of not more than fifty to
seventy tons burden, as it was found that the smaller vessels were the
more profitable. The first leg of the voyage was from the home port with
a cargo of New England rum, not long distilled, and a small stock of
iron, cloth and trinkets to be used in barter on the Guinea coast. When
the cargo of slaves had been secured, the “middle passage” to the West
Indies was made and the live freight was exchanged for hogsheads of
molasses which were
-----
Footnote 33:
George C. Mason, “The African Slave Trade in Colonial Times,” in _The
American Historical Record_, vol. I, Philadelphia, 1872.
-----
brought to Rhode Island to be distilled into rum, and so the round
continued for many years.
Sloops, brigantines and schooners were generally employed in this
trade—rarely a ship—and the fitting out of these vessels required the
services of tradesmen, carpenters, joiners, painters, caulkers,
sailmakers and riggers—the folk who, with the sailors, made up the
populace of the northern seaport towns, ruled socially and commercially
by the wealthier merchant-shipowners.[34] There was also a larger number
of small craft voyaging to and from the West Indies, bringing molasses,
cocoa, indigo and coffee; and from the Carolinas, the necessary naval
stores.
-----
Footnote 34:
Verner W. Crane, _A Rhode Island Slaver_, Providence, 1922.
-----
Molasses was the all-important feature of the slaving trade, which
required rum as a means of barter for slaves, for without molasses there
could be no New England rum and at times molasses was in great demand
with an insufficient supply on hand. In the summer of 1752, a Newport
merchant wrote to a shipowner:
“We are sorry to find you are ordering your sloop here in expectation of
having her loaded with rum in about five weeks. We cannot give you
encouragement of getting that quantity of rum these three months, for
there are so many vessels lading for Guinea, we can’t get one hogshead
of rum for cash.... We have lately been to New London and all along the
sea port towns, in order to purchase the molasses, but can’t get one
hogshead.”[35]
-----
Footnote 35:
Mason, _The African Slave Trade in Colonial Times_, 1872.
-----
The cost of distilling, about that time, was 5½ pence per gallon and
good distillers were expected to turn out gallon for gallon. The number
of still houses in operation was almost beyond belief. In Newport, there
were no less than twenty-two. In 1750, rum was the “chief manufacture”
in New England and about that time fifteen thousand hogsheads of
molasses were annually converted into rum in Massachusetts alone. With
rum, New England carried on a lucrative trade with the Indians and rum
also served to keep the fisheries alive. There was no article that could
take the place of rum in the Guinea trade. Here is what Capt. George
Scott wrote to his Newport owners in 1740 on this point:
“We left Anamaboe ye 8th of May, with most of our people and slaves
sick. We have lost 29 slaves. Our purchase was 129. We have five that
swell’d and how it will be with them I can’t tell. We have one-third of
dry cargo left and two hhds. rum.... I have repented a hundred times ye
buying of them dry goods. Had we laid out two thousand pound in rum,
bread and flour, it would purchased more in value than all our dry
goods.”
Let us take one of these Newport slavers, the brigantine _Sanderson_,
Capt. David Lindsay, master, William Johnston, owner, and follow her
voyage out and back. She was a square-sterned vessel of only forty tons
burden, built at Portsmouth, R. I., in 1745, and her portledge bill
listed the captain, two mates and six men. She carried no surgeon. Her
cargo consisted of 8,220 gallons of rum, 79 bars of iron, flour, rice,
snuff, iron pots, tar, loaf and brown sugar, wine, vinegar, butter,
pork, beef, tobacco, a trunk of shirts, 3,000 staves, and the usual
supply of shackles, handcuffs, etc. Insurance to the amount of £100 was
effected in New York at 18 per cent.
On Feb. 28, 1753, Captain Lindsay wrote to his owner from Anamaboe:
“I have Gott 13 or 14 hhds. of Rum yet Left a bord & God noes when I
shall Gett clear of it. Ye Traid is so dull it is actualy a noof to make
a man Creasey. My cheefe mate after making four or five Trips in the
boat was taken sick & Remains very bad yett: then I sent Mr. Taylor & he
Gott not well and three more of my men has sick. I should be glad I cood
come Rite home with my slaves, for my vessiel will not last to proceed
farr. We can see Day Lite al round her bow under Deck. Heare lyes
Captain Hamlet, James Jepson, Carpenter, Butler and Lindsay. Gardner is
dun. All these are rum ships. I’ve sent a Small boye to my wife.”
Captain Lindsay turned up at last at the Barbadoes, notwithstanding his
leaky craft, and on June 17th he wrote to his owner that he had arrived
safely in ten weeks from Anamaboe, with fifty-six slaves aboard, “all in
helth and fatt. I lost one small gall.” His slaves sold at better than
£30 each, and after deducting duties and commissions the net proceeds
amounted to £1324.0.3. The brigantine took aboard at the Barbadoes
fifty-five hogsheads of rum, three hogsheads and twenty-seven barrels of
sugar and Captain Lindsay received bills on Liverpool for the balance
due the owner. Newport was reached safely and June 19, 1754, he sailed
again, bound for the coast of Africa, this time in the newly built
schooner, _Sierre Leone_, forty tons burden, in which he made a round
voyage in ten months, concerning which his owners wrote, “Lindsay’s
arrival is very agreeable to us and we wish we may never make a worse
voyage.”
Guinea coast captains were not all as fortunate as Lindsay. Capt. George
Scott wrote from Anamaboe, in April, 1740, to his Newport owner, as
follows:
“I have been not very well for five weeks past, which is made our voyage
very backward, and am now very well recovered, Blessed be God. We have
now five people sick and bonner[36] so bad he will not recover. I am
heartily tired of ye voyage, everything runs so cross that I undertake
to make a voyage. I being not very well, kept my cheif mate aboard and
sent ye second mate in ye Long Boat to Leward a trading. He had not been
gone above four days before he hired a canoue and sends her up with his
gold taken to me for goods, without any orders from me; i sent ye canoue
immediately back without goods. Going down they overset the canoue, the
blacks came of from ye shore and took them up and put them in irons. The
blacks where ye boat lay detained ye Mate ashore, in which time a man
slave he had bought, got out of ye boat with two ounces of gold and has
gott clean off. I was obliged to go down with ye sloop and pay
thirty-two pounds in ye best of goods before they would let ye Mate come
off. Upon the hole I’ve lost nigh three hundred pounds with that trip,
in money, by the mate’s folly. I am sure he will never be able to make
satisfaction.
-----
Footnote 36:
A common negro name at that time.
-----
“I bought sume slaves and Goods from a Dutchman for gold, which I
thought to sell to ye French. In a few little time after my slaves was
all taken with the flucks, so that I could not sell them; lost three
with it and have three more very bad; ye rest all well and good slaves.
We have now about one hundred and no gold. I think to purchase about
twenty and go off ye coast; ye time of year don’t doe to tarry much
longer. Every-thing of provision is very dear and scarce; it costs for
water Tenn shillings for one day. I shall go to Shama and water our
vessell and sail of ye coast with what I can purchase. Every man slave
that we pay all goods for here, costs twelve pounds ster^g prime. Our
slaves is mostly large. 60 men and men boys, 20 women, the rest boys and
girls, but three under four foot high.”[37]
-----
Footnote 37:
Mason, _The African Slave Trade in Colonial Times_, 1872.
-----
The sloop _Adventure_, Capt. Robert Champlin, owned by Christopher
Champlin of Newport, cleared from Newport, Oct. 25, 1773, bound for
Sierra Leone and the Gold Coast on a slaving voyage. She carried ten men
besides the master, including two mates, a cooper, a cook, a boy and
five sailors. Among the items of her outfitting were a pair of swivel
guns and 100 grape shot; double-warded secret padlocks; “12 pr. Hand
Cufs and Shackles”; a twenty-one-foot boat; twenty-six gallons of
vinegar to wash down the slave quarters between decks; and a medicine
chest well stocked with Peruvian bark. Rum made in Newport comprised the
larger part of the cargo.
The owner’s instructions directed the master to trade so far as possible
at the “castles” instead of with the natives. “To lay a long time on the
Coast to piddle with the blacks must be against the voyage.” It turned
out that the tribes were at war and no black trade was running. At the
“castles,” the price for slaves was 140 to 160 gallons of rum per head.
Rice was bought on the Windward Coast, but no slaves. It was only after
four months’ cruising and trading that a full cargo was obtained, which
found a market at Grenada, at £35 to £39 per head. The return voyage was
molasses and the owners reckoned a net profit of about 23 per cent on
the voyage, or £400, sterling.[38]
-----
Footnote 38:
Crane, _A Rhode Island Slaver_, Providence, 1922.
-----
A typical voyage of a Rhode Island slaver, at a later date, is that of
the ship _Ann_, Jonathan Dennison, master, which sailed from Bristol, on
July 24, 1806, bound for Cape Coast Castle, on the Gold Coast, with a
cargo of rum, brandy, gin, wine and English goods. This cargo was to be
traded for slaves to be taken to Montevideo and there sold and with the
proceeds a return cargo of ox hides, dried beef, tallow and other
produce was to be purchased. The owner of the _Ann_ was James De Wolf of
Bristol and his instructions to the captain were carried out to the
letter until the ship reached the river La Plata, where she was
captured, on Nov. 15, 1806, by the British ship-of-war _Leda_, the port
of Montevideo then being under blockade. She was taken to the Cape of
Good Hope where a Vice Admiralty Court, on Sept. 7, 1807, decreed that
she be restored upon payment of costs; but the King’s proctor entered an
appeal and the following January, the Lords Commissioners, sitting in
the Council Chamber, at Whitehall, in London, reversed the sentence and
condemned the ship and cargo as a lawful prize.[39]
-----
Footnote 39:
The briefs in this case were printed in London, for the benefit of the
Lords Commissioners, sitting as a Court of Appeal, and from one of
these rare originals owned by the Marine Research Society, the
accompanying account of the voyage has been abstracted.
-----
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE AMERICAN SLAVER “MARY ADELINE,” OFF THE CONGO, IN 1852,
BY H.M. BRIGANTINE “DOLPHIN”
From a colored lithograph by H. John Vernon, in the Macpherson
Collection
]
The ship _Ann_ was built at Dighton, Mass., in 1804; she had two decks;
her width was 27 feet, depth 13 feet 6 inches and she measured 309 tons.
She was square-sterned, had neither galleries or figurehead, mounted
four guns, and carried a crew of twenty-two men. The owner’s
instructions were as follows:
Bristol, R. I. 18th July 1806.
Capt. Jonathan Dennison
Sir,
Your having engaged to go a Voyage to Africa in my ship _Ann_,
my Instructions are that you proceed with all possible Dispatch
direct to Cape Coast, and make Trade at that Place and its Vicinity,
and purchase as many good, healthy young Slaves as may be in your
power to purchase, by bartering away your present Cargo with the
Natives; and after compleating your Business in Africa, you will
proceed to Monte Video in South America, and there dispose of your
Slaves, and purchase a Return Cargo of Ox Hides and dried Beef, and
some Tallow and other Produce of that Country, such as you may judge
will pay a handsome Profit, and after compleating your Business
there, you will return home to this Port with all possible Dispatch.
I am, Sir,
Your Friend and Owner,
JAS. DE WOLF.[40]
-----
Footnote 40:
James De Wolf, a considerable shipowner, had served his time in
the slave trade. He afterwards engaged in other trade and in
privateering and accumulated a considerable fortune. He
represented his town in the Rhode Island Legislature for nearly
thirty years, and was a member of the United States Senate.
-----
The cargo of the _Ann_ consisted of the following: “184 Hogsheads,
26 Tierces, 29 Barrels and 4 Half Barrels new Rum, 16 Boxes Claret
Wine, 6 Pipes Molasses, 3 Boxes Hats, 1 Case Cambricks, 6 Hogsheads
Cod-Fish, 10 Bbls. Oil, 2 Pipes Gin, 4 Regr. Casks, 3 Hogsheads
Tobacco, 20 Firkins Butter, 28 Dozen Silk Hats, 6½ Dozen Cotton
ditto, 2 Children’s Samplers, 20 Pots and Kettles, 110, 2, 20, Bar
Iron, 10 0, 23, American Steel, 2043 lbs. Hams, 8 Pipes Brandy, 80
Hogsheads Salt, 5 Chaldrons Coal, 3 Casks Porter, 6 Chases Bales
India Goods, 2 Boxes Callicoes, 1 Trunk, 30 M. Boards, 1118 feet
Oars, 17000 Staves 1200 P^s Nankeens, 1 cask Claret Wine, 1 Bale
Muslins, and Ship Stores for the Voyage.”
The _Ann_ sailed from Bristol on July 24, 1806, and reached the
coast early in September. From the ship’s log we learn that she was
off Frisco, a small trading town, on Sept. 8th, forty-six days out.
The weather was thick for the first part, but came off calm and
flattering the latter part of the day. Cast the lead every hour and
found from twenty-six to thirty-two fathoms of water. At 11 A.M.
King Peter came off in a canoe.
At four o’clock the next morning, a small breeze sprung up and
studding sails were set. The ship was then about four leagues from
the land. King Peter again came off and told the captain that he was
off Spisko. He was given a bottle of rum and sent over the side. In
the morning saw two ships at anchor at Lahoe, probably buying ivory.
Saw many canoes off fishing.
The next morning, Sept. 10th, there were light winds and a current
set against them, so all sails were set. In the afternoon saw a
schooner-rigged boat standing up along shore, under English colors;
supposed that she belonged to one of the ships that lay at Jack
Lahoe. At three o’clock a canoe came aboard from Jacques, a small
town, and the captain “gave him a Bottle of Rum, and sent him
ashore.” There was a fine breeze all the afternoon but it died away
at sunset. Soundings from thirty to forty fathoms.
The following morning, Sept. 11th, the ship was abreast of Little
Batsam and saw a ship and brig at anchor. The ship got under way and
stretched off and in the afternoon tacked in shore to speak the
_Ann_. She was under Spanish colors, but soon fired a shot across
the bow of the _Ann_ and hoisted English colors. When within hailing
distance she ordered Captain Dennison to send his papers for
examination and later an officer came aboard to search the ship, but
found nothing. When the _Ann’s_ boat was discharged she brought back
an English cheese, a present from the captain of the English ship,
and Captain Dennison returned the compliment by sending back some
onions and three tumblers. The English officer said that an officer
of his ship and six men had deserted in their whale boat, having
stolen a quantity of guns and trading goods. At 4 P.M. they parted,
good friends, and an hour later passed Great Batsam River. Saw a
lugger boat standing down. Smoky weather all day.
“Friday, Sept. 12th. At 3 P.M. saw Appallona Fort by the English
Colours; we past Axim Fort in the Night; about 12 o’clock we passed
Cape 3 Points, as we supposed; in the morning hauled in for the
Land: saw Dicks Cove Castle; at 9 passed by Secondu; at 12 passed by
Commenda; at 2 o’clock came to in Elmina Road; as no Vessel lying
there, I was in great hopes of making good Trade, as no Vessel was
there; the next Morning I went on shore, but found they was full of
all Sorts of Goods and Rum in abundance, they wanted nothing; to
anchor in Elmina Roads is to bring the Two Flag Staffes in one in 7
Fathoms water. Kept 4 hands in a Watch.”
Notwithstanding the state of trade at Elmina, Captain Dennison was
able to dispose of a part of his cargo there and the long boat was
hoisted out and a derrick was rigged. On the 14th, some slaves were
brought out to the ship. The top-gallant yards were sent down and
the best bower bent to a cable. The next morning two boatloads of
water were brought off and trade continued mainly in rum and dry
goods. On the seventeenth, Mr. Willard went down to Cape Coast
Castle to see what trade could be made there, but found no chance.
The next day the mate enters in his log: “Pike has been deficient of
his Duty 5 days, the Cook 3 days drunk, and deficient of his Duty.
So ends this Day with pleasant Weather.” On the 20th, Pike had been
drunk for seven days and the cook, five.
On Sunday, Sept. 21st, “all Hands were employed in clearing up the
tween Decks, and backing out the fore Peake, and sundry other Jobs.”
On Monday, “broke out Part of the Lower Hold; the Second Mate went
on shore and got upset and very near drowned.” During the rest of
the week more rum and other goods were landed and sickness began to
make its appearance. The captain also had a bad fall but was able to
be about.
On Sunday, Sept. 28th, a caboose and a little house were built on
deck and the heavy swell parted the small bower cable. Early the
next morning they hove up the best bower “and got a Warp to the Buoy
of the small Bower, and hove till we parted the Buoy Rope. After
that got the Hawser and swept the Anchor, the Swell being so bad we
dar’nt heave a Point.” Pike got drunk and was very “wranglesome.”
Two days afterwards, while sweeping for their lost anchor, they
found and brought up an old one. Three more slaves were brought on
board.
Day after day they continued to sweep for their small bower but
without success and on Oct. 6th, sail was made for Anamaboe, where
Captains Drown and Brooks lay at anchor. Ill luck followed, for when
the anchor was hove short the next morning, they capsized the
windlass and broke the pawls, but got on a stopper and repaired the
windlass. That night a tornado came up and it blew “more fresh.” On
the 8th the ship ran down to Leggo and came to anchor in eight
fathoms. Spoke the ship _Union_ of Newport, without any anchor. The
next day ran down to Acra, where the windlass was again capsized and
the pawls broken. The captain still remained very lame.
At Acra there was considerable trade in rum and all hands were kept
busy discharging cargo and building a bulkhead to keep the slaves
apart. This continued until the 18th, when sail was made to beat up
the coast to Leggo, which was reached three days later and after a
stay there of two days the ship was got under way bound to Elmina,
beating up against the wind all the while.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE AMERICAN SLAVER “ORION,” NOV. 30, 1859, WITH 888
SLAVES, BY H.M. SLOOP-OF-WAR “PLUTO”
From a water color by J. Taylor (1876) in the Macpherson
Collection
]
The _Ann_ remained at anchor at Elmina until November 6th, all hands
being employed in getting water, building the barricade, hogging the
inside of the ship and other sundry jobs. Three hands were on the
sick list and also the mate, Daniel Shaw. On Nov. 7th, thirty-five
slaves were brought aboard, and two days later, at 5 A.M., they got
under way and ran down to Anamaboe and, after taking in some corn
and wood, “sail was made for Leggo, where we spoke Captain Drown and
left letters with him. On the 12th we got all our corn aboard and at
5 P.M. made the slaves dance. Charles Ryal came aft and knocked down
one of the slaves and when the mate told him to go forward and
struck him in the face he told the mate he would have three hundred
dollars to spend in Gorges Street or have his life.” “So ends the
day,” reads the log.
Acra was reached, a second time, on the thirteenth, where the
captain settled his accounts with Whitehead, the merchant, while all
hands were employed in getting ready for sea. Two days later, at
sunset, everything was got aboard and at midnight they weighed
anchor bound for Rio del Plata, “with the Help of God,” having 163
prime slaves aboard; all hands employed unbending the cables,
getting the anchor secure, and clearing the decks. Most of the
slaves aboard were of the Fanteen tribe.
No record has been preserved of what may have happened during the
voyage to Montevideo. We only know that the island of Lobus was
sighted on Jan. 5, 1807, and the next day the ship spoke the British
sloop of war _Medusa_, whose commander ordered the _Ann_ to proceed
to Maldeno, where the British fleet was. This Captain Dennison
endeavored to do but the wind blew so fresh and the current ran so
strong that after eight hours’ struggle the crew became exhausted
and the ship was put about and stood before the wind for Montevideo.
At 9 A.M. she was fired on and captured by the British ship-of-war
_Leda_ and afterwards a prize-master and crew were placed aboard and
the _Ann_ was ordered to the Cape of Good Hope, where she was
released by the Admiralty Court, but upon an appeal was eventually
condemned in London, as a lawful prize. What became of the slaves
does not appear, but as Parliament did not outlaw the slave trade
until May 1, 1807, undoubtedly the cargo went the same way as the
ship—“to the sole use of His Majesty, his Heirs and Successors.”
CHAPTER XV
SOME AMERICAN SLAVE SHIPS
The first American-built slaver seems to have been a small ship, the
_Desire_, built at Marblehead, Massachusetts, in 1636. In the summer
of 1637, she went on a trading voyage to the West Indies and part of
her cargo was two women and fifteen boys, members of the Pequot
tribe of Indians, who had been taken captive after the swamp fight
at Fairfield, Connecticut. The _Desire_ came to anchor at
“Providence Isle” and there the unfortunate Indians were sold into
slavery. The return cargo was cotton, tobacco and negro slaves, and
when the ship reached Boston, on Feb. 26, 1638, three of these
negroes were sold to Samuel Maverick, who lived on the island in the
harbor now known as East Boston. How many were brought to Boston at
that time is not known, but it was not long before negro and Indian
slaves were owned in all of the New England settlements, though in
limited numbers.
Edward Randolph, the government agent, in a report made in 1676,
states that a few slaves had been brought into New England from
Guinea, Madagascar and the West Indies, and Governor Bradstreet,
writing in 1680, said that “no company of slaves have been brought
since the establishment of the Colony fifty years ago, except about
two years ago, after a twenty months’ voyage to Madagascar, a vessel
brought forty or fifty negroes.”[41]
-----
Footnote 41:
_Massachusetts Historical Society Collections_, VIII, 337.
-----
This seems to refer to a considerable importation,—a vessel whose
principal cargo was slaves, for the frequent appearance of negroes
in New England, in the latter part of the seventeenth century and in
still greater numbers in the following century, shows that there
must have been a constant influx, though never in large numbers. In
1742 there were 1,514 slaves owned in Boston and twelve years later
the number had increased to 4,489. When the census was taken in
1764, there were 5,779 negro slaves and free blacks living in the
town.
In 1708, Governor Cranston of Rhode Island reported that one hundred
and three vessels had been built in that province between 1698 and
1708, all of which were trading with the West Indies and the
Southern Colonies. They took out lumber and fish and brought back
molasses in the direct trade, but “in most cases made a slave voyage
in between.” Not infrequently these Rhode Island slavers, after
having sold their prime slaves in the West Indies, brought home to
New England the less salable remnants of their cargoes.
Here is the advertisement of one of these Rhode Islanders, taken
from the July 3, 1758, issue of the _Boston Gazette_:
Just imported from Africa, and to be sold on board the brig
_Jenney_, William Ellery, Commander, now lying at New-Boston
[_i.e._, West End of Boston], A Number of likely Negro Boys and
Girls, from 12 to 24 years of Age; Inquire of said Ellery on board
said Brig, where constant attandance is given.
_Note._ The above Slaves have all had the Small-Pox.—Treasurer’s
Notes, and New England Rum will be as Pay.—
This trade in Indians and Africans and in the ownership of slaves
was a universally recognized economic condition until the latter
part of the eighteenth century. It was like the belief in witchcraft
or that the world was flat. It was accepted by all.
In 1641, Massachusetts adopted its first code of laws in which it
was provided “There shall never be any Bond Slavery, Villinage, or
Captivity amongst us, unless it be lawful Captives taken in just
Wars, and such strangers as willingly sell themselves, or are sold
to us.... This exempts none from servitude who shall be judged
thereto by authority.” It was under this authority that the Court at
Salem directed that Daniel and Provided Southwick, the children of
Quakers, should be sold to the English in Virginia or Barbadoes. But
the ship masters at that time (1659) were more humane than the
judges and no one would have anything to do with the proposed
transportation and sale of white children and they eventually were
released. Seven years earlier, in 1652, two hundred and seventy
Scotchmen, taken prisoners at the battle of Dunbar, were sent to
Boston and sold for a term of years, into servitude comparable with
negro slavery. In London, the capital city of the realm, there were
20,000 negro slaves, as late as 1764, and these blacks were openly
bought and sold on “Change.” It was then the swagger thing for a
gentleman to put a silver collar about the neck of his body servant,
and Matthew Dyer, working goldsmith at the Crown in Duck Lane,
Orchard Street, Westminster, advertised that he made “silver
padlocks and collars for Blacks or Dogs.”
There formerly was considerable noise and vituperation on both sides
of Mason and Dixon’s line concerning “the Divine institution” of
slavery and the trade in human flesh. As late as Mar. 26, 1884, a
congressman from North Carolina, during a speech in Congress, saw
fit to remark that “Massachusetts is a State more responsible under
heaven than any other community in this land for the introduction of
slavery into this Continent, with all the curses that have followed
it; that it is the nursing mother of the horrors of the middle
passage, and that after slavery in Massachusetts was found not to
pay, her slaves were sold down South for a consideration, and then
their former owners thanked God and sang the long metre Doxology
through their noses, that they were responsible no longer for the
sin of human slavery.”[42]
-----
Footnote 42:
_Congressional Record_, Mar. 26, 1884, p. 2284.
-----
It is as silly and futile to talk through one’s nose as it is
inharmonious and unpleasant to sing through that organ. Slavery was
largely a question of economic conditions and excluding the saints,
the philosophers and the fanatics, men placed under similar
conditions usually think and act very much alike.
American slave ships made their voyages to and from the African
coast until the very outbreak of the Civil War brought on by that
trade. During the three years ending December 31, 1807, two hundred
and two slave ships entered the port of Charleston, South Carolina.
Seventy of these were owned in Great Britain, three in France, one
in Sweden, sixty-one in Charleston, fifty-nine in Rhode Island and
eight in other American ports. Altogether, 39,075 slaves were
brought in. Of the fifty-nine ships hailing from Rhode Island,
Bristol vessels brought 3,914; Newport, 3,488; Providence, 556, and
Warren, 280, mostly in brigs and schooners of two hundred tons or
less.[43]
-----
Footnote 43:
Munro, _Tales of an Old Sea Port_ (Bristol, R. I.), Princeton,
1917.
-----
In this chapter it is proposed to narrate the adventures of certain
of these ships concerning which exact information is now obtainable.
Among the vessels sailing from Charleston, during this period, was
the brig _Tartar_, James Taylor, master, owned by Frederick Tavell
of Charleston, a native of Switzerland. She cleared Nov. 22, 1806,
bound for Pongo River, just north of Sierra Leone, for a cargo of
slaves, and the owner instructed Francis Roux, the supercargo, to
make his trade as much as possible at the Rio Pongo and not to trade
at other places on the coast. The underwriters not allowing a stay
on the coast of more than four months, any cargo not disposed of
must be brought back to Charleston, and in case slaves were found to
be scarce, he was authorized to trade for beeswax to the amount of
one-third of the return cargo. All slaves taken aboard must be
marked or stamped. “Those belonging to the Cargo must be marked F T,
and those that may be shipped on board by James Taylor, Captain, for
Returns of his Four Hogsheads Tobacco, shall bear his Marks, in
order to have Mortality, if any, supported by property concerned.”
The brig measured 160 tons burden and mounted no guns. Her master,
James Taylor, was born in Boston, but lived in Charleston, as did
most of the crew. The ship’s doctor was a Frenchman. The cargo, for
trade on the coast, consisted of tobacco, brandy, claret, tar,
flour, five bales of dry goods, ten dozen of negro low pipes and a
box of white hats.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF AMERICAN SLAVE SHIP “MARTHA,” JUNE 6, 1850, OFF AMBRIZ,
BY U.S. BRIG “PERRY”
From a lithograph in Foote’s _Africa and the American Flag_, New
York, 1854
]
The brig arrived at the Rio Pongo, Jan. 24, 1807, and slaves being
scarce, the lading was not completed until Jan. 9, 1808,
notwithstanding the limitation of the underwriters. The slaves were
all natives of the Windward Coast and bore various marks in
accordance with their ownership, viz., an O on the right thigh; an O
on the right shoulder; a pipe bowl on the left hip; an O on the left
arm.
The _Tartar_ made the passage toward the American coast without any
unusual event until Feb. 2, 1808, when near Martinique, she was
overhauled and captured by H.M. ship of war _Ulysses_ and taken to
Barbadoes, where she was condemned as a lawful prize because (1) she
was proceeding from Africa to a colony of the enemy (_i.e._,
France), under a false designation, _i.e._, to Charleston: and (2)
because trade in slaves was contrary to the laws of America after
Jan. 1, 1808. Captain Taylor deposed that he had laid a course for
Martinique because he was likely to be in need of provisions, and
had he received an advantageous offer he should have sold his slaves
while there.[44]
-----
Footnote 44:
The briefs in this case were printed in London for the benefit of
the Lords Commissioners, sitting as a Court of Appeal, and from
one of these rare originals, owned by the Marine Research Society,
this account of the voyage has been abstracted.
-----
The schooner _Nancy_ of Charleston, South Carolina, sailed from that
port on June 1, 1807, bound for Africa, on a slaving voyage. She was
built at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, and was owned by John Gardner
and John C. Phillips, merchants of Charleston. She carried a cargo
of lumber and provisions, a small supply of trading goods, such as
handkerchiefs and beads, and $6,000 in money. Her master, Joshua
Viall, was a native of Warren, Rhode Island, and his crew consisted
of six Americans and three Portuguese, one of whom died of the
African disease, or slow fever, on the return voyage.
The _Nancy_ arrived at Senegal about the first of August, and there
Captain Viall sold his lumber and provisions and with the proceeds
and the cash he had brought with him, purchased eighty slaves at an
average cost of $125 each. The _Nancy_ was only 67 feet long, 20
feet 6 inches wide and 9 feet deep, which did not allow much spare
room for either crew or cargo, or for Thomas Bartholomew, a
passenger. Four or five days out from Senegal, as the slaves were
messing together one afternoon, the males and females apart, one of
the males seized the master as he was pouring molasses into his
victuals, whereupon the rest of the males rose and tried to seize
Captain Viall, but he escaped from their clutches and with the aid
of the crew drove the blacks below after small arms had been given
out. One negro jumped overboard during the mêlée and a few were
slightly wounded. This outbreak left the crew in a very nervous
state, especially when the two mates and two of the seamen soon
after fell sick of fevers, and not long after one of the seamen, in
a night watch, imagining that the slaves were about to rise, shot
and killed one of the slaves and the next night stabbed another.
Finding himself short-handed, Captain Viall decided to make for a
neutral port in the West Indies—St. Thomas or St. Bartholomew—to
obtain hands to navigate the schooner. About five leagues northward
of St. Thomas he fell in with H.M. schooner _Venus_, and
notwithstanding that he was in distress and asked for assistance, a
prize crew was put aboard and the _Nancy_ was ordered to Tortola,
where she was condemned for prosecuting a voyage from a French
colony and actually intending for the Havana or some other port in
the West Indies, hostile to Great Britain, instead of for
Charleston, the port named in her papers.
From time to time, after the abolition of the slave trade in 1808,
sporadic efforts were made by the United States Navy to suppress the
“smuggling” trade in slaves, but it was not until 1819 that a
squadron was sent to the African coast charged with the duty of
suppressing the trade carried on in American vessels. A number of
the officers in command were Southerners and the effectiveness of
the work done by them may be judged from the fact that Captain M. C.
Perry reported, “I could not even hear of an American slaving
vessel; and I am fully impressed with the belief that there is not
one at present afloat”; while Captain Trenchard reported that there
were three hundred slave ships on the coast and backed up his
opinion by capturing five American slavers. Beggarly appropriations
by Congress made it impossible to keep American naval vessels on the
African coast until the Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain, in
1842, made it compulsory that the United States should maintain a
“sufficient and adequate” naval force for the “suppression” of the
slave trade and the following year Commodore Perry was sent to the
African coast with four vessels under his command.
The slave coast was three thousand miles long and in playing the
game of “hide and seek” the odds were always with the slaver, for he
had only to run up a Spanish or Portuguese flag to be secure from
attack or injury. Moreover, in following the orders issued by the
Navy Department, only slavers with slaves actually on board could be
seized. Consequently, fully equipped slavers would sail past the
American fleet, deliberately make all preparations for shipping a
cargo and then, when the English were not near, “sell” the ship to a
Spaniard, hoist the Spanish flag, and again sail gaily past the
American fleet with a full cargo of slaves.[45]
-----
Footnote 45:
DuBois, _The Suppression of the African Slave Trade_, Cambridge,
1896.
-----
In 1845, the U.S. brig _Truxton_, captured, in the Rio Pongo, the
schooner _Spitfire_ of New Orleans, that had already run several
cargoes. She only measured about one hundred tons but when captured
had stowed 346 negroes, and the previous year had landed 339 near
Matanzas, Cuba. “Between her decks, where the slaves were packed,
there was not room enough for a man to sit, unless inclining his
head forward; their food was half a pint of rice per day, with one
pint of water. No one can imagine the sufferings of slaves on their
passage across, unless the conveyances in which they are taken are
examined. A good hearty negro costs but twenty dollars, or
thereabouts, and brings from three to four hundred dollars in
Cuba.”[46]
-----
Footnote 46:
Foote, _Africa and the American Flag_, New York, 1854.
-----
From this time on, United States war vessels were kept on the
African coast and slaving vessels were taken at intervals. One of
the most important captures was the ship _Martha_ of New York, taken
by the U.S. brig _Perry_, in June, 1850. The _Martha_ was a large
ship with two tiers of painted ports and was standing in for the
land towards Ambriz when overhauled. When within range of the guns
of the _Perry_, she hoisted the American ensign, shortened sail and
backed her main topsail. An officer was sent to board her and as his
boat was rounding her stern, the people on board, recognized his
uniform, and for the first time became aware that the brig was an
American vessel. The American colors were at once hauled down and
Brazilian colors hoisted in place. When the officer reached the
deck, the captain of the _Martha_ denied having papers, log, or
anything else; but it had been noted on the _Perry_, that something
had been thrown overboard, and another boat was sent which picked up
the writing desk of the captain, containing papers identifying him
as an American citizen. When confronted with this evidence, he
admitted that his ship was equipped for the slave trade. A slave
deck was found already laid below, with ample supplies of farina and
beans, four hundred wooden spoons, and necessary iron bars and
woodwork for securing slaves. The captain had expected to ship
eighteen hundred slaves during the following night and before
daylight to have been clear of the coast. The _Martha_ was condemned
at New York and the captain was admitted to bail for $5,000, which
was afterwards reduced to $3,000, which he forfeited and eventually
escaped justice.
As the clipper ship trade with California and China became less
profitable in the late ’50’s, it is not strange that some of these
fast vessels should have been used in the slave trade. One of the
best known was the _Nightingale_, a beautiful ship built at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1851. She was lavishly decorated and
her first voyage was to accommodate a trans-Atlantic excursion to
the World’s Fair in London; but her builder got into financial
difficulties and the intended voyage never was made. After making
several quick passages in the Australian and China trade she was
sold in New York, in 1860, to unknown parties, and her history
during the next eight months is veiled in mystery. It has been
stated that she at once sailed for Rio and went under the Brazilian
flag, but Commodore Perkins, while acting master of U.S.S. _Sumter_,
on the African coast, wrote home on April 15, 1860:
“The clipper ship _Nightingale_ of Salem, shipped a cargo of 2000
negroes and has gone clear with them.... She is a powerful clipper
and is the property of the captain, Bowen, who is called the ‘Prince
of Slavers.’”
The _Nightingale_ returned to New York in the late summer of 1860
and loaded with grain for Liverpool. On Nov. 24, 1860, she sailed
for St. Thomas, on the West Coast of Africa, and the _London Times_
remarked at the time, “It was well known in certain circles before
she sailed that she was a slaver.” She was reported at St. Thomas,
Jan. 14, 1861, and continued to dodge about the African coast until
April 21st, when she was seized by the U.S. sloop-of-war _Saratoga_,
Captain Taylor, who described her capture as follows:
“For some time the American ship _Nightingale_ of Boston, Francis
Bowen, master, has been watched on this coast under the suspicion of
being engaged in the slave trade. Several times we have fallen in
with her and although fully assured that she was about to engage in
this illicit trade she has had the benefit of the doubt. A few days
ago observing her at anchor at Kabenda, I came in and boarded her
and was induced to believe she was then preparing to receive slaves.
Under this impression the ship was got under way and went some
distance off but with the intention of returning under the cover of
the night; which was done and at 10 P. M. we anchored and sent two
boats under Lieutenant Guthrie to surprise her and it was found that
she had 961 slaves on board and was expecting more. Lieut. Guthrie
took possession of her as a prize and I have directed him to take
her to New York. She is a clipper of 1000 tons and has _Nightingale_
of Boston on her stern and flies American colors.”
The slaves were landed at Liberia, but not before one hundred and
sixty of them had died from African fever, which also attacked the
crew. On reaching Monrovia, little surplus food was found and the
mortality among the fever-stricken negroes must have been appalling.
The _Nightingale_ arrived at New York, June 13, 1861, where
Lieutenant Guthrie reported that Francis Bowen and a Spaniard named
Valentino Cortino, had made their escape while the ship lay at
anchor at St. Thomas. John J. Guthrie was a North Carolinian and
Bowen afterwards related that Guthrie had allowed him to get away.
The _Nightingale_ was condemned and purchased for the government and
afterwards used as a supply and store ship with the Gulf blockading
squadron. She was abandoned at sea April 17, 1893, in the North
Atlantic, at the time flying the Norwegian flag.[47]
-----
Footnote 47:
Howe and Matthews, _American Clipper Ships_, Salem, 1926.
-----
The _Sunny South_, another fast clipper ship, built at Williamsburg,
New York, in 1854, was sold in 1859, at Havana, for $18,000 and
renamed the _Emanuela_ and afterwards used in the slave trade. On
Oct. 10, 1860, she was captured in the doldrums of the Mozambique
Channel, with over eight hundred slaves aboard, by the _Brisk_,
British screw sloop-of-war. When first sighted in a haze, her
occupation was not suspected on account of her size and the
unusually large number of staysails and studding-sails set, and when
she hove to, she did so under full sail, without clewing anything
up. She was sent in to Mauritius, condemned as a prize and sold to
be used as a British cruiser.
[Illustration:
“NIGHTINGALE,” 1060 TONS, BUILT AT PORTSMOUTH, N. H., IN 1851
From a lithograph by N. Currier, after the drawing by C. Parsons
made in 1854.
]
One of the last of the slave-smuggling fleet was the yacht
_Wanderer_, built at Port Jefferson, Long Island, for a wealthy
member of the New York Yacht Club. She was launched in June, 1857,
and measured 260 tons burden. The next year she was sold to Capt. W.
C. Corrie. Her sailing master, Semmes, was a brother of the man who
afterwards commanded the Confederate cruiser _Alabama_. The
_Wanderer_ cleared from Charleston for Trinidad, as if on a pleasure
voyage, but made St. Helena and then went to the Congo. All the
while she was flying the flag of the New York Yacht Club and when
Captain Corrie fell in with the British warship _Medusa_, cruising
on the Congo coast in search of slaves, he ran alongside and
entertained the British officers with the best on board.
The supercargo afterwards told newspaper reporters that after a
sufficient number of bottles had been emptied, the British officers
were facetiously invited to inspect the _Wanderer_, to see if she
was not a slaver—a good joke that was appreciated by everybody.
After the _Medusa_ had proceeded up the coast, the _Wanderer_
quietly slipped into the Congo, to the crowded barracoons, where 750
young negroes from thirteen to eighteen years of age were taken
aboard. She got clear of the coast with her cargo, which she safely
landed on the Georgia coast about the 1st of December, 1858.
One of the owners of the _Wanderer_, Capt. A. C. McGhee of Columbus,
Georgia, was aboard and many years after he told the story of the
voyage.
“The most difficult part of the voyage was to get into port. The
only way to enter the mouth of the Savannah river was under the
black muzzles of the guns of the fort and it would have been madness
to attempt to enter with the contraband cargo, in open daylight.
Instead, Captain Semmes crept into the mouth of the Great Ogeechee,
by night, and ascended the river to the big swamp and there lay
concealed while he communicated with Charles L. A. Lamar, his
Savannah owner.
“Lamar thereupon announced that he was going to give a grand ball in
honor of the officers and garrison of the fort, and insisted that
the soldiers, as well as their superiors, should partake of the good
cheer. When the gayety was at its height, the _Wanderer_ stole into
the river and passed the guns of the fort unchallenged in the
darkness and made her way to Lamar’s plantations, some distance up
the river. The human cargo was soon disembarked and placed in charge
of the old rice-field negroes, who were nearly as savage as the new
importations.”[48]
-----
Footnote 48:
John R. Spears, _The American Slave Trade_, New York, 1900.
-----
This venture was conducted on such a scale and so many were
concerned in it, that it was impossible to keep the story a secret
for long and before the month was over the United States District
Attorney was on the trail and Lamar wrote to an associate that “hell
is to pay.” Arrests followed, there were hearings and Congress heard
of it; but the smugglers eventually escaped. The _Wanderer_ was
condemned and sold at auction, when she was bid in by her former
owners at a fourth of her value. It was afterwards said by one of
the owners that the “slaves that had been purchased for a few beads
and bandanna handkerchiefs [of course an exaggeration] were sold in
the market for from $600 to $700 apiece. The owners of the vessel
paid Captain Semmes $3500 for his services and cleared upward of
$10,000 apiece on the venture for themselves.”
Not long after this the case of the _Wanderer_ was brought to the
attention of the New York Yacht Club and on Feb. 2, 1859, Captain
Corrie was expelled from membership and the _Wanderer_ no longer had
the right to fly the flag of the club.
As slave trading at that time must be done “under cover,” it is not
strange that exact information of the succeeding movements of the
vessel is now difficult to obtain. One story relates that she sailed
for the West Coast of Africa in the spring of 1859, under Captain
Semmes, and again brought to the Georgia coast a cargo of slaves,
many of whom were sent to New Orleans and there sold. In October,
1859, she went to sea, without papers, under command of a “Captain
Martin,” and on Nov. 22d, when off the Canaries, the captain hailed
a French vessel and went aboard to obtain a supply of provisions.
The rest of the crew, having shipped without knowing the nature of
the proposed voyage, seized the _Wanderer_ and setting all sail
steered for Boston, where they arrived Dec. 24th and at once
surrendered to the United States authorities. On board were two
Portuguese women whom “Captain Martin” had carried off from one of
the Azores with the intention of trading them on the African coast
for negroes.
On learning of the arrival of the _Wanderer_, Lamar came to Boston,
and entered a formal demand for the vessel, claiming that Martin had
piratically seized her, and after a long hearing and appeal she was
restored to him.[49] Early in March, 1860, she cleared from Boston
and after reaching Savannah is said to have again made a voyage to
the West Coast. After the war broke out she was seized by the
Federal authorities and used as a revenue cutter. Later, she was in
the Central American trade and eventually was driven ashore on Cape
Henry, where her bones found a last resting place.
It was the fate of a New England sea captain, a native of Portland,
Maine, to pay the extreme penalty for slave trading, as late as Feb.
21, 1862. In the summer of 1860, Capt. Nathaniel Gordon, master of
the ship _Erie_, of 500 tons burden, and an experienced slaver,
sailed from New York, via Havana, for the Congo River, where he took
aboard 890 negroes, 600 of whom were boys and girls, and “thrust
them, densely crowded, between the decks and immediately set sail
for Cuba.” So reads the indictment. When only fifty miles from the
African coast, the _Erie_ was taken by the U.S. warship _Mohican_,
the negroes were carried to Liberia and released and Gordon and his
ship were sent to New York. Gordon was brought to trial as a pirate,
under the May 15, 1820, law, which made slave trading an act of
piracy, and the outcome was a mistrial. The following November, he
was again brought to trial and in two days a verdict of “guilty” was
returned. He was hanged on Feb. 21, 1862, after attempting to commit
suicide by poison,—a fate richly deserved but not attained by
thousands of others who had traded in human flesh.
-----
Footnote 49:
Bradlee, “The Last of the American Slavers,” in the _Marine
Journal_, May 22, 1926.
-----
CHAPTER XVI
SIX MONTHS ON A SLAVER IN 1860
The ship _Thomas Watson_, a smart looking vessel of about four
hundred tons burden, lay at anchor off the Battery, New York harbor,
one day in June, 1860, having just arrived from New London,
Connecticut, where she had been fitted out and received her crew,
who had shipped for a three years’ whaling cruise. Some of the
sailors, when they came aboard, were a bit mystified by the clean
and neat appearance of her decks and bulwarks—for whalers usually
are dirtier than a “lime-juicer” and the smell of oil pervades every
part of the vessel. About an hour before sunset the wind freshened
to a smart breeze and the mate came on deck and ordered the windlass
manned and hove the anchor to a short stay, after which a signal was
made for a tug and soon the ship was on the way to Sandy Hook.
Meantime the wind had increased and the tug casting loose from the
ship’s side took the tow-line, out ahead. Sail was then made and the
wind was in such a quarter that soon the tug could not keep the
tow-line out of water more than half the time and when the Hook was
reached and the line was cast off, the ship ran over it and the crew
could not haul it in without checking headway. This the captain
would not permit and so gave the order to cut the line.
After the ship had been at sea nine or ten days, all hands were kept
on deck in the afternoon to practice making and shortening sail, for
most of the crew were landsmen and never had smelled salt water
before this voyage. As soon as this was thoroughly learned, the men
were assigned their stations in the boats and great pains taken to
teach them the proper handling of the oars. When the latitude of the
Azores was reached a lookout was stationed aloft and directed to
keep his “weather-eye open for blows,” and this humbug of looking
out for “blows” was persisted in until the ship arrived off the
coast of Africa and the farce of whaling could no longer answer any
purpose.
Among the crew was a young sailor named Edward Manning, who had
signed articles under the fictitious name of Edward Melville. He
afterwards wrote an account of his experiences during this voyage,
which was published in 1879[50] and from this narrative the
following account has been condensed, as it preserves an excellent
description of life on board a slaver during the last days of
slaving, with intimate details not to be found elsewhere.
-----
Footnote 50:
_Six Months on a Slaver_, by Edward Manning, New York, 1879.
-----
It was not until after we had done with cruising off the Azores
Islands and had taken our departure for other parts, that our
suspicions were aroused that the whaling business was merely a
blind. The first evidence came to light after the crew had been set
to work breaking out the hold, and it appeared in the shape of huge
quantities of rice, hard-tack, salt beef, pork, etc., in quantities
large enough to feed a regiment for a long time. We also found a
great amount of light pine flooring. For what purpose it was
intended we could not then imagine, but it will be seen, later on,
that this was a very useful part of our outfit. The ship had no
regular “between-decks.” A small deck had been built directly under
the main-hatch and it was called the “blubber-room.” The blubber was
supposed to be sent there for “mincing.”
For weeks the sham of whaling was carried on and, whenever a blow
was cried out from aloft, all boats were called away. The master of
a _bona fide_ whaler could not have been more anxious to secure his
fish than our captain appeared to be. The strict discipline of a
whaler was also kept up and no favors had been shown in the way of
grub. We still had only our allowance of salt beef, pork, hard-tack,
and beans.
[Illustration:
CHASE OF THE SLAVER “GABRIEL,” JULY 6, 1841, BY H.M. BRIG “ACORN”
From a colored lithograph, after a drawing by N. M. Condy, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
Up to this time, however, we had not achieved much as a whaler, two
or three porpoises being the net catch of fish, and they were
harpooned from the bow. The blubber that we stripped from them,
after being minced and tried out, yielded but an insignificant
quantity of oil—not enough to make the try-pots even smell oily.
When not in the boats the work of breaking out the hold still went
on with vigor. After a large quantity of rice and hard-bread had
been shifted to the lazaret, the other stores were stowed up even
with the deck of the blubber-room. This was about five feet below
the main-deck. The pine flooring, which aroused our curiosity when
it first came to light, was now laid smoothly down on top of the
stores, thereby making a fair-looking floor. When we commenced
breaking out the forward part of the hold it was found to contain
chiefly large oil casks filled with fresh water. After stowing them
in like manner as we had done the stores, namely, even with the
blubber-room, we laid the pine flooring on top of them, and then had
a smooth floor, fore and aft. This was the second tangible piece of
evidence that our “whales” would not be taken out of the “mighty
ocean.”
The crew generally seemed to be well pleased at the new phase the
voyage had taken and were anxious for the time to come when the ship
would be well filled with “blackfish” oil, as they termed the
negroes, and her bow pointed toward the States. I did not share in
their satisfaction at the changed aspect of affairs, for I had
scruples about being made an outlaw in this summary manner and I
foolishly expressed my sentiments openly. I thus brought on myself
the ill-will of the captain. Later on, after the voyage was ended
and while I was waiting for a passage in a Mexican schooner from
Campeachy, Yucatan, to New Orleans, he swore that I should never
leave the beach alive. This, however, was all brag. I knew him to be
a coward and it did not intimidate me in the least.
Nearly three months had passed since we took our departure from
Sandy Hook and during all that time, with the exception of breaking
out the hold, there had been nothing unusual to change the
monotonous routine of daily work. But I judged now, by the whitish
appearance of the water and the orders given to the lookout to “keep
his eyes wide open,” that we must be approaching land. The captain
also passed a large part of the time on deck, night and day, and
whenever a sail was reported from aloft, he would jump into the
rigging, spy-glass in hand, and intently watch the approach of the
stranger. If the course she was sailing would bring her within
hailing distance, we at once avoided her by changing our course. Two
or three times the skippers of different vessels manifested a desire
to communicate with us by following in our wake, but, our ship being
a smart sailer, they were soon convinced that there was no chance of
overhauling us.
One night we had received orders from the captain that the whole
watch should keep a sharp lookout for land ahead and just at
daybreak the cry of “land-ho” was heard from a man stationed on the
foretop-sail yard. The captain and mate at once went up to the
maintop-sail yard, where they remained nearly an hour, scanning the
horizon in the direction where land had been reported. When they
returned to the deck it was noticed that the captain’s demeanor to
the mate had taken a decided change for the better. Perhaps he had
plainly told the latter what he intended to do, after which he no
doubt thought it prudent to treat his subordinate with a little more
respect, considering that he had taken the responsibility of making
him an outlaw without his consent.
At three o’clock or thereabouts, that afternoon, a small boat was
descried by the lookout. It appeared to be about two or three miles
distant and, as near as could be made out, her crew were pulling
toward our ship. When this was reported to the captain he directed
the man at the wheel to steer for her. We soon overhauled the boat
and found her full of negroes, whom I afterward learned were
kroomen. These kroomen were black as coal tar and perfectly naked.
They were sitting on the gunwales of their boat and propelling her
with paddles. Standing up in the bow was a powerfully built negro
holding in his right hand a bright-red rag which he kept waving to
and fro. The crew kept time with their paddles to the motion of this
rag and at every stroke they gave utterance to curious sounds which
much resembled the noise made by a flock of crows. Right amid-ships
of the boat we could see a white man, of dark complexion, whom we
afterward knew as “the Spaniard.” He was straddling a cask and by
his vehement gesticulation seemed to be urging the kroomen to do
their best.
The maintop-sail was now braced aback and a ladder was put over the
ship’s side. As soon as the boat had reached us our friend of the
cask mounted the ladder. Upon gaining the deck he rushed toward our
skipper and threw his arms around his neck, shook his hand again and
again and kept up such a constant fire of words that no opportunity
was given the latter to open his mouth. The Spaniard finally
recovered somewhat from the excitement of the meeting, after which
the captain invited him into the cabin.
As they went below orders were given to the kroomen to come on board
and to make the boat fast astern, giving her plenty of scope by
using a line from the ship. After this we were directed to “fill
away and stand in closer to the beach.” We ran toward land as far as
was safe, when the ship was again hove-to. The boat’s crew consisted
of nineteen or twenty kroomen, all large and muscular fellows. They
were all naked, not even having on a hat to protect their heads from
the rays of a sun that would have melted the skulls of us white men,
had we not had them well covered. Each one had a string of cowries
tied round his ankles and wrists. These, as I supposed, were used in
lieu of money for bartering. Two or three of them could speak a
little broken English. This they had probably learned from the
sailors of the English men-of-war frequenting the coast.
After a brief consultation our visitors selected one of their number
to act as spokesman. He at once made good use of his knowledge of
the English language by begging for something to eat. This we
supplied. After their hunger was appeased they commenced begging,
through their interpreter, for old shirts, hats, tobacco, and
everything else they could see or think of. Some of our men went
below and brought up a lot of old hats, shirts, etc., which they
offered to exchange for the cowries worn by the negroes on their
ankles and wrists. The kroomen seemed loath to part with these at
first, but the sight of a red flannel shirt was too tempting an
object for the leader (the knight of the red rag in the boat) to
resist and he soon succumbed. After this it was an easy thing to
strike up a trade with them. For an old shirt I secured a small
string of cowries, which are still in my possession. It was a
ludicrous sight to behold them strutting up and down the deck in
their new attire. None was completely clad. One fellow had on a
sou’wester and a short shirt; another, only a pair of overalls; and
another, a pair of old seaboots and a straw hat. This last was the
most extraordinary toilet I had ever seen.
The captain and his Spanish friend now came on deck and on beholding
the fantastic appearance of the kroomen, gave vent to a tremendous
roar. The boat was hauled to the gangway and her funny looking crew
ordered into her and after giving our skipper another affectionate
embrace the Spaniard took his departure. The maintop-sail was once
more filled away and we stood out to sea, braced up sharp on the
wind.
About this time our grub began to improve. The salt-horse kid was
now accompanied with pickled onions, canned meats and other
luxuries. Meanwhile “Bungs,” the ship’s cooper, was kept busy making
small kids and as fast as he finished a lot we spliced rope handles
in them. Away down in the run, with many things piled on top of
them, we had some time before brought to light about forty of the
same suspicious-looking kids. Later on it will be seen the use they
were put to.
After our departure from the African coast we cruised about for a
period of two weeks and during that time not a word was spoken by
our captain which would even lead us to infer that the vessel was
there for the purpose of carrying off a cargo of negroes. Of course
there could be no doubt of it—that we felt sure of; but what his
reasons were for not imparting some information on the subject at
this stage of affairs, was a mystery we could not solve. Even if the
men had the will to remonstrate, they were powerless to do anything.
There was not another person on board who had sufficient knowledge
of navigation to take charge of the ship and he knew it. The mate of
a merchantman is supposed to be a competent navigator, but in this
instance the rule did not hold good. Our mate knew less of
navigation than I did, for I could figure out a day’s work by
dead-reckoning and that was more than he could do.
The whaling humbug was played out now. The reporting of “blows” was
still carried on, but no boats were ever after lowered for this
purpose. During this whole two weeks I doubt if we were at any time
more than ninety or a hundred miles distant from the coast, for the
distance run off was generally recovered at the end of every
forty-eight hours, by sailing the other way.
The cooper finished making his kids and with those found in the hold
he mustered about sixty. All our provisions and water were handy but
the hold was very much lumbered up with a large quantity of shooks
and staves. These were finally hoisted to the deck and lashed along
the bulwarks.
One night, shortly after this work had been done, the yards were
squared and the course altered. The man at the wheel was cautioned
to be very careful with his steering and the captain remained on
deck all night. Sleep was out of the question in the forecastle and
the watch below lay down on their sea-chests. Those who were able to
think were no doubt wondering what the next day would bring forth;
for, ignorant as they were of navigation, they had sense enough to
know that, with a fair wind, the ship could not be more than a few
hours in reaching the coast. I could see that they were anxious and
perhaps a little frightened, for they all knew there was a gloomy
outlook ahead should the ship be taken with a load of negroes on
board. Confinement for several weeks in a prison on this sickly
coast was not a pleasant thing to contemplate.
At last the long, dreary night came to an end and, as I expected, at
the break of day the cry of “land-ho” was heard from aloft. At that
cry the captain exhibited openly his nervousness or cowardice.
Calling to the mate in a very shaky voice he directed him to take
the spy-glass, go aloft to the main-royal yard as quickly as he
could, and take a look all around inshore, and if he saw anything
that had the least appearance of a vessel to report it immediately.
He then directed the second mate to see that all hands were on deck
and to have them ready for quick work. As it happened, we were
already there, and as anxious as he, no doubt, for a few hours would
decide our fate.
The wind being light, the ship’s progress was slow, and it was fully
two hours before the land opened out sufficiently to tell how it
looked. The part of the coast we were approaching appeared to be
uninhabited, with a dense thicket two or three hundred yards back of
the beach. As we came nearer I could see a long, low shed, just on
the outskirts of the thicket facing the water. During all this time
the captain had been nervously moving about and every five or ten
minutes hailing the mate to inquire if he saw anything yet. On
receiving a negative answer, he would mutter audibly: “It’s strange.
She ought to be there.”
After the mate had been aloft nearly three hours, he suddenly cried
out,
“Sail-ho!”
“Where away?” said the captain.
“Right ahead, and close to the beach, sir,” responded the mate.
Orders were now given to the second mate to get both anchors ready
to let go, with a range of twenty fathoms on each chain. All hands
went at it with a will and the business was soon despatched.
“Can you make out her rig and has she any flag or signal set?”
yelled out the captain to the mate.
“She is schooner-rigged and has something flying at the main, but I
can’t make it out,” was the reply.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF SPANISH SLAVER “DOLORES,” APR. 4, 1816, OFF THE CONGO,
BY H.M. BRIG “FERRET”
From a colored lithograph, after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in
the Macpherson Collection
]
I now went aloft to the foretop and, looking toward the beach, I saw
the vessel reported by the mate apparently lying at anchor. While I
was aloft my chum passed me with a white signal flung over his
shoulder and as he started up the topmast rigging I asked him what
he was going to do with it.
“Bend her on to the signal halyards and stand by to run her up.”
The signal halyards had been rove but a short time previously and
the ends made fast in the cross-trees.
“I think that signal is plain white, sir, and there is a boat
pulling off from the beach,” sung out the mate.
“All right,” replied the captain: “run up the signal.”
“Ay, ay, sir,” answered Frank, and a moment later, the white signal
waved from the fore-truck.
The land opened out rapidly and I could now see the long, low shed
quite plainly. It looked as if it had been constructed by sticking
poles in the ground and using brush from the surrounding thicket for
the roof. This shed, I afterward learned, was called a “barracoon.”
When the boat reported by the mate was some four or five hundred
yards from the beach, her crew ceased paddling and awaited our
approach. The captain hailed the mate and told him to come down from
aloft and after he had reached the deck we commenced taking in light
sails, preparatory to coming to anchor.
We soon overhauled the small boat and our friend, the “palm-oil
trader,” stepped on board and gave our captain another affectionate
kiss. He was very much excited and I inferred from his actions that
he desired the ship brought at once to anchor. The captain seemed to
think differently, for he continued to run her in and did not anchor
until we were dangerously near the breakers. The sails were allowed
to hang in the buntlines, not half hauled up, and even the royals
did not have the turn of a gasket around them. It was surprising
that the ship did not drag her anchor, with so much sail for the
wind to act on. She lay hard aback and kept the small scope of chain
out as taut as a harp-string.
“Let everything hang as it is,” sung out the captain to the mate,
“and send all hands into the hold to put down the flooring. Don’t be
particular, but bear a hand.”
We went below and commenced to execute this order. The “palm-oil
merchant” danced up and down the deck like a lunatic and every
minute or two poked his head down the main-hatch and ordered us to
“hurree uppe.” No such driving was necessary, however, for we had
sense enough to realize that our anchor was down in a dangerous
place and we worked with a will. We soon had the flooring laid; not
very smoothly, it is true, but well enough to answer the purpose for
the present.
“Man the boats, men! Step smart now, my lads!” was the next order.
We tumbled into our boats and shoved clear of the ship. We had
pulled but a short distance when a large surf-boat passed us,
crammed full of naked negroes—men, women, and children. She was
manned by kroomen and they were using paddles to propel her. They
were all jabbering at once in their monkeyish lingo and every few
minutes I could see a paddle raised and brought down on the head of
some unlucky negro.
When they had reached the ship I cast my eye ahead to see where we
were going. I found that we had arrived within fifty or sixty yards
of the beach. Five or six strokes more would have put us in the
breakers, when the order was given to lie on our oars. Looking
toward the barracoon, I saw a long line of negroes walking in single
file, toward the beach, where a surf-boat was ready for launching.
After a number of them had gathered around the boat she was shoved
out far enough to float, the crew standing in the water up to their
waists and holding fast to the gunwales on each side, in order to
keep her bow to the breakers. The negroes were then seized, one by
one, and tumbled in promiscously. After loading her full, the crew
jumped in and seized the paddles.
This manoeuvre had to be executed quickly and it required
experienced hands to make it successful. The least sheer of the boat
would have brought the breakers quartering on the bow, when there
would have been danger of her being knocked broadside to them. Once
in that position, nothing could have saved her from being rolled
over by the heavy surf then running and the negroes precipitated
into the sea where possibly more than half of them would have
perished. She was, however, brought safely out of the surf and her
course directed toward our boat. The mate now gave us orders to
receive the negroes and carry them to the ship. He cautioned us to
take in our oars the moment the surf-boat reached us and then to
seize the paddles and stand ready to knock the negroes over the head
if they should all attempt to jump into our boat at once.
This warning was timely, for no sooner had she gained our side than
the rush began. We did our best to keep them back by using the only
argument they could understand, namely, hard knocks over the head.
We were nearly swamped, nevertheless, by a number of them getting on
one side of our boat as they piled into her. After they were all in
we shipped the oars and started for our vessel, the surf-boat
returning to the beach for another load. We made slow progress, the
boat being so overloaded that it was impossible to take a fair
stroke without chafing the backs of the negroes or striking them in
the face with the oars.
When we finally reached the ship they were passed up the ladder
until they came within the grasp of two swarthy Portuguese,
stationed in the gangway. These men, who had come from the shore in
the first boat, hauled the negroes up on deck. The poor creatures
were much scratched and bruised by this rough handling.
At the same time we had constantly to watch the simple blacks, to
prevent them from putting their hands on the outside of the gunwales
where there was great danger of getting them smashed against the
ship’s side at every roll of the boat.
After discharging our freight we started for another load, which we
obtained in the same manner and we landed them safely on board. In
this way we went back and forth until the last negro was put aboard
the ship, when the boats were hoisted. During the time we had been
thus engaged, the large surf-boats from the beach, although loaded
to their utmost capacity with negroes, had, strange to say, made
their way, in every case, through the breakers without losing a man.
When we arrived on board everything was in confusion. The negroes
had been put into the hold without the least regard for stowage.
Consequently, they were literally piled on one another; and the
unsteady motion of the ship, combined with the foul air and great
heat, made the place simply horrible. Naturally, they were nearly
all dreadfully sick at the stomach. The women had been put in the
steerage. The ship had what sailors call a high poop-deck—that is,
the cabin had been built on the maindeck. The forward part had been
partitioned off and the staterooms removed as far as practicable,
leaving almost a clear deck to the dividing line. This we called the
steerage. The wind circulated freely through it; therefore, it could
be called a Paradise compared with the hold. Hence, the women fared
much better than the men.
Now that our cargo was secured, we hove short the anchor and made
sail, the ship lying in the wind at the time. Then, after hauling
the head-sheets to windward and bracing up the head-yards on the
opposite tack to the one we intended to cast, the anchor was hove
up. But the ship would not fall off, and commenced drifting astern.
This would not do for we were already too close to the beach and our
captain gave the order to let go the anchor—the only safe thing to
do under the circumstances. The Spaniard, however, opposed it and
when he heard the chain rattle out through the hawsehole he flew up
and down the quarterdeck like a wild man, crying out, “Oh, no, no,
captain! English! English!” Then seizing a rope’s end he made
unpleasant motions with it about his neck—meaning, no doubt, that
there was danger of getting their guzzles squeezed should the anchor
be let go. We now took the end of a six-inch hawser through the
after-chock and, carrying it forward, made it fast to the chain
close to the water, after which the hawser was bowsed taut aft. In
the meantime, the second mate had unshackled the chain at the
thirty-fathom shackle and, leading the end out clear for running, he
stood by to let it slip.
Everything being ready, the order was given to slip the cable and as
the chain went out the hawse-pipe the hawser was bowsed in aft. As
the strain increased on the hawser the ship’s head fell off and as
soon as the canvas would draw we put it on the ship. We soon had the
pleasure of seeing the vessel go ahead instead of making sternway;
and we could consider ourselves fortunate in escaping with only the
loss of an anchor and hawser. The remainder of the day we devoted to
feeding and watering the negroes. We also threw overboard all the
shooks and staves lashed on the maindeck, after which we had more
room. It was now time to set the watch for the night; so nothing
more could be done for the comfort of the negroes until morning.
I omitted to state that the two Portuguese, who had assisted in
hauling the negroes over the side, returned to the beach in one of
the surf-boats after the cargo had all been taken on board.
Early next morning preparations were made to get a meal ready for
the negroes. One of the try-pots was filled about three-quarters
full of rice and two of the most intelligent of the blacks were
appointed cooks, the cooper acting as superintendent. While this was
being done we went down into the hold to see how they had fared
during the dreadful night that had just passed. Their haggard looks
bore evidence of the misery they had undergone. Pent up in such
close quarters and inhaling such a terrible stench, it was
miraculous that one-half of them had not perished. We found five or
six dead bodies which were at once hoisted to the deck and consigned
to the deep. There was no pretence of any religious ceremony. Just
as they were, naked and forlorn, they were tossed overboard and for
a long time we could see the bodies floating in the wake of the
ship. I could not stay below long for the stench almost suffocated
me. On reaching the deck I heard the captain say that at eight bells
the negroes must all be ordered up on deck to mess and while they
were thus employed we should thoroughly cleanse the hold.
Just before seven bells the captain notified the crew that there
would be no more forenoon watches below, for we were so short-handed
that no one could be spared from duty during the day. We were also
told that, purely as a matter of safety, all hands ought to remain
on deck in the daytime, lest the negroes might feel their power when
they saw how weak in numbers we were. We could say nothing against
this arrangement, for it looked reasonable enough. We must be
satisfied with eight hours’ rest every other night, or perhaps even
with less; for, should it be necessary to shorten sail, all hands
would certainly be required on deck.
The crew breakfasted at seven o’clock and at half-past seven we
turned to and commenced operations by sending the negroes on deck.
After the deck was filled so completely that there was scarcely room
enough to give us a chance to feed them, we found that a great
number would have to remain below and mess there. They were now
divided off into messes and the kids were filled by the cooper and
his cooks with the rice, which they had all ready, and smoking hot,
by this time. The kids were passed around to the messes and, in
addition to the rice, each man was allowed two sea-biscuits. Very
few of them had any inclination to eat, but the Spaniard, who took
exclusive charge of them, seized a rope’s end and raised their
appetites by showering blows on their bare shoulders. The poor
negroes, being thus forcibly compelled to eat, quickly stuck their
two forefingers into the hot rice and, taking up some, put it into
their mouths. It being very hot they rolled it about with their
tongues and their eyes looked as if they would burst from their
sockets before it was cool enough to swallow. After two or three
meals they learned to cool it before putting it into their mouths.
This feeding consumed nearly three hours; the hard usage they had
received, combined with the nausea caused by seasickness, making it
difficult for them to swallow or to retain any food on their
stomachs. After the kids were removed, a tin pot, containing about a
quart of fresh water, was passed to each one of them.
Before proceeding farther it would, perhaps, be well to describe the
negroes. The kroomen were in every respect superior to the others.
Large and well-built, with every appearance of robust health, they
would undoubtedly bring the highest price in the market. They could
all understand the Portuguese language and hence were invaluable to
the Spaniard as interpreters. On the plantation where our cargo had
been confined, prior to the time when they had been sent to the
barracoon, the kroomen acted as bosses over the others. On board the
ship they were armed with whips and given authority to abuse and
beat the common negroes whenever they felt like it. It seemed to me
that they felt like it much oftener than was necessary and took an
actual pleasure in doing it.
On the backs of all the kroomen a letter had been branded and some
also had their front teeth filed to a sharp point. Their complexions
varied, some being very black and some a bright bronze color. Those
whose teeth were not filed had beautiful sets. They were as white
and lustrous as pearl and as regular and perfect in every respect as
if they had been artificial. The kroomen were much better
proportioned than the other negroes; their noses were not so flat
nor the lips so thick. I suppose they all had names in their own
dialect, but the effort required to pronounce them was too much for
us, so we picked out our favorites and dubbed them “Main-stay,”
“Cat-head,” “Bull’s-eye,” “Rope-yarn,” and various other sea
phrases. These men did certain parts of the work and at night kept
order and silence in the hold. The business of feeding the negroes
was entrusted to them. We merely superintended the operation and saw
that each received the proper allowance and no more. We never had
occasion to punish them, as they faithfully performed the work
allotted to them. They even formed quite an attachment to certain
members of the crew, who furnished them with clothes and tobacco.
Give them a pipe and tobacco and the measure of their happiness was
full. No apprehension of trouble in the future seemed to interfere
with their present comfort.
The other negroes numbered about eight hundred and included all
sizes and ages—from infants at the breast to men and women of forty.
Many of them were branded with curious devices. In some cases the
whole body was covered with marks—not even the face being excepted.
A large number, also, had the front teeth filed, like the kroomen,
and when they opened their big thick lips they looked hideous. They
were devoid of all intelligence, not even having as much sagacity as
a Newfoundland dog. They were also arrant cowards; one white man
being sufficient to intimidate and manage a hundred of them. The
women were the pluckiest and had they all been of that sex we should
probably have had a mutiny on board before the ship had been at sea
two weeks. They numbered about two hundred and were stowed in the
poop, as I said before. They were, with a few exceptions, all fine
specimens of their race, physically. Five or six of the younger ones
were hopelessly sick—consumption was, I believe, the complaint. They
made more noise at night than all the males together. While on watch
I often saw the Spaniard, whip in hand, bounce in among them and
fiercely cut out right and left. This treatment would have the
desired effect, for that night at least.
We had about fifty or sixty negro boys on board, ranging from six to
fourteen years of age. They were all sound in body and enjoyed
excellent health. The little fellows made no trouble at night, the
awful looks of the kroomen acting like magic in suppressing any such
tendency.
[Illustration:
THE CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “BOLODORA,” BY H.M. SCHOONER “PICKLE,”
JUNE 6, 1829
From the colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in
the Macpherson Collection
]
Before sending the negroes below, the hold had to be thoroughly
cleaned and a system devised for keeping it so. The Spanish captain,
as he finally came to be called—no other name having transpired
among the seamen—divided most of the kroomen into gangs and
partitioned off the hold, each gang having a part of it to keep
clean and a number of negroes to attend to. Those that remained were
stationed on deck, to do whatever was required of them.
After these preliminaries were all arranged the work was commenced.
In a short time the hold was thoroughly scrubbed out and the
flooring laid down evenly, which made it much more comfortable to
lie upon. Just forward of the fore-hatch, two spare try-pots had
been lashed. They took up a great deal of room that was needed for
other purposes and as they were a superfluous luxury for this kind
of whaling, we got the captain’s permission to try our strength on
them with a top-maul. After a great many blows had been given, we
finally broke them into pieces small enough to handle and then
tossed them overboard. The hold was now greatly improved and the
negroes were sent below with a better prospect of being able to live
there. Windsails were set at each hatchway and kept trimmed, and
when there was any wind a refreshing air was distributed throughout
the hold.
The Spanish captain, who was our mainstay in regulating the negroes,
was an exceedingly ferocious man among them. Our own captain said of
him that he had run eight cargoes to the Island of Cuba and had
never once met with an accident. Having had such an extensive
experience in the business, he must have thoroughly understood the
best and safest way of handling them. When the number of negroes on
board is compared with that of the crew (there were only eighteen of
us), it will be seen that orders in regard to them, whether for
punishment or anything else, had to be promptly executed and without
the least appearance of fear. So great was their terror of the
Spaniard that I verily believe he could have controlled the whole of
them single-handed. Yet I never saw him practice any deliberate
cruelty with the exception of two or three instances to be mentioned
hereafter.
Among the little girls he was a great favorite and I cannot recall a
single instance when he punished them or caused it to be done by the
kroomen. During many a hot, sultry day, when the awning was spread
across the main-deck, he would permit the little ones to gambol and
play under it, often exerting his fancy to assist their childish
amusements. He would frequently take small strips of calico,
eighteen or twenty inches in length, tie them in the rigging, and
then start a race, giving each an equal chance, to see who could
secure one of the pieces. This was a prize to the lucky one, and she
was regarded with envy by those who failed to secure a strip. The
calico was afterward put to a practical use in the way of aprons.
The Spaniard was also well skilled in medicine and by his
intelligent treatment of the sick saved a number of lives.
As soon as the negroes were sent below after their first meal, he
arranged for feeding them in the future at regular intervals. At
eight o’clock in the morning breakfast was to be served. Then the
kids were to be rinsed out, filled with salt-water and one passed to
each mess, the members of which should be made to wash their hands
and faces. After this, every man, woman, and child was to be allowed
one quart of water each. The same programme was to be enforced at
the afternoon meal, which was to commence at three o’clock. At first
it required nearly three hours for each meal, but after a week’s
practice the time was reduced to about two hours.
On the first day, when we had finished feeding them in the
afternoon, it was six o’clock, the time appointed for all the
negroes to be stowed away for the night. After the deck was cleared
we went below to see that the kroomen arranged them properly.
Commencing forward, we made the first man lie down, head to
windward, facing toward the bow, and the knees slightly drawn toward
the chin. Another one was then placed alongside, with his breast
touching the back of the first and his knees bent at a similar
angle. In this manner we stowed them, in tiers, the length and width
of the hold. The kroomen were allowed the privilege of reclining as
they chose, but it was their duty to keep the others in their proper
places. When daylight came the negroes could change their positions
to suit themselves.
At five o’clock every morning we commenced to wash down the
maindeck, which was also the signal for the cooper to call his cooks
and prepare the food for the negroes. After scrubbing and scraping
until seven o’clock, the watch on deck would call the watch below
and all hands go to breakfast. We were allowed half an hour for
breakfast, after which the negroes had to be sent on deck and
arranged in their proper messes for the meal. In the course of a
week’s time we had them nicely regulated and after that there was no
further trouble.
The Spanish captain now selected from among the kroomen his medical
assistant. This negro went by the name of “shikko”—signifying, in
their dialect, doctor—and he was very useful in helping his master.
The shikko having found a great many sick below, the Spanish captain
immediately held a consultation with the captain of the ship which
resulted in a hospital being extemporized under the top-gallant
forecastle. All the invalids were conveyed there and received prompt
treatment. Dysentery, caused largely, no doubt, by the change of
diet and water, was the principal and most fatal disease that
attacked them. After lingering a long time, and suffering greatly,
the first patients all died. Two or three cases of smallpox broke
out, which received prompt treatment; but these also were fatal. It
was providential that this loathsome disease did not spread. Had it
done so, God only knows what would have been our fate. There
occurred one remarkable case which the captain called the coast
scurvy. The man sick with it swelled until his whole skin was
transparent. No medicine gave him any relief and his sufferings were
terrible to witness. He lived fully two weeks in dreadful agony
before death relieved him. There was a case of palsy among the males
and that the Spanish captain could do nothing for. When the poor
victim took the water-cup in his hand it would shake very much and
this pleased the negroes so that they would shout and laugh at an
immoderate rate. Sometimes an application of the whip was necessary
to quiet them.
Only one birth occurred on the passage. A woman was delivered of
twins—one dead and the other living but a few hours after birth.
When the negroes were all below and stowed for the night, one of the
watch was stationed at each hatch to guard it for two hours. At the
expiration of this time he was relieved by another and so on until
daylight. While on this duty the men were armed with native African
swords or knives which the Spanish captain supplied. They looked
like large rusty cheese-knives and, in my opinion, the only thing
they were good for was to bang against the combings of the hatch.
When the negroes were noisy the watch would yell out something which
sounded like “Yock ho!” This always acted like magic for on hearing
it they would quiet down instantly.
The crew expressed a wish for revolvers, to protect themselves in
case of a sudden attack in force, but the Spanish captain said the
sight of these rusty old knives would have inspired more fear than a
dozen revolvers, the bulk of the negroes not even knowing the use of
a pistol and hence having no fear of it. I thought that story would
do to “tell to the marines.” The crew, fully armed with revolvers,
would have been a formidable force and in case of a misunderstanding
with the after-guards, would have held the balance of power. We
carried our sheath-knives belted around the waist, which is
customary with sailors, until our captain gave us a sensible hint to
put them out of sight when among the negroes or the latter might
take a notion to grab them.
The hatches had never been put on, the hold being open night and
day. After we had been out four weeks some of them became so bold at
night that they would disregard the orders of the kroomen and come
to the hatchway. A slap over the head with the flat side of the
sword, given by the man on watch, was something they could better
understand and it never failed to be followed by an instant
disappearance on the part of the offender.
One morning a krooman reported to the Spanish captain a negro who
had resisted his authority during the night. The offender was
hustled upon deck, stretched out at full length, face downward, and
tied to the ring-bolts. One of the kroomen now commenced lashing the
poor creature over the back and when he flagged another took his
place and renewed the beating. The negro was grit to the bone and
made not the slightest outcry. Not until life was almost extinct did
the Spaniard order him released. It was the latter’s wish to draw
blood, but the negro’s hide was so tough it could not be done by
thrashing.
There was a large and corpulent woman in the steerage whom the
sailors called “Miss Porpoise” and, judging by the grin that was
always on her countenance, she seemed to be happy and contented with
her present quarters. One day she appeared anxious to look over the
rail and to gratify her desire some one gave her permission to do
so. I was suddenly startled by the shrill cries of a female and on
looking aft I saw the Spaniard lambasting “Miss Porpoise.” He was
holding her by the wool with his left hand and she was bawling at a
tremendous rate. After he had given her a sound thrashing a nail was
driven into one of the beams in the steerage, when a piece of
ordinary twine was tied around Miss Porpoise’s arm and secured to
the nail. He called to an interpreter and told him something which,
on being translated, had a pacifying effect on “Miss Porpoise’s”
nerves, for her bawling at once ceased and she tried to avoid his
eye.
It afterward transpired that this excitement was caused by “Miss
Porpoise” trying to jump overboard. She nearly succeeded, as her
body was half-way over the rail before the Spaniard saw her, and he
was just in time to seize her legs and haul her back. We watched her
after this, but she never broke the twine by which her arm was held.
It was not a very secure way of putting her in irons but it
nevertheless answered the purpose.
For several weeks after leaving the African coast, in consequence of
light winds and calms, the vessel made but a poor run, so that there
was every prospect of a long passage. About this time the allowance
of water was reduced. There was no change made in the allowance of
food, for we had an ample stock on board. On the contrary, the
negroes were fed better, a certain quantity of pork and beef being
given them twice a week. Good care and plenty to eat made a marked
improvement in their appearance, at which the Spanish captain was
proportionately pleased. A fine healthy negro would bring a much
higher price than a puny, sickly one; therefore, to feed them well
and take good care of them meant an increase of doubloons to the
owners. Up to this period we had lost but about twenty and this
mortality was caused principally by dysentery. When the wind was
light during the day the maindeck awning was spread and the negroes
in the hold were allowed to come up and stretch their limbs. This
was a great relief from the intense heat and foul air of the hold
and was no doubt the cause of saving a number of lives.
One afternoon the weather clouded up and by six o’clock it rained
hard. We had made preparations to catch all the water we could by
spreading the awning, leaving the crowfoot-halyards slack so it
would settle down in the centre. The rain continued off and on until
midnight by which time some eight or nine large casks had been
filled. This stroke of good luck was thoroughly appreciated.
Among the ship’s stores, stowed aft in the lazaret, were five or six
barrels of New England rum. The sailors all knew of its being there;
for, at the time we were breaking out the stores, two or three
barrels had been unearthed and some of them had got a taste by
sucking it through a straw when the officers’ backs were turned.
When the negroes were taken on board, the crew supposed an allowance
of grog would be a sure thing for the balance of the voyage. In this
they were mistaken for not a smell did they get except what they had
stolen. The old man appropriated it all to himself and managed to
get dead drunk every day by 4 P.M., after which he would retire to
one of the spare boats on the poop-deck and sleep off the effects.
He made this a regular business, leaving the ship in charge of the
officers. The Spanish captain remonstrated with him and pointed out
the bad example he was setting the crew. Arguments had no effect,
however, for he continued to drink until the cargo was disposed of.
One afternoon an occurrence took place which came near resulting
seriously. Just before arriving at the sleepy-drunk stage he always
manifested a very ugly temper and usually relieved himself by
cursing the men. During the earlier part of the afternoon mentioned
the wind had died out and the ship was becalmed. The yards were
squared and the courses hauled up to prevent chafing. The captain
came on deck and gave orders to set the studding-sails. This was
useless, as there was no wind and the officers told him so. He then
began to swear at the officer of the deck and told him to go below,
after which he bawled out to the men to reeve the gear. Having had
plenty of work all the forenoon and scarcely any rest during the
previous night, they were not in the humor for such unnecessary
labor and, as they took the gear in hand to reeve, there was much
audible growling. The captain had just rum enough in him to forget
the kind of a voyage the ship was on and he cursed and threatened to
trice up the first man he heard growl.
This was too much to take from him and the men threw the gear on
deck and made a move toward him. Very opportunely for the old man
the Spanish captain came on deck and took in the situation at a
glance. Placing himself between the ladder that led to the poop and
the men, he vehemently gesticulated and said, “No, no! Bad—very
bad!” He called the officers and told them to tell the men not to do
anything rash, for the captain was drunk and did not know what he
was doing. It was some time before the men could be pacified and
induced to go forward. I think the captain must have been sensible
of his danger, for, drunk as he was, he had the prudence to go below
instead of lying down in the boat as he had done on former
occasions. This was a good lesson for him. He never again threatened
to trice us up and his orders were not embellished with so many
disgusting oaths as heretofore.
About this time the negroes were given their first bath. They were
hustled upon deck and arranged in tiers, standing. The hose was now
attached to the head-pump and a lively stream squirted over them.
They laughed and chattered good-naturedly while receiving this
ducking. After being confined in the hold all night the cool
sea-water must have been very refreshing.
Nothing else of consequence transpired during this part of the
voyage unless it was the appearance of a sail which was sighted from
aloft one afternoon about five o’clock. As soon as the stranger
could be made out from the deck the captain was anxious to determine
the course she was steering. On a nearer approach it was evident
that she was heading toward our ship. We did not, however, alter our
course until we were absolutely certain that she would come close to
us, for this running off caused too much loss of ground. But we had
finally to do it or the stranger would soon have been within hailing
distance.
About the seventh week of the voyage from the coast there was a fine
breeze blowing and the ship was making splendid time. I began to
soliloquize as follows: If this glorious wind holds on ten or twelve
days longer we must make land somewhere. It is nearly time, too,
that the negroes were disposed of, for it does not require a very
bright pair of eyes to see that they have not quite so much fear of
the white man as they had when brought on board. Latterly it has
been a difficult matter to keep them quiet during the night and many
a rap on the hatch has now to be given before they will pay
attention and cease their noise. The kroomen, also, have become
bolder and sometimes an order given to them has to be accompanied
with a crack of the whip, so little inclination do they show to
move.
On Monday afternoon the negroes were sent on deck, as orders had
been given to fumigate the hold. We took small tin pots filled with
tar and marline-spikes heated nearly red-hot and, spreading
ourselves throughout the hold, we commenced operations by sticking
the hot irons into the tar, when a dense smoke followed. This we
continued to do until the smoke became suffocating and we had to
return to the deck for air. The hatches were put on and not taken
off for two hours. This tar-smoke sweetened and purified the
atmosphere below completely. After the smoke was let out we found
that the sickening odor, which had before been so strong, was
completely eradicated.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE SLAVER “EL ALMIRANTE,” FEB. 1, 1829, IN THE BIGHT
OF BENIN, BY H.M. BRIG “BLACK JOKE”
From a colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in
the Macpherson Collection
]
It was a dangerous way to fumigate, I thought, for had the tar
ignited when it boiled over the tin pots and was running down
between the casks and dunnage, it would have been difficult to save
the ship from destruction by fire. In that case the loss of life
would have been appalling; all the negroes would certainly have
perished, either by fire or water. No accident happened, however,
and I think all felt relieved when this necessary but dangerous duty
was over.
On Wednesday morning of this same week one of the crew, while on
guard-duty, discovered that a part of the flooring, just abaft the
fore-hatch, had been taken out. Thinking that the negroes were up to
some mischief, he secreted himself forward of the hatch, and,
elevating his head enough to peer over the combing, awaited
developments. In a short time he saw a large negro crawl up to a
water-cask and try to get the bung out. He hammered around it with
his fist, in the same way we usually did with a mallet or
marline-spike, to loosen the bung and after getting it started
removed it with his fingers. He then ran into the cask a thin stick,
about three feet in length and drawing it quickly out, caught the
water in the palm of his hand as it ran down. This he continued to
do until he became satisfied, when the stick was passed to another
who quenched his thirst in the same manner. Finally, the man
watching at the hatch concluded that this had been carried on long
enough and marking the fellow who had removed the bung, so as to be
able to identify him when the gratings were removed in the morning,
struck the hatch with his sword and frightened the negroes off.
Before they were sent on deck he went below to find the culprit and
the stick. The man was easily found but the stick was not. It had,
no doubt, been hidden under the flooring, and it would have been a
big job to find it. The board over the cask had been returned to its
proper place and if they had not been caught in the act it would
never have been discovered.
After breakfast the affair was reported to the Spanish captain. He
caused all the kroomen stationed in the forward part of the hold to
be brought before him at the mast and by the use of his interpreter
endeavored to find out if they knew anything about it. They were
ignorant of the whole affair, not having seen or heard anything of
it. The Spaniard believed they lied and flew into a great passion
and threatened to do all sorts of terrible things to them if they
did not expose the guilty ones. No threats could intimidate any one
of them sufficiently to make him turn informer; they were obdurate
and he finally dismissed them by slashing out right and left with
his whip.
The culprit was now brought before him when he gave orders to the
kroomen to lash him to the ring-bolts in the deck. After securing
the poor wretch so that it would be impossible for him to move a
limb, the order was given to the kroomen to proceed to business.
This they did by beating him with their whips, putting forth all
their strength in delivering the blows. The punishment continued so
long that I thought the man would have died under it; but his
endurance was wonderful and he only uttered a few groans. When the
beating was finally discontinued the Spaniard stooped down alongside
of him and taking a razor out of his pocket, opened it and cut long,
straight gashes in the flesh. Afterward he took a flat piece of
wood, resembling a ruler, and beat gently all around the wounds
which had the effect of making them bleed freely. Having
accomplished this he ordered the “shikko” to get a pot full of brine
out of the harness cask and apply it to the bleeding wounds. When
this was done the poor negro could suppress his anguish no longer
and groaned aloud. After being kept in this awful agony for ten
minutes he was released from the ring-bolts and put in double irons.
The captain of the ship and all the crew witnessed this inhuman
punishment and I will give our own commander credit for having more
heart than the Spaniard for he told him he was too severe on the
negro. The crew were all bitterly incensed against the “d— Dago,” as
they called him, and gave vent to their feelings by calling him “a
bloody cannibal” and expressing a desire to serve him the same way
to see how he would like it.
This was the only negro punished in this manner. I think if it had
been attempted again the captain would have interfered and if he had
not the men would have prevented it. The unfortunate victim of the
Spaniard’s cruelty did not recover while on board and was still very
sick when landed.
When the negroes were again watered we received orders to give them
a full allowance—about a quart. Perhaps the captains were afraid
thirst would make them desperate at night and thought it would be
better to allow them a little more water than to have them steal it.
One afternoon the captain called for “Chips” and me and instructed
us to rig a stage over the stern and scrape off the ship’s name,
adding that we were “now bloody pirates and should sail without a
name.”
Although the wind had been light during the day and the sea was
smooth, yet, after getting on the stage, we found we had a difficult
and dangerous task to perform. The swell was quite heavy and as it
struck the vessel’s stern it lifted it high out of the water. When
the wave reached the bow the motion was reversed. This is what
sailors call “kicking.”
The stage was let down too far, which nearly cost us our lives; for
at the first moment the vessel lifted it swung in under the counter
and we had barely time to give it a swing out when the stern
dropped. Had we lost one second’s time in doing this we should have
been smashed as flat as a pancake. As it was we received a ducking
and it required all our strength to hold on and save ourselves from
being washed away. After raising the stage we finally succeeded in
scraping off the name. We were now outlaws and would be a prize for
any vessel strong enough to capture us. The ship might be taken but
the captain swore that the negroes never should. In case of such an
emergency he would “walk them all overboard and send them to hell!”
The voyage, however, was soon to be ended, for the fine winds we had
experienced during the past two weeks had brought us near to the
Island of Cuba. Every thread of canvas that the ship could carry had
been spread, which made her jump through the water like a racehorse.
My whole thoughts were centered on this breeze and if it moderated a
little, down went my spirits; but if it increased, up they would go.
Many a day when the negroes were on deck I have thought how easy a
matter it would be for them to overpower us and send all hands to
Davy Jones. What a great difference between them and the Chinese
coolies! One-third as many coolies would have long since despatched
us all had they been allowed on deck without being ironed as the
negroes were. The racks in the steerage were full of spare harpoons
and lances and they would have been formidable weapons in the hands
of an enemy. Ordinary common sense on the captain’s part should have
taught him the necessity of having them removed, in the first place,
to some part of the ship less accessible to the blacks. This was not
done, however, until after they had stared the negroes in the face
for five weeks and the kroomen were noticing them more than was
thought good for our safety.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear with the wind still fair and
blowing fresh. It was time that the ship was made to look more like
a merchantman for we were now getting in the track of West Indian
vessels. It was by no means improbable that the unusual appearance
of a whaler in these waters would arouse suspicion and the commander
of some man-of-war might be notified of the fact and have a desire
to investigate us. The ship was painted black with the exception of
a narrow yellow ribbon running around the hull. This was painted out
but the appearance of the vessel was not much altered. Two of the
whale-boats were taken in on deck and the davits unshipped and hove
overboard. We had now four boats on deck, taking up considerable
room; if the ship had been supplied with gallows or bearers, two of
them could have been put out of the way. As they were a nuisance on
deck and interfered with the working of the ship, the captain
ordered them to be scuttled and thrown overboard. A large number of
harpoons and lances, a fine chest of carpenter’s and cooper’s tools
and a great many other things were also sent after them. The captain
gave no reason for this wholesale destruction of the ship’s
property, probably considering it no one’s business.
On Monday there was a strong breeze and the royals had to be furled.
The ship being so crank, on account of insufficient ballast, the
quantity of canvas that was carried careened her to such extent that
on leaning over the weather-side one could almost see the keel. This
made it very uncomfortable for the negroes in the hold and at every
heavy lurch they would fly to leeward faster than was safe or
pleasant. The stiff breeze had also raised quite a heavy sea which
made a large number sick. This diminished their appetites and when
the food was served out in the afternoon very few of them would
touch it. The Spanish captain swore that they should eat, anyhow,
since the trouble had been taken to cook the food; and he made the
poor darkies swallow it or take a lambasting.
The captain expected to make land late this afternoon or the next
morning. The lookouts were doubled and instructions given to watch
for high land and a small craft. I think it was about noon, or a
little later, when the man on the lookout forward suddenly sung
out—“Land-ho!” The captain happened to be on deck and he at once
went aloft where he remained for some time. On his return he engaged
the Spaniard in conversation. The ship’s course was not altered and
we rapidly lessened our distance from the shore.
Shortly after this the cry of “Sail-ho!” from aloft startled us. We
anxiously watched the approach of the stranger, which we soon made
out to be a small sloop standing for us. Both of the captains
watched her movements intently. The strong breeze soon brought her
close to us, when our fore-royal halyards were let go. As the yard
settled down it was answered by the slacking down of her peak. This
seemed to dispel all doubt in the minds of the two captains and the
ship was hove to immediately. The peak of the sloop’s mainsail was
hoisted when she came within hailing distance and luffed up in the
wind. The Spanish captain now hailed her in his own language and
after a short conversation with the sloop’s skipper we were ordered
to man the starboard boat. This was promptly done and we lowered her
and pulled alongside of the sloop. Her skipper jumped in and we
brought him to the ship. He remained some time in conversation with
our captain, the Spaniard in the meantime writing a letter. This he
gave to his visitor, together with some verbal instructions, after
which we carried the latter back to his sloop. As soon as we had
shoved clear of his vessel’s side he at once made sail and stood in
for the land.
After the boat was hoisted we filled away the main-topsail and stood
off shore. This disappointed all hands for we expected that the
negroes were to be landed and to now see her head turned seaward was
a great disappointment. It afterwards transpired that the skipper of
the sloop had been on the lookout for us for some time, to deliver
instructions. We also learned that arrangements had to be made to
send out a couple of small craft to receive our cargo. These vessels
were to lay outside of the cruising ground of the men-of-war that
patrolled this part of the coast. We were to lay off shore, as much
out of danger as possible, until Saturday morning, by which time we
must come back to the position we had left.
Word had been passed to feed the negroes in the hold for it was too
late to have them sent on deck; besides, it would not be prudent to
have too many of them in sight while the ship was on such dangerous
ground. Fortunately the cook had not neglected to have their food
prepared so there was no delay on that score.
I had the wheel at this time and there was not another person on
deck with me except the ship’s cook. The wind continued to increase
and gradually hauled to the northward so far that I could not keep
the ship on her compass-course without the sails lifting. I bawled
out three or four times to the cook, but he must have been making
such a noise with his pots and kettles that no human voice from aft
could reach him. I had her off three or four points when the wind,
in a sudden squall, veered nearly north and knocked her sails almost
aback. I quickly hove up the helm and the ship, not having had time
to lose all way, slowly fell off and the sails filled. The wind was
so strong that she careened until the lee-rail was under water. The
waves now rushed down the hatchways, washing the negroes, flooring,
and everything movable down to leeward and creating an intense
excitement among all hands. A few minutes afterward the captain and
crew crawled upon deck, when the ship was at once put under
close-reef and hove-to. It now blew a strong “norther.”
The gale lasted until sundown the next day, after which it moderated
enough to set the top-gallant sails. I was glad to see it subside
for the sake of the poor negroes, who suffered greatly from the
pitching and rolling of the vessel and the want of pure air. The
hatch-hoods had to be kept on during the gale to prevent the water
from going below and this materially interfered with the ventilation
of the hold. The following day we had pleasant weather and when the
ship was on her course the wind was about abeam. As we had been
driven off shore a long distance, it was necessary to set all sail
to enable us to reach the rendezvous by the appointed time, which
was the next morning.
The crew joked among themselves about the ludicrous condition of
things generally in the hold when the gale first struck the ship. It
seems that they had finished the feeding and the water-tubs had been
filled and placed in convenient locations for serving out, when
suddenly, and without any warning, they were pitched head-over-heels
to leeward and nearly mashed by the piles of negroes that tumbled on
top of them. The water-tubs, too, went flying in the same direction,
spilling out their contents and barking a good many shins. It was
some time before the sailors could extricate themselves from under
the negroes, fright so completely paralyzing the darkies that they
were incapable of moving a limb.
Frank, my chum, told me that the “niggers turned as white as chalk.”
I make a little allowance, however, for his excited imagination. The
captain fared no better than the common sailors, for he was knocked
down and a score of negroes tumbled on top of him. He afterward
observed that they smelled “worse than rotten codfish” and the
effluvia was harder to stand than all their weight.
During the afternoon the last porker, out of a dozen taken on board
before we left America, was slaughtered and a “whack” sent forward
in the shape of a sea-pie. We had quite an affection for this little
pig and felt sorry when he was so cruelly slain. After the cargo was
shipped he was released from his pen and allowed to roam about the
main-deck. Being thus brought in contact with so many men he became
very tame and had “acquired considerable knowledge,” as the cook
expressed it. Some of the sailors taught him a number of tricks the
best of which was jumping through a hoop. This the porker became
expert at and could accomplish his feat without touching a leg to
the hoop. They also taught him to come when whistled for. He was
considered a member of the starboard watch for when that watch was
called he was sure to turn out from under the windlass and snoop
around on deck until they went below again, at eight bells. When the
sea-pie came forward we did justice to his remains thus proving that
our love for him was strong,—even in death.
All hands voluntarily remained on deck all night and took lookouts
below and aloft, for we were again getting close to the island and
in the track of vessels. No light was allowed in the cabin and the
binnacle was covered over with a canvas hood—a small hole only being
left open through which the man at the wheel could see the compass.
For some reason the negroes became very much excited and made a
great deal of noise and all the threats of the Spaniard had no
effect in quieting them. Had any vessel passed near us I think the
people on board would have been astonished at hearing such a bedlam
of sounds. Two or three lights were reported by the men on lookout
but we easily avoided them.
[Illustration:
THE SLAVER “L’ANTONIO,” WITH OTHER BLACK CRAFT, LYING IN BONNY
RIVER
From a colored lithograph published in London, in 1841, in the
Macpherson Collection
]
The night finally came to an end as even the longest one must and we
prepared to give the negroes the last breakfast they would ever take
on board. Orders were given to consume as little time as possible in
feeding them and in obedience to these instructions we were not
over-particular and hurried matters all that we could. In
consideration of its being the last meal we gave them a blow-out on
water by allowing every one all he could drink. This meal was served
in the hold, not a negro being allowed to put his head on deck, the
kroomen not excepted. We then swallowed a hasty breakfast ourselves,
after which a stage was rigged to put over the side. This was
afterward used in transferring the negroes. During all this time the
lookouts had continued their vigilance but no sign of any small
vessels could be seen on any part of the horizon. At four bells (ten
o’clock) land was made out from the foretop-gallant yard. The
captain now considered the ship close enough in and had her hove-to.
A little before twelve o’clock a sail was reported inshore and to
the westward of our ship and a few minutes later another one was
made out in about the same position. The captain now took the
spyglass and went aloft where he remained fully an hour watching the
strangers. During the time we made out the two vessels to be
schooners.
When the captain returned to the deck the Spaniard accosted him, and
advised that the ship should be filled-away at once and her course
shaped for the schooners as near as the wind would permit. The
captain was inclined to keep the ship where she was until a nearer
approach of the strangers would enable him to see that everything
was all right but the Spaniard scouted his fears and said even if
they were not the vessels we expected we would have ample time to
get out of their way. The captain then yielded the point and had the
yards braced up sharp and the vessel hauled to the wind. When sharp
on the wind we were only a point to leeward of the schooners. The
wind was slowly moderating and it was necessary that we should make
our ship do her best to lessen the distance from the schooners
before it died out and left us becalmed in a dangerous place.
By two o’clock they were near enough to signal, when the fore-royal
yard was settled down and a few minutes later we hauled down the
flying-jib. Every eye was now intently watching them and if our
signals should not be answered, adieu to our hopes for to-day. After
being kept in suspense for ten or fifteen minutes the welcome answer
was made. It was received with three rousing cheers which fairly
made the old ship tremble.
It being now certain that schooners were our expected allies, orders
were given to clear up the decks and get everything ready for
transferring the negroes. I was glad there was something to do for
it was a relief to have my thoughts diverted from the schooners for,
while watching them, it did seem that an eternity of time must
elapse before they could reach us. Lines were placed on both sides
of the ship, fore and aft, to be in readiness for heaving when they
approached near enough.
After an hour and a half had passed the schooners were quite close
to us and the order was given to take in all light sails and clew-up
the foresail and mainsail, after which the main-topsail was braced
aback. By this time one of them had come within hailing distance,
when the Spaniard challenged her and received a satisfactory
response.
“Stand by the lines to lu’ard!” sung out the captain.
She now rounded-to on our lee, when a line was thrown to her. It
fell short but this blunder was repaired by one of the schooner’s
crew throwing a line to us which was caught and the end passed
forward to be made fast so she could be hauled up to the waist.
Before it could be secured the other schooner luffed-to under our
stern and hove a line to her consort which was caught and made fast.
“Dick of the Mizzen” had now secured the first line and we sung out
to the schooner’s men to haul in. Hardly had a fair strain been put
on it, and the men were lying back for another good pull, when, to
our great disgust, Dick’s granny-knot slipped and the end went
overboard. Before another line could be thrown to them the schooner
dropped astern.
Dick now got a cursing from all hands and the mate was so
exasperated that he gave him three or four vigorous kicks and warned
the poor fellow to keep his thick head out of his sight or he would
be the death of him.
“Better luck next time!” sung out the captain. “Five or six men
stand by the lines and the rest get the stage over the side.”
This was promptly done and ladders were also put down the hatchways
for the negroes to mount when the order should be given. We lost
considerable time before we again had the schooners alongside. This
time a more competent person made fast the line. One of them was
then hauled under the stage when word was passed for three or four
of the men to go below and start the negroes up the ladders. Others
were stationed in the waist to assist them over on to the stage. A
large valise was now passed from the schooner to the ship and taken
charge of by our captain. It was filled with doubloons, I afterward
learned.
As fast as the negroes reached the deck they were given a crack with
the whip to make them move more quickly and then shoved over the
side on the stage, from which they had to jump to the schooner’s
deck. It took an hour to clear out the hold and then came the
women’s turn. I thought it would be difficult to make them jump from
the stage; but they did not seem to mind it and succeeded very well.
“Good-bye, Miss Plum Duff,” said George, giving that lady a slap as
she went over the side. “I’ll never see your like again.”
“Good-bye, Desdemony,” said “Dick of the Mizzen.” “Won’t you leave
me a lock of your hair?” Dick had not strictly obeyed the mate’s
order to keep his thick head out of sight.
Many such remarks were made by the men as the women passed over the
side and as they were successfully landed on the schooner’s deck a
loud “well-done” saluted them. The kroomen were the last to leave
and as they passed over they were given tobacco and old clothes.
Every negro being reported out of the ship, the order was given to
cast off the lines and fill-away.
While we had been engaged unloading the negroes, the other schooner
had hauled alongside her mate and taken on board about one-half of
them. Both vessels were filled with negroes and the problem how to
prevent their woolly heads from being seen by a passing vessel,
should one get near enough, I left for the Spaniard to solve.
Just as we braced up, the Spaniard sung out from the schooner’s deck
for us to send him some hardtack. The captain ordered four barrels
thrown overboard, taking an oath that he wouldn’t lower a boat for
the devil himself! He perhaps thought hardtack soaked in salt-water
would do the darkies no harm.
Sail was made on the schooners and their bows pointed toward the
land. We also put every rag of canvas that would draw on our ship.
Our progress was slow, however, the wind being hardly strong enough
to keep the sails full. The captain gave orders to throw the kids
overboard and after this job was done he wanted the pine flooring in
the hold taken up and piled aft. The mate said it was getting too
dark below to work and it had better be left until morning. This was
decided on and I went forward to the top-gallant forecastle and
watched the receding schooners until the shadows of night enveloped
them. Sometime later, looking in on deck, I saw the men seated
around the try-pots eating their supper.
“Well, boys,” said George, the cook, who had come forward to pick up
some chips the cooper had left after preparing the last breakfast
for the negroes, “we have been nearly six months on a slaver.”
“We ain’t out of the slaver yet,” said someone.
“It don’t make any difference. We are now on a legal merchantman or
a whaler,” replied George.
“That’s so, George,” spoke up Frank; “but it would puzzle the devil
to tell which one of the two.”
The ship was run to Campeachy, Yucatan, and anchored on the banks
off that port. Prior to this we had thrown overboard all the pine
flooring that had been used during the passage from Africa, after
which chloride of lime was generously sprinkled throughout the hold.
No amount of this disinfectant had the effect of totally eradicating
the peculiar odor that infected the hold and we finally decided that
nothing but fire could purify it perfectly.
The crew would no longer remain by the ship, although the captain
was urgent for them to do so, but went on shore and secured board in
the city of Campeachy. They behaved as most sailors do when they
have any cash in their pockets and as they had been liberally paid
in Spanish doubloons, they fairly “took the roof off the town.”
After being in Campeachy about three weeks we embarked in a Mexican
schooner for New Orleans, where we arrived in January, 1861. The
most intense excitement prevailed in New Orleans at the time, and I
had doubts of being able to get north, should my departure be
delayed. I therefore came at once, by rail, to New York. Shortly
after I made a voyage to China and on my return to America I entered
the navy as a volunteer officer, where I remained until after the
close of the Rebellion.
NOTE.—The ship _Thomas Watson_ was built at Baltimore, Maryland,
in 1848, and measured 348 tons. In 1858 she carried a New York
registry with J. A. Machado, owner or consignor, and Captain
Elliott, master. In 1861 she was recorded as owned in Russia and
Captains Higginson and Allen, were masters. She is said to have
been the first American vessel on which Confederate colors were
hoisted in England and this was reported to have occurred while
the ship lay in the dock at Liverpool. After a short career as a
blockade runner, she met her fate on Stony Reef, near Charleston,
South Carolina. While attempting to get into the harbor she was
chased by the blockading cruisers and ran on the reef. Her cargo
was made up of salt, blankets, flannels and a few other things and
on the 15th of October, 1861, she was burned to the water’s edge
while lying aground on the reef.
CHAPTER XVII
THE LAST VOYAGE OF AN AMERICAN SLAVER
In the year 1850 there died in New Orleans, a slave owner, John
McDonogh, who, after making bequests to the cities of New Orleans
and Baltimore for educational purposes, provided that his slaves
should be given their freedom after a certain number of years,
conditional upon their emigration to Liberia. The period having
elapsed in the spring of 1859, the commissioners in charge of the
estate began to look about for some vessel in which the freed slaves
might be sent to the negro republic on the African coast. At first
it was proposed to ship them on board the sailing-packet that left
Baltimore each spring, with emigrants and supplies, returning later
in the year with a cargo of the products of the colony: but about
that time it was learned that the ship _Rebecca_, then lying at the
government wharf in New Orleans, proposed sailing for the West Coast
of Africa about the first of May and could supply suitable
accommodations for the freed slaves and their baggage, and
negotiations were soon concluded. At the last moment it was decided
by the commissioners to send a doctor with them and application was
hurriedly made to Dr. Howard Smith, a professor at the medical
school, who recommended a young student, George Howe of Natchez,
Mississippi, who had just completed his course of lectures.
It was nine o’clock on the morning of the day the _Rebecca_ was to
sail, when Doctor Smith found the young student at the gates of the
Charity Hospital and without replying to his greeting, said:
“George, how would you like to go to the coast of Africa?” Howe at
once replied, “First rate, doctor.” “How soon can you get ready?”
Believing him to be joking, Howe said: “I am ready now.” Taking him
at his word, the doctor then explained the situation and the
necessity for haste and when he had finished the young man jumped
into the doctor’s buggy and was soon in the office of the McDonogh
commissioners, where he signed an agreement to make the voyage as
medical officer in charge of the freed slaves.[51]
-----
Footnote 51:
For a full account of this voyage, _see_ “The Last Slave-Ship,” by
George Howe, M.D., in _Scribner’s Magazine_, July, 1890.
-----
In the office some of the gentlemen indulged in pleasant jokes about
“wool and ivory,” and one of them wrote a letter to the surgeon of
the United States man-of-war _Vincennes_, stationed on the coast of
Africa, saying, “This is a letter of introduction and may be of use
to you.” Howe was so engrossed with the idea of going to Africa that
he did not attach any special significance to the jokes and going to
his lodgings packed his books and clothing.
He was on board the ship at twelve o’clock and on presenting himself
to the captain, found that he appeared annoyed, but soon asked him
to the cabin and ordered the steward to prepare a room. Going upon
deck, Howe saw a motley group of negroes, mulattoes, quadroons, men,
women, and children of all ages, numbering forty-three, busily
engaged in getting their baggage on board. Many of them were not
anxious to go, and seemed much disheartened at the idea of leaving
home. Just then several of the commissioners arrived with their
wives, who were known to the negroes, and after a while, they were
successful in imparting new courage and cheerful faces to the
immigrants.
[Illustration:
VIEW OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, FROM ABOVE THE MIDDLE FERRY
From a colored aquatint, published in 1841, after a painting by
William J. Bennett, in the Macpherson Collection
]
The ship left the wharf at four o’clock in the evening. Early next
morning, they were at the mouth of the river and in another hour on
the open sea. A pleasant southerly breeze drove the ship along at
about eight miles an hour and dinner being called, Howe found at the
captain’s table, Captain C——, a naturalized Scotch-Englishman, the
first mate, Mr. T——, a Long Islander, and two Spanish gentlemen
speaking very little English. An introduction followed, one Spanish
gentleman explaining that they were on their way to a trading point
on the African coast, representing a commercial house in Havana, and
that having waited a long while unsuccessfully for an opportunity to
get there, he had taken passage on this vessel as far as its voyage
extended.
Dinner over, the mate remained in the cabin and the other officers
came to the table, and were introduced. “This is Doctor Sawbones; I
am mate; here is the second mate; there is the carpenter. Now, how
is it that you were engaged at the last moment to come with us?”
After Howe had explained all he knew about it, the mate said: “It
would have been better for you to have known something about the
ship and her destination before you accepted.” This recalled the
jokes of the commissioners and set the young doctor thinking and
that night during the mate’s watch, he approached him and, after a
few remarks about the weather, said: “Mr. T——, I did not quite
understand your remark at dinner; if you can do so, please explain.”
After a long silence, he replied: “Well, you will find it out sooner
or later, and I do not know that I am violating any confidence in
telling you now, _this ship is a Slaver_. Yes: that is just what she
is, and belongs to a company of Spaniards who are represented here
by the eldest of the Spanish passengers, who will be the captain at
the proper time; the other Spaniard will be his mate. They purchased
this ship two months ago, and have had all sorts of difficulties
ever since with the custom-house. She sails under the American flag,
and is supposed to be owned by a commission house in New Orleans,
who are the agents there of the Spanish company. They wanted to
obtain papers permitting the ship to go to the African coast; just
now everything destined there is regarded with suspicion and the
Spaniards wanted to go in ballast to seek a cargo of palm-oil,
camwood, and any other merchandise offering. The custom-house
authorities declined, for various reasons, to issue the papers. In
the meantime, the ship had been loaded with empty casks and a
quantity of staves in the rough from which to manufacture other
casks, if necessary. The question of getting sufficient supplies of
food aboard was a very delicate one, for food could not profitably
be carried as freight to that locality, and it was not required in
barter. Then the Spaniards proposed to equip her as a whaling-ship,
with her whaling-ground from Bermuda to the Cape of Good Hope. This
would permit her occasionally to call on the African coast for water
and fresh food-supplies, yet would require a much longer period to
complete the trip. Just at this time the commission house heard of
the purpose of the McDonogh commissioners to send the ex-slaves, via
Baltimore, to Liberia. After considering the matter it was
determined to offer this ship as a means of transportation at a very
moderate price. If they had dared to do so, they would have been
willing to pay a handsome premium. The offer was accepted and the
date fixed. The Spaniards now had a legitimate cargo for the African
coast, and easily procured the necessary papers for a trading point
on the Congo River, stopping at Liberia on the voyage out. I can
also tell you that your presence here is not pleasant for Captain
C——, for he had about determined to run down on the south side of
Cuba with these negroes, leave them at a place he knows of, and
continue on the voyage. Now, this cannot be done, unless you come
into the arrangement; but I do not think he will say anything to you
about it. You are a stranger and we are constantly in sight of and
speaking vessels, and it would be easy for you to say a few words
which might spoil the entire expedition.”
Next morning early, as the captain and the doctor were taking coffee
on deck, in the course of general conversation, the captain
remarked: “What a valuable lot of negroes these are; all the men
have some trade or vocation which makes them most desirable on any
plantation. The women are all experienced in their duties; they
would bring a round sum in Cuba; and Cuba is very near, and I know
where they could be landed without much risk.”
The doctor at once replied: “Captain, these negroes must be landed
at their destination in Africa, and as long as I can, I will not
permit any change of programme.”
As if to disarm any suspicion, the captain said: “Of course, they
must be landed in Liberia, I was only regretting that so much money
is just thrown away.”
During the mate’s watch which followed, he asked the doctor what the
captain had said, for on his return to the cabin there had been a
long and stormy conversation with the Spanish gentleman, who would
not be persuaded that there was very little risk in landing the
negroes in Cuba, whether the doctor consented or not. On learning
the details of the conversation between the captain and the doctor,
the mate replied: “Well, that matter is now decided, for we are
sailing southeast, instead of southwest, and that means we will not
stop at Cuba this part of the trip.”
“Now,” said he, “this is my second voyage of this kind; the first
was from New York to Africa and Brazil, and as slavery will probably
be abolished in Brazil, and coolies are getting cheaper than negroes
in Cuba, this is probably the last slave ship; and if we are
successful, we will land the last cargo of slaves. To begin, you
must understand that there are necessary one person as head manager,
and three agents, each one with an assistant to replace the
principal in case of accident, sickness or death. The head resides
in Havana. One agent, with his assistant, the Spanish captain and
his friend, on board with us, went to the United States to purchase
the fastest sailing-vessel that money could buy, and he found, in
New Orleans, the Baltimore clipper ship _Rebecca_, near five hundred
and fifty tons, carrying sky-sails, studding-sails to royal yards,
and stay-sails to royals, with a record of fourteen knots to
windward, sailing inside of four points from the wind. She was
fitted out with new sails, cordage, extra spars and yards, and a
large supply of material with which to make other sails at sea, and
to replace uncertain stays, running rigging, etc. The custom-house
officers seemed to be suspicious of her and watched everything
connected with the ship very closely. Just at this time the offer to
the McDonogh commissioners was made to take the negroes as
passengers and arrangements were completed. Now began the purchase,
in large quantities, of rice, white beans, pork and biscuit, which
were ostensibly for our passengers. With a long hose, all the casks
were filled with water from an opening below the water-line in the
ship’s bow, a supply of lumber was obtained, and bunks constructed
between decks the whole length of the ship’s hold, and for several
times the number of passengers expected; a large cooking furnace was
also built on deck. Another agent and his assistant sailed some
months ago for the coast of Africa, and have purchased and
contracted to carry on shares as many negroes as can be stowed on
board. The place where they are to meet is known on board only to
the Spaniards; another agent and his assistant are established as
fishermen on an unfrequented island on the south side of Cuba, I
know that much. There, with a companion or two, they fish, for the
markets, so as to require a regular camp and a small vessel. They
will be ready, when we arrive, to inform us when and where to land
the cargo. The head, in Havana, keeps everything in working order,
and it is his particular business to fee the customs officials and
keep them away from where they are not wanted. One ounce of gold,
seventeen dollars, per head, is the fee he pays to the officials for
every negro landed, who divide among themselves, according to
previous arrangements.”
Life on board was a very pleasant one, as our ship was splendidly
provisioned with every delicacy necessary to our comfort; and with
beautiful weather, the run in the Gulf Stream was full of interest.
Each day experiments were made, by changing the size and character
of sails, to develop the greatest speed. All the masts were examined
and put to their utmost strain; new stays and preventer-stays were
added until it was no longer doubtful about the masts being able to
support any strain. The ship could easily make three hundred and
twenty to three hundred and forty miles daily, running as close to
windward as she could sail. Being in the southeast trades, she would
run twelve hours on east-north-east tack and twelve hours on the
south by west tack, and in the twenty-four hours’ run make a net
gain, east, of thirty miles.
The negroes soon became accustomed to the motion of the vessel, but
the length of the voyage tired them, and they repeatedly said that
when they got ready to return to Louisiana they would walk around by
land, as they had had enough of sailing. To keep them employed, the
women were engaged to mend and launder the officers’ clothing; and
as their utensils were all stowed away in the lower hold, it was
necessary to extemporize others. The washing and drying were easily
accomplished, but the ironing was done by putting hot coals in a tin
bucket and rubbing that over the pieces—with not much of a success,
however.
On July 1, 1859, there was a terrible storm of wind and rain, and
the sea was very rough. Cape Palmas was in sight; Monrovia, the
capital of Liberia, being situated on it. The mist obscured all
objects near the water and when it cleared, a small steamer hove in
sight and fired a blank shot for the _Rebecca_ to come to. She
hoisted the American flag and sailed on, followed by the steamer,
which proved to be the English cruiser _Viper_, which approached as
near as could be safely done and sent an officer on board. He
politely stated his mission and was invited below, where the ship’s
papers were produced and shown him, as an act of courtesy—for the
ship was now within the limits of the Liberian Government. The
officer pleasantly observed that he knew the vessel as soon as it
was in sight and with other cruisers had been on the lookout for her
for some time; that his government, by the last mail steamer to St.
Paul de Loanda, had notified the cruisers that the ship _Rebecca_
was suspected. She had been described with such accuracy that there
could be no mistake. He thought she then had an outward bound cargo
and was much chagrined to find that it was inward bound and at its
destination. After a short stay he left and steamed away to the
south.
A long canoe, manned by four apparently naked negroes, then came out
from the shore, through a very rough sea but without much apparent
effort. Coming alongside, they climbed over the rail and jumped down
among the passengers. They were naked, except for a piece of cloth
tied around the loins, fine specimens of muscular development, short
and stout, tattooed down the forehead to the end of the nose and on
the cheeks with a dark-blue pigment. They were kroomen, a tribe
dispersed along the coast, employed by ships to load or obtain
water, or as pilots—and seldom exported. A wail as from Hades arose
from the passengers; who were filled with consternation and terror
at sight of the kroomen, and the sailors, taking advantage of the
situation, went among the poor negroes and told them it was now time
for them to take off their store clothes and get ready to go
ashore—just like these people whom they had come to live with.
The ship was anchored at a place assigned by the kroomen and a
message was sent ashore, but a storm delayed the arrival of an
official until the next evening. His appearance quieted the
negroes like oil on troubled waters. This agent was an enthusiast
and soon gave them to understand that the garden of Eden was an
ill-conditioned suburb compared to Monrovia.
July 4th was observed as a “fete” day and the officers of the ship
were invited to dine with the President of the Republic and his
ministers.
That evening, the missionary, the only white man living in the negro
republic, took the doctor aside and told him there was considerable
doubt as to the character of the _Rebecca_, and on reaching the
ship, he told the officers they were suspected. A council was held
at once and arrangements were made for the landing next day of the
passengers and their effects. The English gunboat had just returned
to Monrovia and was anchored but a short distance from the ship and
her company was not desired longer than possible.
Next morning a fleet of sloops, canoes, and yawls came alongside
early. The Spanish captain then told the doctor he could go with the
vessel as far as the Congo River, where he might meet the mail
steamer, and this offer he accepted. By noon the passengers and
their effects were landed and the captain had returned with ship’s
papers, etc. The anchor was hoisted and a southerly course was made.
The English cruiser at once followed, but as the _Rebecca_ sailed
twelve miles to his eight, before dark the Englishman was out of
sight.
[Illustration:
A VIEW OF FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
From a colored aquatint, published Sept. 14, 1837, after the
painting by W. J. Huggins, in the Macpherson Collection
]
The Spanish captain now appeared on deck, a short, swarthy,
black-whiskered man, with a cold, determined look, dressed in open
shirt with a large silk handkerchief around his neck, white
trousers, with a large red sash wrapped several times around his
waist, a wide soft hat—a typical bandit. His assistant followed in
almost similar costume and went forward and rang the ship’s bell;
the crew was called to the afterdeck, where the Spanish Captain A——
addressed them, in Spanish and English:
“Men, I am now the captain of this ship; this is my first mate,”
introducing his assistant; “the other subordinate officers are
retained in their positions; the late captain and mate will be
respected and advised with. The object of this voyage is a cargo of
negroes to be purchased in Africa and landed in Cuba; the trip is
full of peril, but if successful, full of money. If there is one of
you who desires to go ashore, the ship will stop at a place where he
can be safely landed and double wages to date given him.”
All expressed themselves anxious to sign new articles and the wages
were declared, if the voyage was successful, to be: For the American
captain and first mate, $5000 each; second mate, $3500; carpenter,
$3000; each sailor, $1500. The crew numbered twenty-three, all told,
Turks, Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Scotch, Yankees, and Danes.
It was plain that the Spanish captain did not trust Captain C——, and
although they were courteous to each other, there was an entire
absence of familiarity. The crew had the same feeling, and on one
occasion while Captain C——, suspended in a bow-line over the stern,
was inspecting the rudder hinges, the sailor at the wheel took out
his knife and made a movement as if to sever the rope and drop the
captain into the sea, but the doctor saw the movement and sharply
called the Spanish captain’s attention to the intended treachery.
The ship was some weeks in advance of the time for her intended
arrival at a point agreed upon and so they sailed leisurely along
until one day’s sail from Mayumba, which is about two hundred miles
north of the mouth of the Congo River. This portion of the coast was
carefully guarded by the United States, English, Portuguese, and
Spanish steam and sailing vessels, so that in approaching the coast
there was considerable risk of being overhauled. Although the ship’s
papers were regular to a point on Congo River, yet the vessel might
have been seized as suspicious and subjected to a return to Sierra
Leone; and there, the matter fully investigated by a court organized
to condemn and confiscate.
One day her movements were so regulated that, by sailing all night
toward the coast, she would be, at daylight, fifteen miles distant.
A yawl was then lowered and the Spanish captain with two sailors
entered it, provided with two days’ supplies and compass, and pulled
away for land. The ship at once returned to sea with the
understanding that forty days after she was to return to the place
where the Spanish captain had expected to land. The Spanish mate was
now in command and put to sea, four hundred miles from land, then
sailed back one day, and the next returned to sea, for the entire
period of forty days, never coming within two hundred miles of the
shore. This was a very quiet and uneventful cruise; on two occasions
only, were vessels sighted, which proved to be whalers and were
given a wide berth.
At daylight, on the morning of the fortieth day, the ship had
approached the coast near enough to see distinctly objects along the
shore, but seeing no living creature, a man was sent aloft to be
sure no vessel was in sight and the ship ran along the coast a few
miles, until a negro was seen waving a large white flag, with a red
cross its entire length and width; this was the signal and in a
short time several negroes could be seen dragging the ship’s yawl to
the water from its place of concealment. In an hour, Captain A—— was
again on board. It was plain that something had gone wrong; the
agent and assistant had arrived much later than anticipated; both
had been ill with African fever and were at a trading post on the
Congo River, trying to get well. British cruisers had passed almost
daily and could be expected at any moment. A council was again held
in the cabin; the ship put to sea and it was determined that, as the
ship’s papers were regular and permitted going to the Congo River,
she would proceed there at once and await events.
Light winds and strong currents delayed arrival at the trading
station, which was about seventy miles from the mouth of the river.
On reaching moorings a boat with two white men in it was found; one
of whom was recognized as the agent’s assistant, who informed the
captain that the agent had died of consumption and African fever.
His assistant was slowly convalescing and all trading operations had
been suspended until his recovery or the arrival of the ship. His
companion in the boat was a trader, at whose post he had found a
home. The ship was now in for a delay of some time, as Spaniards
move slowly, and so she was anchored about seventy-five yards from
the shore on the left bank going up stream.
One day a man-of-war’s long boat was seen coming up the river with
an officer and ten men; they anchored almost immediately under the
bow of the _Rebecca_ and there they remained as long as the ship lay
in the river. They were from the British gunboat _Tigris_ and had
spoken the _Vixen_,—another gunboat, which had gone farther south in
search of the ship. The _Tigris_ lay at the mouth of the river to
intercept any attempt that might be made to leave with a cargo of
negroes. Again the Spanish captain left the ship and was gone for
many days. As it was necessary to replenish the supply of water,
this was done with a hose through an opening in the bow, without the
boat’s crew knowing anything about it, although but a few feet
distant.
One day a trader from the interior came aboard with the information
that a disease declared to be smallpox had broken out in the
barracoons where the negroes intended for the ship were being
collected, and asked what could be done about it. The doctor had in
his pocket-case a vaccine crust enveloped in adhesive plaster, and
going with the Spaniard he journeyed two days up the river and was
then carried southward, many miles into the interior, in a hammock
slung between two poles with two men at each end of a pole. This
route was circuitous to avoid the annoyance of other tribes who
would levy heavy tribute. On reaching the barracoon, it was found to
be an enclosure about three hundred feet square, fenced with bamboo
about eight or nine feet high, a thatched roof running entirely
around it and extending perhaps ten feet toward the center. It was a
very frail structure to be used as a place of confinement, but
sufficient to shelter from sun and rain and heavy dews, which were
very cool. These barracoons were permitted in this locality by
neighboring chiefs, because it enabled them easily to dispose of
their captured slaves, and, being so far in the interior, they were
safe from unauthorized visitors. A few negroes were found by the
doctor to be suffering from smallpox, contracted from a tribe which
frequented the coast, having intercourse with kroomen who had
contracted in it St. Paul de Loanda. The infected were separated and
new barracoons erected for them, as well as for the uninfected, in a
distant locality. The old barracoons were burned and as far as the
vaccine virus could be extended, it was used. From those vaccinated
a new supply of virus was obtained. The disease was arrested
there.[52]
-----
Footnote 52:
From the factors the doctor learned something about the manner in
which the slave trade was carried on at that time. A trader,
Portuguese always, procured consent from a head of a strong tribe
to establish himself among them and paid liberally in presents for
the privilege. Consent obtained, a barracoon was at once built and
each member of the tribe was a self-constituted guardian to
protect it; a scale of prices was agreed upon for negroes,
according to age and sex, averaging two fathoms or four yards of
calico, one flint-lock musket, one six-pound keg of coarse powder,
one two-gallon keg of rum, some beads and brass wire; an English
value of about eight dollars gold for each negro captured by this
tribe from neighboring and weaker ones. There had been a lower
rate of prices until within a few years when competition had
slowly increased the rates.
-----
Enough negroes had been purchased and contracted for to be
transported on shares, to load the ship; and her departure was only
a question of when they could be put on board without risk of
smallpox reappearing among them. The negroes were then to be sent by
easy marches to a place half a day’s journey from the sea-coast,
where they would remain until the time agreed upon to move to the
coast. This last march to the coast was done at night, so that they
had ample time to arrive before daylight. The ship was due at
daylight and if she could not reach the coast at that hour, the
whole business was to be postponed for a week and the negroes
immediately returned to the half-day station, rested and cared for.
When the doctor returned to the ship on the river, he found that
quiet preparations had been made to leave at a moment’s notice; and
fresh supplies of poultry and fruit had been taken aboard. The
Spanish captain alone knew the locality where the negroes would be
met and it was impossible for any sailor to have given information
of value to the English in their boat under the bow of the ship.
Rather than risk African fever on the Congo River during a stay for
an indefinite period, together with a spirit of adventure,
considerable curiosity and a great confidence in his good luck,
prompted the doctor to accept an invitation from the Spanish captain
to remain with the ship. They learned that a Portuguese man-of-war
had visited the mouth of the river and, finding the English gunboat
Vixen there, had gone on to the north. This made things very much
mixed; one cruiser south, one at the river’s mouth and one north,
and the Portuguese was the worst one of all. At that time, if a
vessel was captured with negroes on board, she would be taken to
Sierra Leone; the sailors being landed at or near the place of
capture to look out for themselves. If the ship had a flag and could
be identified, the officers were transferred at Sierra Leone to
their respective governments for trial, the negroes sent ashore, an
attempt at colonization made, and the ship sold and broken up; but
if no nationality could be established, the officers were imprisoned
for a term at Sierra Leone, with or without civil trials. If the
Portuguese made a capture, every officer and sailor was sent to
their penal settlements, and that was the last ever heard of them.
The American government had the sailing man-of-war _Vincennes_
stationed there.
One morning, early, about October 1, 1859, the anchor was raised and
the ship sailed down the river. Her papers yet protected her, for
she had ostensibly made an unsuccessful mercantile venture and was
returning home. The English yawl was taken in tow and the officer in
command was invited on board. It was a pleasant trip to the mouth of
the river, which was reached in the afternoon. The gunboat steamed
alongside to get her officer and learn the ship’s destination and on
being informed, “United States,” someone remarked, “Oh, of course!
perhaps!” The course during the evening and night was northwest
towards the United States. This was to get off shore and ascertain
the strength of the wind at that season and also to see what speed
could be made. At daylight the course was shaped south and all hands
were employed in removing every trace of name from bow, stern and
smallboats. The white ports on the ship’s side were painted out and
every paper or scrap that could be found was, with the American
flag, weighted and thrown overboard.
“Now!” said the captain, “we have no name, and no nationality; we
are nobody and know nothing. If we are captured, every mouth must be
sealed, in that only can we escape the severe penalties.”
For four days and nights they cruised about, keeping the distance of
nearly one hundred and fifty miles from land. On the afternoon of
the fourth day, having taken accurate observations of the position
at sea, the course was shaped for the coast; every light was
extinguished but that of the binnacle, which was hooded so that the
man at the wheel could see the compass and yet the light could not
be seen; an extra watch was kept and at three o’clock next morning,
the ship was within two miles of the shore in latitude 6° 10′,
South, previously agreed upon. So correct were the chronometers and
the estimation of wind and current, that there was no error in the
calculations; they could hear the roar of the breakers, but there
was not light enough to see the shore. As it grew lighter they could
see the low shoreline, which appeared to be broken into small
hillocks of sand sparsely covered with a scrubby vegetation.
[Illustration:
CAPTURE OF THE SPANISH SLAVER “MIDAS,” JUNE 27, 1829, ON THE GREAT
BAHAMA BANK, BY H.M. SCHOONER “MONKEY”
From the colored aquatint, after the painting by W. J. Huggins, in
the Macpherson Collection
]
A number of small craft resembling oyster boats could be seen
outside the breakers and after a satisfactory scrutiny of the
horizon from the masthead, a signal, a large white flag with a red
cross, was hoisted, and as it blew out it was answered from the
shore. Soon the beach seemed to swarm with moving objects. A number
of long, black objects left the shore and, when through the
breakers, they stopped at the small craft outside and it could be
seen that negroes were being transferred to the boats outside the
breakers, from canoes, which ran out with from four to six in each.
As the sloops were filled they sailed for the ship and, ladders
having been arranged, the negroes were soon coming over the ship’s
side; as each one reached the deck he was given a biscuit and sent
below. The sloops soon were flying to and fro and a great number of
negroes were already on board at 2 P.M., when the lookout at the
masthead shouted: “Sail ho! away to the southward.”
From the deck nothing could be seen but a danger signal was hoisted
at once to hurry all aboard faster. In a short time a little black
spot would be seen from the deck. Smoke! A cruiser! Another signal,
a blood-red flag, was hoisted, informing those ashore of the kind of
danger. If possible the bustle ashore was increased; the ship’s
boats were lowered and they aided materially. The approaching vessel
had seen the ship and the volume of smoke increased. She could now
be seen with the naked eye and was recognized as the _Vixen_. A
signal from shore that a very few remained was hoisted. Another hour
passed, and the vessel was certainly within three miles. The boats
were then recalled and the entire fleet of sloops soon sailed toward
the ship. The boats were hoisted in and lines were thrown to the
sloops now alongside. Just then the _Vixen_ changed her course
slightly and fired a solid shot, which passed to leeward. At this
the Spanish captain cried out: “Let go!” The pin holding the staple
in the anchor chain was cut and the chain parted. Sail was hoisted
rapidly, the negroes in the sloops climbed over the ship’s side, and
as the sloops were emptied they were cast adrift with their single
occupant, a krooman. They scattered like frightened birds.
It seemed a long time getting headway on the ship and everybody was
looking very anxious, as other sails were set; studding-sails were
added, stay-sails hoisted and a large square sail on the mizzen-mast
from the deck to topsail. The _Vixen_ was now within a mile and she
seemed to have wonderful speed; again she changed her course and
there followed a puff of smoke. That was too close for comfort, as
the splashing sea showed where the ball ricocheted and went very
near. However, the ship seemed to have gained some in distance
during this manoeuvre and the wind grew stronger the farther she got
from land. A cloud of black smoke showed that a grand effort was
being made by the gunboat to recover the distance lost while
changing her course to fire. The _Rebecca_ was now easily going
ahead and the distance between grew greater and soon the wind was so
strong that it was necessary to take in the lofty studding-sails.
Another hour and it was getting near night, with the cruiser at
least five miles astern, still holding on, hoping something would
happen to disable the ship yet. Night fell, but she continued her
course without change until midnight, when it was changed to
south-southwest until daylight, so that if something should happen
to the masts, she would be far from the route of the gunboat in case
it still followed us. At daylight the course was west by north and
the southeast trade-wind was driving the ship along at fourteen
knots an hour.
There were a number of strange white men aboard; Spaniards,
representing the barracoon from which some of the negroes were taken
on shares,—one-half for the ship, the other half for the owner,
whose representative would purchase merchandise in the United States
or England, and ship to St. Paul de Loanda in the mail steamer, and
from there in small sloops to destination. Among the sailors were a
number of strange faces, the crew of a captured vessel. They were
glad to have a chance to return.
During the embarkation the doctor was engaged in separating the
negroes who did not appear robust or who had received some trifling
injury in getting on deck, sending them to an improvised hospital
made by bulkheading a space in the rear of the forecastle. The
others, as they arrived, were stowed away by the Spanish mate; so
that when all were aboard there was just room for each to lie upon
one side. As no one knew what proportion were men, all were herded
together. The next morning the separation took place; the women and
girls were all sent on deck and numbered about four hundred. A close
bulkhead was then built across the ship and other bunks constructed.
The women were then sent below and enough men were sent up to enable
the carpenter to have room to construct additional bunks. A more
docile and easily managed lot of creatures cannot be imagined. No
violence of any kind was necessary; it was sometimes difficult to
make them understand what was wanted, but as soon as they
comprehended, immediate compliance followed.
The negroes were now sent on deck in groups of eight and squatted
around a large wooden platter, heaping-full of cooked rice, beans
and pork cut into small cubes. The platters were made by cutting off
the head of flour or other barrels, leaving about four inches of the
staves. Each negro was given a wooden spoon, which all on board had
amused themselves in making during our forty-day trip. Barrel staves
were sawed into lengths of eight inches, split into other pieces one
and a half inch wide, and then shaped into a spoon with
pocket-knives. A piece of rope yarn tied to a spoon and hung around
the neck was the way in which every individual retained his
property. As there was not room on deck for the entire cargo to feed
at one time, platters were sent between decks, so that all ate at
one hour, three times daily. Casks of water were placed in
convenient places and an abundant supply was furnished day and
night. When night came they were stowed in their new quarters, the
men amidships, the women in the apartment bulkheaded from the men
aft; the hospital forward. Looking down through the hatches they
were seen like sardines in a box, on the floor and in the bunks, as
close as they could be crowded. Large wind-sails furnished a supply
of fresh air, and the open hatches sufficient ventilation.
A muster was made the next day to verify the lists held by each
party represented. Each factor had a distinguishing brand; some a
letter, others a geometrical figure; and every negro was branded
with a hot iron on the left shoulder, a few days before shipment, by
his owner or representative. They were all young, none less than
twelve or fourteen, and none appeared over thirty years. They
numbered, all told, nearly twelve hundred.
The captain then selected about twenty of the strong men and clothed
them with a sack which had holes cut in it for head and arms. These
men were called _camisas_ (shirts) and were required to do the
scrubbing and cleaning between decks, etc., and given daily a small
allowance of rum. The women were divided into squads and sent on the
after-deck for an hour for each squad. This changing kept up until
night; the men were confined to the main-deck between cabin and
forecastle and sent in squads of as many as could get on deck at
once. As they came up on the first trip, each morning, every one
plunged into casks of salt water and ran about until dry.
Notwithstanding their apparent good health, each morning three or
four dead would be found, brought upon deck, taken by arms and
heels, and tossed overboard as unceremoniously as an empty bottle.
Of what did they die? and always at night? In the barracoons it was
known that if a negro was not amused and kept in motion, he would
mope, squat down with his chin on his knees and arms clasped about
his legs and in a very short time die. Among civilized races it is
thought impossible to hold one’s breath until death follows. It is
thought the Africans can do so. They had no means of concealing
anything and certainly did not kill each other. The duties of the
_camisas_ were also to look after the other negroes during the day
and when found sitting with knees up and head drooping, the
_camisas_ would start them up, run them about the deck, give them a
small ration of rum, and divert them until in a normal condition.
The negroes had brought on board with them several small monkeys,
which were, to them, a constant source of amusement. Another and
almost perpetual pastime was the exploration of each other’s head.
The ship was now far away from land, making fourteen knots each hour
and had no fear of any molestation for some time to come. The
negroes seemed to tire of the monotony of things and some grog was
daily distributed to the men and native songs and dances were
constantly going on. The ingenuity of everyone was taxed to provide
a new source of amusement; a special watch was put at each hatch to
render any assistance in the event of sickness and to prevent
intrusion by the sailors. The throwing overboard of the dead did not
seem to affect them in any way, as it was their belief they returned
to Africa after death away from home.
It was interesting to note the tribal distinctions among them.
Tattooing was not general, but the teeth were either drawn or filed
in most fantastic arrangements, generally to a point like saw teeth,
or every other one was filed half-way down. The nose, lips and ears
had perforations of different sizes, and a mark of distinction
appeared to be the cicatrices of numerous short incisions in the
skin of arms, breast and legs, sometimes of irregular shapes with
attempts at geometrical figures. The colors of their skin varied
also from a shining black to griffe.
It was now nearly the end of October and the ship was rapidly
approaching the Caribbee Islands. Maps were examined and, after some
discussion, it was thought safest to run between the French islands
of Martinique and Dominique and so the course was shaped for the
fifteenth degree of latitude, being midway. One morning the
mountains of each could be seen, appearing about twelve miles
distant. Thus far not a sail had been sighted and in passing,
although at considerable distance, all the negroes were sent below
so that the ship might appear to be an ordinary merchantman. A
course was kept about one hundred miles south of Porto Rico, San
Domingo and Hayti, until near the extreme western end of Hayti.
While about midway between Hayti and Jamaica, the lookout discovered
a steamer far to the westward and as its course was not yet known,
sail was shortened. After half an hour it was seen that the
steamer’s course was almost east, so that she would intercept the
ship and the course was changed slightly. All the negroes were sent
below as well as the greater part of the white men. It was desirable
to pass so far distant that the absence of a name on the bow of the
_Rebecca_ would not be noticed. The steamer was very slow and
probably was the English mail steamer from Kingston, touching at
Hayti and San Domingo. She eventually passed about five miles
distant, and breathing more freely after her disappearance, all sail
was again made, the negroes sent on deck, and an extra biscuit given
each one as a thank offering.
The ship was soon north of Jamaica, but there was a dangerous place
to pass, Cape de Cruz, the extreme southern point of Cuba, and on
the eastern end. The course was now northwest. Vessels from the
United States approach very closely, thereby saving distance to
Trinidad, a prominent port on the south side of Cuba, where sugar
and molasses were largely exported. It was known that an American
cruiser was stationed here to intercept slavers and it was very
inexpedient to run a race with her. Accordingly the speed of the
ship was so governed that she would run by the dreaded locality late
at night and distant about fifty miles.
The destination of the ship now became known. South-southeast of
Puerto Principe, Cuba, there is a chain of six little islands
running parallel with and about twenty-five or thirty miles distant
from the island. The second one from the western end is the largest.
It has a scrubby growth of mangrove bushes about eight feet high, a
few cocoanut trees, and a most valuable spring of fresh water. It is
less than a mile wide and nearly three miles long, of coral
formation and but a few feet above the level of the sea.
It was necessary that the ship approach the island after midday, so
that the negroes could be discharged and the vessel disposed of
before dark. By burning it at night the light would have attracted
greater attention than in the day, and during the day it might have
been supposed some brush was burning ashore. The place was a regular
highway for all vessels approaching and leaving the south of Cuba.
[Illustration:
THE HARBOR OF HAVANA, CUBA
From a drawing by J. W. Hill, made about 1850
]
November 3d, 1859, the ship was but fifty miles distant at daylight,
with light winds, making a headway of about eight miles an hour.
About ten o’clock, some few miles ahead an American bark was sighted
bound in the same direction. It never would have done to approach
her near enough to be spoken, for the captain would, in all
probability, have invited himself aboard to have a chat for an hour
or two. Sail could not be shortened, for it would have attracted
attention. What should be done? The captain called the carpenter,
who, with the assistance of the crew, brought on deck two large
water casks. The head of each was knocked out, ropes secured to the
rim, and then the casks were lowered astern, so that they would drag
with the open end toward the ship; as soon as the ropes tightened
the speed was reduced so much that the bark rapidly drew ahead and
in an hour could not see what was going on aboard the ship.
It was now mid-day and the chain of islands was in sight. The
position of the one sought had been calculated very closely, but the
casks had retarded speed so that the ship would reach the island
later than had been expected. At mid-day another observation was
taken and the island located exactly—about fifteen miles distant. As
the ship approached, a signal flag—a large white one with a red
cross—was hoisted to the top of the mainmast. Some time elapsed
without a sign of any living creature on the island. The ship was
more than six weeks behind the most liberal estimate of time, and
the Spaniards began to fear that those assigned to meet the ship had
given up all hopes of a successful voyage and had gone to the
mainland. Just as the gloomiest views seemed to be about realized,
two men appeared running through the thin undergrowth to the water’s
edge, waving their hats and gesticulating wildly. A shout of
recognition was the return salute. The ship was sailed to within
half a mile, and anchored in fourteen fathoms of water. The four
boats were lowered in a hurry and the landing of the negroes began.
More than two hours were needed to land all of them, with a
sufficient number of large sails for shelter and also food supplies.
Meanwhile, the carpenter had been sent below to scuttle the ship;
all the combustible material aboard was collected in the forecastle,
between decks, and in the cabin, liberally saturated with oil,
turpentine and paint, and as the last of the crew left the ship the
match was applied to each heap, and before the boats reached the
shore, she was on fire from stem to stern. The rigging soon burned
and the upper masts fell one after the other, still held to the ship
by the heavy stays. She gradually sank and before an hour there was
nothing left on the sea to indicate the destruction of the
_Rebecca_.
As the negroes were landed they were hurried back far enough to be
out of sight of any passing vessel, the scanty growth of mangrove
affording ample hiding. After dark the sails were so spread and
secured as to shelter the negroes from the dews, which were cold
after the warm days. These tents were taken down before daylight, as
they could have been seen by a passing vessel. Great was the joy of
the Spaniards at being ashore in a place of security, for they felt
tranquil about the part yet to come. Immediately after all were
ashore the fishing sloop was despatched to the mainland with
intelligence of their arrival. The island was of coral formation and
covered with thin soil and very little grass. It was covered with
mangrove bushes and there were about a dozen cocoanut trees, stunted
in growth but with a good supply of fruit, yet green.
The joy of the negroes was great at being ashore and so bountifully
supplied with food and water. Each day vessels passed, but none near
enough to discover the island’s secret.
Before the sloop left there was considerable discussion among the
sailors about their pay, they wishing to be paid before the negroes
were sent to the mainland, and the Spaniards desiring that the
remaining risks should be shared by all alike and all paid at the
final destination. The matter was compromised by the Spaniards
agreeing to pay those who demanded it. Four days after the sloop
left, two small schooners arrived bringing money for those who
demanded it, and they were paid in Spanish doubloons. The negroes
were now transferred to the two schooners and although they had been
closely packed in the ship they were now jammed together in the
hold, as none could be allowed on deck. The officers were divided
and were permitted to remain on deck in the little space that could
be found.
Sail was made for Trinidad, about seventy-five miles distant, and
before dark the harbor was reached amid a fleet of vessels. A
custom-house boat met the schooners and less than one hundred yards
from an American bark assigned an anchorage. The schooners had the
appearance of ordinary coasters and did not attract any attention.
At ten o’clock that night a bright light was seen on the beach at
the extreme east end of the harbor and the schooners made sail for
it, but on reaching the point were told that arrangements were not
complete for transportation and could not be before the next night,
so they returned to the anchorage and kept busy all night
distributing biscuits and water to the negroes, who were hungry and
restless. The night air was cold and to keep warm, the doctor stood
in the open hatch with his chin on a level with the deck, keeping
his body in the warm air below while he breathed pure air. To go
below for only a few minutes was terrible because of the impure air.
Morning came slowly and again every care was taken not to betray in
any way the character of the vessels. Sail after sail passed, coming
and going. At last the sun went down, the air became cool, and night
again obscured everything. At ten o’clock the light reappeared and
the schooners made for it, showing a single lantern, which was
extinguished as they approached. The schooners ran ashore in about
three feet of water and the negroes hurried ashore without noise,
wading.
In the darkness could be seen a long line of wagons, two-wheeled,
with an open frame of poles and cords extending around the body of
the wagon about three feet high. The women and youngest negroes were
put in the wagons, the framework supporting them from falling and
enabling many more to crowd in. When the wagons started, the negro
men followed on foot. The route led over a mountainous country,
through coffee plantations, into the interior and the traveling was
slow for some time. At 7 A.M. the plantation of Don S. B—— was
reached, which was the destination, nearly twenty-three miles from
the coast. The negroes were sent to an inclosure to be fed and
rested and the officers were escorted to the residence of the
proprietor, where all had a bath, change of clothing and a good
breakfast.
The doctor was seated on the veranda smoking, when a Catholic priest
and an assistant arrived and passed on to the inclosure. Shortly
after came a wagon filled with clothing and being curious the doctor
followed. Inside the inclosure the negroes were drawn up in rows.
Their brands were examined and they were separated into lots
representing each mark. The priest, assisted by his young man,
passed along in front, the young man registering the name the priest
had given each as they were baptized. As the priest finished one lot
they were at once furnished with clothing, the women with a sort of
loose gown of coarse cotton cloth and the men with a long shirt, and
then sent off in different directions. Don S. B—— said that there
were but twenty-five of the new arrivals on his plantation, the
others having been delivered to the planters who had already
contracted for them, paying $350 for each.
[Illustration:
THE GUINEA COAST ABOUT THE YEAR 1860
From Black’s _Atlas of the World_, Edinburgh, 1867
]
The Spaniards now began to interest themselves in behalf of the
American captain, mate, and the doctor. The laws of Cuba required
every person landed to be provided with a passport or permit, the
latter being issued under certain conditions for one month, at the
expiration of which the holder would be arrested if on the island;
this permit, if the person was satisfactorily identified and vouched
for, could be renewed from month to month. The Americans had arrived
without the knowledge of the government and had neither passport nor
permit. These permits for one month were now purchased by the
Spaniards from an accommodating official, at a cost of one doubloon
(seventeen dollars) each, and the Americans concluded to go now to
Havana, that place offering more opportunities for leaving the
island than the smaller ports. The doctor’s permit represented him
as a machinist, the captain’s, as a carpenter, and the mate’s, as a
merchant.
At three o’clock on the morning of the fifth day after their arrival
they started for Trinidad to take the coast steamer to Batabano,
stopping at Cienfuegos, Casilda, and other points. They were
escorted by their Spanish friends, all on horseback with
old-fashioned trappings, holsters and pistols. The steamer left soon
after they reached the wharf and there were several passengers who
scrutinized them very closely. On the evening of the following day
the Americans reached Batabano, the terminus of a railroad across
the island to Havana, and late in the evening were in Havana and at
the American Hotel.
Two weeks later, a steamer from New York to Panama arrived, with
some accident to her machinery which delayed her several days. The
doctor went out to her, shortly after her arrival, and saw that a
number of her passengers were going ashore to visit the city during
the delay of the ship; they could get a permit at a certain place on
the wharf and remain ashore if they desired. A happy idea came to
him and he went ashore with them and asked for a permit to visit the
island during the stay of the vessel; it cost twenty-five cents. He
then went to the Captain-General’s office, to the passport
department, and stated that he was a passenger on the steamer in the
harbor from New York to Panama, destined to San Francisco; that he
was an engineer going to California and while visiting the city on
permit had met a planter with whom he had made arrangements to take
off his sugar crop; that some new machinery was needed in the
sugarhouse, which could only be procured in the United States in
time for use that season, and that it would be necessary for him to
return to New Orleans by the Panama steamer now due. He therefore
asked for a passport, as the steamer could not take him without one.
The clerk said such things were of frequent occurrence and soon had
a passport ready. Hurrying to the hotel, the doctor related his
experience to the American captain and mate, who concluded to try
their luck in the _rôle_ of homesick and discontented gold-seekers
anxious to return to their home in the States. Both of them got into
a boat, were taken out to and around the ship and returning,
obtained their permits, and together went to the passport office
declaring themselves disgusted with the idea of going to California
and desiring to go back home, via New Orleans, on the steamer
reported due in a day or two. They obtained their passports and came
to the hotel, where, in a well-closed room, a bottle of wine was
opened and a toast drank to the success of the scheme for reaching
home.
Two days after they were aboard the Panama steamer and two days
later in New Orleans where the doctor sent the following message to
his parents in Natchez, Mississippi: “Just returned from the coast
of Africa, safe and well.”
INDEX
Acra, 57.
_Adelaide_ (brig), 240.
_Adventure_ (sloop), 259.
African Company, Royal, 4, 7.
_Aguila_ (bark), 249.
_Alabama_ (Confederate cruiser), 276.
_Albion-Frigate_ (ship), 73-88.
Allen, Capt. ——, 317.
Anamaboe, 8, 54.
_Ann_ (ship), 260-265.
Arnold, Dr. James, 167.
Ashantee sacrifice, 250.
Avery, the pirate, 42, 57.
Baille, Capt. ——, 100.
Barbot, James, 73-88.
Barca, Miguel, 211, 218, 222.
Beans, 66.
Bibby, Capt. ——, 169.
Bill of Lading, 106.
Bishop, Capt. ——, 96.
Blackmore, Capt. ——, 240.
Blanco, Pedro, 16, 227, 229, 246.
Brandy, pepper treatment, 13.
_Brisk_ (sloop-of-war), 276.
Bristol slavers, 89-112.
_Boa Morte_ (brig), 237.
Bonny, 12, 13, 76, 134.
Bontemps, Capt. ——, 28.
Bowen, Capt. Francis, 275, 276.
Branding, 10, 205.
_Britannia_ (ship), 178.
Buckerige, ——, 56, 57.
Bullson, William, 175.
Burial at sea, 47.
_Cabenda_ (ship), 223.
Calabar, 12.
Cameroons, 14.
Canoes, 24, 64, 80.
Canot, Theodore, 16.
Cape Coast Castle, 6, 51.
Carlet, Capt. David, 28.
_Carter_ (ship), 100.
Champlin, Christopher, 259.
Capt. Robert, 259.
_Charles_ (brig), 240.
Charleston, S. C., slave trade, 269-272.
_Chester_ (man-of-war), 70.
Clarke, Henry, 181.
Clay, ——, 57, 58.
_Clayton_ (snow), 100.
Cleghorn, ——, xxii.
Climate, 7.
Cooke, ——, 227.
George Frederick, 110.
_Coralline_ (brig), 193, 204.
Corrie, Capt. W. C., 276, 278.
Cothington, Col. ——, 70.
Covado, Blas, 227, 229, 230.
Cowper, William, 89.
Cowries, 60, 63.
Crocodiles, 29.
Crossing the line, 86.
Crow, Capt. Hugh, 181-188.
_Crown_ (ship), 31.
Crus, Pablo, 218, 220, 232.
Curtis, ——, 227.
Dahomey, xxxiii, 113, 193-200.
Daniell, Capt., 40.
Dennison, Capt. Jonathan, 260, 261.
_Desire_ (ship), 267.
DeWolf, James, 260, 261.
_Diana_ (schooner), 237.
Diseases, xxx, 61, 68, 69, 81, 85, 146-154, 165, 178, 191, 228,
238, 244.
_Douglas_ (ship), 93.
Drake, Capt. Richard, 189-254.
Drunkenness, 7, 241.
Ducket, Lionel, 19.
Dunbar, Charles, 117.
_East India Merchant_ (ship), 44, 47, 53, 57, 58, 68.
Elizabeth, Queen, 21.
_Elisabeth_ (ship), 124.
Ellery, Capt. William, 268.
Elliott, Capt. ——, 317.
_Enterprize_ (ship), 107, 109, 110.
_Erie_ (ship), 279.
Falconbridge, Alexander, 133-154.
_Fanny Butler_ (ship), 249.
_Faulkenburg_ (ship), 70.
_Ferres Galley_ (ship), 129.
_Florida_ (brig), 209.
Floss, ——, 223.
Forbes, Commander ——, 115.
Forts, 2, 4.
Fraley, Capt. ——, 201, 209, 227.
_Friendship_ (brig), 202.
Gambia river trade, 5.
Gardner, John, 271.
_Gloria_ (brig), 241.
Gonson, Benjamin, 19.
Gordon, Doctor, 49.
Capt. Nathaniel, 279.
William, 38.
_Green Dragon_ (ship), 28.
Guinea coast, 1-17.
Guineas, minting of, 4.
Guthrie, John J., 276.
_Hannibal_ (ship), 31-72.
Harrison, Capt. Joseph, 102.
Hartop, John, xxiii.
Hawkins, Capt. John, xxiii, 3, 19-30.
Capt. William, 19.
_Hector_ (ship), 101.
_Henry_ (ship), 121.
Herring, Capt. ——, 190.
Higginson, Capt. ——, 317.
Hispaniola, 1.
Howe, Dr. George, 319.
Indian slaves, 267.
_Indus_ (transport ship), 216.
Jackson, Capt. ——, 96, 98.
_James_ (ship), 186.
_Jeffrey_ (ship), 45.
Jeffreys, Sir Jeffrey, 31, 45.
John, 31.
Jenkins, Capt. ——, 100.
_Jesus of Lubeck_ (ship), 21.
_John_ (ship), 110.
Johnson, ——, 50.
Johnston, William, 257.
_Jonas_ (bark), 20.
_Katharine Galley_ (ship), 113.
Kendall, Col. ——, 70.
_Kitty’s Amelia_ (ship), 181.
Lace, Capt. Ambrose, 93-99.
Lawson, Capt. Caesar, 107.
_Leda_ (man-of-war), 260.
_Le Rodeur_ (ship), xxviii.
Leyland & Co., Thomas, 109, 110.
Lindsay, Capt. David, 257.
Lion, fight with, 196-198.
_Little Pearl_ (brig), 163, 167.
Liverpool slavers, 89-112.
Lodge, Thomas, 19.
Lok, Capt. John, xviii.
Lord, William, 51.
Machado, J. A., 317.
McGhee, Capt. A. C., 277.
MacTaggart, Capt. ——, 167.
Manning, Edward, 282.
_Marquis of Granby_ (ship), 93.
_Marquis of Lothian_ (ship), 101, 102.
_Martha_ (ship), 273.
_Mary Borough_ (ship), 106.
Maxwell, Dr. ——, 192, 204, 206, 223, 225.
_Mediterranean_ (ship), 40.
_Medusa_ (warship), 276.
Mendez, Antonio, 245, 249.
_Mersey_ (East Indiaman), 246.
_Merlin_ (ship), 22.
Messervy, Capt. ——, 129.
Middle Passage, 26, 157.
_Minion_ (brigantine), 22.
_Miranda_ (ship), 214.
_Mohican_ (warship), 279.
_Molly_ (ship), 169.
Mooney, Thaddeus, 192.
Morton, David, 107.
_Moseley Hill_ (ship), 136.
_Nancy_ (schooner), 271.
_Napoleon_ (schooner), 247.
Negro sacrifice, 115, 196, 250.
_Nightingale_ (clipper ship), 274.
Olds,——-, 239.
Ophthalmia, xxxi, 238.
_Othello_ (ship), 186.
Patrick, Capt. ——, 100.
Pawns, slave trade, 169.
Penn, William, xxvi.
Pentecost, Capt. Ernest H., xv, xxxv.
Pepper, 47.
Perry, Capt. M. C., 272.
_Perry_ (U. S. brig), 273.
Phillips, John C., 271.
Capt. Thomas, 31-72.
_Phoenix_ (ship), 101.
Pinckard, Dr. George, xxii.
Pirates, 42, 48, 53, 57.
_Prince_ (ship), 186.
_Princess Caroline_ (sloop-of-war), 229.
_Princess Charlotte_ (frigate), 181.
_Polly_ (packet ship), 190, 191.
_Ponchecta_ (schooner), 245.
Quobah, ——, 194, 196, 224.
_Rainbow_ (ship), 102.
Ramos, Diego, 214, 216, 217, 221, 222, 226, 229, 246.
_Rebecca_ (ship), 319.
Rhode Island slavers, 255-266.
Richardson, William, 13.
Romaigne, J. B., xxviii.
Ross, Prof. Edward A., xxvi.
Roux, Francis, 270.
_Ruby_ (brig), 167-180.
Rum, 256, 257.
Rumbold & Co., Thomas, 102.
Sailing orders, 22.
_St. Augustin_ (brig), 109.
St. Jago, visit to, 41.
_Saint Leon_ (ship), xxxiv.
_Sanderson_ (brigantine), 257.
_Saratoga_ (U. S. sloop-of-war), 275.
Scott, Capt. George, 257, 258.
Seamen, treatment of, 155-166, 167-180.
Searle, ——, 54, 55.
Sharks, 10, 63, 117, 238.
Sherman, Capt. ——, 70.
Shurley, Capt. ——, 33, 35, 44, 46, 47, 55-57.
_Sierre Leone_ (schooner), 258.
Slabber sauce, 13, 144.
Slave coast, 2, 6, 9, 10.
Factory, 58, 211-236.
Insurrection, 223-225.
Market, 1, 61, 208, 220.
Mutinies, 83, 113-132, 175, 207, 272.
Trade abolished, 14.
Trade on the coast, 1, 5, 9, 11, 45, 46, 49, 51, 61, 75, 78, 80,
93, 101, 103, 107, 133, 205, 211-236, 258-260, 330.
Trade profits, 17, 110, 247.
Trade, suppression of, 15, 272-280.
Traders, 3, 5, 12, 61, 116, 137, 140, 169, 219.
Slavery in United States, 239, 240, 253, 267-280.
Slaves, kidnapping, 23, 25, 137, 173, 198, 202.
Sickness of, 68.
Sold in West Indies, 27, 87, 90, 152.
Treatment of, xix, xxx, 12, 61, 66, 82, 119, 142, 173, 184, 205,
241, 243, 298.
Small pox. _See_ Diseases.
Snelgrave, Capt. William, xxxiii, 113-132.
Soans, Capt. John, 45.
_Solomon_ (ship), 20, 22, 25, 26.
Souza, ——, 234-236, 252.
Sparke, John, 24.
_Spitfire_ (schooner), 273.
Stanfield, James F., 156, 165.
_Stanier_ (sloop), 45.
Stanyer, Samuel, 31.
_Sunny South_ (clipper ship), 276.
Sugar industry, 89.
_Swallow_ (pinnace), 22, 25.
_Swallow_ (ship), 20.
Tavell, Frederick, 270.
_Tartar_ (brig), 270.
Tawne, ——, 75.
Taylor, Capt. James, 270.
_The Brothers_ (ship), 203.
_Thomas Watson_ (ship), 281, 317.
Thorley, Capt. ——, 202.
_Three Sisters_ (ship), 100.
_Tiger_ (bark), 22.
_Tiger_ (ship), 70.
_Truxton_ (U. S. brig), 273.
_Ulysses_ (man-of-war), 271.
Vanbukeline, ——, 50.
Venezuela, 27.
_Venus_ (schooner), 272.
_Venus_ (ship), 249.
Viall, Capt. Joshua, 271.
_Vincennes_ (man-of-war), 320.
_Wanderer_ (yacht), 276-279.
West Indies, slavery in, 20.
Whidaw, 58.
Wiburne, Sir John, 58.
_William_ (ship), 31.
Williams, Gomer, 93.
Williams, Capt. Joseph, 167-179.
Willing, Capt. Richard, 192, 204.
Winter, Sir William, 19.
Woman soldier, 35.
Wood & Nicholas, 94.
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Transcriber’s Note
Spelling and punctuation in the quoted material was generally left
as printed.
At pp. 96-100, there is a transcript of correspondence that includes
interspersed blank spaces, apparently where there were gaps in the
original. They are preserved here.
At 19.6, Capt. William Hawkins is said to be “trading on the coast
of Brazil as early as 1630”. His son, Capt. John Hawkins is said to
have been born in 1532. The year 1630 is clearly an error, and
certainly should be 1530.
At 99.19, asterisks are used to elide a word (‘piss’?) which was
likely deemed unseemly.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected,
and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the
original.
34.28 unbent our mai[l/n]sail Replaced.
137.19 advanced in their pregna[n]cy Inserted.
172.20 lay s[ei/ie]ge to the island Transposed.
200.20 a twenty day[’s/s’] journey Transposed.
286.25 of the same suspic[i]ous-looking kids Inserted.
287.22 was cautioned to[ be] very careful Inserted.
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