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against the time the vessel arrives, the King plunders some of his enemies towns, selling the people for such goods as he wantS: — If he is not at war with any neighbouring King, he falls upon one of his own towns, and makes bold to sell his own miserable subjects.'
N. Brue, in his account of the Trade, &c. writes,
'That having received a quantity of goods, he wrote to the King of the country, That if he had a sufficient number of slaves, he was ready to trade with him. This Prince (says that author) as well as other Negroe Monarchs, has always a sure way of supplying his deficiencies by selling his own subjects. — The King had recourse to this method, by seizing three hundred of his own people, and sent word to Brue, that he had the slaves ready to deliver for the goods.'
The misery and bloodshed, consequent of the Slave-Trade, is amply set forth by the following extracts of two voyages to the Coast of Guinea for slaves. The first in a vessel from Liverpool, taken verbatim from the original manuscript of the Surgeon's journal, viz.
'Sestro, December the 29th, 1724. No trade today, tho' many Traders come on board, they inform us, that the people are gone to war within land, and will bring prisoners enough in two or three days; in hopes of which we stay.The 30th. No trade yet, but our Traders came on board to-day, and informed us, the people had burnt four towns of their enemies, so that to-morrow we expect slaves off. Another large ship is come in: yesterday came in a large Londoner.
The 31st. Fair weather, but no trade yet; we see each night towns burning; but we hear the Sestro men are many of them killed by the inland
