The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade/Chapter 17
African Slave Trade after its Nominal Abolition.
To import negroes as slaves from Africa is now illegal, according to the laws of civilized nations. Those nations which keep up slavery, such as Brazil, Cuba and the United States, are supposed to breed all the slaves they require, within their own territories. But such is not the fact. The slave-trade is not yet suppressed; and the immese labors of philanthropists and statesmen, the struggles and negotiations of half a century, have not been crowned with per feet success. It is stated, upon good authority, that in 1844, more slaves were can-id away from Africa in ships than in 1744, when the trade was legal and in full vigor. The legal trade, pursued openly, has been changed into a contraband trade, pursued secretly; and the profits, determined from a number of random cases, have averaged from 180 to 200 per cent. Accordingly, a vigorous traffic has been carried on by French, Spanish, Portuguese, British and American crews. Spaniards and Portuguese, however, predominate, and the wages are large. They carry their cargoes to Brazil, Cuba, Porto Rico, &c.; and it has been charged that some are landed secretly in the United States, as there arc slaves in the extreme southern States who cannot speak English. But Brazil and Cuba are the principal slave-importing countries. Sir Fowell Buxton, in 1835, calculated that "Brazil imports annually about 80,000, and Cuba about 60,000 slaves. If we add 10,000 for all other places, the annual delivery of negroes into the slave-using countries of America will amount to 150,000." Africa, however, loses far more than America gains. According to his estimates, the whole wastage or tare of the traffic is seven-tenths; that is to say, for every ten negroes whom Africa parts with, America receives only three; the other seven die. This enormous wastage may be divided into three portions — the wastage in the journey from the interior of Africa to the coast, the wastage in the passage across the Atlantic, and the wastage in the process of seasoning after landing. The first is estimated at one-half of the original number brought from the interior, the second at one-fourth of the number shipped, and the third at one-fifth of the number landed. In other words, if 400,000 negroes are collected in the interior of Africa, then of these one-half will die before reaching the coast, leaving only 200,000 to be shipped; of these one-fourth will die in the passage across the Atlantic, leaving only 150,000 to be landed; and of these one-fifth will die in the process of seasoning, leaving only 120,000 available for labor in America.
While the trade was legal, the ships designed for carrying slaves were, in a great measure, constructed like other vessels; though, in order to make the cargo as large as possible, the negroes were packed very closely together. The number of negroes which a vessel was allowed to carry was fixed by law. British vessels of 150 tons and under, were not to carry more than five slaves to every three tons of measurement. In 1189, a parliamentary committee engaged in inquiries connected with Sir W. Dolben's bill, found, by actual measurement of a slave ship, that, allowing every man six feet by one foot four inches, every woman five feet by one foot four inches, every boy five feet by one foot two inches, and every girl four feet six inches by one foot, the ship would hold precisely 450 negroes. The actual number carried was 454; and in previous voyages she had carried more. This calculation, illustrated as it was by an engraving, caused an immense sensation at the time, and assisted in mitigating the miseries of the passage. In order to escape the cruisers, all slave ships now are built on the principle of fast sailing. The risk of being captured takes away all inducement, from mere selfish motives, to make the cargo moderate; on the contrary, it is an object now to make the cargo as large as possible, for then the escape of one cargo out of three will amply re- pay the dealer. Accordingly, the negroes now are packed in the slave ships literally (and this is the comparison always used) like herring in a barrel. They have neither standing room, nor sitting room, nor lying room; and as for change of position during the voyage, the thing is impossible. They are cooped up anyhow, squeezed into crevices, or jammed up against the curved planks. The following is a brief description given by an eye-witness of the unloading of a captured slaver which had been brought into Sierra Leone: "The captives were now counted; their numbers, sex, and age, written down, for the information of the court of mixed commission. The task was repulsive. As the hold had been divided for the separation of the men and the women, those on deck were first counted; they were then driven forward, crowded as much as possible, and the women were drawn up through the small hatchway t rom their hot, dark confinement. A black boatswain seized them one by one, dragging them before us for a moment, when the proper officer, on a glance, decided the age, whether above or under fourteen; and they were instantly swung again by their arm into their loathsome cell, where another negro boat- swain sat, with a whip or stick, and forced them to resume the bent and pain- ful attitude necessary for the stowage of so large a number. The unfortunate women and girls, in general, submitted with quiet resignation, when absence of disease and the use of their limbs permitted. A month had made their condi- tion familiar to them. One or two were less philosophical, or suffered more acutely than the rest. Their shrieks rose faintly from their hidden prison, as violent compulsion alone squeezed them into their nook against the curve of the ship's side. I attempted to descend in order to see the accommodation. The height between the floor and ceiling was about twenty-two inches. The agony of the position of the crouching slaves may be imagined, especially that of the men, whose heads and necks are bent down by the boarding above them. Once so fixed, relief, by motion or change of posture, is unattainable. The body frequently stiffens in a permanent curve; and in the streets of Freetown I have seen liberated slaves of every conceivable state of distortion. One I remember who trailed along his body, with his back to the ground, by means of his hands and ankles. Many can never resume the upright posture."
One item of the enormous mortality during the passage consists of negroes thrown overboard when the slaver is chased, or when a storm arises. Many thousands perish annually in this way. Very frequently it is decided, upon trial, that the capture of the vessel has been illegal; and then the slaver sails away triumphantly, the poor negroes on board having only been tantalized with the hope of freedom. A remarkable case of this kind is told by Mr. Rankin in his account of a visit to Sierra Leone, in 1834:
"On the morning after my arrival at Sierra Leone," says Mr. Rankin, "I was indulging in the first view of the waters of the estuary glittering in the hot sun, and endeavoring to distinguish from the many vessels at anchor the bark which had brought me from England. Close in-shore lay a large schooner, so remarkable from the low, sharp cut of her black hull, and the excessive rake of her masts, that she seemed amongst the other craft as a swallow seems amongst other birds. Her deck was crowded with naked blacks, whose woolly heads studded the rail. She was a slaver with a large cargo. In the autumn of 1833 this schooner, apparently a Brazilian, and named with the liberty-stirring appellation of 'Dona Maria da Gloria,' had left Loando, ou the slave coast, with a few bales of merchandise, to comply with the formalities required by the authorities from vessels engaged in legal traffic; for the slave-trade, under the Brazilian Hag, is now piracy. No sooner was she out of port than the real object of her voyage declared itself. She hastily received on board four hundred and thirty negroes, who had been mustered in readiness, and sailed for Rio Janeiro. Off the mouth of that harbor she arrived in November, and was captured as a slaver by his majesty's brig Snake; The case was brought in December before the court established there; and the court decided that, as her Brazilian character had not been fully made out, it was incompetent to the final decision of the case. It was necessary to apply to the court of mixed commission at Sierra Leone for the purpose of adjudication. A second time, therefore, the unfortunate dungeon-ship put to sea with her luckless cargo, and again crossed the Atlantic amidst the horrors of a two month's voyage. The Dona Maria da Gloria having returned to Africa, cast anchor at Freetown in the middle of February, 1834, and on arrival, found the number reduced by death from four hundred and thirty to three hundred and thirty-five.
"Continuance of misery for several months in a cramped posture, in a pestilential atmosphere, had not only destroyed many, but had spread disease amongst the survivors. Dropsy, eruptions, abscesses, and dysentery were making ravages, and ophthalmia was general. Until formally adjudicated by the court, the wretched slaves could not be landed, nor even relieved from their sickening situation. With the green hills and valleys of the colony close to them, they must not leave their prison. I saw them in April; they had been in the harbor two months, and no release had been offered them. But the most painful circumstance was the final decision of the court. The slaver was proved to have been sailing under Portuguese colors, not Brazilian; and the treaty with the Portuguese prohibits slave traffic to the north of a certain line only, whereas the Dona Maria had been captured a few degrees to the south. No alternative remained. Her capture was decided to have been illegal. She was formally delivered up to her slave-captain; and he received from the British authorities written orders to the commanders of the British cruisers, guaranteeing a safe and free passage back to the Brazils; and I saw the evil ship weigh anchor and leave Sierra Leone, the seat of slave liberation, with her large canvas proudly swelling, and her ensign floating as if in contempt and triumph. Thus, a third time were the dying wretches carried across the Atlantic after seven months' confinement; few probably lived through the passage."
Formerly, the forfeited slave-ships at Sierra Leone used to be sold; and there were frequent instances of a forfeited slaver sold in one year plying the same trade the next. With regard to the crews, Sir Powell Buxton remarks, that the law by which Great Britain, Brazil, and North America have made slave-dealing piracy, and liable to capital punishment, is, practically, a dead letter, there being no instance of an execution for that crime.
Perhaps never has the inefficacy of all that has yet been done towards the suppression of the slave-trade been more strikingly made out than in the harrowing pamphlet published by the Rev. Pascoe Grenfell Hill, entitled "Fifty Days on Board a Slave-Vessel in the Mozambique Channel, in April and May, 1843." The Progresso, a Brazilian slaver, was captured on the 12th of April, on the coast of Madagascar, by the British cruiser Cleopatra, on board of which Mr. Hill was chaplain. The slaver was then taken charge of by a British crew, who were to navigate her to the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. Hill, at his own request, accompanied her; and his pamphlet is a narrative of what took place during the fifty days which elapsed before their arrival at the Cape. We cannot here quote the details of the description of the treatment of the negroes given by Mr. Hill; but the following account of the horrors of a single night will suffice. Shortly after the Progresso parted company with the Cleopatra, a squall arose, and the negroes, who were breathing fresh air on deck, and rolling themselves about for glee, and kissing the hands and clothes of their deliverers, were all sent below. "The night," says Mr. Hill, "being intensely hot, 400 wretched beings thus crammed into a hold 12 yards in length, 7 feet in breadth, and only 312 feet in height, speedily began to make an effort to re-issue to the open air. Being thrust back, and striving the more to get out, the after-hatch was forced down on them. Over the other hatchway, in the fore part of the vessel, a wooden grating was fastened. To this, the sole inlet for the air, the suffocating heat of the hold, and perhaps panic from the strangeness of their situation, made them press; and thus a great part of the space below was rendered useless. They crowded to the grating, and clinging to it for air, completely barred its entrance. They strove to force their way through apertures in length 14 inches, and barely 6 inches in breadth, and in some instances succeeded. The cries, the heat — I may say without exaggeration, 'the smoke of their torment' — which ascended, can be compared to nothing earthly. One of the Spaniards gave warning that the consequence would be 'many deaths.'" Next day the prediction of the Spaniard "was fearfully verified. Fifty-four crushed and mangled corpses lifted up from the slave deck have been brought to the gangway and thrown overboard. Some were emaciated from disease, many bruised and bloody. Antonio tells me that some were found strangled, their hands still grasping each other's throats, and tongues protruding from their mouths. The bowels of one were crushed out. They had been trampeled to death for the most part, the weaker under the feet of the stronger, in the madness and torment of suffocation from crowd and heat. It was a horrid sight as they passed one by one — the stiff, distorted limbs smeared with blood and filth — to be cast into the sea. Some, still quivering, were laid on the deck to die; salt water thrown on them to revive them, and a little fresh water poured into their mouths. Antonio reminded me of his last night's warning. He actively employed himself, with his comrade Sebastian, in attendance on the wretched living beings now released from their confinement below; distributing to them their morning meal of farina, and their allowance of water, rather more than half a pint to each, which they grasped with inconceivable eagerness, some bending their knees to the deck, to avoid the risk of losing any of the liquid by unsteady footing; their throats, doubtless, parched to the utmost with crying and yelling through the night."
On the 12th of April, when the Progresso parted company with the Cleopatra, there were 397 negroes on board. Of these only 222 were landed at the Cape on the 22d of May; no fewer than 175, a little short of half, having died. Many also died after being landed. The crew escaped, there being no court empowered to try them at the Cape.
Walsh, in his notices of Brazil, in 1828 and 1829, says, in describing a slave-ship, examined by the English man-of-war in which he returned from Brazil, in May, 1829: "She had taken in, on the coast of Africa, 336 males and 226 females, making in all 562, and had been out seventeen days, during which she had thrown overboard fifty-five. The slaves were all enclosed under grated hatchways, between decks. The space was so low, that they sat between each other's legs, and stowed so close together that there was no possibility of their lying down, or at all changing their position by night or day. As they belonged to, and were shipped on account of, different individuals, they were all branded, like sheep, with the owners' marks, of different forms. These were impressed under their breasts, or on their arms, and, as the mate informed me, with perfect indifference, 'queimados pelo ferro quento — burnt with the red hot iron.' Over the hatchway stood a ferocious looking fellow, with a scourge of many twisted thongs in his hand, who was the slave-driver of the ship; and whenever he heard the slightest noise below, he shook it over them, and seemed eager to exercise it. As soon as the poor creatures saw us looking down at them, their dark and melancholy visages brightened up. They perceived something of sympathy and kindness in our looks, which they had not been accustomed to, and feeling, instinctively, that we were friends, they immediately began to shout and clap their hands. One or two had picked up a few Portuguese words, and cried out, 'Viva! viva!' The women were particularly excited. They all held up their arms; and when we bent down and shook hands with them, they could not contain their delight; they endeavored to scramble upon their knees, stretching up to kiss our hands; and we understood that they knew we had come to liberate them. Some, however, hung down their heads in apparently hopeless dejection; some were greatly emaciated, and some, particularly children, seemed dying. But the circumstance which struck us most forcibly, was, how it was possible for such a number of human beings to exist, packed up and wedged together as tight as they could cram, in low cells, three feet high, the greater part of which, except that immediately under the grated hatchways, was shut out from light or air, and this when the thermometer, exposed to the open sky, was standing in the shade, on our deck, at 89°. The space between decks was divided into two compartments, three feet three inches high; the size of one was sixteen feet by eighteen, and of the of the forty by twenty-one; into the first were crammed the women and girls; into the second, the men and boys: 226 fellow creatures were thus thrust into one space 288 feet square, and 336 into another space 800 feet square — giving to the whole an average of twenty-three inches, and to each of the women not more than thirteen inches, though many of them were pregnant. We also found manacles and fetters of different kinds; but it appears they had all been taken off before we boarded. The heat of these horrid places was so great, and the odor so offensive, that it was quite impossible to enter them, even had there been room. They were measured, as above, when the slaves had left them. The officers insisted that the poor suffering creatures should be admitted on deck, to get air and water. This was opposed by the mate of the slaver, who, from a feeling that they deserved it, declared they would murder them all. The officers, however, persisted, and the poor beings were all turned up together. It is impossible to conceive the effect of this eruption — 507 fellow creatures, of all ages and sexes, some children, some adults, some old men and women, all in a state of total nudity, scrambling out together to taste the luxury of a little fresh air and water. They came swarming up like bees from the aperture of a hive, till the whole deck was crowded to suffocation, from stem to stern; so that it was impossible to imagine where they could all have come from, or how they could all have been stowed away. On looking into the places where they had been crammed, there were found some children next the sides of the ship, in the places most remote from light and air; they were lying nearly in a torpid state, after the rest had turned out, The little creatures seemed indifferent as to life or death; and when they were carried on deck, many of them could not stand. After enjoying, for a short time, the unusual luxury of air, some water was brought; it was then that the extent of their sufferings was exposed in a fearful manner. They all rushed like maniacs towards it. No entreaties, or threats, or blows, could restrain them; they shrieked and struggled, and fought with one another, for a drop of this precious liquid, as if they grew rabid at the sight of it. There is nothing which slaves, in the mid-passage, suffer from so much as want of water. It is sometimes usual to take out casks filled with sea-water as ballast, and when the slaves are received on board, to start the casks and refill them with fresh. On one occasion a ship from Bahia neglected to change the contents of the casks, and on the mid-passage found, to their horror, that they were filled with nothing but salt water. All the slaves on board perished! We could. judge of the extent of their sufferings from the afflicting sight we now saw. When the poor creatures were ordered down again, several of them came and pressed their heads against our knees, with looks of the greatest anguish, at the prospect of returning to the horrid place of suffering below."
The English ship, however, was obliged, though with great reluctance, to release the slaver, as it could not be proved, after a strict examination, that he had exceeded the privilege allowed to Brazilian ships of procuring slaves south of the line Admiral Sir George Collier, in his report to the lords of admirality, dated September 6, 1820, stated, that "in the last twelve months not less than 60,000 Africans have been forced from their country, principally under the colors of France; most of whom have been distributed between the islands of Martinique, Guadaloupe, and Cuba. The confidence under which vessels navigate, bearing the French flag, has become so great, that I saw at Havana, in July last, no fewer than forty vessels fitting avowedly for the slave-trade, protected equally by the flags and papers of France and Spain. France has certainly issued her decrees against this traffic; but she has done nothing to enforce them. On the contrary, she gives to the trade all countenance short of public avowal.
"On this distressing subject, so revolting to every well regulated mind, I will add, that such is the merciless treatment of the slaves, by the persons engaged in the traffic, that no fancy can picture the horror of the voyage. Crowded together so as not to give the power to move; linked one to the other by the leg, never unfettered while life remains, or till the iron shall have fretted the flesh almost to the bone, forced under a deck, as I have seen them, not thirty inches in height; breathing an atmosphere the most putrid and pestilential possible; with little food, and less water; subject also to the most severe punishment at the caprice or fancy of the brute who may command the vessel; it is to me a matter of extreme wonder that any of these miserable people live the voyage through; many of them, indeed, perish on the passage, and those who remain to meet the shore, present a picture of wretchedness language cannot express."
The following singular and distressing circumstance occurred about the same time: The ship Le Rodeur, of 200 tons burthen, left Havre the 24th of January, 1819, for the coast of Africa, and reached her destination on the 14th of March following, anchoring at Bonny, on the river Calabar. The crew, consisting of twenty-two men, enjoyed good health during the outward voyage, and during their stay at Bonny, where they continued till the 6th of April. They had observed no trace of ophthalmia among the natives; and it was not until fifteen days after they had set sail on the return voyage, and the vessel was near the equator, that they perceived the first symptoms of this frightful malady. It was then remarked that the negroes, who, to the number of one hundred and sixty, were crowded together in the hold and between the decks, had contracted a considerable redness of the eyes, which spread with singular rapidity. No great attention was at first paid to these symptoms, which were thought to be caused only by the want of air in the hold, and by the scarcity of water which had already begun to be felt. At this time they were limited to eight ounces of water a day for each person, which quantity was afterwards reduced to the half of a wine glass. By the advice of M. Maignan, the surgeon of the ship, the negroes, who had hitherto remained shut up in the hold, were brought upon deck in succession, in order that they might breathe a purer air. But it became necessary to abandon this expedient, salutary as it was, because many of those negroes, affected with nostalgia, threw themselves into the sea, locked in each others arms.
The disease which had spread itself so rapidly and frightfully among the Africans, soon began to infect all on board, and to create alarms for the crew. The danger of infection, and perhaps the cause which produced the disease, were increased by a violent dysentery, attributed to the use of rain water. The first of the crew who caught the infection was a sailor who slept under the deck, near the grated hatch which communicated with the hold. The next day a landsman was seized with ophthalmia; and, in three days more the captain and almost the whole crew were infected by it.
The sufferings of the people and the number of the blind augmented every day, so that the crew — previously alarmed by the apprehension of a revolt among the negroes — were seized with the further dread of not being able to make the West Indies, if the only sailor who had hitherto escaped the contagion, and on whom their whole hope rested, should become blind like the rest. This calamity had actually befallen the Leon, a Spanish slaver which the Rodeur met with on her passage, and the whole of whose crew, having become blind, were under the necessity of altogether abandoning the direction of their ship. They entreated the charitable interference of the Rodeur; but the sea men of this vessel could not either quit her to go on board the Leon, on account of the cargo of negroes, nor receive the crew in the Rodeur, in which there were scarcely room for themselves. The difficulty of taking care of so large a number of sick in so confined a space, and the total want of fresh meat and of medicines, made them envy the fate of those who were about to become the victims of a death which seemed to them inevitable, and the consternation was general.
The Rodeur reached Gaudaloupe on the 21st of June, 1819, her crew being in a most deplorable condition. Three days after her arrival, the only man who, during the voyage, had withstood the influence of the contagion, and whom Providence appeared to have preserved as a guide to his unfortunate companions, was seized with the same malady. Of the negroes, thirty-nine had become perfectly blind, twelve had lost an eye, and fourteen were affected with blemishes more or less considerable. Of the crew, twelve lost their sight entirely, among whom was the surgeon; five become blind of one eye, one of them being the captain, and four were partially injured.
Such were the miseries of this voyage of iniquity, but the atrocities of it even transcended its miseries. It is stated among other things, that the captain caused several of the negroes who were prevented in the attempt to throw themselves overboard to be shot and hanged in the hope that the example might deter the rest from a similar conduct. But even this severity proved unavailing, and it became necessary to confine the slaves entirely to the hold during the remainder of the voyage. It is further stated, that upwards of thirty of the slaves who became blind were-thrown into the sea and drowned upon the principle that had they been landed at Guadaloupe no one would have bought them, and that the proprietors would consequently have incurred 
the expense of maintaining them without the chance of any return; while by throwing them overboard not only was this certain loss avoided, but ground was also laid for a claim on the underwriters by whom the cargo had been insured, and who are said to have allowed the claim and made good the valut of the slaves thus destroyed.
In the memorial of the colonization society presented to congress in 1822, it was stated that official documents had been presented to government, from which it appeared that in 1821, two hundred thousand had been carried away from the coast of Africa.
The African institution reported that in 1822, 28,246 slaves were imported into Rio de Janeiro alone from the coast. The number embarked had been 31,240 — 3,484 having died on the passage.
In 1824, the same society reported that 120,000 were taken from Africa during that year.
In 1825, "there were," says Commodore Bullen, "in the river Bonny alone 200V tons of shipping, 293 persons and 35 guns, under the flag of the French nation, employed in the speculation of human flesh."
In 1822, four slave vessels were taken on the river Bonny by a squadron under Sir Robert Mends, stationed by the British government on the coast of Africa to prevent the infraction of the laws for the abolition of the slave-trade. The vessels were Spanish and French. They had nearly 1300 slaves on board. A Spanish schooner, when taken possession of, had a lighted match hanging over the open magazine hatch. The match was placed there by the crew, before they leaped overboard and swam for the shore; it was seen by one of the seamen, who boldly put his hat under the burning wick and removed it. The magazine contained a large quantity of powder. One spark from the flaming match would have blown up 325 unfortunate victims lying in irons in the hold. These monsters in iniquity expressed their deep regret after the action that their diabolical plan had failed.
On board another of the vessels, Lieutenant Mildmay, the officer who captured her, observed a slave girl about twelve or thirteen years of age in irons, to which was fastened a thick iron chain, ten feet in length, that was dragged along as she moved. He ordered the girl to be instantly released from this fetter; and that the captain who had treated her so cruelly might not be ignorant of the pain inflicted upon an unprotected and innocent child, the irons were ordered to be put upon him.
The slaves in one of the vessels at the time of the capture, were found in the most wretched condition; some lying on their backs, others sitting on the bottom of the ships. They were chained to each other by the arms and legs; iron collars were placed round their necks. In addition to these provisions for confinement, they were fastened together by a long chain which connected several of the collars for their greater security in that dismal prison. Thumbscrews, to be used as instruments of torture, were also found in the vessel. From their confinement and sufferings, the slaves often injured themselves by beating, and vented their grief upon such as were next to them by biting and tearing their flesh. Some of them were bound by cords, and many had their arms grievously lacerated.
In 1825, on board a schooner's boat of only five tons burthen which was taken, were found seventeen slaves, twenty-three had been taken in, six had already died. The negroes were in a state of complete starvation and approaching dissolution. The space allowed them was no more than eighteen inches between the water casks and the deck.
The Aviso, another captured vessel, had 465 slaves on board; of whom 34 died after their capture, notwithstanding every attention. Such was the filth and crowd that not half could have reached the Brazils alive. Commodore Bullen put the crew on shore in Prince's island. These wretches, as soon as they found that they must be boarded, had stove in their boilers, as a last malignant effort to add to the misery of those whom a few minutes would place beyond their power.
One Oiseau, commander of a French slave-ship called Le Louis, having completed his cargo on the old Calabar, thrust them all between decks, (a height of only three feet,) and closed the hatches on them for the night. Fifty were found dead in the morning. As a matter of course, he only immediately returned on shore to supply their place. Captain Arnaud, of the Louisa, arrived at Guadaloupe with 200 negroes, the remainder of an original cargo of 265. Having by mistake purchased more than he could accommodate, he had thrown the odd 65 into the sea.
A writer in the African Repository, who visited Africa in one of our national vessels, states that the steward of the vessel had been to Africa five times in a slave-ship. On one occasion, when an insurrection was expected, they shot two hundred of the slaves. Out of 400, the number which they carried at each trip, 40 died on every passage. The African Institution in one of their reports publishes the following deed of infernal atrocity: A French slaver having landed part of a cargo of 250 slaves at Guadaloupe, was pursued by an armed French vessel, when, to avoid detection, they threw the remaining sixty-five overboard, all of whom perished.
A writer in a letter from Rio de Janeiro, dated January 11, 1830, says: "I will relate but a single fact at this time to show the dreadful character of the slave-trade. The Brazilian government derives a large revenue from the importation of slaves, by laying a duty of so much per head immediately on their arrival without regard to their health or condition. When vessels, therefore, which have slaves on board arrive off the port, a general survey takes place by the physician, and those poor wretches whose existence is doubtful are thrown overboard in order to save the duty."
Mr. Robert Baird, in his "Impressions of the West Indies and North America," in 1849, speaking of the slave-trade, says: "There can be no doubt of the fact, that during the last year the importation of slaves into the island of Cuba has been carried on in full vigor — so vigorously and extensively that the price of slaves had fallen, in consequence of the plentiful supply, from four hundred and fifty or five hundred, to from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars. This fact is notorious, and I beard it authenticated by official authority. It is equally notorious in the island itself that the agent of the queen mother of Spain was and is extensively engaged in the infamous traffic; and it is more than suspected that, directly or indirectly, his royal mistress is a large participator in the heavy gains her agent realizes from this trade in human flesh. Indeed, the traffic is little short of being a legalized one; the amount of dollars payable to the governor or to the government (for there is much difference between these two) being, if not fixed by law or order, at leas' as well understood as if it were so. All this is, of course, in direct and manifest violation of the engagements and treaties made by Spain with England; and it is an ascertained fact that fully one-half of the slaves in Cuba are there held in abject bondage in violation of these solemn treaties and engagements. Iudeed, were it otherwise, it were nearly impossible that the Spanish colonists of Cuba could find slaves to cultivate their fields. Every one who knows Cuba, and the brutal manner in which the great mass of the agricultural slaves are treated there, will laugh at the idea of the slave population of Cuba being self-supporting. They also know that it is much cheaper to import slaves than to breed them. The planter in Cuba found this to be the case, even when the vigilance of the British and French cruisers had made slaves so scarce in Cuba that the price of an able-bodied one was fully five hundred dollars. Of course, now that such vigilance had been, for a time, at least, relaxed, and the price of slaves had fallen to from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars, the greater economy of keeping up the breed by importation is too plain to be overlooked. Hence it is that the idea of a self-supporting system seems to be quite out of the Cuban's calculations, and that in the barracoons on his estates there are often to be found numerous bands of males and but a very few females, or oftimes none at all. It has been said, and it is generally credited by intelligent parties resident in Cuba, that the average duration of the life of a Cuban slave, after his arrival in the island, does not exceed seven or eight years. In short, that he is worked out in that time. His bodily frame cannot stand the excessive toil for a longer period; and, after that average period, his immortal spirit escapes from the tortured tenement of clay. Ye extenuators of slavery and of the slave-trade, ponder this ascertained fact. Is it not enough to make the flesh creep, and to unite all civilized mankind to put an end at least to the traffic in slaves? 'Nor is it only by treaties that Spain and Brazil are bound to cease their illegal traffic in human flesh. England has paid them large sums of money as the condition of their doing so; and these sums they have received and accepted, under the annexed and expressed condition. It has been unjustly said by some writers on the other side of the Atlantio — writers evidently in the pay of those who think it for their interest to prevent their country from sharing in the glory Great Britain has acquired and will acquire, by her efforts for suppressing and putting an end to the horrors of the slave-trade — that Great Britain has no right to interfere with Spain and Brazil as regards this trade in their own colonies; that slavery is a domestic institution, with which foreign nations have nothing whatever to do; and that, In debarring Spain and Brazil from the conduct of this traffic, the British lion is doing little more than acting the bully. Such writers forget the contract part of the matter. Were England seeking, by threat or force of arms, to promote the emancipation of slaves within any country or any colony, large or small, there might be some foundation for the argument. As it is, there is none. She is only demanding and requiring that Spain and Brazil should do what they have promised and engaged to do, what they have been paid for doing, but what they have hitherto failed to perform. Happy is it for England that, in enforcing these claims, she is fighting in the sacred cause of humanity.
"It is also said, and universally credited, that the present captain-general views the slave-trade with an indulgent eye. At all events, it is indisputable that the importation of slaves into the island, which fell off greatly under the influence of England and the activity of the English cruisers, during the latter years of the dynasty of the late governor, (Count O'Donnel,) has of late years, and since the Count of Alcoy assumed the reins of government, received a fresh impetus, and is now flourishing in fullest vigor. How far the governor is personally concerned in the production of this result, it were next to impossible to ascertain exactly; but assuredly his correspondence with the representative of Britain in the island, as to the landing of slaves, in the course of which the British consul-general offered to give his excellency ocular evidence of the truth of his informant's story — that slaves had been lately landed from a slaver, and were then in course of sale — does not indicate any desire either to suppress the traffic or to keep faith with Britain. Indeed, it is publicly affirmed that a regularly fixed fee (some fifty dollars a-head) is exacted by the governor on each slave that is brought in, besides sundry other fees to the captain of the port or harbor-master, and other officials, who have the power of prevention more or less in their hands. In short, the system is a complete one, and completely inoculated into the principles of Cuban government. No doubt a semblance of respect for. the solemn treaties made with Britain, and for the entering into which Spain has been paid, is kept up in the island. The barbarian victims of the inhuman slave-trade are exposed to sale not as slaves, but as 'goods' or 'merchandise,' (bultos,) and some such farce is occasionally exhibited as this: A few of the imported slaves — such of them as are sick, disabled, infirm, or likely to die, and of course are of little or no value — are taken possession of by government authority, and an attempt is made to 'throw dust in the eyes of the English,' by making a noise about the matter, and formally delivering up the miserable wretches, thus 'seized,' as slaves imported into Cuba, in violation of the solemn treaties made by Spain with England — much being vaunted, at the time, of Spanish honor and national good faith. If any thing could make matters worse than the real disregard of the treaties, it would be conduct such as this — hypocrisy added to dishonesty, and the whole veiled in high-sounding words. And yet such pretended seizures and deliveries are often taking place. One had occurred only a few days before I reached Cuba, the number then seized being under twenty; while the knowr number of slaves actually introduced into the island, during that and the previous month, had not been less than four thousand, and while the average rate of present import is not under two thousand per month."
In 1840, Turnbull published his work on "Cuba and Porto Rico." He was a close observer of every thing connected with slavery and the slave-trade, and the greater part of his work is devoted to this subject. From this reliable source we gather some important facts: "As if to throw ridicule on the grave denials of all knowledge of the slave-trade which are forced from successive captains-general of Cuba by the unwearied denunciations of the British authorities, two extensive depots for the reception and sale of newly imported Africans have lately been erected at the further end of the Paseo, just under the windows of his excellency's residence; the one capable of holding 1000 and the other 1500 negroes. These were constantly full during the greater part of the time I remained in Havana. As the barracoon, or depot, serves the purpose of a slave-market as well as a prison, these two have been placed at the point of greatest attraction, where the Paseo ends, and where the grounds of the captain-general begin, and where the railroad passes into the interior. The passengers on the cars are horrified at the unearthly shouts of the thoughtless inmates, who, in their eagerness and astonishment at the passing train, push their arms and legs through the bars of the windows, with the cries, and grimace, and jesticulation, which might be expected from a horde of savages placed in circumstances so totally new and extraordinary. These barracoons are considered by the foreign residents as the lions of the place, and strangers are carried there as to a sight that cannot well be seen elsewhere. On entering you do not find so much misery as an unreflecting visitor might expect. It is the policy of the importer to restore as soon as possible among the survivors, the strength that has been wasted, and the health that has been lost during the horrors of the middle passage. It is his interest to keep up the spirits of his victims, that they may the sooner become marketable, and prevent their sinking under that fatal home-sickness which carries off so many during the first months of their captivity. With this view they are well fed and clothed. Even after leaving the barracoons, the overseer of the plantation finds it for the interest of his master to treat them with lenity for several months, scarcely allowing them to hear the crack of a whip, and breaking them in by slow degrees to the hours and weight of labor which are destined to break them down long before the period which nature prescribes.
"The well understood difficulty of breaking in men and women of mature age to the labors of the field, has produced a demand at the barracoons for younger victims. The range of years in the age of captives appeared to extend from twelve to eighteen, and the proportion of males to females was nearly three to one, as the demand for males was much greater. One motive for the continuation of the slave-trade is the well known fact, that a state of hopless servitude has the effect of enervating the slave, and reducing the physical powers of his descendants far below the average of his African ancestors. A Bozal African commands a price twenty per cent higher than that of a Creole, born in slavery on the island. As applied to negroes, the terms Creole and Bozal are nearly antithetical."
Bryan Edwards, the historian of the West Indies, in describing the characteristics of the various tribes of Western Africa, speaks of the natives of the Gold Coast as constituting the genuine and original unmixed negro, both in person and character. He says "the Koromantyn or Gold Coast negroes are distinguished for firmness both of body and mind; a ferociousness of disposition; but withal activity, courage, and a stubbornness, or what an ancient Roman would have deemed an elevation of soul, which prompts them to enterprizes of difficulty and danger, and enables them to meet death in its most horrible forms with fortitude or indifference. They take to labor with great promptitude and alacrity, and have constitutions well adapted for it. It is not wonderful that such men should endeavor, even by means the most desperate, to regain the freedom of which they have been deprived." The historian describes a rebellion of these negroes which occurred in Jamaica in 1160. A band of about one hundred, newly imported, and led by one of their number who had been a chief in Guinea, having revolted and formed themselves into a body, about one o'clock in the morning proceeded to the fort at Port Maria, killed the sentinel, and provided themselves with arms and ammunition. Here they were joined by their countrymen from other plantations, and marched up the high road that led to the interior of the island, carrying death and desolation as they went. They massacred the whites and mulattoes as they went, and literally drank their blood mixed with rum.
Their chief was killed by one of the parties that went in pursuit of them; and three of the ringleaders were taken. One was condemned to be burnt, and the other two to be hung up alive in irons, and left to perish. The one that was burnt was made to sit on the ground, and his body being chained to an iron stake, the fire was applied to his feet. He uttered not a groan, and saw his legs reduced to ashes with the utmost firmness and composure. After which, one of his arms by some means getting loose, he snatched a brand from the fire that was consuming him, and flung it in the face of the executioner. The two that were hung up alive were indulged at their own request with a hearty meal before they were suspended on the gibbet, which was erected on the Kingston parade. From that time until they expired they never uttered the least complaint, except only of cold in the night, but diverted themselves all day long in discourse with their countrymen, who were permitted to surround the gibbet. The historian says that he visited the gibbet on the seventh day, and while there, he heard them both laugh immoderately at some trifling occurrence. The next morning one of them silently expired, as did the other on the morning of the ninth day.[1]
The British minister at Rio informed Lord Palmerston in 1838, that 36,914 slaves had been imported into that single harbor during the year 1827, and that the number would have been greater but for the fact that several of the traders had discharged their vessels at other ports of the empire.
"The system pursued at Rio (says Turnbull), seems, in many respects, to correspond with what I have witnessed at Havana. The receptacles for the Bozal negroes, which serve the double purpose of warehousing and exposing them for sale, are open in both places to public inspection; although perhaps not so closely under the windows of the imperial palace at Rio, as they are under those of the captain-general's residence at Havana. Mr. Ouseley, the British minister, states that no less than 6,000 newly imported Africans have been exposed for sale at one time in the barracoons at Rio. The Brazilian authorities, like those of Cuba, have a direct pecuniary interest in promoting the traffic, by the existence of a sort of capitation tax on the imports, which is divided among the officers of the government.
Two insurance companies were in operation in Havana with a capital of $850,000, for the purpose of covering slave risks. They exacted premiums varying from 25 to 40 per cent, according to the sailing qualities of the ship, and the character of the master for sagacity and courage. The business was also carried on by private underwriters.
In 1837, seventy-eight slavers arrived at Havana under the Portuguese flag, each vessel averaging 300 slaves, making a total of 23,400. For each one of them the captain-general received the usual fee of a doubloon; the levy on the whole yielding $300,000, which sum was divided, as customary, into four equal parts: the captain-general, the captain of the coast guard, the harbor masters where the landing is effected, and the local chiefs of the customs, receiving equal shares. The parties who pay it never obtain any thing in the nature of a receipt, or other written acknowledgment for the money. It will be observed that the captain-general's interest is equal to a whole class of the minor functionaries.
Ninety-three vessels, under the flag of Portugal, are reported to have entered the harbor of Rio de Janeiro alone in 1837, and as many as eighty-four in 1838, from which, in two years, there were landed 78,300 slaves. These calculations do not include the number of slavers which resorted to other places in Cuba besides Havana, nor to other provinces in Brazil besides Rio de Janeiro; neither does it include the number which founder at sea, nor those which were captured and condemned at Sierra Leone. In that settlement there were at the time four courts of mixed commission — the British and Brazilian, the British and Netherlands, the British and Spanish, and the British and Portuguese. In 1838, the number of captured slavers which passed through those courts amounted to thirty. The Dutch and Brazilian commissioners enjoyed a sinecure; but although several of the thirty slavers were condemned in the Spanish court, as being liable under a new interpretation of the lex mercatoria, to be treated as Spaniards, and so to be subject to the conditions of the treaty, it is a remarkable fact that every one of them professed to be Portuguese, and was provided with Portuguese papers. Eighteen were condemned in the Portuguese court, because the fact of their being full of slaves at the moment of capture was irresistible; one escaped condemnation; the other eleven were deprived of the shelter of the Portuguese flag and condemned in the Spanish court. Not one of the whole number, however, was really Portuguese: four were Brazilian, and the remaining twenty-six undoubtedly Spanish. Of the eleven condemned in the Spanish court, only one had embarked any slaves previous to her capture; and it was in virtue of the "equipment clause" in the Clarendon treaty with Spain that they were subject to be condemned.
Joint stock companies were organized at Havana and Brazil, with heavy capitals, for the purpose of carrying on the slave-trade. Two of the above vessels belonged to one of these companies, the head-quarters of which were at Pernambuco. From papers found on board one of the vessels, it appeared that the company was composed of twenty members, and the capital invested, $80,000; and that they intended to establish a slave factory in the river Benin, and endeavor to secure a monopoly of the trade with the native princes.
The small number of slavers captured in proportion to the number engaged in the trade, may be accounted for from the fact that the cruisers were engaged in the hopeless task of blockading and watching 8000 miles of coast: — 3000 miles of the African continent, embracing those portions only from whence slaves were obtained, and 5000 miles may be estimated for the shores of Brazil, Cuba, and Porto Rico.
From the papers and letters of instruction which occasionally fell into the hands of the captors, some curious facts are obtained. One treasurer of a company in Brazil writes to his agent on the coast, that among his stock in trade, to be sure at all times to have plenty of rum and tobacco, and to estimate all his goods at the highest possible prices; and that as all savages have respect for some kind of religion, the agent must be sure to keep up the exercise of some external forms, which would give a desirable "moral force" to the establishment! The natives were to be treated with the utmost civility, but not the slightest confidence was to be placed in them. Intoxication was to be carefully guarded against by the servants of the company, but the natives were to be encouraged in it. All sorts of contrivances were resorted to in order to cheat the poor negroes. English calico was cut up the middle in order to double its length, and each piece of stripe, or handkerchief, was cut across, making two pieces; the rum was adulterated, and the tobacco packed expressly for deception. From the intercepted correspondence we also gather some particulars in regard to the mortality of the trade. The Salome had landed a cargo of 253 slaves near Matanzas, of whom seven had died soon after they were landed, and twenty-seven others were sick; seventy-four others had perished during the voyage, "so that we shall with difficulty," the owners pathetically observe to their agent in Africa, "get back the cost of our enterprise." The captain of another vessel writes back to the agent, "There were about 100 of those embarked at your port infected with the putrid fever; all our exertions could not stop the mortality, so that only one half have been saved of the number that ought to have been yielded by our abundant and well assorted barter, calculated to produce more than 400." Another merchant writes, "The business wears a most unfavorable aspect; although the vessel arrived safely, we shall scarcely get back our outlay, for out of the small number embarked, there died eighty-one during the voyage and shortly after landing. The others were sold at Matanzas, at an average of $306. The twenty who were sick brought us $2,304."
The captains of the slavers were generally instructed to fly on the slightest appearance of danger — "if you hesitate, you are lost." In one of the contracts for wages between the owners and crew of a captured slaver, it was stipulated, in order to compel the men to fight, that wages shall not be due in the event of capture by a vessel of equal force, nor even in the event of capture by one of superior force, unless after an obstinate defense; and in that case the wages of those who will not fight shall be forfeited, and divided among the brave defenders."
The slavers were generally provided with three sets of papers, Spanish, Portuguese, and American, and the American flag was frequently made use of to shield the miscreants. The Venus, a ship of 460 tons, was built in Baltimore in 1838, expressly for a slaver. She arrived at Havana on the 4th of August in that year, and sailed shortly afterwards under American colors. She was owned by a Spaniard and a Frenchman, and was said to have cost them $100,000. She proceeded to the coast of Africa, and embarked the unprecedented number of 1,100 slaves, of whom the survivors, 860 in number, were landed on the coast. She had been absent but four months, and returned into port under Portuguese colors. It was asserted in Havana that $150,000 had been cleared by this single adventure. The arrival of the vessel occasioned a correspondence between the British commissioners and the American consul. The facts which brought about the correspondence were the notoriety with which a large vessel like the Venus, built at Baltimore, had arrived from the United States and sailed on a slaving voyage under the American flag, together with the belief that several American citizens had embarked in her from Havaua, and had also returned in her. It was also reported that the Venus had been visited on the coast of Africa, still showing her American colors, by the officers of a British cruiser. It was even a subject of boast that although one of the British cruisers had seen the Venus receive part of her cargo, yet that such was her superiority in sailing that it was found impossible to come up with her on the attempt being made to give chase. While the Venus remained at Havana, she was visited by officers of the British navy. The Portuguese papers with which she returned were those of an old slaver, which had sailed under many a flag, and finally bore the Portuguese name of the Duquesa de Braganza, the name which the Venus assumed in order to have the benefit of her Portuguese papers, without the trouble or expense of going to purchase them.
Under these circumstances, the British commissioners who were sent to Havana for the express purpose of contributing, as far as lay in their power, to the suppression o f the slave-trade, felt it their duty to communicate the facts to the consular representative of the American government, and offered some friendly suggestions, such as an appeal to the captain-general, or the introvention of an American sloop of war then lying in Havana. By bringing the culprits to punishment, the American people and government would have been exculpated from all countenance to the disgraceful abuse which had thus been made of the American flag. Mr. Trist, the consul, however, saw the matter in a different light. He had once before b,een appealed to on the occasion of a similar abuse of his country's flag. The only notice he took of the communication was to return it. On this second occasion he pursued a different course. An answer was returned, in which the former communication is spoken of as an "insult" and an "outrage;" and he informed them that he "could not recognize the right of any agent of any foreign government to interfere in any possible mode or degree in the discharge of his duties."
In afterwards remarking upon this communication, Lord Palmerston desired the commissioners to observe to Mr. Trist, "that the two governments having, by the tenth article of the treaty of Ghent, mutually engaged to each other that they would "use their utmost endeavors to promote the entire abolition of the slave-trade." it seems to be perfectly consistent with the respect which the agents of each country must feel for the other country, that they should not only themselves act in strict accordance with the spirit of the engagement which their own government has contracted, but that they should furnish to the agents of the other government any information which may be calculated to enable that other government more effectually to accomplish the common purpose." Mr. Trist also alluded, in his letter, to the manufacture of goods in Great Britain expressly designed for the African trade. Lord Palmerston directed the commissioners to state to that gentleman that "if he can at any time furnish her majesty's government, through them, with any information which may directly or indirectly enable the government to enforce the penalties of the law against British subjects who may be concerned in the slave-trade, her majesty's government will feel most sincerely obliged to him."
Not long after, a similar case occurred with regard to a French vessel, Le Havre, which having sailed from Havana under French colors, and with several French citizens on board, for the coast of Africa, had reentered the port, after having landed 500 negroes on the shores of the island. The owner was a Frenchman, and his partners were Englishmen. A communication was addressed to the French consul, who applied immediately to the Prince de Joinville, who was then with his ship at Havana. The prince forthwith dispatched a French vessel to capture the slaver, which had put to sea. The cruise was unsuccessful, however, as the Havre was wrecked, as the most efficacious way of silencing further inquiries.
The object of the slavers in hoisting the American flag, is that it protects them from the right of search conceded by other nations to the cruisers engaged in supporting the trade. The laws of the Union declares the slave-trade piracy — the flag of the Union protects the miscreants engaged in it. In order to obtain the protection of the American flag, a practice arose of Bending Spanish vessels to Key West, and after a collusive sale had been effected, the vessels returned to Havana, to be dispatched to the coast of Africa under American colors. In this way, the Spanish schooner which went to Key West as the Espartero, came back as the Thomas, with American papers. A well known Spanish slaver went to New Orleans as the Conchita, and came back as the American schooner Encautadera.
American vessels were privately sold in Havana, the American registers were retained, and the vessels proceded to the coast of Africa under American colors. The buyer generally stipulated that the American captain, or some American citizen to represent him, should remain on board, and the fact of the transfer remain in abeyance until the vessel arrived in Africa. The American captain retained the command, to mislead the commanders of the British cruisers; but he gave it up as soon as the slaves were received on board, so as not to expose himself to the penalty of piracy in case of capture. The American flag and papers protected them from the right of search by the British cruisers — the Portuguese flag and papers shielded them from the penalties of piracy if captured They were provided with double captains, double papers and double flags.
The American flag thus became involved in the slave traffic. In 1849, the British consul at Rio, in his public correspondence, says: "One of the most notorious slave-dealers in this capital, when speaking of the employment of American vessels in the slave-trade, said, a few days ago: "I am worried by the Americans, who insist upon my hiring their vessels for slave-trade."
Of this there is also abundant and distressing evidence from our own diplomatic officers. Besides a lengthy correspondence from a preceeding mintster near the court of Brazil, the President of the United States transmitted a report from the Secretary of State, in December, 1850, to the Senate of the United States, with documents relating to the African slave-trade. A resolution had previously passed the Senate, calling upon the Executive for this information.
In these documents it is stated that "the number of American vessels which, since the 1st of July, 1844, until the 1st of October last (1849), sailed for the coast of Africa from this city, is ninety-three. . . . Of these vessels, all, except five, have been sold and delivered on the coast of Africa, and have been engaged in bringing over slaves, and many of them have been captured with slaves on board. . . .This pretended sale takes place at the moment when the slaves are ready to be shipped; the American captain and his crew going on shore, as the slaves are coming off, while the Portuguese or Italian passengers, who come out from Rio in her, all at once become master and crew of the vessel. Those of the American crew who do not die of coast-fever, get back as they can, many of them being compelled to come over in slave-vessels, in order to get back at all. There is evidence in the records of the consulate, of slaves having started two or three times from the shore, and the master and crew from their vessel in their boat, carrying with them the flag and ship's papers; when, the parties becoming frightened, both retroceded; the slaves were returned to the shore, and the American master and crew again went on board the vessel. The stars and stripes were again hoisted over her, and kept flying until the cause of the alarm (an English cruiser) departed from the coast, and the embarkation was safely effected."
On the other, hand, we have the following notice from Brazil: "As in former years, the slave-dealers have derived the greatest assistance and protection for their criminal purposes, from the use of the American flag, I am happy to add that these lawless and unprincipled traders are at present deprived of this valuable protection, by a late determination of the American naval commander-in-chief on this station, who has caused three vessels, illegally using the flag of the United States, and which were destined for African voyages, to be seized on their leaving this harbor. This proceeding had caused considerable alarm and embarrassment to the slave-dealers; and, should it be continued, will be a severe blow to all slave-trading interests."
Mr. David Tod, the American Minister at the court of Brazil, in a letter to the Secretary of State, says: "As my predecessors had already done, I have, from time to time, called the attention of our government to the necessity of enacting a stringent law, having in vew the entire withdrawal of our vessels and citizens from this illegal commerce; and after so much has been already written upon this subject, it may be deemed a work of supererogation to discuss it further. The interests at stake, however, are of so high a character, the integrity of our flag and the cause of humanity being at once involved in their consideration, I cannot refrain from bringing the topic afresh to the notice of my government, in the hope that the President may esteem it of such importance as to be laid before Congress, and that even at this late day, legislative action may be secured."
In this communication, a quotation is made from Mr. Proffit, one of the preceding ministers, to the Secretary of State, February, 1844, in which he says: "I regret to say this, but it is a fact not to be disguised or denied, that the slave-trade is almost entirely carried on under our flag, in American-built vessels, sold to slave-traders here, chartered for the coast of Africa, and there sold, or sold here — delivered on the coast. And, indeed, the scandalous traffic could not be carried on to any great extent, were it not for the use made of our flag, and the facilities given for the chartering of American vessels, to carry to the coast of Africa the outfit for the trade, and the material for purchasing slaves."
Mr. Henry A. Wise, the American Minister, in his dispatch of February 15th, 1845, said to Mr. Calhoun:
"It is not to be denied, and I boldly assert it, that the administration of the imperial government of Brazil is forcibly constrained by its influences, and is deeply inculpated in its guilt. With that it would, at first sight, seem the United States have nothing to do; but an intimate and full knowledge of the subject informs us, that the only mode of carrying on that trade between Africa and Brazil, at present, involves our laws and our moral responsibilities, as directly and fully as it does those of this country itself-Our flag alone gives requisite protection against the right of visit, search, and seizure; and our citizens, in all the characters of owners, consignees, or agents, and of masters and crews of our vessels, are concerned in the business, and partake of the profits of the African slave-trade, to and from the ports of Brazil, as fully as the Brazilians themselves, and others in conjunction with whom they carry it on. In fact, without the aid of our citizens and our flag, it could not be carried on with success at all."
To exhibit additional proof of the state of the slave-trade prior to the equipment clause, we have the following instances from parliamentary papers, and other British authority:
"La Jeune Estelle, being chased by a British vessel, inclosed twelve negroes in casks, and threw them overboard."
"M. Oiseau, commander of Le Louis, a French vessel, in completing his cargo at Calabar, thrust the slaves into a narrow space three feet high, and closed the hatches. Next morning fifty were found dead. Oiseau coolly went ashore to purchase others to supply their place."
The following extract is from a report by Captain Hayes to the admiralty, of a representation made to him respecting one of these vessels in 1832:
"The master having a large cargo of these human beings chained together, with more humanity than his fellows, permitted some of them to come on deck, but still chained together, for the benefit of the air, when they immediately commenced jumping overboard, hand in hand, and drowning in couples; and (continued the person relating the circumstance) without any cause whatever. Now these people were just brought from a situation between decks, and to which they knew they must return, where the scalding perspiration was running
from one to the other And men dying by their side, with full in their
view, living and dead bodies chained together; and the living, in addition to all their other torments, laboring under the most famishing thirst (being in very few instances allowed more than a pint of water a day); and let it not be forgotten that these unfortunate people had just been torn from their country, their families, their all 1 Men dragged from their wives, women from their husbands and children, girls from their mothers, and boys from their fathers; and yet in this man's eye (for heart and soul he could have none,) there was no cause whatever for jumping overboard and drowning. This, in truth, is a rough picture, but it is not highly colored. The men are chained in pairs, and as a proof they are intended so to remain to the end of the voyage, their fetters are not locked, but riveted by the blacksmith; and as deaths are frequently occurring, living men are often for a length of time confined to dead bodies: the living man cannot be released till the blacksmith has performed the operation of cutting the clinch of the rivet with his chisel; and I have now an officer on board the Dryad, who, on examining one of these slavevessels, found not only living men chained to dead bodies, but the latter in a putrid state."[2] The following Treaties and Conventions for the suppression of the slave-trade were made by England during the period of thirty years, from 1814 to 1845. Some of these treaties have already been referred to.
In 1814 with the United States, the treaty of Ghent, in which the United States agree to do all in their power for the suppression of the slave-trade.
In 1814 with France, engaging that the slave-trade should be abolished by the French government in the course of five years.
In 1814 with the Netherlands, by treaty of London on the 14th of August.
In 1814 with Denmark, treaty of Kiel, stipulating for its abolition.
In 1815 with France, by additional article to Definitive Treaty of Peace.
In 1815 with Portugal, by treaty signed at Vienna.
In 1817 with Portugal, by convention signed at London, prohibiting universally the carrying on of the slave-trade by Portuguese vessels bound to any port not in the dominions of Portugal; also referring to arrangements to be adopted "as soon as the total abolition of the slave-trade, for the subjects of the crown of Portugal, shall have taken place."
In 1817 with Spain, by treaty of Madrid, engaging that the slave-trade shall be abolished throughout the entire dominions of Spain on the 30th of May, 1820; restricting the Spanish trade in the meantime to the south of the equator; and also confining it to the Spanish dominions.
In 1817 with Radama, king of Madagascar and its dependencies, by treaty signed at Tamatave.
In 1818 with the Netherlands, by treaty signed at the Hague, specifying restrictions under which the reciprocal right of search is to be exercised.
In 1820 with Madagascar, by additional articles.
In 1822 with Imaum, of Muscat, by treaty signed at Muscat.
In 1822 with the Netherlands, with explanatory and additional articles. Also with Spain, by explanatory articles.
In 1823 with the Netherlands, by additional article; with Portugal by additional article, and with Madagascar by additional article.
In 1824 with Sweden, by treaty of Stockholm, arranging reciprocal right of search.
In 1826 with Brazil, by treaty of Rio, renewing, on the separation of that empire from Portugal, the stipulations of subsisting treaties with the latter power.
In 1831 with France, by convention at Paris, stipulating mutual right of search within certain seas by a number of ships of war, to be fixed every year by mutual agreement. Also in 1833, further regulating the right of search and visitation.
In 1834 with Denmark, by treaty of Copenhagen, containing the accession of his Danish Majesty to the conventions between Great Britain and France of 1831 and 1833, regulating the mutual right of search.
In 1834 with Sardinia, by additional article respecting place of landing negroes found in vessels with Sardinian flag.
In 1835 with Spain, treaty of Madrid, abolishing slave-trade henceforward on part of Spain totally and finally, in all parts of the world; and regulating right of search reciprocally.
In 1835 with Sweden, by additional article.
In 1837 with Tuscany, containing accession of the Grand Duke to the French conventions of 1831 and 1833.
In 1837 with Hanse Towns, to the same effect.
In 1838 with kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to the same effect.
In 1839 with Republic of Venezuela, by treaty signed at Caracas, abolishing forever the African slave-trade; expressing the determination of Venezuela to enforce the pro visions of a law passed in 1825, declaring Venezuelans found engaged in that trade to be pirates, and punishable with death; also regulating the mutual right of visitation and search.
In 1839 with Chili, by treaty signed at Santiago; with Uruguay, by treaty signed a Montevideo; with the Argentine Confederation, by treaty signed at Buenos Ayres; and with Hayti, by convention signed at Port-au-Prince.
In 1840 with Bolivia, by treaty signed at Sucre; and with Texas, by treaty signed at London.
In 1841 witb Mexico, by treaty signed at Mexico; and with Austria, Russia and Prussia, by treaty signed at London, 16th November.
In 1842 with United States, by treaty signed at Washington, stipulating that each party shall maintain on the coast of Africa a naval force of not less than 80 guns, "to enforce, separately and respectively, the laws, rights, and obligations of each of the two countries for the suppression of the slave-trade; the said squadrons to be independent of each other, but to act in concert and co-operation, upon mutual consultation, as exigencies may arise."
In 1842 with Portugal, by treaty signed at Lisbon. Also, same year, with Argentine Republic and Hayti.
In 1845 with Brazil.
In 1845 with France, by a convention signed at London, by which each power is to keep up an equal naval force on the western coast of Africa, and the right of visitation is to be exercised only by cruisers of the nation whose flag is carried by the suspected vessel.
