SECT. I. On the Mode of procuring Slaves.

CHAP. I. WAR.

AMONG the various sources, from whence the Europeans are supplied with slaves on the coast of Africa, I shall first reckon that of War.

The Wars which the inhabitants of the interior parts of the country, beyond Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leona, carry on with each other, are chiefly of a predatory nature, and owe their origin to the yearly number of slaves, which the Mandingoes, or the inland traders suppose will be wanted by the vessels that will arrive on their coast. Indeed these predatory incursions depend so much on the demand for slaves, that if in any one year there be a greater concourse of European ships than usual, it is observed that a much greater number of captives from the interior parts of the country is brought to market the next.

The unhappy captives, many of whom are people of distinction, such as princes, priests, and persons high in office, are conducted by the Mandingoes in droves of twenty, thirty, or forty, chained together, either to Fort St. Joseph on the river Senegal, or Niger, in the country of Gallam, or to places near the river Gambia. But when the trade with the French on the river Senegal happens to be stopped, (which was the case in 1787) they bring all their captives to the mouth of the Gambia, Sierra Leona, and other places down the coast. These Mandingoes perform the whole journey, except at certain seasons of the year, when they are met by the traders belonging to the coast, who receive the slaves from them, and give them the usual articles of merchandize in exchange.

What I have hitherto said, was taken from the best accounts I could collect both from the black and white traders, during my residence upon the coast. It is proper, however, that I should state something on this head, that has come within my own knowledge.

The Moors, who inhabit the countries on the north of the River Senegal, are particularly infamous for these predatory Wars. They cross the river, and attacking the negroes, bring many of them off. There are not a few who subsist by means of these unprovoked excursions. The French, to encourage them in it, make annual presents to the Moorish kings. These are given them under certain conditions, first, that their subjects shall not carry any of their gum to the English at Portendic; and, secondly, that they shall be ready, on all occasions, to furnish slaves. To enable them to fulfil this last article, they never fail to supply them with ammunition, guns, and other instruments of War.

To confirm what I have now said, I shall put down the following example:

The king of Almammy had, in the year 1787, very much to his honour, enacted a law, that no slave whatever should be marched through his territories. At this time several French vessels lay at anchor in the Senegal, waiting for slaves. The route of the black traders in consequence of this edict of the king, was stopped, and the slaves carried to other parts. The French, unable on this account to complete their cargoes, remonstrated with the king. He was, however, very unpropitious to their representations, for he returned the presents which had been sent him by the Senegal company, of which I myself was a witness; declaring, at the same time, that all the riches of that company should not divert him from his design. In this situation of affairs, the French were obliged to have recourse to their old friends, the Moors. These, who had before shewn themselves so ready on such occasions, were no less ready and active on this. They set off in parties to surprise the unoffending negroes, and to carry among them all the calamities of War. Many unfortunate prisoners were sent, and for some time continued to be sent in. I was once curious enough to wish to see some of those that had just arrived. I applied to the Director of the company, who conducted me to the slave-prisons. I there saw the unfortunate captives, chained two and two together, by the foot. The mangled bodies of several of them, whose wounds were still bleeding, exhibited a most shocking spectacle; and their situation may be much easier conceived than described. The Director of the company, however, used his best endeavors to console them.

This is a specifick instance, clearly shewing that one War at least was undertaken for the sole purpose of procuring slaves. I cannot, however, help observing, that if no such instance as this had come within my knowledge during my stay in those parts, I should yet have thought myself justifiable in supposing, that the Wars among the negroes originated in the slave trade. For in all the observations I have been able to make (and I went to the coast of Africa, not with any commercial views, but for the sole purpose of inquiry and observation) I have ever considered the negroes as a quiet, inoffensive people, happy in themselves, and in one another, enjoying the comforts of life, without the intervention of toil and trouble. If, therefore, I had found Wars among a people of such dispositions, and so situated as to have no motive for them, I should certainly have set them down, as having been excited for some diabolical purpose, and for none so likely as for the prosecution of the slave trade.

CHAP. II. PILLAGE.

A second source, from whence the Europeans are supplied with slaves on the coast of Africa, is Pillage, which is of two kinds; publick or private. It is publick, when practiced by the direction of the kings, private, when practiced by individuals. I must also make a further distinction, namely, as it is practiced by the blacks and the whites. This last I call Robbery, which will be the subject of the next article.

The publick Pillage is, of all others, the most plentiful source, from which the slave trade derives its continuance and support. The kings of Africa (I mean in that part of the country which I have visited) incited by the merchandize shewn them, which consists principally of strong liquors, give orders to their military to attack their own villages in the night. Saturday night is particularly fixed upon for this purpose, being esteemed the most lucky for expeditions of this kind. However, when slaves are wanted in haste, no night is deemed so inauspicious as to prevent an attempt.

As I have been myself an eye-witness to several of these nocturnal expeditions, it will, perhaps, be better to illustrate this kind of Pillage by some examples.

The French make presents to the negro as well as the Moorish kings. It happened when I was at Goree, that an ambassador was to be sent from thence to the king of Barbesin on this errand. I obtained leave with my fellow-travellers to accompany the embassy. We accordingly set out, and arrived at Joal, a place where the king resides at particular times of the year, viz. when the trading vessels arrive there.

It is usual, on the receipt of these presents, to send back a number of slaves in return. It so happened, however, that the king of Barbesin had no slaves in his possession at that time. This circumstance it was, that afforded me an opportunity of seeing the expeditions before mentioned.

We resided, I believe, about a week at Joal. During our residence there, the Pillage, of which I have been speaking, was attempted almost every night. The following is a description of the persons concerned in it, and of their various success.

There were several parties of the military, assembled at six in the evening, or about dusk. Each party consisted of about ten or twelve. A large horseman’s musket was rested on each of their saddles, in the same manner as those of the English heavy cavalry. On their shoulders were suspended a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Thus equipped, they went to different villages belonging to the king, and returned usually about five in the morning, or a little before day-light.

In some of their attempts they returned without a single slave. In others they were more successful. At one time in particular they came back with but one captive. This was a beautiful young negress, from one of the king’s own villages. She was immediately delivered, notwithstanding her tears and cries, to the French ambassador, whom we accompanied, and, by his order, was carried on board.

It was fortunate however for her, that she belonged to one of those families, which, in consequence of their birth, are exempted by the laws of the country from slavery. This occasioned a commotion; for the auction appeared to the minds of the people, to be so unjust and repugnant to the established laws, that they were nearly on the point of rebelling. The king, when he came to his senses (for he had given his orders respecting the seizure of this girl in a state of intoxication) saw in so lively a manner the consequences of this rash proceeding, that with the most abject submission, he descended to prayers and intreaties with the owner, to return the innocent and unfortunate girl. The Frenchman, though surrounded by more than two thousand negroes at the time, and though the embassy, including myself and fellow-travellers, consisted but of five white people, was so madly obstinate, as for a long time to refuse his request; I say madly, because in all the adventures of my life, I had never so much reason to be alarmed for the preservation of it. At length, after much intreaty, the king promised him two others in exchange, whom he expected to seize on a future expedition; and thus was the unhappy girl restored to her disconsolate family.

At another time, the military, who had been sent out to Pillage, returned with several captives. These consisted of men, women, and children. The men, as they were brought in, exhibited marks of great dejection. One of them, however, appeared to be quite frantick with grief. He beseeched his captors, with great fervency, that they would not tear him from his wife and children. The women, on the other hand, vented their sorrow in shrieks and lamentations. The children, in a state of palpitation, clung to their mother’s breasts. Their little eyes were so swelled with crying, that they could cry no more. During all this time, the captors, to shew their joy on the occasion, and to drown the cries of their unfortunate fellow-subjects, were beating large drums. To this was added, all the noise that could be collected from the blowing of horns, and the human voice. Taking in the shrieks and agony of the one, and the shouts and joy of the other, with the concomitant instruments of noise, I was never before witness to such an infernal scene.

What I have said of the king of Barbesin’s conduct with respect to the mode of procuring slaves, is equally applicable to those other kings of the country, of whom I have any knowledge. King Damel, whose dominions lie between Portudal and Senegal, wanting a slave to deliver in exchange for some goods he had bargained for with a Goree trader, ordered his soldiers to seize on one of his own subjects. Finding a woman (whose husband was absent) in a hut with her children, they seized her, bound her, and tore her from her babes, who were rejected, as not being able to perform the journey down to the shore.

The king of Sallum, though he never tastes any spirituous liquors, has recourse to the same practice, as if by the common consent of the kings of Africa, these were the measures to be invariably pursued. The articles, most in demand with this king, are Spanish dollars, and Dutch gourds. Both these he causes to be melted down, and then to be worked into chains, bracelets, and other ornaments for himself and his favourites. Having fixed an extraordinary value upon these, he will at any time depopulate a village to obtain them. Such are the effects of avarice, when it has the power of gratification.

The vessels employed in the trade to Sallum, by the mulattoes of Goree, are generally sloops. With these they go up the river, and arrive in about three days. Their stay there is very uncertain. It is in general from one to four weeks, according as the king is successful or not in those Pillages which he attempts for the sake of procuring slaves. When the traders have completed their cargoes, they return to Goree, where they deliver them, in about eight days. The slaves, so delivered, are shipped off, by the first opportunity, to the French colonies.

In speaking of these sloops, I cannot refrain from mentioning an instance which came under my own eye. A trading mulattoe of Goree, whose name was Martin, had obtained from the king of Sallum, by means of the publick Pillage before described, a sloop full of captives. The greater part of them were women and children. Notwithstanding this, they had been thrown into the sloop as if they had been articles of lumber, and devoid of feeling. Obliged, moreover, from too close a stowage, to lie on the inequalities and protuberances of the bare planks, without being able to change their position, they had in the course only of eight days (which I stated to be the time of the passage from Sallum to Goree) been very materially hurt: for, when I saw them brought out of the sloop, they had several contusions on various parts of their bodies, and in others their flesh was severely cut. A poor child in particular, about two years old, had a very deep wound in his side, made in the manner above stated. He lay afterwards, upon being landed, with the wound contiguous to the ground, so that the sand getting into it, put him to exquisite pain. I mention this instance, only to give an idea of what are thought to be rooms of accommodation for slaves, and of that inhumanity, which naturally springs out of the prosecution of this trade.

Before I close my account of the publick Pillage, I must not forget to mention, that the kings of those parts, (except the king of Sallum) never openly profess the right, which they thus unjustly usurp over the lives and liberties of their subjects. For this reason they plan their expeditions in such a manner, that they must arrive at the place they intend to Pillage, in the dead of the night. It is impossible, therefore, for their subjects, in such a case, to discover who are the instruments of those acts of violence; and they may with greater reason suppose, that they were perpetrated by a roving banditti, than by the direction of their own kings.

I come now to the private Pillage. This is practiced by individuals, who, tempted by the merchandize brought by the Europeans, lie in wait for one another. For this purpose they beset the roads, and other places, so that a travelling negro can hardly ever escape them. To enumerate the many instances of this private depredation that happen, would be an endless task. I shall therefore select but one, which, on account of the circumstances that followed, may strike the reader as singular.

A Moor had seized a free negro, and, having secured him, he brought him to Senegal, and sold him to the company. A few days afterwards this moor was taken by some negroes in the same manner, and brought to be sold in his turn. The company seldom buy moors: but as they were obliged, in consequence of their privileges, to supply the colony of Cayenne with a certain number of slaves, and as several ships then in the road, in consequence of the king of Almammy’s edict, as before related, could not complete their cargoes, they made the less scruple to buy him on this occasion. Chance so directed, that the moor, after he had been purchased, was carried on board the same ship, in which the negro lay. They no sooner met, than a quarrel took place between them, which occasioned, for some days, a great tumult in the vessel. Such rencounters frequently happen in the slave-ships, and the uproars, occasioned by them, are seldom or never quieted, till some mischief has been done.

CHAP. III. Of ROBBERY.

I have been hitherto describing the Pillage, as it is either publick or private. I have also considered it as practiced by the blacks upon one another. I come now to speak of it, as it is practiced upon these by the whites; and this I call Robbery.

It is too well known, at least on some parts of the coast, that the Europeans have not failed, when opportunity presented itself, to seize the unsuspicious natives of Africa, and to carry them by force to their own colonies.

This is usually practiced by the Europeans, where they have no settlements; so that the fact generally escapes the notice of their countrymen; I mean principally up the rivers, where they have ventured to penetrate for the purpose of a more advantageous trade. At such places, they compel the negroes to deliver them hostages, whom they keep on board. The truce being concluded, the unsuspicious natives embark with confidence, and repeatedly visit the vessel without any kind of suspicion or fear. But, if the wind should be at all favourable, none of the European monsters, who are engaged in this trade, scruple to set sail, and to carry away not only the free negroes, who have come on board to trade, but the hostages also, in defiance of the law of nations and common honesty.

These transactions are not only iniquitous in themselves, and therefore derogatory from the character of a civilized nation, but are often so fatal in their consequences, that those, who perpetrate them, have a claim to the appellation of devils rather than men. For it may easily be supposed, that the relations and friends of those, who have been thus fraudulently carried off, will spare no pains to retaliate. This is generally the case. The next ship that visits the coast, is perhaps cut off. Thus, to a villainous action, is superadded the guilt of becoming instrumental to the murder perhaps of their own countrymen, and at any rate of occasioning the innocent to undergo the punishment of the guilty.

When I was at Goree, in the year 1787, accounts came down by some French merchantmen from the Gambia of the following particulars.

The captain of an English ship, which had been some time in that river, had enticed several of the natives on board, and, finding a favourable opportunity, sailed away with them. His vessel however was, by the direction of Providence, driven back to the coast from whence it had set sail, and was obliged to cast anchor on the very spot where this act of treachery had been committed. At this time two other English vessels were lying in the same river. The natives, ever since the transaction, had determined to retaliate. They happened, at this juncture, to be prepared. They accordingly boarded the three vessels, and, having made themselves masters of them, they killed most of their crews. The few who escaped to tell the tale, were obliged to take refuge in a neighbouring French factory. Thus did the innocent suffer the same punishment as the guilty; for it did not appear that the crews of the other two vessels had been at all concerned in this villainous measure.

These particulars, as I observed before, had found their way down to us at Goree, and, from the channels through which they came, I had no reason to question their truth. It is remarkable, however, that, though I wanted no confirmation of them in my own mind, yet, since my arrival in London, I have heard them fully substantiated: for I dined lately by accident with a certain underwriter, to whom undesignedly relating the time, place, and other circumstances of this transaction, I found that I had only been describing the fate of certain vessels, which, to his knowledge, had been cut off in the same part of the world, and at the same season.

CHAP. IV. Of TREACHERY or STRATAGEM.

The various other ways in which slaves are obtained, may be included under the words Treachery or Stratagem, being only so many different modes of the same practice. One or two instances will, I hope, suffice, as I do not wish to take up the reader’s time more than is necessary, and as he will be enabled by them to judge of the rest. Besides, the stratagems which the traders daily practise to get slaves, are so numerous, that it would take a volume to recount them.

A French merchant of Goree landing at a village, observed an handsome well-made negro. He immediately made application to the chief of the village to seize him. On the proposal of the chief, the people unanimously agreed to grant his request: for it is a law in those parts, that if all the village consent, any visitor residing among them may be made a slave. To gain the consent of a whole village on such an occasion, is by no means difficult. The Africans in general, like other people in the same unimproved state, are governed by their passions, and the prince has only to distribute a sufficient quantity of spirituous liquors among them to produce the effect he wishes for. Such was the case in the present instance; and the unfortunate negro, though he was their neighbour and visitor, was taken and sent into slavery. His wife, having heard of his capture, came down bathed in tears. She begged to be bought, that she might go with him, and share his fate. But the dealer who bought him, had probably no goods at the time, and her intreaties were ineffectual.

The king of Sallum, under pretence of wanting millet, enticed from a neighbouring village a negress, who had a quantity to dispose of. Elated with the prospect of selling it to advantage, she did not consider the imprudence of the step she was about to take. She accordingly went to the king, who not only immediately deprived her of her millet, but seized her, and sold her for a slave.

I cannot close my account of the different methods daily practised to obtain slaves, without giving an instance, that will shew, in a very glaring light, the bad tendency of the slave trade, and the baneful effects it produces on the human heart.

One of the Moorish kings had received from the director of the company of Senegal, the predecessor of him who now occupies that post, the usual presents, in consequence of which he was bound to procure slaves. Having been rather dilatory in the performance of his engagement, he was applied to by the director, who represented to him the pressing wants of the company. The king, thus urgently pressed, offered him a certain negro on account. This negro was none other than his own minister, who had been his confidential friend and faithful adviser for many years. The director, shocked at the circumstance, endeavoured to point out to him the impropriety of his conduct, but his representations were ineffectual. The negro, in whose presence the offer was made, finding that his unworthy master was obstinately bent upon his design, ran up to him, drew his dagger, and plunging it into his own breast, exclaimed, “Thou savage! I shall have the satisfaction of expiring, before thou canst reap any advantage from thy base ingratitude to the best of servants.”

I have now finished my section on the mode of procuring slaves, and I should have been made much happier by my visit to the coast of Africa, if no such instances had occurred, as I have felt myself obliged to communicate to the reader.