I could add, were it necessary, a thousand other instances of the scenes of cruelty and bloodshed which are exhibited in Africa, having their origin in the Slave Trade; but enough has been said to prove the assertion with which I set out, that the principal and almost the only cause of war in the interior of Africa is the desire to procure slaves for traffic; and that the only difference betwixt the former times and the present day is this that the mortality consequent on the cruelties of the system has increased in proportion to the increase of the traffic, which, it appears, has doubled in amount, as compared with the period antecedent to 1790. I shall now estimate, as nearly as I can, the probable extent of mortality peculiarly incident to the period of seizure; but the difficulty of this is great, because our authorities on this point are not numerous. Lord Muncaster notices a statement of an African Governor to the Committee of 1790:-"Mr. Miles said, he will not admit it to be war, only skirmish-fighting; and yet," Lord Muncaster adds, " Villault, who was on the Gold Coast in 1663, tells us, that in one of these 'skirmishes' above 60,000 men were destroyed; and Bosman says that in two of these 'skirmishes' the outrage was so great, that above 100,000 men were killed upon the spot. Mr. Devaynes also informs us, that while he was in the country, one of these 'skirmishes' happened between the kings of Dahorney and Eyo, in which 60,000 lost their lives."* weapon in common use among the natives of these mountains. "The negroes retreated to the caves in the sides of the moun. tains, from whence they were eventually obliged to come forth, from fear of suffocation from the fires made at the entrances, or from want of food and water. He never heard of pepper, mentioned by Laborde, as having been used in loading the guns, or of firing it into the caves to blind or stifle the negroes. Pronged stakes were fastened round the throats of the men, and their hands were fixed in blocks of wood nailed together. Boys of twelve or fourteen years, had their hands only manacled, and the young children and women were without any incumbrance. Two or three times Al. mas saw a stubborn slave drawn (to use his expression) like a carriage, by a horse across the rocks, until he was dead. He cannot say how many were killed in the attack; he thinks 500 were taken along with him from Korgo, but many of these died of thirst, hunger, and fatigue, on their march to Kordofan. Almas's father and brother were captured along with him, and the former was com. pelled to wear the pronged stick from Gebel Noobah to Kordofan. They are both soldiers at Sobeyet. His mother was seized by the sultan of Baggarah, who makes expeditions continually against the inhabitants of Gebel Noobah." The Rev. John Newton, rector of St. Mary's Woolnooth (who at one period of his life was engaged in slave-traffic on the coast of Africa,) observes, "I verily believe that the far greater part of the wars in Africa would cease, if the Europeans would cease to tempt them by offering goods for slaves; and, though they do not bring legions into the field, their wars are bloody. I believe the captives reserved for sale are FEWER than the slain. I have not sufficient data to warrant calculation, but I suppose that not less than 100,000 slaves are exported annually from all parts of Africa. If but an equal number are killed in war, and if many of these wars are kindled by the incentive of selling their prisoners, what an annual accumulation of blood must there be crying against the nations of Europe concerned in this trade!"+ * Lord Muncaster on the Slave Trade, p. 42. + Newton on the Slave Trade. London, 1788, p. 30 I have no modern authority to support the specific statements of Newton and Lord Muncaster, excepting that of Denham, who says, "That in one instance twenty thousand were killed, for sixteen thousand carried away into slavery;'"* and in another case, that "probably more than double" the number of those captured for slaves fell a sacrifice in the onset of the captors.t The second head of mortality, arising from the March, and Detention before being embarked, comes next in order; and first as to the MARCH. "The Begarmese," says Browne, in his journey to Darfour in 1793, "attack on horseback the Kardee, Serrowa, Showa, Battah, and Mulgui tribes, and, seizing as many captives as possible, drive them like cattle to Begarmi."‡† Mungo Park informs us that "by far the greater number of slaves purchased by Europeans on the coast are brought down in large caravans from the inland countries, of which many are unknown even by name to the Europeans. "I was met," he says, "by a coffle (caravan) of slaves, about seventy in number, coming from Sego. They were tied together by their necks, with thongs of bullocks' hide twisted like a rope, seven slaves upon a thong, and a man with a musket between every seven. Many of the slaves were ill-conditioned, and a great number of them women; they were * Denham's Narrative, p. 214. + See Leyden's Discoveries, vol. i. p. 413. + Ibid, p. 116. going to Morocco by the way of Ludamar and the Great Desert."* In another part of his journal, Park says that, on his route to Pisania, (a distance of 500 miles,) he joined a coffle, under a slattee (slave-merchant), Kaarfa, who was particularly kind to him, and whom he describes as "a worthy negro, with a mind above his condition a good creature," and therefore not likely to be among the most cruel, in the treatment of his slaves. While this slattee was collecting the coffle, Park arrived at his house. Kaarfa liberally offered to keep him there till the country should be fit for traveling. On the third day after his arrival Park fell ill with the fever, and he bestows great praise on his "benevolent landlord," for his kindness and attention. We are afterwards informed of the treatment of the slaves during the journey, which, be it remembered, was performed under the direction of this "worthy, good, and benevolent negro." It appears that "The slaves are commonly secured by putting the right leg of one and the left of another into the same pair of fetters. By supporting the fetters with a string, they can walk, though very slowly. Every four slaves are likewise fastened together by the neck, with a strong pair of twisted thongs; and in the night an additional pair of fetters is put on their hands, and sometimes a light iron chain passed around their necks." Such of them as evince marks of discontent are secured in a different manner; a thick billet of wood is cut about three feet long, and, a smooth notch • Park's Travels, vol. i. pp, 438, 290. † Ibid., vol. i p. 388, &e. : R ! being made upon one side of it, the ankle of the slave is bolted to the smooth part by means of a strong iron staple, one prong of which passes on each side of the ankle. All these fetters and bolts are made from native iron. In the present case they were put on by the blacksmith as soon as the slaves arrived from Kancaba, and were not taken off until the morning when the coffle departed for Gambia." He goes on to say, "Even to those who accompanied the caravan as a matter of choice, the toil was immense; and they traveled sometimes from morning till night without tasting a morsel of food. And afterwards "During this day's travel, two slaves, a woman and a girl, were so much fatigued that they could not keep up with the coffle. They were severely whipped and dragged along, until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when they were both affected with vomiting, by which it was discovered that they had eaten clay." He then narrates a case of great cruelty: one of the female slaves had become quite exhausted, and every exertion was made by the whip to cause her to keep up with the coffle. When every effort failed, "the general cry of the coffle was 'kang-tegi' (cut her throat). I had not walked forward a mile, when one of Kaarfa's domestic slaves came up to me with poor Nealee's garment upon the end of his bow and exclaimed, 'Nealee is lost ; he afterwards said, he had left her on the road."* A few days after this took place, a party of Serawoolie traders joined the coffle, and one of their male slaves became also completely exhausted; he was whipped * Park's Travels, vol. i. p. 507, &c. |