THE following sheets are intended to lay before the
public the present state of a branch of the British
commerce, which, ever since its existence, has been held
in detestation by all good men, but at this time more
particularly engages the attention of the nation, and is
become the object of general reprobation.
Leaving to abler pens to expatiate more at large on the
injustice and inhumanity of the Slave Trade, I
shall content myself with giving some account of the
hardships which the unhappy objects of it undergo, and
the cruelties they suffer, from the period of their
being reduced to a state of slavery, to their being
disposed of in the West India islands; where, I fear,
their grievances find little alleviation. At the
same time, I shall treat of a subject, which appears not
to have been attended to in the manner its importance
requires; that is, the sufferings and loss of the
seamen employed in this trade; which, from the
intemperature of the climate, the inconveniencies they
labour under during the voyage, and the severity of most
of the commanders, occasion the destruction of great
numbers annually.
And this I shall endeavour to do by the recital of a
number of facts which have fallen under my own immediate
observation, or the knowledge of which I have obtained
from persons on whose veracity I can depend.
And happy shall I esteem myself, is an experience
obtained by a series of inquiries and observations, made
during several voyages to the coast
Pg. iv -
of Africa, shall enable me to render any service to a
cause, which is become the cause of every person of
humanity.
Before I proceed to the methods of obtaining the
slaves, and their subsequent treatment, the treatment of
the sailors, and the concise account of the places on
the coast of Africa where slaves are obtained, (which I
purpose to annex,) it may not be unnecessary to give a
short sketch of the usual proceedings of the ships
employed in the slave trade.
NEXT Page 5 -
PROCEEDINGS DURING
THE VILLAGE. |
