"Africa beholds her tribes, at home,  In battle slain; abroad, condemned to roam  O'er the salt waves, in stranger isles to bear  (Forlorn of hope, and sold into despair),  Thro' life's slow journey, to its dolorous close,  Unseen, unwept, unutterable woes."

THANK God, this is not what it was.  There was a time when it was carried on by means of British industry, and capital, and skill.  That time has for ever gone.  The slave-trade now is principally confined to the supply of slaves from Africa to Cuba and Brazil.  During the last session of Parliament, James Wilson procured a "return, as nearly as the same can be furnished, of the number of slaves embarked on the coast of Africa, and landed in Cuba and Brazil in each year, from 1842 to the latest date to which the accounts extend."  The return extends from 1842 to 1851, and though, of course, anything like accuracy is hardly attainable in such a case, the numbers, towards the close of the period in question, are, in the case of the greatest supporters of this accursed traffic, such as to encourage our highest hopes: - "From 1842 to 1850 there were imported successively, year by year, into Brazil, from Africa, the following batches of slaves: - 17,435, 19,095, 22849, 10,453, 50,324, 56,172, 60,000, 54,000, and 23,000.  Such a result is, in every aspect and bearing of it, most gratifying, and the more so, that it is said to be mainly due to a resolution, at length sincerely taken on the part of Brazil herself, to make the suppression of the trade a reality.  The case as regards Cuba is not so satisfactory; but the numbers imported into that island are much more limited; and the variations, during the ten years embraced in the return, are of an extreme

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and altogether capricious character.  But the trade is firmly planted there, owing to the wealth and intelligence of the slave-traders.  Should the scandalous project, on the part of a portion of the inhabitants of the United States, symbolized by the "lone star," be prosecuted to a successful result, the extinction of the slave-trade to Cuba from Africa will be one result, although the rivetting of the chains of the black population of the island, it is to be feared, will be another.  It is calculated that Africa is annually robbed of FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND of her population, to glut the cupidity, or to minister to the pride and luxury, of nominal Christians and the followers of Mahomet; from two to three hundred thousand of this number perish by fire and sword in their original capture, by privation and fatigue in their transit to the coast, and by disease and death, in their most horrible forms, crossing the middle passage.  When the contest against the slave-trade first commenced, half a century ago, it was calculated there were from two to three millions of slaves in the world.  There were recently, according to documents quoted by Sir T. F. Buxton, six to seven millions, now probably increased to seven and a half millions.
     That the slave-trade is equally cruel as every other part of the abominable system, the following instances show.  In the memoirs of Granville Sharp we read: -
     "Mar. 9, 1783. Gustavus Vasa called on me with an account of 132 negroes being thrown alive into the sea, from on board an English slave-ship.
     "The circumstances of this case could not fail to excite a deep interest.  The master of a slave-ship trading from Africa to Jamaica, and having 440 slaves on board, had thought fit, on a pretext that he might be distressed on his voyage for want of water, to lessen the consumption of it in the vessel, by throwing overboard 132 of the most sickly among the slaves.  On his return to England, the owners of the ship claimed from the insurers the full value of those drowned slaves, on the ground that there was an absolute necessity for throwing them into the sea, in order to save the remaining crew, and the ship itself.  The underwriters contested the existence of the alleged necessity; or, if it had existed, attributed it to the ignorance and improper conduct of the master of the vessel.  this contest of pecuniary interest brought to light a scene of horrid brutality,

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which had been acted during the execution of a detestable plot.  Upon the trial, it appeared that the ship Zong Luke Collingwood, master, sailed from the island of St. Thomas, on the coast of Africa, Sept. 6, 1781, with 440 slaves and fourteen whites on board, for Jamaica, and that, in the November following, she fell in with that island; but instead of proceeding to some port, the master mistaking, as he alleges, Jamaica for Hispaniola, ran her to leeward.  Sickness and mortality had by this time taken place on board the crowded vessel; so that, between the time of leaving the coast of Africa and the 29th of November, sixty slaves and seven white people had died; and a great number of the surviving slaves were then sick and not likely to live.  On that day the master of the ship called together a few of the officers, and stated to them that, if the sick slaves died a natural death, the loss would fall on the owners of the ship; 'but, if they were thrown alive into the sea, on any sufficient pretext of necessity for the safety of the ship, it would be the loss of the underwriters,' alleging, at the same time, that it would be less cruel to throw sick wretches into the sea, than to suffer them to linger out a few days under the disorder with which they were afflicted.  To this inhuman proposal the mate, James Kelsal, at first objected; but Collingwood at length prevailed on the crew to listen to it.  He then chose out from the cargo 132 slaves, and brought them on deck, all or most of whom were sickly, and not likely to recover, and he ordered the crew by turns to throw them into the sea.  'A parcel' of them were accordingly thrown overboard, and, on counting over the remainder in the morning, it appeared that the number so drowned had been fifty-four.  He then ordered another parcel to be thrown over, which, on a second counting on the succeeding day, was proved to have amounted to forty-two.
     " 'On the third day the remaining thirty-six were brought on deck, and, as these now resisted the cruel purpose of their masters, the arms of twenty-six were fettered with irons, and the savage crew proceeded with the diabolical work, casting them down to join their comrades of the former days.'  Outraged misery could endure no longer; the ten last victims sprang disdainfully from the grasp of their tyrants, defied their power, and, leaping into the sea, felt a momentary triumph in the embrace of death."

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A faithful abstract, drawn up by Mr. Stokes, of the evidence taken before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1792, gave the following results, which may afford some idea of the horrors attending the slave-trade: - Every slave, whatever his size might be, was found to have only live feet and six inches in length, and sixteen inches in breadth to lie in.  The floor was covered with bodies stowed or packed according to this allowance; but between the floor and deck, or ceiling, were often platforms or broad shelves in the midway, which were covered with bodies also.  The height from the floor to the ceiling, within which space the bodies on the floor and those on the platform lay (two tiers of human beings), seldom exceeded five feet eight inches, and in some cases it did not exceed four feet.  The men were chained two and two together by their hands and feet, and were chained also by means of ring-bolts, which were fastened to the deck.  They were confined in this manner at least while they remained on the coast, which was from six weeks to six months, as it might happen.  Their allowance consisted of one pint of water a-day to each person, and they were fed twice a-day with yams and horse-beans.  After meals they jumped up in their irons for exercise.  This was so necessary for their health that they were whipped if they refused to do it, and this jumping was termed dancing.  They were usually fifteen or sixteen hours below deck out of the twenty-four.  In rainy weather they could not be brought up for two or three days together.  If the ship was full, their situation was then distressing; they drew their breath with anxious and laborious efforts, and some died of suffocation.  Then, with respect to the loss of life, from papers laid on the table of the House of Lords, in 1799, it appears that in the year 1791 (three years after the passing of the Slave-Carrying Act), of 15,754 slaves carried from the coast of Africa, 1378 died during the middle passage, the average length of which was fifty-one days, making a mortality of 8¾ per cent, in that time, or of 62½ per cent, per annum, a rate of mortality which would depopulate the earth in a year and seven months.  The amount of the mortality in 1792 was, however, still more enormous; of 31,554 slaves carried from Africa, no fewer than 5413 died in the passage, making somewhat more than 17 per cent, in fifty-one days.  Had the voyage been prolonged, and the slaves

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continued to die in the same proportion, the whole number would have been swept away in about ten months.
     We have given facts where America is concerned - we must be equally honest when speaking of our own countrymen.  the following extract from a Parliamentary Blue Book, shows the connection of Englishmen abroad with the horrible slave-trade: - Evidence given before the slave-trade committee, 1848, by Capt. R. H. Stopford, R. N. - "I was lying in Rio harbour, as senior officer, for the two months that I was in Rio, and I used to attempt to get information on shore with regard to vessels expected across with slaves, that I might send cruisers to intercept them.  I was told by several persons, among others English merchants, 'You cannot expect information from us, because unless those slaves are landed we cannot be paid for our merchandize.'  Therefore you cannot expect information from any of the English merchants there.  The only way we had of getting information was this:  we had a spy, who was paid out of the proceeds of the slaves taken.
     Another extract, from the same source, exhibits the awful destruction of human life which resulted from the landing of a single cargo of goods: -
     "Lieut. Barnard to the Commander, dated Thunderbolt, Aug. 15, 1846. -  'Whilst we were at Zanzibar, the American barque Lucy Penniman, brought out a cargo for the purchase of 5000 slaves, for which the dealers have been making a great rush ever since.  In May, 1844, 700 of them were drowned in a barque called the Julia, on the Barsas da India, 300 were burnt in a baracoon, and 200 died of sickness in a small schooner, which attempted to get away, but was obliged to put back with half her miserable cargo; 1500 were got off from Inhambane and Delagoe Bay, through the agency of Paulo Roderique, who had again returned from Rio; 420 were found on board a brig which we drove on shore, and about 350 were taken or driven on shore by the Mutine, which accounts for a great proportion of them.
     The way in which the trade is  present carried on is as follows: - When the slaves are stolen, or purchased, or made captives, as the king of Dhomey mkes them by marauding expeditions, they re taken to permanent slave-factories, call barracoons, where they are kept ready for shipping at any

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moment.  In these the slaves are much in the same condition as when at rest on a sugar plantation, and the slave-dealer is interested in keeping them in perfect health.  The moment the slave-vessel appears, the slaves are shipped, and in an hour or two she is under sail on the return voyage.  The fastest sailing vessels in the world are now employed in the trade, so that the voyage only lasts about half as long as formerly, and the previous confinement on board is entirely prevented.  The models best adapted for fast sailing admit only of one deck or tier, and these being close to capacious hatchways, the slaves breathe a far purer air than could penetrate to the holds of such vessels as were used formerly, and would be used again if the trade were thrown open.
     The Rev. Pascoe Grenfell Hill, in a little work published in 1848, entitled Fifty Days on Board a Slave- Vessel in the Mozambique Channel, gives an account of the heart-sickening horrors of the middle passage, that we must fain make an extract or two here.  After boarding the vessel, he says: —
     " During the first watch our breeze was light and variable, the water smooth, the recently-liberated negroes sleeping, or lying in quietness about the deck.  Their slender supple limbs entwine in a surprisingly small compass; and they resembled, in the moonlight, confused piles of arms and legs, rather than distinct human forms.  They were, however, apparently at ease, and all seemed going on as fairly as could be desired.  But the scene was soon to undergo a great and terrible change.  About one hour after midnight, the sky began to gather clouds, and a haze overspread the horizon to windward.  A squall approached, of which I and others who had laid down on the deck received warning by a few heavy drops of rain.  Then ensued a scene, the horrors of which it is impossible to depict.  The hands having to shorten sail suddenly, uncertain as to the force of the squall, found the poor helpless creatures lying about the deck, an obstruction to getting at the ropes and doing what was required.  This caused the order to send them all below, which was immediately obeyed.  The night, however, being intensely hot and close, 400 wretched beings thus crammed into a hold twelve yards in length, seven in breadth, and _nly three and a half feet in height, speedily began to make an effort to re-issue to the open air.  Being thrust back, and striv-

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ing the more to get out, the after-hatch was forced down on them.  Over the other hatch-way, 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 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 fourteen inches, and barely six 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.'
     "Thursday, April 13th. - (Passion Week). - The Spaniard's prediction of last night this morning was fearfully verified.  Fifty-four crushed and mangled corpses lifted up from the slave-deck have been brought to the gang-way 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 trampled 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 east 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, 'Ya se lo dixe anoche.'  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 'farinha,' 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.
     A heavy shower having freshened the air, in the evening

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most of the negroes went below of their own accord, the hatchways being left open to allow them air. But a short time, however, had elapsed when they began tumultuously to re-ascend, while persons above, afraid of their crowding the deck too much, repelled them, and they were trampled back, screaming and writhing, in a confused mass.  The hatch was about to be forced down on them, and, had not the lieutenant in charge left positive orders to the contrary, the catastrophe of last night would have been re-enacted."
     Such was the slave-trade when the above was written in 1848; and though some abatement of its activity to the Brazils is said to have taken place recently, it is yet carried on to an enormous extent, and its horrors are increased rather than diminished.
     Mr. Hill says, "While we boast the name of Wilberforce, and the genius and eloquence which enabled him to arouse so general a zeal against the slave-trade; while others are disputing with him the claim of being the true annihilator of the slave-trade; that trade, far from being annihilated, is at this very hour carried on under circumstances of greater atrocity than were known in his time.''
     Lord Denman has well said, "The slave-trade is by far the greatest evil, with its revolting horrors, that ever afflicted mankind." - "In no species of merchandise," observes Sir T. F. Buxton, "is there such a waste of the raw material as in the merchandise of men.  Two-thirds of the goods perish, in order that one-third may reach the market!  The vast amount of suffering, and the waste of human life, is but a part of the evils of the slave-trade.  It stands as a barrier excluding everything that can soften, or enlighten, or elevate the people of a vast continent. It suppresses all other trades, creates endless insecurity, kindles perpetual war, banishes commerce, knowledge, and social improvement, and, above all, Christianity, from one quarter of the globe, and from hundreds of millions of mankind.''