e said, with the first boundary of the trade. Captain
Wilson and Captain Hills, of His Majesty's navy, and Mr. Dalrymple of the
land service, had concurred in stating, that in the country contiguous to
the river Senegal, when slave-ships arrived there, armed parties were
regularly sent out in the evening, who scoured the country, and brought in
their prey. The wretched victims were to be seen in the morning bound back
to back in the huts on shore, whence they were conveyed, tied hand and
foot, to the slave-ships. The design of these ravages was obvious, because,
when the Slave-trade was stopped, they ceased. Mr. Kiernan spoke of the
constant depredations by the Moors to procure slaves. Mr. Wadstrom
confirmed them. The latter gentleman showed also that they were excited by
presents of brandy, gunpowder, and such other incentives; and that they
were not only carried on by one community against another; but that the
Kings were stimulated to practise them, in their own territories, and on
their own subjects: and in one instance a chieftain, who, when intoxicated,
could not resist the demands of the slave-merchants, had expressed, in a
moment of reason, a due sense of his own crime, and had reproached his
Christian seducers. Abundant also were the instances of private rapine.
Individuals were kidnapped, whilst in their fields and gardens. There was
an universal feeling of distrust and apprehension there. The natives never
went any distance from home without arms; and when Captain Wilson asked
them the reason of it, they pointed to a slave-ship then lying within
sight.

On the windward coast, it appeared from Lieutenant Story and Mr. Bowman,
that the evils just mentioned existed, if possible, in a still higher
degree. They had seen the remains of villages, which had been burnt, whilst
the fields of corn were still standing beside them, and every other trace
of recent desolation. Here an agent was sent to establish a settlement in
the country, and to send to the ships such slaves as he might obtain. The
orders he received from his captain were, that "he was to encourage the
chieftains by brandy and gunpowder to go to war, to make slaves." This he
did. The chieftains performed their part in return. The neighbouring
villages were surrounded and set on fire in the night. The inhabitants were
seized when making their escape; and, being brought to the agent, were by
him forwarded to his principal on the coast. Mr. How, a botanist in