rn. I determined, therefore, to suspend my
belief till I could take the admeasurement of each vessel. This I did; but
lest, in the agitation of my mind on this occasion, I should have made any
mistake, I desired my friend George Fisher to apply to the builder for his
admeasurement also. With this he kindly complied. When he obtained it he
brought it to me. This account, which nearly corresponded with my own, was
as follows:--In the vessel of twenty-five tons, the length of the upper
part of the hold, or roof, of the room, where the seventy slaves were to be
stowed, was but little better than ten yards, or thirty-one feet. The
greatest breadth of the bottom, or floor, was ten feet four inches, and the
least five. Hence, a grown person must sit down all the voyage, and
contract his limbs within the narrow limits of three square feet. In the
vessel of eleven tons, the length of the room for the thirty slaves was
twenty-two feet. The greatest breadth of the floor was eight, and the least
four. The whole height from the keel to the beam was but five feet eight
inches, three feet of which were occupied by ballast, cargo, and
provisions, so that two feet eight inches remained only as the height
between the decks. Hence, each slave would have only four square feet to
sit in, and, when in this posture, his head, if he were a full-grown
person, would touch the ceiling, or upper deck.

Having now received this admeasurement from the builder, which was rather
more favourable than my own, I looked upon the destination of these little
vessels as yet more incredible than before. Still the different persons,
whom I occasionally saw on board them, persisted in it that they were going
to Africa for slaves, and also for the numbers mentioned, which they were
afterwards to carry to the West Indies themselves. I desired, however, my
friends, George Fisher, Truman Harford, Harry Gandy, Walter Chandler, and
others, each to make a separate inquiry for me on this subject; and they
all agreed that, improbable as the account both of their destination, and
of the number they were to take, might appear, they had found it to be too
true. I had soon afterwards the sorrow to learn from official documents
from the Custom-house, that these little vessels actually cleared out for
Africa, and that now nothing could be related so barbarous of this traffic,
which might not instantly be believed.

In pursuing my different objects there was one, which, to my g