fied! I had more than
once had the hold of a slaver and the mode of stowing her human cargo
described to me, but it was necessary to actually _see_ it before the
full horror and misery of the thing could be completely realised. The
space between the planking of the slave-deck and the underside of the
beams was just three feet, or barely sufficient to allow the unfortunate
wretches to sit upright; and in this confined space they were stowed as
tightly as herrings in a barrel, seated on their hams, with the feet
drawn close up to the body, and the knees clasped by the arms close to
the chest. Let anyone try the fatiguing effect of sitting in this
constrained attitude for only a single half-hour, and some idea may then
be formed of the horrible suffering and misery that the unhappy slaves
had to endure cooped up in this fashion for _weeks at a stretch_, not on
a steady, motionless platform, but on the heaving, plunging deck of a
ship driven at her utmost speed over a sea that was seldom smooth enough
to render the motion imperceptible, and often rough enough to sweep her
from stem to stern, and to render the closing of the hatches
imperatively necessary to save her from foundering. Add to this the
fact that the slaves were packed so tightly together that it was
impossible to move, and thus obtain the relief of even a slight change
of position; bear in mind that it was equally impossible to cleanse the
slave-deck during the entire period of the passage of the ship from port
to port; think of the indescribable foulness of the place, the dreadful
atmosphere generated by the ever-accumulating filth, and the exhalations
from the bodies of four or five hundred human beings wedged together in
this confined space; and add to all this the horrors of sea-sickness,
and it at once becomes a perfect marvel that a sufficient number
remained alive at the end of the passage to render the slave-traffic a
remunerative business. It is true that, solely in their own interests,
and not in the least from motives of humanity, the slavers exercised a
certain amount of care and watchfulness over the health of their
captives; that is to say, they allowed one-half to go on deck during
meal-times (twice a day), for the double purpose of affording an
opportunity for the inspiration of a little fresh air, and at the same
time of providing space for the poor wretches below to feed themselves.
This, however, was only when the weather and other circums