Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-05-04

+ WIN aiaii3 ing IapiQny. by the advice
OF Mr.. Maignan, surgeon TO the ship,
The negroes, who ill then had been con.
hned to the hold, were successiveiy
brought upon deck, IN order that they
might breathe purer air; but 1t soon
became necessary 10 abandon this saluia-
nv measure, Tor many OF them being al
tlcIed with nostalgia, (strong desire of
returning 10 ones native country leaped
mo the sea, embracing each other, I'M
danHted by the severity OF the captain,
who made terrible example by shoot
ing some and hanging others who at
tempted It. Tie danger of the disease,
and probably the cause of the contagion,
were increased, by violent dysentery,
which pow broke out among them. The
disorder increased daily, as we'll as the
number oil those who became blind and
II spread with such alarming rapidly
among the crew, that in a little time
there Was only one man left VINO cou
steer the ship. Al this period large
ship approached the Rodeur, which APP
peared 10 be totally a, the mercy OF the
winds and waves. She was the Spanish
slave ship 81. Leon. Her crew, hearing
The voices of the Rodeur's uen, cried
cot n'ost vehementiy Tor help. They
| toid the melancholy tale as they passed
along, thai the contaglon had seized the
! eyes OF all Oh board, and that there was
not one individual left, either SAILOR or
slave, who could see ! But alas-.tiis
| plilab'c tale OF woe was utterly IN vaIn---
The >. Leon passed on and was never
heard Of more
AT length by concurrence of very
favorable circumstances, and the SIX i'll
and perseVeranee al one man, who only
preserved his sight unimpalred, the Re-
! Geur reached Gaudaloupe on The 2lst oil
June 1919. BY this time thirty nine OF
the slaves had become bind twelve had
! lost one eye, and fourteen were affected
"ith blemis hes. Out of the crew con.
sisllng OF twenty-,wo, twelve had lost
her sigh, among whom was the sur
geon, i've had become b lad OF one eye,
and ioor others we're partially iniur, d.
NV "hal will the reader suppose was
The first act OF tins captain and crew
when they tound themselves safely en-
tering the port OF Csuadsloupe? Doubt
less be will imagine they were employ
ed IN returning nnieigped ihaaks to God
Tor SO sIghai and So unmerted deliver
anCe. Bu he VII uIs axe IT he kinks
so. Thy possessed neither gratitude To
lod nor tiuman..y wards his crea ures.
Destitute Vi every vir,uoos and tender
lee Ing, they evinced their Inpious IN
srautuoe by abSoiujely throwing INFO th
sea all those slaves, to The number o.
hiriy-nine, @ho wert ncuraoly blind
ms they did upon he WIZ ked plea iiat
| 1t they carried them on shore nobody
would purchase them, and they ~ouiq
| oi course be at tbe expense otthcir nam
chance; and iui her, BY an act Of neces
| sity. they might ciain their value from
the underwriters. For the truth of hi,
statement we refer 10 The speech oil MI
| Benjamin Constant In The French Cham
Der of Deputies, June 27h, 1921; 10
the speech OF the Due de Broglle in lh
Chamber oil Peers, 28lh ii March, 1892
and 10 the Blbiio,hique OphthalniaIo
| s'oue % D. Guitiiee, Director General
and Physician IN chief Of The r .ya H.
stro ion for The Young Blind.
| The mex; year, 1890, furnishes us with
another ms stance OF barbarity equally afro
cious, though perpetra,ed in a different
manner.
In he month Of March, Sir George
| Collier, OF the Tartar irieate, gave chase
10 vesse! supposed 10 be slave ship
i. IN the course Of the chase several cask>
were observed TO be floating in the sea,
which the Tartar passed. Alter "a long
| pursuit, they boarded her on the 4th, and
she proved TO be the La Jeune Es,elle,
OF Martinique, Olympia S nguines, mas
ter. The captain declared that he had
no slaves on board, having been plum
dcred OF them BY Spanish pirate. The
agitation and alarm which marked every
countenance on board the vessel, excited
strong suspicious ~ the mind Of the
chief officer OF he Tartar, an,i he order
ed the hold to be searched. During the
examination one Of the sailors happened
TO spike cask which was tightly loscd
up, when he heard faint sound issue
tfron, il like the voice OF some creature
expiring. The cask was Immediately
opened, when two slave girls, about
twelve or fourteen years of age, IN the
/ last stage of sutiocation, were found pack =
ed up in II. They were carried on board
the Tartar, revived 6v the fresh air, and
were thus saved from miserable death.
These girls, when brought, on the deck
4