Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1842-12-23
THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.

l.
A letter from Brazil, published in the N.
York Sun, gives the following account Of
this horrible traffic
A slave vessel is fitted out with two decks,
that is, like a sloop Of war One is the up
per or spar deck, and the one below, the
berth or stair deck, and still below that, the
hold Of the vessel to stow the water and pro-
visions in.
The stair deck is fitted with bolts to chain
the blacks to, in case they are troublesome
and il is generally done as soon as they are
brought on board There are sent on board
of these vessels great number OF hand and
feet irons, and shackle bolts, which are put
OH the blacks, and they are chained hands
and feet together, in a sitting posture as long
as the captain of the vessel thinks necessary.
Upon arriving upon the coast Of Africa,
the captain having ascertained that the roast
is clear, proceeds to take i'll his cargo of
blacks, which is the object of his appear
ance.
There are regular depots established a
long the coast, for the purpose OF furnishing
the vessels which appear off there, with
blacks. They are always purchased for goods
of English manufacture.
These manufactures are sent ont TO Rio
de Janerio, in English bottoms, for this Sc
cret purpose, i'll large quantities, and arc
trans shipped from thence i'll American bot
toms to Angola aud Benguela, for the pur-
pose of deceiving inquiry.
When vessel arrives there for slaves,
they are already negotiated for, and there is
nothing for the captain to perform but to
ship them on board his vessel, and be Off
The whole transaction is completed 10y ex-
tensive agencies, organized all over Brazil
and the coast; in which the English mer-
chants of Rio de Janerio have no small
share.
The vessel coming upon the coast OF AT
RIGA proceeds to some Bay or Inlet some tii
ty or hundred miles from the towns, the
E principal slave depots on the coast anc
where she may be in greater security, She
then takes on board the blacks, and often
times having TO choice of the weather
, through a tremendous surf, where many lost
their lives. For should the conductors o
!. the boats mi,calculate, which they frequent
II ~ do, the weight which the boat will bea
aud the size of the same, they upon, arriving
> in the surf do not hesitate long about throw
: ing oserboard suiiiciency TO preserve tn
lives of the remainder. Upon arriving oil
4 board, they are double-ironed If likely l.
prove unmanageable, and chained down Il
: The slave deck, where they, generally speak
ing, remain the whole voyage. As soon q
: possible after their shipment, the yesse
). which bears them, weighs anchor from thei
native shores, and they are torn from
4 their friends and kindred, never agai
!. to meet them, unless as slaves in ioreig
: land. They are packed in the vessel on
o upon another, oftentimes in such way tina
: the foulest air and filth rapidly accumulate
q and breed disease in its most horrld natur
y amongst them. The small pox proves thei
!. best friend in relieving them from the rapaC
: ity of those. by nature their natural protec
/ ors in such case they are thrown ovel
: board, in many instances before they ar
n dead
. / have known vessels to appear on I'll
:. coast of Brazil of between three and fou
N hundred tons burden, loaded with irol
a four to seven hundred blacks, at the con
/. mencement of their return trip, and durin
e the voyage to have lost from small pox an
9 udiSu tltdtliitul hSuiil ohN 'h'N ~ VIZ
=, number These blacks during the passas
h across the Atlantic are fed upon .tdrini IL
ic giicc, flour, a species Of root indigenous
4. Brazil, and boiled in the ships coppers, t
gether with from one to two pnts of watt
70 per day When chained TO the slave dec
"a they are fed; but when the vessel is stron
10 ly manned, they are allowed TO eat out of
k large wooden platter placed for them.
&c After, having arrived at their destinato
IN they are landed some fifty miles down Il
a Brazilian coast from any city, as they we
in received on board. They are then march,
mp TO the slave markets, and there sold
their future lords and masters +
a. As far as | can learn, the condition
Id the black population of A lrica is bad enoug
nj They NAV be classed as the lowest Of all n
So tons and races of men who still remain in
r. state of barbarism. They live almost e
- clusiveIy upon the spontaneous productio
= of nature, and have no cares, no wants.
at Their life is one of the greatest possible
aI dolence, sloth and filth. They live for
ed end, aud have no more thought or care
o. the future than The wild beasts of the jungl
no which surround them. Still they are happ
NJ for no troubles harrass them they are ire
"a for they have no one to Cypress them ; a
lid they have the ties of kindred and home,
he bind them to their native shores, which, n
of only man but the most insignificant of Coo
in creatures acknowledge the same. Th
ed have their quarrels, and their battles, thu
prisoners ransom, Just as all the nations
the world in their day, have had theirs u
ler here the white man supplied the ransom, a
NJ they 90 no more to their natal scenes,
we become ''e STAGES u ''e P''0"''o'