Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-04-24
THE NEW SLAVE TRADE-HORRORS OF
The MIDDLE PASSAGE RENEWED.


Z Prom ths London Morning St ar, March 7, 1858
i On the 29th OF November last a small steam
er ot 5So tons, and 80 horse power, constructed
70 san with or without steam, fully armed and
equipped tor war; carrying q crew of 32 men, and
dlsp!ayl6g the French tlug. might have Teen seen
putting Out from Loango, on the western coast
OF atr'ca, and creeping along shore towards Cab
/ ehda Her name was the Stella. A small flee
of French nien OF. war was awaiting her arrival AT
that port 1t consisted of four vessels, namelv
LA Tourmeute, La Canonere, the corvett La
Aelie aud LA Jeanne dare. the whole division
beng under command ct NJ. Prote. captain of the
latter vessel. The Stella had lost its captain, by
name oldo, at Loango, where it seems he had
taken l23 Africans un board, and the command
had therefore devolved on her FIRST mate, native
oi Brittany, named Bernard. lie found pa
pers no Instructions no plans, no manifest tC
guide his movements; but he knew that lie had tt
go to Cabeidt; that tho Stella had been chartered
by Messrs. Regis CO.. OF Marseillss; that the
ob)ect vi her visit to the coast TO take iu
african irs rsmigrants;" that the Imperial Govern
ment bad sanctioned the transaction; and tina. al
he had to do was to obtain toll cargo, and con
vey the people to Ouadaloupe, one Of the French
West India colonies. lie probably knew, too thai
that there was squadron of British crui iserc
somewhere along the coast. and may have had mis-
gvngs us TO the tate uf his vessel. her crew, and
her passengers in the hold, we've the Stella chal
Iiengeo To produce her papers. But the presence
OF the French squadron, under such circumstan
ces. donbtiess encouraged him to 2roJeed with
what was evidently a desperate enterprise. lie
found the Stella short OF Goals, short Of water
and short OF proviSions, and the small quantity
on board of bad quality. The Breton, however,
rs proveroaily determined and obstinate; and
Capt. Bernard reached Cabenda in the course
ot rev hours. On the 3Oth he took on board
SIX hundred and nine ''immigrants," all of them
more or less sicky. Ga the lst of December, the
agent of the Imperial Government, Commodore
Prote, came on board, and entered into contracts
Tor service" with the "immigrants." Immediately Y
alter, the Stella eighed anchor for Longuebonne,
towing La Canoniere; the Commodore having
gwen orders that the latter was to "protect the
einbarkatUn OF the complement of the Stella s
cargo AT L,nguebonne, and on siguM being
given-a signal preconcerted between those on
board and those on shore-the Government agent
obtained and shipped eighty seven more 'immi-
grants" On the 4th Of December the Stella
left LongueboEne. having On board q cargo OF
nino hundred and fifty Africans, male and female,
most ot them sickly. and none oder than twenty
hve but ranging from the ages Ut eighteen t.
twenty. The crew, as already stated, numbered
thirty.two, making grand total OF nine huL dred
and eighty TWO human beings board steamer
Ut three hundred and eighty'three TONS, though
one account sets her at six hundred. Let OuI
readers but bear in mind how much after cabin
passengers suffer from the great heat OF the ma
lchDtry On board even the largest steamers, ai,C
tney may form iaihS idea OF the tormehts thest
nine hundred and fifty wretched Africans, cram
med into the hold Of the Stella. must have endur
ed. For thirty days the StelIa--which might not
"appi"pr,alely DC hauleu the o'ar oi -Mis'or'une
~pui' '"eu "er weary ""y acrose tho waste VI
waters ana nearly every alternate bour, during
'na' gnas'iI voyage me corpse OF huni"n 1elng
was cohi'h'''eu " 'he oeep. NoG WIN the solemn
ceremonies characteristic Of Christian burials,
bu: without rite. or prayer, or tear o. regret,
we're those victims of cupidity unsigned to the
oo',o'Nese oocn'i' e"s' 'o''n 'he ~ n'ucn carFoh
10 .eae'oure0 ny the obscene monsters that peo'
vie It's depths there to lie TIL they shall arse
AZ the SOUND ol the last trump, to bear terrible
testimony against their murderers AT length
That is' IN the 81 OF January OF the present year.
hc Stella aud her putrid cargo reached sse terre
|oaouaioup ana iahueu iour huhofed ana ninety
seven haies ana one bnnored and nifty iemaies.
he m'seraoie remnant "t the hine huhureu ana
nifty people kidnapped from their African humes
o"e.'h'ru hau passed to rest Asphyxia, oysentery,
ie'er, and exhaustion from fatigue ana want vi
fo"i' had done their oihce.
But all was not yet over These six hundred
and iorty,seven wretched beings, the maturity
perleetedly naked, few Of the females oEly be-
ing slghtly covered and none sufficiently 30 TO
save deceucy, were landed at Basse.terre, re
mute pois of the island of Guadaoupe. These
were Captain Bernard's instructions from Commo
dore Prote, who appears to have been ignorant Of
certain previous arrangement with the firm of
Lahens, Collins, l. Co., of Pointe.a Pitre, Quad
aloupe, and of a local ordinance signed Buntl.,
which designated Point a pitre as the Only author
lzed port for the Olsen, bark alton Of 'immgrants"
No arrangements had been made at Basse .terre
for the reception of what our correspondent style
''the merchandise" The place offered not the
smallest accommodation. Ii was mere quagmire,
a mudholo and the poor unfuriunates who had
survived the horrors of the middle passage were
crowded t, gether n IL pen, puddled in mirs and
nl,h like cattle at u market. More than even
this, the wafer of B.sse.terre possesses chemical
properties notnrlously fatal t. persons suffering
from dysentery, and no other was obtaiulble.
The ulace itself too, was the most remote from
Point Pitre, in the immediate neighborhood of
which resided the planters to whom the "immi.
grants" had been allotted Consequently, the
former had to convey their 'lots' acruss the Is
land, in the condition in which they were, with.
out loss of time, and in the best way sthey could.
Some were driven overland. others were crowded
On board Of small coasters, under the direction
uf the firm Of NM. Monnerot fillet. ot La