The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1886-07-01
A CARGO OF SLAVES.
a MERCHANTS STORY OF A MEETING
INTHE SOUTH ATLANTIC.

A Small Boat Loaded with Suffering Ne
gro Children-Brutality of Portuguese
Dago-A Captain's Unavai1ing Wrath
Only Twenty-Eight Years Ago.
A merchant said the other lay. u
never see colored crew with Whte
mate going down the pier that don't
think OF my first trip to Rio and the slaves
/ saw on the way there. Itwas IN the
early part of 1S49. It's hard to realize 1t
now, but the slave trade was then q most
profitable business in spite Of its difficult
les. The vigilance of the British cruisers
had driven the Infamous DagoeS VINO
manned the slavers into all sorts OF de-
vices to escape detection, but the faYorite
method Just then seemed to be to resort to
small schooners and coasters which, on
account of their size, could be run up the
small creeks, where the slave marts were
located in Africa, out Of sight OF the
cruisers and there loaded safely anu
quickly, and then sent to sea at the nrst
moment when the coast was clear. a
little schooner of some thirty tons once
escaped q British frigate in calm by GET
ting out sweeps which the slaves were
compelled to work.
,'In this voyage Pm telling you about we
had fine run of luck, crossing the dold-
runs and catching the southeast traces
much sooner than we had expected. Al
though.we there found the wind light,
every one was in good spirits over the run.
It was just after dinner one day, when a
man who was seizing some new channg
gear on to the foretopmast' rigging IN the
wake of the yards hailed the deck, and
said that small boat seemed to be adrlf5
about three points on the weather bow,
and that q signal of distress was lying
over it.
FILLED WITH NEGRO CHILDREN.
"As soon as attention was attracted to
it, it could be plainly seen from the
weather rail The captain examined it
closely with glass, and told the second
mate that there were three men on IL
alive, and that there seemed to be others
lying under the thwarts. The boat ap-
parently contained the last Of some ship
wrecked crew, and our captain at once
headed the ship up so as to bring the small
boat a little on the lee. We were running
about five or six knots an hour, and in the
course of fifteen minutes we had ap-
preached so near the drifting boat that IL
could be very plainly seen with the naked
eye The captain had been growing ex-
cited as he looked at it, and finally put
down his glass and said with an oath that
the boat was from the wreck Of SLAYER,
and was filled with negroes. He declared
he would hang the white men to the yard
arm Just then one Of the owners OF the
ship who, unfortunately, was making the
voyage with us, put his hand on the cap
tain's arm and said something that made
the captain bite his lip, but no more was
said about the hanging
at was probably half an hour from the
time we saw the boat until one Of the
white men in it caught the end of heav-
ing line and had dropped the boat under
the stern of our ship, where she towed
>very comfortably. A moro pitiful sight
sneyer met the eye than the people of that
8Ship's'boat. Halfthe thwarts had been
raRen out and between and under those
inc from about to II years of age. The
Oldest of them were girls. ALI were stark
naked, and apparently more then half
d,od t. ic ,1se1esS to try to tell YOU how