The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-05-24
SCENES ON A SLAVE SHIP.

The last SLAYER captured by the
United States Government was the
American brig Cora, which fell a
prize to the q. S. S. Constellation.
This was in 1860, and a young lad,
only q years old at the time, Wilburn
Hall, was put in charge with prize
crew. As soon as Lieutenant Hall
landed the Cora in New York, after a
momentus and dangerous voyage in
which an abortive mutiny played a
part, he resigned from the service and
cast his lot with the Confederacy. He
has written for the May number OF
the Century a striking account of the
chase and capture of the SLAYER, as ex-
citing as chapter from Clark Rus
sell.
When / had divided my small crew
into watches and had put man at
the helm I had a moments time to
look into the cabin which was to be
my home, writes Lieutenant Hall.
There were two cabins adjoining each
other, with four staterooms in the fol-
ward one and two in the after. Here,
in each of these rooms, / found one or
two negro maidens, while several
lowered in the corners and crouched
upon the sofa and on the floor. Like
the rest of the slaves, they were as
nude as when born. They looked ter
ribly frightened and evidently con-
sidered me sort of "lord high execu-
tioner.n When daylight appeared
they were taken to the quarters of
the other negresses.
The next morning found us rolling
in dead calm, and as the day grew
on the intense heat and glare made
the slave-ship den of indescribable
horror. The slaves, of course, were
brought on deck, or they would have
suffocated and died-a course which
was followed every day from early
light till sunset, as long as L had them
with me. They filled the waist and
gangways in fearful jam, for there
were over seven hundred men, women,
boys and young girls. Not even
waist-cloth can be permitted among
slaves on board ship, since clothing
even so light would breed disease. To
ward off death, ever at work on
slave-ship, ordered that at daybreak
the negroes should be taken in squads
of twenty or more and given salt.
water bath by the hose-pipe of the
pumps. This brought renewed life
after their fearful nights on the slave
deck. After their first bath under my
charge Mr.. Fairfax came aboard,
bringing carpenters, boatswain's
mates and sailmakers, for the ships
rigging, sails and spars had been
badly Injured aloft by our fire. That
broiiing day, and the next, these
gangs were at work repairing DAM
ages, while the Constellation remain
ed rolling near at hand.
In the meantime, had been buslly
engaged in having an open lattice
bulkhead put on the slave-deck, close
enough to prevent passing, and Jet
sufficiently open to give what yentila-
ton could be obtained. The object
the sexes, which were about equal In
numbers. Windsails were provided
for ventilation, but with all this, no
one who has never seen a slave-deck
can form an idea of its horrors. I'M
agine deck about 40 feet long and
feet high. Imagine this to be the
place of abode and sleep, during long,
hot, breathless nights, of 100 human
beings! At shutdown, when they were
carried below, trained slaves received
the poor wretches one by one, and,
laying each creature on MS S1ue III
the wings, packed the next against
him, and the next, and the next,
and so on till, like so many
spoons packed away, they lifted
into each other, living mass. just
as they were packed so must they re-
main, for the pressure prevented any
movement or the turning of hand or
foot until the next morning, when
from their terrible night Of horror
they were brought on deck once more,
weak and worn and sick. Then, after
all had come up and received the bath
mentioned, there was the invariable
horror of bringing up the bodies OF
those who had died during the night:
One by one they were cast overheard
"a splash the only ceremony. For
thirty odd fearful nights and days this
routine was endured before | finally
landed these creatures. At the time
I write of, L was slave-owner, but l
had only known happy, well-fed and
carefully attended people, who Were
as a part of family. Since that SER
vice on the Cora / have known how
much it cost to Christianize the ne
groes, and / often see in reverie the
rigid forms as they fell day by day
into the tropic waters.-Exchange