Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1894-05-24
SCENES ON A sLAvE-sHIP.

Seven Hundred Naked Wretches Packed
Away So They Could Not Stir.
The last SLAYER captured by the
United States government was the
American brig Cora, which fell prize
to the q. S. S. Constellation. This
was in 1860. and a young lad, only
twenty-one years old at the time, VIII
burn Hall, was put in charge with
prize-crew. AS soon as Lieut. Hall
landed the Cora in New York, after
momentous and dangerous voyage In
which an abortive mutiny played
part. he resigned from the service and
cast his lot with the confederacy. He
has written striking account OF the
chase and capture of the SLAYER.
when had divided my small crew
into watches, and had put a man at
the helm, I had a moments time to
look into the cabin which was to be
my home. writes Lieut. Hall There
were two cabins adjoining each other,
with four state-rooms in the forward
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 terribly
frightened, and evidently considered
me sort of lord high executioner."
When daylight appeared. they were
taken to the quarters of the other
negresses-
THE next morning found us rolling
in a dead calm, and as the day grew
on, the intense heat and glare made
the slave-ship a 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 I had them with
me. They filed the waist and gang
ways in a fearful jam, for there were
over seven hundred men, women, boys
and young girls Not even a 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,
1 ordered that at day break the negroes
should be taken in squads of twenty or
| more. and given a saltwater 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.
the ships rigging. sails and spars had
been injured badly a1oft by our fire
That broiling day, and the next. these
gangs were at work repairing damages,
| while the Constellation remained roll
| ing near at hand.
''In the meantime ] had been busily
engaged in having an open lattice
| bulkhead put on the slave-deck, close
| enough to prevent passing, and yet
sufficiently open to give what ventila-
| ton could be obtained. The object
was to make complete separation of
| 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 Imagine a deck
| about twenty feet wide, and perhaps
! one hundred and twenty feet long and
| five feet high. Imagine this to be the
place of abode and sleep, during long,
hot, breathless nights, of T20 human
| beings! At shutdown, when they were
carried below, trained slaves received
the poor wretches one by one, and, lay
| ing each creature on his side in the
wings, packed the next against him,
and the next, and the next, and SO on,
| TILL like SO many spoons packed away.
|
mass. Just as they were packed, SO
must they remain, for the pressure pre-
vented any movement, or the turning
of hand or foot, until the next morn
| ing when from this terrible night of
horror they were brought on deck
| once more. weak, and worn, and sick.
Then, after all had come up and re-
ceived the bath mentioned, there was
the invariable horror of bringing up
/ the bodies of those who had died dur
ing the night. One by one, they were
cast overboard-a splash the only cere-
mony. For thirty odd fearful nights
and days this was endured before 1
finally landed these creatures. At the
| time / write of, 1 was a slave-owner
but had only known happy, well-fed
and carefully attended people, who
were as part of large family. Since
| that service on the Cora, have known
how much it cost to christia nize ne
| groes, and 1 often see in reverie the
rigid forms as they fell day by day in
, to the tropic waters Century.
| Doeto-ss