Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-04


extreme impurity of the air which
they breathed. BY the advice of the
physician they were brought up on
deck occasionally, but some of the
poor wretches, locking themselves in
each others arms, leaped overheard
in the hope. which universally pre-
walls among them, of being swiftly
transported to their homes in Afri-
ca. To check this the captain order
ed several who were stopped in the
attempt to be shot or hanged before
their companions. The disease eX-
tended to the crew; one after another
were smitten with it until only one
remained unaffected. Yet this dread
full condition did not preclude calcu-
lation to have the expense of support
ing slaves rendered unsaleable, and
to obtain grounds for a claim against
the underwriters thirty-six of the ne
groes. having become blind, were
thrown into the sea and drowned.
I'm the midst of their dreadful
fears lest the solitary individual whose
sight remained unaffected should also
be seized with the malady, sail was
discovered. 1t was the Spanish SLAYER
Leon. The same disease had been
there, and, horrible to tell. all the
crew had become blind. Unable to
assist each other the vessels parted.
The Spanish ship has never since
been heard of. The ROdeur reached
Guadeloupe on the 21st of June, the
only man who had escaped the dis
ease and had been enabled to steer
ship into port. caught it three days
after it's arrival
The British had the reputation in
the slave trade of being more brutal
and cruel than the Portuguese, but
the tendency to suicide on the part OF
the Africans was noted on the vessels
of all nationalities. OF the precau-
tions taken to prevent this. Alexan-
der FalcOnbrdge, of the brig Tartar,
said:
THE ships were fitted up with a
view of preventing the slaves jump
ing overheard. There was a netting
stretched above the rails, but an
opening was left in one place. that
refuse might be dumped overheard,
and through this many a slave suf-
fering from homesickness leaped into
the ocean and met his death by
drowning. They stole rope yarns,
that they might hang themselves and
refused food. that they might starve.
The first care of the master of the
slave ships was to prevent reVolts.
On one vessel, because Of the persist
ent attempts of the slaves to Kill
themselves. the master had the dead
body of a man who had hanged him.
self stretched on the deck and be-
headed in the presence of the others.
The body was then thrown overheard,
while the head was kept on the veS-
sci. The captain hoped by this
course the slaves would be led to be-
lieve that the dead mans spirit would
return headless to it's African home,
But the slaves only smiled in a con-
temptuous way when the Interpreter
told them this. They were heathens
and had not learned the Christian
hope"
Richard Drake, an Englishman
surgeon to the crew of the Brazilian
slave brig Gloria, about 1S23-24
commanded by a Spaniard named
Ruiz. and which had made five sue
cessful voyages to and from the
African slave coast, wrote an account
of the last voyage, which is incor-
porated i'm THE African Slave Trade
in America" by John r. Speers. in
Scribner's Magazine of September
1900.
In his narrative Drake states that
Ruiz. with the Gloria, started on his
sixth and last voyage for slaves, run
ming the Cape Verde Islands with his
casks filled with salt water for bal
last. it being the intention of reaching
the islands to replace the self with
fresh water and continue on to the
slave coast. on the way he fell II
with a Portuguese schooner with some
100 slaves and a quantity of gold dust
Being pirate as we'll as SLAYER, Ruiz
attacked the Portuguese vessel. anC
after killing all the crew and appro'
priating the Africans and gold dust
., q
ceeded to the coast of Dahomey
where he purchased three or -four
hundred additional Africans. ant
started out on the return voyage tc
Brazil. While on the African coas
the master and mates were much un
der the influence of rum, and in con
sequence the filling Of the water casks
was neglected to a great extent. bu
this was not discovered by the cap
tain until the ship was far at sea OF
the homeward run. Drake in hi
narrative gives the following accoun
of the tragic consequences of this
oversight.
I'VE were drawing from the las
caSk." says he. before this diScov
cry was made. and the horror of ou
| situation Sobered Captain Ruiz. HI
| gave orders To have the precious rem
nant abaft the main grating, an'
made me calculate how long it wOul'
sustain the crew and cargo. | fuunC
that half gill would hold out unit
we reached the Spanish Main. and /
was decided i'm order to save our carS'
we should allow the slaves half gill
and the crew a gill each day. Thel
began Il torture worse than deatl
among the blacks. Pent in their dun
| gcOnS to the number of 500 oman,
had already dicd they suffered con
tinued torment. Our crew and driv
ers were unwilling to allow even tn
half gill per diem, and Quarrelle'
fierCely over their own stinted rationS
Our cargo had been slowed on tn
platforms closer than ! had ever see
slaves before or since. Instead of low
ering buckets of water 10 them as wa
customary il became necessary I