An account of the slave trade on the coast of AfricaFalconbridge, Alexander
History
An account of the slave trade on the coast of Africa
Falconbridge, Alexander
Slave trade -- Africa -- Early works to 1800; Slave trade -- West Indies, British -- Early works to 1800
By their articles, on entering on board some Guinea ships, the sailors
are restrained, under forfeiture of their wages, from applying, in case
of ill usage, to any one for redress, except to such persons as shall
be nominated by the owners or the captain; and by others, to commence
an action against the captain for bad treatment, incurs a penalty of
fifty pounds. These restrictions seem to be a tacit acknowledgment
on the part of the owners and captains, that ill treatment is to be
expected.
Having stated the foregoing facts relative to the nature of this
destructive and inhuman traffick, I shall leave those, whose more
immediate business it is, to deduce the necessary conclusions; and
shall proceed to give a few cursory observations on those parts of the
coast of Africa already referred to; confining myself to such as tend
to an elucidation of the slave trade, without entering minutely into
the state of the country.
A short Description of such Parts of the Coast of Guinea, as are
before referred to.
BONNY, or BANNY, is a large town situate in the Bight of Benin, on
the coast of Guinea, lying about twelve miles from the sea, on the
east side of a river of the same name, opposite to a town called
Peter-forte-side. It consists of a considerable number of very poor
huts, built of upright poles, plaistered with a kind of red earth, and
covered with mats. They are very low, being only one story. The floor
is made of sand, which being constructed on swampy ground, does not
long retain its firmness, but requires frequent repair.
The inhabitants secure themselves, in some degree, against the noxious
vapours, which arise from the swamps and woods that surround the
town, by constantly keeping large wood fires in their huts. They are
extremely dirty and indolent; which, together with what they call the
_smokes_, (a noxious vapour, arising from the swamps about the
latter end of autumn) produces an epidemical fever, that carries off
great numbers.
The natives of Bonny believe in one Supreme Being; but they reverence
greatly a harmless animal of the lizard kind, called a Guana, the body
of which is about the size of a man’s leg, and tapering towards its
tail, nearly to a point. Great numbers of them run about the town,
being encouraged and cherished by the inhabitants.
The river of Bonny abounds with sharks of a very large size, which
are often seen in almost incredible numbers about the slave ships,
devouring with great dispatch the dead bodies of the negroes as they
are thrown overboard. The bodies of the sailors who die there, are
buried on a sandy point, called Bonny Point, which lies about a quarter
of a mile from the town. It is covered at high water; and, as the
bodies are buried but a small depth below the surface of the sand, the
stench arising from them is sometimes very noxious.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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