Most of them labour under a fixed melancholy, which now and then seeks a temporary relief in lamentation, and the most plaintive airs, expressive of the loss of their relations, friends, and country; and so powerfully does it operate, as to urge many to self-destruction, or obstinately to refuse nourishment. (NOTE I.) They are not unfrequently threatened with a flogging, because the mournfulness of their songs gives pain to the feelings of their oppressors. (NOTE K.) This description of the palace applies to its state previously to the conquest of Whidáh by the Dahomans, 1727. It is less superb now, but still worthy of attention as a royal residence. (NOTE L.) The purchaser marks, with a hot iron, the breasts of the men, and the bosoms of the women, to ascertain they are his property. (NOTE M.) Instruments are used to force the jaw open, somewhat similar to those used with unhappy maniacs, upon refusal of sustenance. The anecdote related is a fact of frequent occurrence, during the execution of this compulsive mode of sustaining life, practised with the desponding slaves. (NOTE N.) See Clarkson's description of the Slave-ship he visited, as related in his history of the trade. (NOTE O.) That this is no fancied picture of misery, is abundantly proved by the official reports of the African Society, 1822. (NOTE P.) The organs of negroes are extremely sensible of the powers of music. Enchanted, as it were, with the voice of a singer, or the tone of an instrument, they are agitated, transported, or thrown into ecstasies. In their common labours, the motions of their arms or of their feet are always in cadence. (NOTE Q.) The profits of this nefarious trade are so large, that mercenary men will incur any risk. At present, says the Report, 1822, speaking of the French favouring the trade, the rate of insurance does not exceed fifteen or twenty per cent, while the gains of the trade are proved to amount to from two hundred to four hundred per cent. It appears, from papers found on board Le Succès, that two hundred and forty slaves, which she landed on the island of Bourbon, cost nine thousand nine hundred and forty-three dollars; and that the proceeds of the sale of these slaves amounted to twenty-nine thousand five hundred and sixty-four dollars. And there is also an account of an outfit of fifty-three thousand francs producing a net profit of one hundred and sixty-six thousand francs. These facts need no comment. But let not England be discouraged: she has stood alone in many a fearful struggle, when apparently sinking under the pressure of a hostile world. She has led the way in the work of mercy; let her pursue her path with unfaltering firmness, and fearlessly oppose those who dare to violate the solemn engagements they have formed with her. (NOTE R.)