We were fortunate in a leaky vessel, and bad weather: the apprehension that we should be obliged to bear away for Lisbon, kept back our misery for awhile. Flogging did not commence with us till about the latitude 28°. It was talked of long before, but was with-held by the above-mentioned consideration. It no sooner made its appearance but it spread like a contagion. Wantonness, misconception, and ignorance, inflicted it without an appearance of remorse, and without fear of being answerable for the abuse of authority. This barbarous charge to the officers I myself heard given “You are now in a Guinea ship—no seaman, though you speak harshly, must dare to give you a saucy answer—_that_ is out of the question; but if they LOOK to displease you, knock them down.” The cruel direction was soon put in practice, by one of the mates, on the cooper, a most harmless, hard-working, worthy creature. The mate knocked him down for some light answer he gave him, for the poor fellow had an innocent aim at being humourous. On his making his way to appeal to the Captain, he was knocked down again: crawling on the deck, his face covered with blood, he still persisted to make his way to the cabin, but was struck to the deck a third and a fourth time, when some of the sailors rushed between, and hurried him away. Scarce an hour passed in any day without flogging; sometimes three were tied up together. The slightest imputation of error brought on the bitter punishment; and sometimes the smarting application of pickle was superadded. I do not now exactly remember the allowance of bread: at first I know it was five lbs. per week, served out every Sunday (_the only circumstance that distinguished the Sabbath through the whole voyage_) but it was soon lessened. This I very well remember, that many of the people had their whole week's proportion eaten up by Tuesday morning; and the daily weight of beef was so small, that though there was not water to allay the thirst it occasioned, we never dared to steep it for fear of wasting the quantity.