The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839)Clarkson, Thomas
History
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, by the British Parliament (1839)
Clarkson, Thomas
Slave trade -- Africa
On my arrival at Liverpool, I resolved to inquire into the truth of this
report. On looking into one of the wet docks, I saw the name of the
vessel alluded to; I walked over the decks of several others, and got on
board her. Two people were walking up and down her, and one was leaning
upon a rail by the side. I asked the latter how many slaves this ship
had carried in her last voyage; he replied he could not tell; but one of
the two persons walking about could answer me, as he had sailed out and
returned in her. This man came up to us, and joined in conversation. He
answered my questions and many others, and would have shown me the ship,
but on asking him how many seamen had died on the voyage, he changed his
manner, and said, with apparent hesitation, that he could not tell. I
asked him next, what had become, of the steward Green. He said he
believed he was dead. I asked how the seamen had been used. He said, not
worse than others. I then asked whether Green had been used worse than
others. He replied, he did not then recollect. I found that he was now
quite upon his guard, and as I could get no satisfactory answer from him
I left the ship.
On the next day I looked over the muster-roll of this vessel; on
examining it, I found that sixteen of the crew had died; I found also
the name of Peter Green; I found, again, that the latter had been put
down among the dead. I observed, also, that the ship had left Liverpool
on the 5th of June, 1786, and had returned on the 5th of June, 1787, and
that Peter Green was put down as having died on the 19th of September;
from all which circumstances it was evident that he must, as my Bristol
informant asserted, have died upon the Coast.
Notwithstanding this extraordinary coincidence of name, mortality, time,
and place, I could gain no further intelligence about the affair till
within about ten days before I left Liverpool; when among the seamen,
who came to apply to me in Williamson Square was George Ormond. He came
to inform me of his own ill-usage; from which circumstance I found that
he had sailed in the same ship with Peter Green. This led me to inquire
into the transaction in question, and I received from him the following
account.
Peter Green had been shipped as steward. A black woman, of the name of
Rodney, went out in the same vessel; she belonged to the owners of it,
and was to be an interpretess to the slaves who should be purchased.
About five in the evening, some time in the month of September, the
vessel then lying in Bonny river, the captain, as was his custom, went
on shore. In his absence, Rodney, the black woman, asked Green for the
keys of the pantry, which he refused her, alleging that the captain had
already beaten him for having given them to her on a former occasion,
when she drank the wine. The woman, being passionate, struck him, and a
scuffle ensued, out of which Green extricated himself as well as he
could.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account