The most desperate fight ensued for the tree-house of the chief. It took several hours, before the enemies succeeded in reaching the lower platform, where within a rude enclosure food, water, and even a few goats had been hidden. Unable to hold this place, the chief with his two wives and four children withdrew to the highest branches. From there he defended his family with such ability, that the foes, after having exhausted their supply in powder, were compelled to abandon the siege.— The stronger portion of the captives made during such raids, were shackled hand and foot to prevent escape. The remainder often were killed and the flesh distributed among the victors, who, as a rule, after such a raid formed a small encampment, lighted their fires and gorged upon the human flesh. They then marched over to one of the numerous slave-markets on the rivers or the coasts, where they exchanged the captives with the slave-traders for beads, cloth, brass wire and other trinkets. Woe to those who became sick or exhausted during the long march to the markets! If unable to stagger on any longer they were, to set an example for the others, either butchered on the spot, or left behind to perish by hunger and thirst, or to be torn by wild beasts. In the further transportation of such kidnapped men and women no regard was paid to their comfort. In the best of slave-ships the height between decks in the quarters set aside for the living cargo was five feet and eight inches. Even in these not all the slaves had so much head room. Around the sides of the vessel, halfway up, ran a shelf, giving room for a double row of slaves, one above and one below. This was stowed with undersized negroes, including women, boys, and children. In the worst class of slavers the space between decks was no more than three feet, compelling the wretched occupants to make the entire journey in a sitting or crouching position, as they were oftentimes, in fact most of the times, so crowded together that lying down was an impossibility. In fact, the more ingenious traders often so figured out the available space that the slaves were packed in with their feet and legs across one another’s laps. To prevent revolt, the men were manacled in couples with leg irons and stowed below. The irons were fastened to the ceiling. As a rule the women were not handcuffed but crowded into compartments under grated hatches and locked doors. At sea there might be a faint possibility of a breath of air’s penetrating into those quarters, but under all circumstances the mortality among the slaves was frightful.