YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1949

SOME

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

O F

GUINEA.

SOME
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
O F
GUINEA, I T S
Situation, Produce, and the General
Disposition of its Inhabitants.
WITH
An Inquiry into the Rise and Progress
OF THE
SLAVE TRADE,
Its Nature, and Lamentable Effects.

By ANTHONY BENEZET.

Acts xvii. 24. 26. God, that made the world — hath made
of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and hath determined the — hounds of their habi
tation.
A NEW EDITION.

LONDON.
Printed and Sold by J. Phillips, George Yard, Lombard-ftreet.
M. DCC. LXXXVIII.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
J GENERAL account of Guinea ; particularly
"^ thofe parts on the rivers Senegal and Gambia. Page i
CHAP. II.
Account of the Ivory-Coaft, the Gold-Coaft, and
the Slave-Coaft. 14
CHAP. III.
Of the kingdoms of Benin, Kongo and Angola.
CHAP. IV,
Guinea, firft difcovered and fubdued by the Arabi-
ans. "The Portuguefe make- dej "cents on the coajl,
and carry off the natives. Oppreffion of the In
dians : De la Cafa pleads their caufe. 35
CHAP. V.
¦the firft trade of the Englilh to the coaft ^/Guinea :
Violently carry offfome of the Negroes, 45
a 3 CHAP.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. VI.

Slavery more tolerable under Pagans and Turks
than in the colonies. As Chriftianity prevailed,
ancient flavery declined. 54
CHAP. VII.
tylontttcpXzxx'sfentiments of flavery. Morgan God-
wyn advocates the caufe of the Negroes and
Indians, &c. 62
CHAP. VIII.
Grievous treatment of the Negroes in the colonies,
&c. 72
CHAP. IX.
Befire of gain the true motive of the Slave trade,
Mifreprefentation of the Jlate of the Negroes in
Guinea. 3t
CHAP. X.
State of the Government in Guinea, &c, $8
CHAP. XI.
Accounts of the cruel methods ufed in carrying on
the Slave trade, &c. 93

CHAP.

CON TENTS.
CHAP. XII.
Ex trails of fever al voyages to the coaft of Guinea,
&C. gn
CHAP. XIII.
Numbers of Negroes yearly brought from Guinea
by the Englilh, &c. 107
CHAP. XIV.
Observations on the fituation and difpofition of the
Negroes in the Northern colonies, &c. in
CHAP. XV.
The expediency of a general freedom being grant ea
to the Negroes confidered. 1 1 6
CHAP. XVI.
Europeans capable of bearing reafonable labour in
the Weft Indies, &c. 1 19

a 4 A D V E R-

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Author of the following Account of
Guinea having been one of the earlieft
and molt diftinguifhed advocates for the unfor
tunate Africans, a fhort account of him may
not be unacceptable.
Anthony Benezet was of a refpedtable family,
and was born at St. Quintin, in Picardy, in
j 7 13. His father was one of the many Pro-
teftants who, in confequence of the perfecutions
which followed the revocation of the edi<5t of
Nantz, fought an afylum in foreign countries.
After a fhort ftay in Holland, he fettled with
his wife and feveral children in London, in
Our Author having received a liberal educa
tion, ferved an apprenticelhip in an eminent
mercantile houfe in London. In 1731, the
whole family removed to Philadelphia. His
three brothers followed trade fuccefsfully ; but
he, whofe purfuits were direfted to worthier
objects than the attainment of wealth, and whofe
higheft gratification confifted in promoting the
welfare of mankind, chofe the humble, but
ufeful, occupation of inftrucYing young people
in the paths of knowledge and virtue. Soon

[ X ]
Soon after his arrival in America, he joined
in profeffion with the people called Quakers.
The exertions of that fociety to annihilate the
unchriftian praftice of holding negroes in flavery,
are well known : In thefe endeavours', it is pre-
fumed that no individual took a more active
part than this worthy citizen of the world. His
writings on this fubjeft were numerous : befides
feveral fmaller trails, which were generally dif-
perfed, he publifhed, in the year 1762, the fol
lowing Account, of which this is the fourth
edition; and in 1767, he alfo publifhed his "Cau
tion and Warning to Great Britain and her
Colonies." With the fame benevolent views3
he not only availed himfelf of every opportunity
of perfonal application, but alfo correfponded
with many perfons in Europe, America, and the
Weft Indies. Though mean in his perfonal
appearance, fuch was the courtefy of his man
ners, and fo evident the purity of his intentions,
that he had ready accefs to people of all defcrip-
tions, and obtained the refpect of the few whom
he failed to influence.
About 1756, a confiderable number of French
families were removed from Acadia to Pennfyl-
vania, on account of fome political fufpicions.
Towards thefe unfortunate people he manifefted
his ufual philanthropy, and exerted himfelf
much in their behalf-, and it was generally to
his care that the many contributions, raifed to
alleviate their diftreffes, were entrufted. In a
country where few underftood their language,
they were wretched and helplefs : circumftances
which infured them his^ cheerful affiftance. Appre-

[ xi ]
Apprehending that much advantage would
arife, both to the individuals and the publick,
from inftrufting the black people in common
learning, he zealoufly promoted the eftablifh-
ment of a fchool in Philadelphia for that purpofe.
His endeavours were fuccefsful, and a fchool
for negroes was inftituted, and has been fup-
ported ever fince, principally by the religious
fociety of which he was a member; in which
however they have been liberally affifted by
well-difpofed perfons of other denominations.*
The two laft years of his life he devoted to a
perfonal attendance of this fchool, being ear-
neftly defirous that the black people might be
better qualified for the enjoyment of that free
dom to which great numbers of them had then
been reftored. To this, which he conceived to be
a religious duty, he facrificed the fuperior emo
luments of his former fchool, and his bodily
eafe, although the weaknefs of his conftitution
feemed to demand indulgence. By his laft will
he directed, that after the deceafe of his widow,
his whole little fortune (the favings of fifty years
induftry) fhould, except a few fmall legacies,
be applied to the fupport of this Negroe fchool,
which had been fo much indebted to his care
and benevolence: fome ftrikingproofs of theNe-
groe-children's advancement in learning in this
fchool have lately been tranfmitted to England.
* Dr. Wilfon, the late Reftor of St. Stephens, Wal-
brook, a fliort time before his deceafe, fent 50I. fterling
to him, to be applied to the fupport of this fchool, intend
ing to have doubled the benefaftion : but he died before he
effe&ed his benevolent purpofe.
The

I xii ]
The year preceding his deceafe, obferving
that the flave-trade (which during the war then
recently concluded had much declined) was re
viving, he addrefTed a pathetic letter on the
fubjedt to our amiable Queen, who, on hearing
the writer's character, received it with marks
of peculiar condefcenfion.
After a few days illnefs, this excellent man
died at Philadelphia, in the fpring 1784. The
interment of his remains was attended by feveral
thoufands of all ranks, profeflions, and parties,
who appeared fincerely to unite in deploring the
lofs of this friend of mankind. The mournful
proceffion was clofed by fome hundreds of thofe
poor Negroes, who had been perfonally bene
fited by his labours, and whofe behaviour on
the occafion affedlingly evinced their gratitude
and affection for their indefatigable benefactor.

INTRO-

INTRODUCTION.
TH E flavery of the Negroes
having, of late, drawn the
attention of many ferious minded
people, feveral traces have been pub
lifhed fetting forth its inconfiftency
with every Chriftian and moral vir
tue, which it is hoped will have
weight with the judicious ; efpeci-
ally at a time when the liberties of
mankind are become fo much the
fubjedr. of general attention. For the
fatisfa£Hon of the ferious, inquirer,
who may not have the opportunity
of feeing thofe traces, and fuch
others who are (incerely defirous that
the iniquity of this practice may be
come apparent to thofe in whofe
power it may be to put a flop to any
farther progrefs therein ; and in or
der to enable the reader to form a
true

[ xiv ]
true judgment of this matter, which,
though fo very important, is gene
rally disregarded, or fo artfully mif-
reprefented by thofe whofe intereft
leads them to vindicate it, as to
bias the opinions of people other-
wife upright, it is propofed to give
fome account of the different parts
of Africa, from which the Ne
groes are brought to America ; with
an impartial relation from what mo
tives the Europeans were firft indu
ced to undertake, and havelince con
tinued this iniquitous trafiick. And
here it will not be improper to pre-
mife, that though wars, arifing from
the common depravity of human na
ture, have happened, as well among
the Negroes as other nations, and the
weak fometimes been made captives
to the ftrong; yet nothing appears in
the various relations of the inter-
courfe and trade for a long time car
ried on by the Europeans on that
coaft, which would induce us to be
lieve,

[ TT }
lieve, that there is any real founda
tion for the argument, fo common
ly advanced in vindication of the
trade, viz. " That the flavery of the
* * Negroes took its rife from a defire,
" in the pur chafers, to fave the lives
' * of fuch of them as were taken cap-
<c tives in war, who would otherwife
cc have been facrificed to the impla-
* * cable revenge of their conquerors? '
A plea which, when compared with
the hiftory of thofe times, will ap
pear to be deftitute of truth ; and
to have been advanced, and urged,
principally by fuch as were concerned
in reaping the gain of this infamous
trafiick, as a palliation of that, againft
which their own reafon and confci-
ence mull have raifed fearful objec
tions.

Some

SOME
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
O F
GUINEA. CHAP. I.
GUINEA affords an eafy living to its inha
bitants, with but little toil. The climate
agrees well with the natives, but is extreme
ly unhealthy to the Europeans. Produces
provifions in the greateft plenty. Simplicity
of their houfholdry. The coaft of Guinea de
fer i bed from the river Senegal to the kingdom
of Angola. The fruitfulnefs of that part ly
ing on and between the two great rivers Sene
gal and Gambia. Account of the different na
tions fettled there. Order of Government
among the Jalofs. Good account of fome of
the Fulis. The Mandingos; their manage
ment, government, &c. Their worfhip. M.
Adanfon's account of thofe countries. Sur
prizing vegetation. Pleafant appearance of
the country. He found the natives very foci-
able and obliging.

w

HEN the Negroes are confidered
barely in their prefent abjedt ftate of
flavery, broken-fpirited and. dejefted ; and too
eafy credit is given to the accounts we frequently
hear or read of their barbarous and favage way
of living in their own country; we fhall be
naturally induced to look upon them as in-
B capable

[ a ]
capable of improvement, deftitute, miferable,
and infenfible of the benefits of life ; and that
our permitting them to live amongft us, even
on the moft opprefflve terms, is to them a favour.
But, on impartial enquiry, the cafe will appear
to be far otherwife; we fhall find that there is
fcarce a country in the whole world, that is bet
ter calculated for affording the neceffary com
forts of life to its inhabitants, with lefs folici-
tude and toil, than Guinea; and that notwith-
ftanding the long converfe of many of its in
habitants with (often) the worft of the Euro
peans, they ftill retain a great deal of innocent
fimplicity ; and, when not ftirred up to revenge
from the frequent abufes they have received
from the Europeans in general, manifeft them-
felves to be a humane, fociable people, whofe
faculties are as capable of improvement as thofe
of other men ; and that their ceconomy and
government is, in many refpecls, commendable.
Hence it appears they might have lived happy,
if not difturbed by the Europeans; more efpeci-
ally, if thefe laft had ufed fuch endeavours as
their chriftian profefiion requires, to communicate
to the ignorant Africans that fuperior know
ledge which providence had favoured them with.
In order to fet this matter in its true light,
and for the information of thofe well-minded
people who are defirous of being fully ac
quainted with the merits of a caufe, which is of
the utmoft confequence ; as therein the lives and
happinefs of thoufands, and hundreds of thou-
fands, of our fellow Men have fallen, and are
daily falling, a facrifice to felfifh avarice and
ufurped power, I will here give fome account of
the feveral divifions of thofe parts of Africa from

[ 3 1
from whence the Negroes are brought, with
a fummary of their produce; the difpofition
of their refpedtive inhabitants, their improve
ments, &c. &c. extracted from authors of creditj
moftly fuch as have been principal officers in the
Englifh, French, and Dutch factories; and who
refided many years in thofe countries. But
firft it is neceffary to premife, as a remark
generally applicable to the whole coaft of Gui
nea, tc That the Almighty who has determined, and
" appointed the bounds of the habitation of men on
" the face of the earth" in the manner that is
moft conducive to the well-being of their
different natures and difpofitions, has fo ordered
it, that although Guinea is extremely unhealthy*
to the Europeans, of whom many thoufands
have met there with a miferable and untimely
B 2 end,
 . — . — ¦ ~ • • — i i .. —
* Gentleman's Magazine, Supplement, 1763. £xtrail of a
letter written from the ifland of Senegal, by Mr. Boone, practi
tioner of phyfic there, to Dr. Brocklefby of London.
" To form ajuft idea of the unhealthiriefs of the cliiriate,
" it will be neceffary to conceive a country extending three
" hundred leagues Eaft, and more" to the North and South.
" Through this country feveral large rivers empty- them-
" felves into the fea ; particularly the Sanaga, Gambia,
" and Sherhro ; thefe, during the rainy months, which
" begin in July, and continue till October, overflow their
" banks, and lay the whole flat country under water ; and
" indeed the very fudden rife of thefe rivers is incredible to-
" perfons who have never been within the tropicks, and
" axe unacquainted with the violent rains that fall there.
" At Galem, nine hundred miles from the mouth of the
" Sanaga, I am informed that the waters rife one hun-
" dred and fifty feet perpendicular from the bed of the
" river. This information I received from a gentleman, '* wh«

[ 4 ]
end, yet it is not fo with the Negroes, who1
enjoy a good ftate of health*, and are able to pro
cure to themfelves a comfortable fubfiftence,
with much lefs care and toil than is neceffary in
our more northern climate; which laft advan
tage arifes not only from the warmth of the
climate, but alfo from the overflowing of the
rivers, whereby the land is regularly moiftened, and

*' who was furgeon'srcate to a party fent there, and the only
" furvivor of three captains command, each confifting of
*' one captain, two lieutenants, one enfign, a furge-
" on's mate, three fergeants, three corporals, and fifty pri-
« vates.
" When the rains are at an end, which ufually hap-
*' pens in October, the intenfe he^.t of the fun foon dries
«* up the waters which lie on the higher parts of the
*' earth, and the remainder forms lakes of ftagnated waters,
*¦' in which, are found all forts of dead animals : Thefe
*¦' waters every day decreafe, till at laft they are quite
" exhaled, and: then the effluvia that arife are almoft in-
" fupportable. At this feafon, the winds blow fo very
•* hot from off the land, that I can compare them to no-
«* thing but the heat proceeding out of the mouth of an.
" oven. This occafions the Europeans to be fdrely vexed
" with bilious and putrid fevers. From this account you
" will not be furprized, that the total lofs of Britifh fub-
" jefts in this ifland only, amounted to above two thou-
" fand five hundred, in the fpace of three years that I
" was there, in fuch a putrid moift air as I have defcrib-
" ed."
* James Barbot, agent general to the French African
company, in his account of Africa, page 105, fays,
" The natives are feldom troubled with any diitempers,.
" being little affected with the unhealthy air. In tem-
" peftuous times they keep much within doors ; and when
" expofed to the weather, their lkins being fuppled, and
" pores clofed by daily anointing with palm oil, the wear
V t^er can make but little impreffionon them.,'*

[ 5 1
and rendered extremely fertile; and being in
many places improved by culture, abounds with
grain and fruits, cattle, poultry, &c. The earth
yields all the year a frefh fupply of food : Few
cloaths are requifite, and little art neceffary in
making them, or in the conftrudtion of their
houfes, which are very fimple, principally cal
culated to defend them from the tempeftuous
feafons and wild beafts ; a •few dry reeds cov
ered with matts ferve for their beds. The
other furniture, except what belongs to cook
ery, gives the women but little trouble; the
moveables of the greateft among them amount
ing only to a few earthen pots, fome wooden
utenfils, and gourds or calabafhes ; from thefe
laft, which grow almoft naturally over their
huts, to which they afford an agreeable fhade,
they are abundantly flocked with good clean vef-
fels for moft houfhold ufes, being of different
fizes, from half a pint to feveral gallons.
That part of Africa from which the Negroes
are fold to be carried into flavery, commonly
known by the name of Guinea, extends along
the coaft three or four thoufand miles. Begin
ning at the river Senegal, fituate about the 17th
degree of North latitude, being the neareft part
of Guinea, as well to Europe as to North
America •, from thence to the river Gambia, and
in afoutherly courfe to Cape Sierra Leona, com
prehends a coaft of about feven hundred miles ;
being the fame tracf for which Queen Elizabeth
granted charters to the firft traders to that
coaft. From Sierra Leona, the land of Gui
nea takes a turn to the eaftward, extending
that courfe about fifteen hundred miles, includ-
B 3 inS

[ 6 ]
ing thofe feveral divifions known by the name of
the Grain Coaft, the Ivory Coaft, the Gold Coaft,
and the Slave Coaft, with the large kingdom of Benin.
From thence the land runs fouthward along the
coaft about twelve hundred miles, which con
tains the kingdoms of Congo and Angola j there the
trade for flaves ends. From which to the fouth-
ermoft Cape of Africa, called the Cape of Good
Hope, the country is fettled by Caffres and Hot
tentots, who have never been concerned in the
making or felling flaves.
Of the parts which are above defcribed, the
firft which prefents itfelf to view, is that fituate
on the great river Senegal, which is faid to be
navigable more, than a thoufand miles, and is
by travellers defcribed to be very agreeable
and fruitful. Andrew Brue, principal factor to
the French African company, who lived fixteen
years in that country, after defcribing its
fruitfulnefs and plenty, near the fea, adds*,
*' The farther you go from the fea, the country
({ on the river feems the more fruitful and well
*c improved; abounding with Indian corn,
" pulfe, fruit, &c. Here are vaft meadows,
*f which feed large herds of great and fmall
"cattle, and poultry numerous. The villages
«' that lie thick on the river, fhew the country
" is well peopled." The fame author, in the
account of a voyage he made up the river Gam
bia, the mouth of which lies about three hund
red miles South of the Senegal, and is navig
able about fix hundred miles up the country, fays,

Ailley's Collect, vol. 2. page 4.6.

E 7 ]
fays*, " That he was furprized to fee the land
" fo well cultivated; fcarce a fpot lay unim-
" proved ; the low lands, divided by fmall
" canals, were all fowedwith rice, &c. the higher
" ground planted with millet, Indian corn, and
" peafe of different forts ; their beef excellent ;
,c poultry plenty, and very cheap, as well as all
" other neceffaries of life." Francis Moor, who
was fent from England about the year 1735, in
the fervice of the African company, and refid
ed at James Fort, on the river Gambia, or in
other factories on that river, about five years,
confirms the above account of the fruitfulnefs
of the country. William Smith, who was fent
in the year 1726, by the African Company, to
furvey their fettlements throughout the whole
coaft of Guinea, § fays, " The country about
" the Gambia is pleafant and fruitful ; provifions
" of all kinds being plenty, and exceeding
*c cheap." The country on and between the
two above-mentioned rivers is large and exten-
five, inhabited principally by thofe three Negroe
nations known by the name of Jalofs, Fulis,
and Mandingos. The Jalofs poffefs the middle
of the country. The Fulis principal fettlement
is on both fides of the Senegal ; great numbers
of thefe people are alfo mixed with the Man
dingos ; which laft are moftly fettled on both
fides the Gambia. The government of the Jalofs
is reprefented as under a better regulation than
can be expected from the common opinion we
B 4 entertain

* Aftley's Collection of Voyages, vol. 2, page 86,
§ William Smith's Voyage to Guinea, page 31, 34s.

[ 8 ]
entertain of the Negroes. We are told in the
Collection,' * " That the King has under him fe-
" veral minifters of ftate, who affift him in the ex-
" ercife of juftice. The grand Jerafo is the chief
" juftice through all the King's dominions, and
" goes in circuit from time to time to hear com-
tc plaints, and determine controverfies. The
" King's treafurer exercifes the fame employment,
*' and has under him Alkairs, who are governors
" of towns or villages. That the Kondi, or
*c Viceroy, goes the circuit with the chief juftice,
" both to hear caufes, and infpecT: into the be-
*c haviour of the Alkadi, or chief magiftrate of
fC every village in their feveral diftridts §."
Vafconcelas, an author mentioned in the Col
lection, fays, " the ancienteft are preferred to
" be the Prince's counfellors, who keep always
*e about his perfon -, and the men of moft judg-
*' ment and experience are the judges." The
Fulis are fettled on both fides of the river
Senegal: their country, which is very fruitful
and populous, extends near four hundred miles
from Eaft to Weft. They are generally of a
deep tawney complexion, appearing to bear fome
affinity with the Moors, whofe country they join
on the North. They are good farmers, and
make good harveft of corn, cotton, tobacco, &c.
and breed great numbers of cattle of all kinds.
Bartholomew Stibbs, (mentioned by Fr. Moor)
in his account of that country fays, * " They
*' were a cleanly, decent, induflrious people, and very
" affable."
• Aftley's Collection, vol 2. page 35 8.
$ Idem. 259.
• Moor's Travels into diftant parts of Africa, page 198.

C 9 1

CC

affable." But the moft particular account we
have of, thefe people, is from Francis Moor
himfelf, who fays*, " Some of thefe Fuli blacks,
" -who dwell on both fides the river Gambia,
" are in fubjeftion to the Mandingos, amongft
<c whom they dwell, having been probably driven
'^ but of their country by war or famine. They
" have chiefs of their own, who rule with
" much moderation. Few of them will drink
" brandy, or any thing ftronger than water
" and fugar, being ftwdt Mahometans. Their
" form of government goes on eafy, becaufe
" the people are of a good quiet difpofition,
" and fo well inftrudled in what is right, that a
" man who does ill-, is the abomination of all,
" and none will fupport him againft the chief.
" In thefe countries, the natives are not co-
" vetous of land, defiring np more than what
" they ufe ; and as they do not plough with
" horfes and cattle, they can ufe but very little,
" therefore the Kings are willing to give the
" Fulis leave to live in the country, and cul-
" tivate their lands. If any of their people
tc are known to be made flaves, all the Fulis
" will join to redeem them •, they alfo fupport
" the old, the blind, and lame, amongft them-
<' felves; and as far as their abilities go, they
" fupply the neceffities of the Mandingos, great
" numbers of whom they have maintained in
" famine." The author, from his own obfer-
vations, fays, " They were rarely angry, and
" that he never heard them abufe one another." The

* Ibid, pagezi.

[ ib J
The Mandingos are faid by A. Brue before men
tioned, " To be the moft numerous nation
" on the Gambia, befides which, numbers of
" them are difperfed over all thefe countries;
?' being the moft rigid Mahometans among the
" Negroes, they drink neither wine nor brandy,
tc and are politer than the other Negroes. The
tc chief of the trade goes through their hands.
*' Many are induftrious and laborious, keep-
tc ing their ground well cultivated, and breed-
,c ing a good ftock of -cattle*. Every town
" has an Alkadi, or Governor, who has great
«c power ; for moft of them having two com-
" mon fields of clear ground, one for corn,
" and the other for rice, the Alkadi appoints
" the labour of all the people. The men
" work the corn ground, and the women and
" girls the rice ground ; and as they all
" equally labour, fo he equally divides the
*c corn amongft them ; and in cafe they are
tc in want, the others fupply them. This Al-
" kadi decides all quarrels, and has the firft
" voice in all conferences in town affairs."
Some of thefe Mandingos who are fettled at
Galem, far up the river Senegal, can read and
write Arabic tolerably, and are a good hofpitable
people, who carry on a trade with the inland
nations. " •+¦ They are extremely populous in
" thofe parts, their women being fruitful, and
" they not fuffering any perfon amongft them,
" but fuch as are guilty of crimes, to be made
" flaves."

* Aflley's Colleft. vol. 2. page 269.
-5 A.llcy's L'olleft. vol. 2. page 73.

[ II ]
u flaves." We are told from Jobfon, " $ That
<c the Mahometan Negroes fay their prayers thrice
" a day. E«ach village has a prieft who calls them
" to their duty. It is furprizing (fays the author)
*c as well as commendable, to fee the modefty, at-
<c tention and reverence they obferve during
" their worfhip. He afked fome of their priefts
" the purport of their prayers and ceremonies;
<f their anfwer always was, That they adored God
*' by projlrating themf elves before him ; that by
" humbling themfelves, they acknowledged their
ec own insignificancy, and farther intreated him to
" forgive their faults, and to grant them all good
" and neceffary things as well as deliverance from
ft evil." Jobfon takes notice of feveral good
qualities in thefe Negroe priefts, particularly
their great fobriety. They gain their livelihood
by keeping fchool for the education of the child
ren. The boys are taught to read and write.
They not only teach fchool, but rove about the
country, teaching and inftrufting, for which
the whole country is open to them ; and they
have a free courfe through all places, though
the Kings may be at war with one another.
The three fore-mentioned nations pradtife fe
veral trades, as fmiths, potters, fadlers, and
weavers. Their fmiths particularly work neatly
in gold and filver, and make knives, hatchets,
reaping hooks, fpades and fhares to cut iron,
&c. &c. ¦ Their potters make neat tobacco
pipes, and pots to boil their food. Some au
thors fay that weaving is their principal trade; this
J Ibid, 296.

[ 12 ]
this is done by the women and girls, who
fpin and weave very fine cotton cloth, which
they dye blue or black. * F. Moor fays, the
Jalofs particularly make great 'quantities of the
cotton cloth; their pieces are generally twenty-
feven yards long, and about nine inches broad,
their looms being very narrow •, thefe they few
neatly together, fo as to fupply the ufe of broad
cloth. It was in thefe parts of Guinea, that M.
Adanfon, ctfrrefpondent of the Royal Academy
of Sciences at Paris, mentioned in fome for
mer publications, was employed from the year
1749, to the year 1753, wholly in making natural
and philofophical obfervations on the country
about the rivers Senegal and Gambia. Speaking
of the great heats in Senegal, he fays, " f It is
" to them that they are partly indebted for the
" fertility of their lands-, which is fo great,
" that, with little labour and care, there is
*c no fruit nor grain but grow in great plenty."
Of the foil on the Gambia, he fays, " J It is
" rich and deep, and amazingly fertile; it pro-
" duces fpontaneoufly, and almoft without cul-
" tivation, all the neceffaries of life, grain, fruit,
«' herbs, and roots. Every thing matures to
" perfection, and is excellent in its kind.*"
One thing which always furprized him, was the
prodigious rapidity with which the fap of trees
repairs

* F. Moor, 28.
f M. Adanfon's Voyage to Senegal, &c. page 308.
J Idem, page 1 64.
* M. Adanfon, page 162.

[ *3 ]
repairs any lofs they may happen to fuftain in that
country : " And I was never," fays he, " more
" aftonifhed, than when landing four days after
" the locufts had devoured all the fruits and
fC leaves, and even the buds of the trees, to
" find the trees covered with new leaves, and
" they did not feem to me to have fuffered
" much."- §u It was then," fays the fame au
thor, " the fifh feafon ; you might fee them in
" fhoals approaching towards land. Some of
*' thofe fhoals were fifty fathom fquare, and
" the fifh crouded together in fuch a manner,
" as to roll upon one another, without being able
<c to fwim. As foon as the Negroes perceive
" them coming towards land, theyjump into the
" water with a bafket in one hand, and fwim
" with the other. They need only to plunge
" and to lift up their bafket, and they are fure
" to return loaded with fifh." Speaking of
the appearance of the country, and of the dif
pofition of the people, .he fays, || " Which way
" foever I turned mine eyes on this pleafant
" fpot, I beheld a perfect image of pure nature;
" an agreeable folitude, bounded on every fide
" by charming landfcapes ; the rural fituation
" of cottages in the midft of trees ; the eafe and
" indolence of the Negroes, reclined under the
" fhade of their fpreading foliage; the fimpli-
" city of their drefs and manners ; the whole
" revived in my mind the idea of our firft
" parents, and I feemed to contemplate the
" world in its primitive ftate. They are, ge-
" nerally

§ Idem, page 171. |[ Ibid, page 54.

[ 14 I
" nerallyfpeaking, very good-natured, fociable*
<* and obliging. I was not a little pleafed with
11 this my firft reception ; it convinced me,
" that there ought to be a confiderable abate-
" ment made in the accounts I had read and
" heard every where of the favage character of
" the Africans. I obferved both in Negroes and
" Moors, great humanity and fociableqefs, which
" gave me ftrong hopes that I fhould be very
,c fafe amongft them, and meet with the fuccefs
"I defired in my enquiries after the curiofities
" of the country*." He was agreeably a-
mufed with the converfation of the Negroes, their
fables, dialogues, and witty fiories with which they
entertain each other alternately, according to
their cuftom. Speaking of the remarks which
the natives made to him, with relation to the
fiars and planets, he fays, " It is amazing, that
*' fuch a rude and illiterate people, fhould reafon
" fo pertinently in regard to thofe heavenly
cc bodies; there is no manner of doubt, but that
". with proper inftrumehts, and a good will,
" they would become excellent afironomers"

CHAP. II.
THE Ivory Coaft ; its foil and produce. The
charadter of the natives mifreprefented by fome
authors. Thefe mifreprefentations occafioned
by the Europeans having treacheroufly carried off

Adanfon, page 252, ibid,

{ i5 1
off many of their people. John Smith, fur-
veyor to the African company, his obfervations
thereon. John Snock's remarks. The Gold
Coaft and Slave Coaft have the moft Eu
ropean factories, and furnifh the greateft
number of flaves to the Europeans. Exceeding
fertile. The country of Axim, and of Ante.
Good account of the inland people. Great
fifhery. Extraordinary trade for flaves. The
Slave Coaft. The kingdom of Widah. Fruitful
and pleafant. The natives kind and oblig
ing. Very populous. Keep regular markets
and fairs. Good order therein. Murder,
adultery, and theft feverely punifhed. The
King's revenues. The principal people have
an idea of the true God. Commendable care
of the poor. Several fmall governments depend
on plunder and the Jlave trade.
THAT part of Guinea known by the name
of the Grain, and Ivory Coaft, comes next
in courfe. This coaft extends about five hundred
miles. The foil appears by account, to be in
general fertile, producing abundance of rice and
roots ; indigo and cotton thrive without culti
vation, and tobacco would be excellent, if care
fully manufactured -, they have fifh in plenty ;
their flocks greatly increafe, and their trees are
loaded with fruit. They make a cotton cloth,
which fells well on the coaft. In a word, the
country is rich, and the commerce advantage
ous, and might be greatly augmented by fuch as
would cultivate the friendfhip of the natives.
Thefe are reprefented by fome writers as a rude,
treacherous people, whilft feveral other authors of
credit

t *6 3
credit give them a very different character, re-
prefen ting them asfenfible, courteous, and the fair eft
traders on the coaft of Guinea. In the Colledlion,
they are faid * to be averfe to drinking to excefs,
and fuch as do, are feverelypunifhed by theKing's
order : On enquiry why there is fuch a dif-
agreement in the character given of thefe people,
it appears, that though they are naturally inclin
ed to be kind to fir angers, with whom they
are fond of trading, yet the frequent injuries done
them by Europeans, have occafioned their being
fufpicious and Jhy : The fame caufe has been the
occafion of the ill treatment they have fbmetimes
given to innocent ftrangers, who have attempted
to trade with them. As the Europeans have
no fettlement on this part of Guinea, the trade
is carried on by fignals from the fhips, on the
appearance of which the natives ufually come
on board in their canoes, bringing their gold-
duft, ivory, &c. which has given opportunity
to fome villainous Europeans to carry them off
with their effedls, or retain them on board till
a ranfom is paid. It is noted by fome, that fince
the European voyagers have carried away feveral
of thefe people,' their miftruft is fo great, that
it is very difficult to prevail on them to come
on board. William Smith remarks, {ffAs we paired
" along this coaft, we very often lay before
<c a town, and fired a gun for the natives
" to come off, but no foul came near us •
" at length we learnt by fome fhips that were
trading

* Colledlion, vol 2. page 560;
f W. Smith, page 1 1 1 .

t '7 1
*c trading down the coaft, that the natives
" came feldom on board an Englifh fhip, for
" fear of being detained or carried off; yet
*« at laft fome ventured on board ; but if thefe
,c chanced to fpy any arms, they would all im-
" mediately take to their canoes, and make the
cc belt of their way home. They had then in
*f their poffeffion one Benjamin Crofs, the mate
" of art Englifh veflel, who was detained by
" them to make reprifals for fome of their
" men, who had formerly been carried away
" by fome Englifh veflel." In the Collection we
are told, § This villainous cuftom is too often
pratlifed, chiefly by the Briftol and Liverpool fhips,
and is a great detriment to the fiave trade on the
windward coaft. John Snock, mentioned in Bofman |j,
when on that coaft, wrote, " We caft anchor,
" but not one Negroe coming on board, I went
" on fhorei and after having ftaid awhile on the
" ftrand, fome Negroes came to me; and being
cc defirous to be informed why they did not
" come on board, I was anfwered, that about
tc two months before, the Englifh had been
*' there with two large veftels, and had ravaged
" the country, deftroyed all their canoes, plun-
" dered their houfes, and carried off fome of
" their people, upon which the remainder fled
" to the inland country, where moft of them
tc were at that time ; fo that therqgjiot being
ic much to be. done by us, we were obliged to
" return on board. * When I enquired after
C " their

§ Aftley's Collection, vol. 2. page 475.
|| W. Bofman's Defcription of Guinea, page 440.
* W. Bofman's Defcription of Guinea, page 439,

t 18 1
" their wars with other countries, they told mer
" they were not often troubled with them; but
*' if any difference happened, they chofe rather
" to end the difpute amicably, than come to
" arms. §" He found the inhabitants civil and
good natured. Speaking of the King of Rio Seftro,
lower down the coaft, he fays, " He was a very
tc agreeable, obliging man, and all his fubjedts
<c civil, as well as very laborious in agricul-
" ture, and the purfuits of trade." Marchais
fays, f " That though the country is very popu-
" lous, yet none of the natives except criminals
" are fold for flaves." Vaillant never heard of
any fettlement being made by the Europeans
on this part of Guinea ; and Smith remarks,
* " That thefe coafts, which are divided into
*c feveral little kingdoms, have feldom any wars,
ct which is the reafon the fiave trade is not fo
" good here as on the Gold and Slave Coafi,
" where the Europeans have feveral forts and
" factories." A plain evidence this, that it is
the intercourfe with the Europeans, and their
fettlements on the coaft, which give life to the
flave trade.
Next adjoining to the Ivory Coaft, are thofe
called the Gold Coaft, and the Slave Coaft -, au
thors are not agreed about their bounds, but
their extent together along the coaft may be
about five hundred miles. And as the policy,
produce, and ceconomy of thefe two kingdoms of

Ibid. 441. f Aftley's Colleftion, vol. 2. page 565;
Smith's voyage to Guinea, page 112.

[ 19 3
of Guinea are much the fame, I fhall defcribe
them together.
Here the Europeans have the greateft number
of forts and factories, from whence, by means
of the Negro factors, a trade is carried on about
feven hundred miles back in the inland country;
whereby great numbers of flaves are procured
as well by means of the wars which arife amongft
the Negroes, or are fomented by the Europeans,
as thofe brought from the back country. Here
we find the natives more reconciled to the European
manners and trade ; but, at the fame time, much
more inured to war, and ready to affift the Eu
ropean traders in procuring loadings for the
great number of veflels which come yearly on
thofe coafts for flaves. This part of Guinea is
agreed by hiftorians to be, in general, extraor
dinary fruitful and agreeable; producing (accord*
ing to the difference of the foil) vaft quantities
of rice and other grain ; plenty of fruit and
roots ; palm wine and oil, and fifh in great
abundance, with much tame and wild cattle.
Bofman, principal factor for the Dutch at
D'Elmina, fpeaking of the country of Axim,
which is fituate near the beginning of the Gold
Coaft, fays*, " The Negro inhabitants are
generally very rich, driving a great trade with
the Europeans for gold : That they are in-
duftrioufly employed either in trade, fifhing,
or agriculture; but chiefly in the culture of
rice, which grows here in an incredible
abundance, and is tranfported hence, all over
C 2 " the

* Bofman's Defcription of the Coaft of Guinea, p. j.

[ to ]
ec the Gold Coaft. The inhabitants, in lieu,
i( returning full fraught with millet, yams,
" potatoes, and palm oil." The fame author
fpeaking of the country of Ante, faysj-,
" Thiscountry,, as well as the Gold Coaft,
tc abounds with hills, enriched with extra-
<c ordinary high and beautiful trees; its valleys,
cc betwixt the hills, are wide and extenfive, pro-
" ducing in great abundance very good rice,
" millet, yams, potatoes, and other fruits, all
" good in their kind." He adds, " In fhort, it
" is a land that yields its manurers as plentiful
" a crop as they can wifh, with great quantities
" of palm wine and oil, befides being well fur-
" nifhed with all forts of tame, as well as wild
" beads ; but that the laft fatal wars had re-
" duced it to a miferable condition, and ftrip-
" ped it of moft of its inhabitants." The ad
joining country of Fetu, he fays *, " was
" formerly fo powerful and populous, that it
fe ftruck terror into all the neighbouring na-
tc tions ; but it is at prefent fo drained by con-
" tinual wars, that it is entirely ruined; there
" does not remain inhabitants fufficient to till
«* the country, though it is fo fruitful and plea-
" fant that it may be compared to the country
" of Ante juft before defcribed. Frequently,
" fays that authcw, when walking through it
" before the laft war, I have feen it abound
" with fine well built and populous towns,
" agreeably enriched with vaft quantities of

" corn,

t Bofman's Defcription of the Coaft of Guinea, p. 14:
• Bofman, page 41.

[ 21 ]
'* corn, cattle, palm-wine, and oil. The inha-
" bitants all applying themfelves without any
<e diftinction to agriculture; fome fow corn,
cc others prefs oil, and draw wine from palm
" trees, with both which it is plentifully ftored."
William Smith gives much the fame account
of the before-mentioned parts of the Gold Coaft,
and adds, " The country about D'Elmina and
" Cape Coaft, is much the fame for beauty and
" goodnefs, but more populous; and the nearer
" we come towards the Slave Coaft, the more
" delightful and rich all the countries are, pro-
" ducing all forts of trees, fruits, roots, and
" herbs, that grow within the Torrid Zone."
J. Barbot alfo remarks*, with refpedt to the
countries of Ante and Adorn, " That the foil is
" very good, and fruitful in corn and other
tc produce, which it affords in fuch plenty, that
" befides what ferves for their own ufe, they
" always export great quantities for fale; they
" have a competent number of cattle, both
" tame and wild, and the rivers are abundantly
" ftored with fifh, fo that nothing is wanting
" for the fupport of life, and to make it eafy."
In the Collection it is faid f, " That the inland
" people on that part of the coaft, employ
" themfelves in tillage and trade, and fupply
" the market with corn, fruit, and palm wine;
" the country producing fuch vaft plenty of
" Indian corn, that abundance is daily exported,
" as well by Europeans as Blacks reforting thi-
, C 3 " ther

* John Barbot's Defcription of Guinea, page 154.
fAftley's C'olleft. vol, 2. page 535.

[ M 1
" ther from other parts." " Thefe inland peo-
" pie are faid to live in great union and friend-
" fhip, being generally well tempered, civil,
" and tractable; not apt to fhed human blood,
" (except when much provoked,) and ready to
«' aflift one another." In the Collection * it is
faid, " That the fifhing bufinefs is efteemed
" on the Gold Coaft next to trading ; that thofe
" who profefs it are more numerous than thofe
" of other employments. That the greateft
" number of thefe are at Kommendo, Mina,
" and Kormantin ; from each of which places,
" there go out every morning, (Tuefday ex-
" cepted, which is the Fetifh day, or day of reft)
*' five, fix, and fometimes eight hundred canoes,
" from thirteen to fourteen feet long, which
" fpread themfelves two leagues at fea, each
<c fifherman carrying in his canoe a fword, with
" bread, water, and a little fire on a large ftone
,c to roaft fifh. Thus they labour till noon,
*' when the fea breeze blowing frefh, they re-
«f turn to the fhore, generally laden with fifh;
" a quantity of which the inland inhabitants
« come down to buy, which they fell again at
«' the country markets."
William Smith fays J, "The country about
" Acra, where the Englifh and Dutch have
" each a ftrong fort, is very delightful, and
" the natives courteous and civil to ftrangers."
He adds, " That this place feldom fails of an
«c extraordinary good trade from the inland
" country,

* Collection, vol. 2. page 6401
% William Smith, page 135,

[ n 3
" country, efpecially for flaves, whereof feveral
" are fuppofed to come from very remote parts,
" becaufe it is not uncommon to find a Malayan
" or two amongft a parcel of other flaves : The
tc Malaya people. are generally natives of Ma-
" lacca, in the Eaft Indies, fituate feveral thou-
" fand miles from the Gold Coaft." They dif
fer very much from the Guinea Negroes, being
of a tawny complexion, with long black hair,
Moft parts of the Slave Coafts are reprefented
as equally fertile and pleafant with the Gold
Coaft : The kingdom of Whidah has been par
ticularly noted by travellers. * William Smith
and Bofman agree, " That it is one of the moft
" delightful countries in the world. The great
" number and variety of tall, beautiful, and
" fhady trees, which feem planted in groves ;
*' the verdant fields everywhere cultivated, and
" no otherwife divided than by thofe groves,
" and in fome places a fmall foot-path, to-
" gether with a great number of villages, con-
" tribute to afford the moft delightful profpedt;
« the whole country being a fine, eafy, and
" almoft imperceptible afcent, for the fpace of
" forty or fifty miles from the fea. That the
" farther you go from the fea, the more beau-
" tiful and populous the country appears. That
" the natives were kind and obliging, and fo
'< induftrious, that no place which was thought
" fertile, could efcape being planted, even
*< within the hedges which i.nclofe their villages.
C 4 " And

• Smith, page 194. Bofman,. page 310.

[ «4 ]
?? And that the next day after they had reaped,
fc they fowed again."
Snelgrave alfo fays, " The country appears
" full of towns and villages ; and being a rich
" foil, and well cultivated, looks like an entire
fc garden." In the Collection*, the hufbandry of
the Negroes is defcribed to be carried on with
great regularity : " The rainy feafon approach-
<" ing, they go into the fields and woods, to fix
" on a proper place for fowing; and as here is
fc no property in ground, the King's licence be-
" ing obtained, the people go out in troops, and
" firft clear the ground from bufhes and weeds,
" which they burn. The field thus cleared,
?' they dig it up a foot deep, and fo let it
" remain for eight or ten days, till the reft of
*' their neighbours have difpofed their ground
" in the fame manner. They then confult about
" fowing, and for that end affemble at the
f King's Court the next Fetifh day. The King's
f< grain muft be fpwn firft. They then go again
" to the field, and give the ground a fecond
" digging, and fow their feed. Whilft the King
" or Governor's land is fowing, he fends out
V wine and flefh ready drefled, enough to ferve
Cf the labourers. Afterwards, they in like marr
" ner fow the ground allotted for their neio-h-
" bours, as diligently as that of the King's,°by
" whom they are alfo feafted ; and fo continue
" to work in a body for the public benefit, till
« every man's ground is tilled and fowed. None
" but the King, and a few great men, are ex-
" empted

Collection, vol. 2. page 651.

[ *5 1
"emptedfrom this labour. Their grain foon
t< fprouts out of the ground. When it is about
*c a man's height, and begins to ear, they raife a
" wooden houfe in the centre of the field,
<c covered with ftraw, in which they fet their
(t children to watch their corn, and fright away
" the birds."
Bofman * fpeaks in commendation of the.
civility, kindnefs, and great induftry of the
natives of Whidah; this is confirmed by Smithf,
who fays, " The natives here feem to-be the moft
" gentlemen-like Negroes in Guinea, abounds
ct ing with good manners and ceremony to each
<f other. The inferior pay the utmoft deference
" and refpedt to the fuperior, as do wives to
?c their hufbands, and children to their parents.
" All here are naturally induftrious, and find
*' conftant employment; the men in agriculture,
<c and the women in fpinning and weaving cot-
'* ton. The men, whofe chief talent lies in
" hufbandry, are unacquainted with arms;
fc otherwife, being a numerous people, they
" could have made a better defence againft the
'c King of Dahome, who fubdued them without
" much trouble." " * Throughout the Gold
?< Coaft, there are regular markets in all villages,
" furnifhed with provifions and merchandize,
?' held every day in the week, except Tuefday,
" whence they fupply not only the inhabitants,
" but the European fhips. The Negroe women
*c are very expert in buying and felling, and.ex^
" tremely induftrious; for they will repair daily " to

f Bofman, page 317. f Smith, page 157.
* Collett. vol.. 2. p. 657.

C *6 1
" to market from a considerable diftance, load-
" ed like pack horfes, with a child, perhaps, at
«c their back, and a heavy burthen on their heads.
" After felling their wares, they buy fifh and
«' other neceffaries, and return home loaded as
" they came.
" f There is a market held at Sabi every
" fourth day, alfo a weekly one in the province
« of Aplogua, which isfo reforted to, that there
" are ufually five or fix thoufand merchants.
" Their markets are fo well regulated and
" governed, that feldom any diforder happens ;
" each fpecies of merchandize and merchants
" have a feparate place allotted them by thern-
" felves. The buyers may haggle as much as
" they will, but it muft be without noife or
<c fraud. To keep order, the King appoints a
" judge, who, with four officers well armed,
" infpedts the markets, hears all complaints,
" and, in a fummary way, decides all differ-
« ences ; he has power to feize, and fell as
" flaves, all who are catched in ftealing, or dif-
" turbing the peace. In thefe markets are to be
" fold men, women, children, oxen, fheep,
" goats, and fowls of all kinds; European cloths,
" linen and woollen; printed callicoes, filk,
« grocery ware, china, gold-duft, iron in bars,
*' &c. in a word, moft forts of European goods,-
" as well as the produce of Africa and Afia.
" They have other markets, refembling our
" fairs, once or twice a year, to which all the
-" country repair; for they take care to order the
" day

f Coiled, vol. 3. p. 11.

[ V 1
" day fo in different governments, as not to in-
" terfere with each other."
With refpedt to government, William Smith
fays *, " That the Gold Coaft and Slave Coaft
" are divided into different diftridts, fome of
" which are governed by their Chiefs, or Kings;
" the others, being more of the nature of a
<c commonwealth, are governed by fome of the
" principal men, called Caboceros, who, Bofman
" fays, are properly denominated civil fathers,
" whofe province is to take care of the welfare
" of the city or village, and to appeafe tu-
" mults." But this order of government has
been much broken fince the coming of the Euro
peans. Both Bofman and Barbot mention mur
der and adultery to be fever ely puniftoed on the Coafts
frequently by death ; and robbery by a fine propor
tionable to the goods ftolen.
The income of fome of the Kings is large.
Bofman fays, cc That the King of Whidah's re-
" venues and duties on things bought and fold
" are considerable ; he having the tithe of all
" things fold in the market, or imported in the
lt country." * Both the above-mentioned au
thors fay, The tax on flaves Jhipped off in this King's
dominions, in fome years, amounts to near twenty
thoufand pounds.
Bofman tells us, " The Whidah Negroes have
" a faint idea of a true God, afcribing to him
" the attributes of almighty power and omni-
<f prefence; but God, they fay, is too high to
" condefcend to think of mankind ; wherefore " he

* Smith, page 193.
• Bofman, page 337. Barbot, page 335.

[ 28 ]
ft he commits the government of the world to
" thofe inferior deities which they worfhip."
Some authors fay, the wifeft of thefe Negroes
are fenfible of their miftake in this opinion, but
dare not forfake their own religion, for fear of
the populace rifing and killing them. This is
confirmed by William Smith, who fays, " That
" all the natives of this coaft believe there is
" one true God, the author of them and all
" things ; that they have fome apprehenfions of
" a future ftate ; and that almoft every village'
" has a grove, or public place of worfhip, to
*e which the principal inhabitants, on a fet day,
" refort to make their offerings."
In the Collection * it is remarked as an ex
cellency in the Guinea government, " That
" however poor they may be in general, yet
" there are no beggars to be found amongft
" them ; which is owing to the care of their
" chief men, whofe province it is to take care
*' of the welfare of the city or village; it be-
" ing part of their office, to fee that fuch peo-
^ pie may earn their bread by their labour;
" fome are let to blow the fmith's bellows,
" others to prefs palm oil, or grind colours for
*>' their mats, and fell provifions in the markets.
*' The young men are lifted to ferve as foldiers,
11 fo that they fuffer no common beggar."
Bofman afcribes a further reafon for this good
order, viz. " That when a Negroe finds he
^c cannot fubfift, he binds himfelf for a certain
il fum of money, and the matter to whom he is
" bound

Aftley's Collection, vol. 2. page 619,

[ 29 ]
" bound is obliged to find him neceffaries; that
" the matter fets him a fort of tafk, which is
" not in the leaft flavifh, being chiefly to defend
" his matter on occafions ; or in fowing time to
" work as much as he himfelf pleafes *."
Adjoining to the kingdom of Whidah, are
feveral fmall governments, as Coto, Great and
Small Popo, Ardrah, &c. all fituate on the
Slave Coaft, where the chief trade for flaves is
carried on. Thefe are governed by their re-
fpedtive Kings, and follow much the fame
cuftoms with thofe of Whidah, except that their
principal living is on plunder, and the flave trade.

• Bofman, page 119.

CHAP.

( 3° )
CHAP. III.
THE kingdom of Benin; its extent. Efteemed
the moft potent in Guinea. Fruitfulnefs of
the foil. Good difpofition of the people.
Order of government. Punifhment of
crimes. Large extent of the town of Great
Benin. Order maintained. The Natives hon-
eft and charitable. Their religion. The
kingdoms of Kongo and Angola. Many of
the natives profefs Chriftianity. The country
fruitful. Difpofition of the people. The ad
ministration of juftice. The town of Loango.
Slave trade carried on by the Portugueze.
Here the flave trade ends.
NEXT adjoining to the Slave Coaft, is the
kingdom of Benin, which, though it ex
tends but about 170 miles on the fea, yet fpreads
fo far inland, as to be efteemed the moft potent
kingdom in Guinea. By accounts, the foil and
produce appear to be in a great meafure like
thofe before defcribed, and the natives are re-
prefented as a reafonable good-natured people.
Amis fays §, " They are a sincere,'1 inoffenfive
" people, and do no injustice either to one
" another, or to strangers." William Smith*
confirms this account, and fays, "That the in-
" habitants are generally very good-natured,
" and exceeding courteous and civil. When the
" Europeans

§ Collection, vol. y. page 228.
» Smith, page 228.

( 3* )
*c Europeans make them prefents, which in their
" coming thither to trade they always do, they
ci endeavour to return them doubly."
Bofman tells usf, " That his countrymen the
" Dutch, who were often obliged to truft them
" till they returned the next year, were fure to
" be paid honeftly their whole debts."
There is in Benin a considerable order in
government. Theft, murder, and adultery, being
feverely punifhed. Barbot fays J, " If a man and
" a woman of any quality be furprized in a-
" dultery, they are both put to death: and their
<l bodies are thrown on a dunghill, and left there
tc a prey to wild beafts." He adds, " The fe-
,c verity of the laws in Benin againft adulteryf,
" amongft

¦J- W. Bofman, page 405.
j Barbot, page Z37.
•j- By this accountof the punifhment inflicted on adulterers
in this and other parts of Guinea, it appears the Negroes
are not infenfible of the finfulnefs of fuch practices. How
ftrange mnft it then appear to the ferious minded amongft
thefe people, (nay, how inconnftent is it with every divine
and moral law amongft ourfelves) that thofe Chriftiart laws,
which prohibit fornication and adultery, are in none of the
Englilh governments extended to them, but that they are
allowedto cohabit and feparate at pleafure ? And that even
their matters think fo lightly of their marriage engagements,
that, when it fuits with their intereft, they will feparate man
from wife, and children from both, to be fold into different
and even diftant parts, without regard to their (fometimes)
grievous lamentations; whence it has happened, that fuch of
thofe people who are truly united in their marriage covenant,
and in affection to one another, have been driven to fuch def-
peration, as either violently to deftroy themfelves, or gra
dually to pine away, and die with mere grief. It is amaz
ing, that whilft the clergy of the eftabliihcd church are pub licly

( 32 )
" amongft all orders of people, deters them froni
" venturing, fo that it is but very feldom any
" perfons are punifhed for that crime." Smith
fays, " Their towns are governed by officers
*' appointed by the King, who have power to
" decide in civil cafes, and to raife the public
" taxes ; but in criminal cafes, they muft fend
" to the King's court, which is held at the town
" of Oedo, or Great Benin. This town, which
" covers a large extent of ground, is about fixty
" miles from the fea." * Barbot tells us,
*' That it contains thirty streets, twenty fathom
" wide, and almoft two miles long, commonly
" extending in a straight line from one gate to
" another; that the gates are guarded by foldi-
" ers-, that in thefe streets markets are held every
" day, for cattle, ivory, cotton, and many forts
" of European goods. This large town is dU
tc vided into feveral wards, or districts, each
" governed by its refpective king of a street, as
" they call them, to administer juftice, and to
" keep good order. The inhabitants are very
" civil and good natured, condefcending to what
" the Europeans require of them in a civil way."
The fame author confirms what has been faid by
others of their juftice in the payment of their
debts; and adds, " That they, above all other
*' Guineans, are very honeft and juft in their
" dealings ;

liclyexpreffing a concern, that thefe oppreffed people mould
be made acquainted with the Chriftian religion, they mould
be thus fuffered, and even forced, fo flagrantly to infringe
one of the principal injunctions of our holy religion !
* J. Barbot, page 358, 359.

[ 33 1
te dealings ; and they have fuch an aversion
«' for theft, that by the law of the country it is
" punifhed with death." We are told by the
fame author||, " That the King of Benin is able
" upon occafion to maintain an army of one
cc hundred thoufand men ; but that for the moft
" part he does not keep thirty thoufand." Wil
liam Smith fays, <{ The natives are all free men ;
" none but foreigners can be bought and fold
" theref. They are very charitable, the King
" as well as his fubjects." Bofman confirms
this J, and fays, "The king and great lords fub-
" fift feveral poor at their place of residence on
" charity, employing thofe who are fit for any
" work, and the reft they keep for God's fake ;
" fo that here are no beggars."
As to religion, thefe people believe there is a
God, the efficient caufe of all things ; but like
the reft of the Guineans, they are fuperftitioufly
and idolatroufly inclined.
The laft division of Guinea from which flaves
are imported, are the kingdoms of Kongo and
Angola; thefe lie to the fouth of Benin, extend
ing with the intermediate land about twelve
hundred miles on the coaft. Great numbers of
the natives of both thefe kingdoms profefs the
Chriftian religion, which was long fince intro
duced by the Portugueze, who made early fettle-
ments in that country.
In the Collection it is faid, that both in Kongo
and Angola, the foil is in general fruitful, pro -
D ducing

|| J. Barbot, page 369, f W. Smith, page 369,
J Bofman, page 405.

[ 34 3
ducing great plenty of grain, Indian corn, ana
fuch quantities of rice, that it hardly bears any
price, with fruit, roots, and palm oil in plenty.
The natives are generally a quiet people, who
difcover a good underftanding, and behave in a
friendly manner to strangers, being of a mild
converfation, affable, and eafily overcome with
reafon. In the government of Kongo, the King appoints
ajudge in every particular divifion, to hear and
determine difputes and civil caufes •, the judges
imprifon and releafe, or impofe fines, according
to the rule of cuftom ; but in weighty matters,
every one may appeal to the King, before whom
all criminal caufes are brought, in which he
giveth fentence; but feldom condemneth to
death. The town of Leango ftands in the midft of
four Lordfhips, which abound in corn, fruit, &c.
Here they make great quantities of cloth of di
vers kinds, very fine and curious; the inhabitants
are feldom idle ; they even make needle-work
caps as they walk in the streets.
The fiave trade is here principally managed by
the Portugueze, who carry it far up into the
inland countries. They are faid to fend off from
thefe parts fifteen thoufand flaves each year.
At Angola, about the 10th degree of South
latitude, ends the trade for flaves.

CHAR

£ 35 1
CHAP. IV.
THE antienteft accounts of the Negroes are from
the Nubian Geography, and the writings of
Leo the African. Some account of thofe au
thors. The Arabians pafs into Guinea. The
innocency and fimplicity of the natives. They
are fubdued by the Moors. Heli Ifchaifhakes
off the Moorifh yoke. The Portugueze make
the firft defcent in Guinea, from whence they
carry off fome of the natives : More incurfions
of the like kind. The Portugueze erect the
firft fort at D'Elwina : They begin the fiave
trade. Cada Mofto's teftimony. Anderfon's
account to the fame purport. De la Caza's
concern for the relief of" the oppreffed Indians :
Goes over into Spain to plead their caufe: His
fpeech before Charles the Fifth.
THE moft antient account we have of the
country of the Negroes, particularly that
part fituate on and between the two great rivers of
Senegal and Gambia, is from the writings of two
antient authors, one an Arabian, and the other
a Moor. The firft § wrote in Arabic, about
the twelfth century. His works, printed in that
language at Rome, were afterwards tranflated
into Latin, and printed at Paris, under the pa
tronage of the famous Thuanus, chancellor of
France, with the title of Geographica Nubienfl-s,
D 2 containing

§ See Travels into different parts of Africa, by Francis
Moor, with a letter to the publisher.

t 36 3
containing an account of all the nations lying or*
the Senegal and Gambia. The other written by
John Leo§, a Moor, born at Granada, in Spain,
before the Moors were totally expelled from that
kingdom. He refided in Africa; but being
on a voyage from Tripoli to Tunis, was taken
by fome Italian Corfairs, who finding him pof-
fefled of feveral Arabian books, befides his own
manufcripts, apprehended him to be a man of
learning, and as fuch prefented him to Pope Leo
the Tenth. This Pope encouraging him, he em
braced the Romifh religion, and his defcription
of Africa was publifhed in Italian. From thefe
writings we gather, that after the Mahometan
religion had extended to the kingdom of Mo
rocco, fome of the promoters of it crossing the
fandy defarts of Numidia, which feparate that
country from Guinea, found it inhabited by
men, who, though under no regular government,
and deftitute of that knowledge the Arabians
were favoured with, lived in content and peace.
The firft author particularly remarks, " That
" they never made war, or travelled abroad,
tc but employed themfelves in tending their
sc herds, or labouring in the ground." J. Leo
fays, page 6$, " That they lived in common,
" having no property in land, no tyrant nor fu-
" perior lord, but fupported themfelves in an
" equal ftate, upon the natural produce of
" the country, which afforded plenty of roots,
" game, and honey. That ambition or avarice
es never drove them into foreign countries to
" fubdue

§ Ibid.

[ 37 ]
*' fubdue or cheat their neighbours. Thus they
" lived without toil or fuperfluities." " The
" antient inhabitants of Morocco, who wore
" coats of mail, and ufed fwords and fpears head-
" ed with iron, coming amongft thofe harmlefs
fC and naked people, foon brought them under
" fubjedtion, and divided that part of Guinea
" which lies on the rivers Senegal and Gambia
" into fifteen parts ; thofe were the fifteen king-
tc doms of the Negroes, over which the Moors
" prefided, and the common people were Ne-
'* groes. Thefe Moors taught the Negroes the
*c Mahometan religion, and arts of life ; parti-
" cularly the ufe of iron, before unknown to
" them. About the 14th century, a native Ne-
*f groe, called Heli Ifchia, expelled the Moorifh
<c conquerors ; but though the Negroes threw
" off the yoke of a foreign nation, they only
" changed a Libyan for a Negroe master. Heli
*c Ifchia himfelf becoming King, led the Negroes
<f on to foreign wars, and eftablifhed himfelf in
<l power over a very large extent of country."
Since Leo's time, the Europeans have had very
little knowledge of thofe parts of Africa, nor do
they know what became of this great empire. It
is highly probable that it broke into pieces, and
that the natives again refumed many of their an
tient cuftoms ; for in the account publifhed by
Francis Moor, in his travels on the river Gambia,
we find a mixture of the Moorifh and Mahometan
cuftoms, joined with the original simplicity
of the Negroes. It'appears by accounts of antient
voyages, collected by Hackluit, Purchas, and
others, that it was about fifty years before the
difcovery of America, that the Portugueze at-
D 3 tempted

I 38 3
tempted to fail round Cape Bojador, which lies
between their country and Guinea; this, after
divers repulfes occafioned by the violent currents,
they effected ; when landing on the weftern coafts
of Africa, they foon began to make incurfions
into the country, and to feize and carry off the
native inhabitants. As early as the year 1434, A-
lonzo Gonzales, the firft who is recorded to have
met with the natives, on that coaft, purfued and
attacked a number of them, when fome were
wounded, as was alfo one of the Portugueze ;
which the author records as the firft blood fpilt
by Chriftians in thofe parts. Six years after, the
fame Gonzales again attacked the natives, and
took twelve prifoners, with whom he returned
to his veflels ; he afterwards put a woman on
fhore, in order to induce the natives to redeem
the prifoners; but the next day 150 of the in
habitants appeared on horfes and camels provok
ing the Portugueze to land ; which they not dar
ing to venture, the natives difcharged a volley
of ftones at them, and went off, After this, the
Portugueze ftill continued to fend veflels on
the coaft of Africa ; particularly we read of
their falling on a village, whence the inhabi
tants fled, and being purfued, twenty-five were
taken : '« He that ran beft," fays the author, " tak-
" ing the moft. In their way home they killed
" fome of the natives, and took fifty-five more
tc prifoners. * Afterwards Dinifanes Dagrama,
tc with two other veflels, landed on the ifland of
(( Arguin, where they took fifty-four Moors; then

Colle&ion, vol. 1. page 13.

[ 39 1
tx then running along the coaft eighty leagues
" farther, they at feveral times took fifty flaves ;
" but here fevenof the Portugueze were killed.
" Then being joined by feveral other veflels,
" Dinifanes propofed to deftroy the ifland to re-
" venge the lofs of the feven Portugueze ; of
<c which the Moors being apprized, fled, fo that
" no more than twelve were found, whereof only
,c four could be taken, the reft being killed, as
tc alfo one of the Portugueze." 'Many more cap
tures of this kind on the coaft of BarbaryandGui-
nea, are recorded to have been made in thofe early
times by the Portugueze ; who, in the year 148 x,
erected their firft fort D'Elmina on that coaft,
from whence they foon opened a trade for flaves
with the inland parts of Guinea.
From, the foregoing accounts, it is undoubted,
that the practice of making flaves of the Negroes,
owes its origin to the early incurfions of the Por
tugueze on the coaft of Africa, folely from an in
ordinate defire of gain. This is clearly evidenced
from their own historians, particularly CadaMofto,
about the year 1455, who writesf, <c That before
" the trade was fettled for purchafing flaves from
" the Moors at Arguin, fometimes four, and
" fometimes more Portugueze veffels, were
" ufed to come to that gulph, well armed; and
te landing by night, would furprize fome fifher-
" men's villages ; that they even entered into
" the country, and carried away Arabs of both
" fexes, whom they fold in Portugal." And
alfo, " That the Portugueze and Spaniards,
D 4 " fettled

f Collection, vol. 1. page 576.

[ 40 ]
" fettled on four of the Canary iflands, would
" go to the other ifland by night, and feize
" fome of the natives of both fexes, whom they
" fent to be fold in Spain."
After the fettlement of America, thofe de-
Vaftations, and the captivating the miferable
Africans, greatly increafed.
Anderfon, in his history of trade and com
merce, at page 336, fpeaking of what paffed in
the year 1508, writes, " That the Spaniards
" had by this time found that the miferable
" Indian natives, whom they had made to work
(C in their mines and fields,, were not fo robuft
" and proper for thofe purpofes as Negroes
" brought from Africa ; wherefore they, about
" that time, began to import Negroes for that
" end in Hifpaniola, from the Portuguez-e fet-
<c dements on the Guinea coafts : and alfo after-
" wards for their fugar works." This oppres
sion of the Indians had, even before this time,
rouzed the zeal, as well as it did the compaf-
fion, of fome of the truly pious of that day ;
particularly that of Bartholomew De las Cafas,
bifhop of Chapia ; whom a defire of being in
strumental towards the conversion of the Indians,
had invited into America. It is generally agreed
by the writers of that age, that he was a man
of perfect difintereftednefs, and ardent charity ;
being affected with this fad fpectacle, he re
turned to the court of Spain, and there made a
true report of the matter ; but not without
being ftrongly oppofed by thofe mercenary
wretches, who had enflaved the Indians ; yet
being strong and indefatigable, he went to and
f'-o between Europe and America, firmly deter
mined

I 4i 3
mined not to give over his purfuit but with his
life. After long folicitation, and innumerable
repulfes, he obtained leave to lay the matter be
fore the Emperor Charles the Fifth, then King
of Spain. As the contents of the fpeech he
made before the King in council, are very ap
plicable to the cafe of the enflaved Africans,
and a lively evidence that the fpirit of true piety
fpeaks the fame language in the hearts of faithful
men in all ages, for the relief of their fellow
creatures from oppression of every kind, I think
it may not be improper here to tranfcribe the
moft interesting parts of it. " I was," fays
this pious bifhop, " one of the firft who went
" to America; neither ciiriofit/ nor intereft
" prompted me to undertake fo long and dan-
" gerous a voyage ; the faving the fouls of the
" heathen was my fole object. Why was I not
" permitted, even at the expenfe of my blood,
" to ranfom fo many thoufand fouls, who fell
" unhappy victims to avarice or luft? I have
" been an eye-witnefs to fuch cruel treatment
" of the Indians, as is too horrid to be men-
" tioned at this time. — It is faid that barbarous
<( executions were neceffary to punifh or check
<f the rebellion of the Americans ;  but to
" 'whom was this owing ? Did not thofe people
" receive the Spaniards, who firft came amongft
" them, with gentlenefs and humanity ? Did
" they- not fhew more joy, in proportion, in
*' lavifhing treafure upon them, than the Spa-
(t niards did greedinefs in receiving it ? But
tf our avarice was not yet fatisfied ; — though
" they gave up to us their land and their
" riches, we would tear from them their wives,
" their

t 4* 3
c* their children, and their liberties.'  To
" blacken thefe unhappy people, their enemie3
** affert, that they are fcarce human creatures j
" — but it is we that ought to blufh, for having
" been lefs men, and more barbarous, than
*c they. — What right have we to enflave a peo-
eC pie who are born free, and whom we dif-
" turbed, though they never offended us ? —
" They are reprefented as a ftupid people, ad-
(< dieted to vice ; — but have they not contracted
" moft of their vices from the example of the
" Chriftians ? And as to thofe vices peculiar to
<c themfelves, have not the Chriftians quickly
" exceeded them therein ? Neverthelefs it muft
" be granted, that the Indians ftiJl remain un-
*' tainted with many vices ufual amongft the
" Europeans; fuch as ambition, blasphemy,
" treachery, and many like monsters, which
" have not yet took place with them; they have
" fcarce an idea of them ; i~o that in effect, all
" the advantage we can claim, is to have more
" elevated notions of things, and our. natural
" faculties more unfolded and more cultivated
" than theirs. — Do not let us flatter our cor-
" ruptions, nor voluntarily blind ourfelves; all
" nations are equally free ; one nation has no
" right to infringe upon the freedom of any
" other ; let us do towards thefe people as we
" would have them to have done towards us,
" if they had landed upon our fhore, with the
" fame fuperiority of strength. And indeed,
" why fhould not things be equal on both fides ?
"" How long has the right of the ftrongeft been
" allowed to be the balance of juftice ? What
" part of the gofpel gives a fanction to fuch a
" doctrine ?

C 43 3
et doctrine? In what part of the whole earth did
the apoftles and the firft promulgators of the
gofpel ever claim a right over the lives, the
freedom, or the fubftance of the Gentiles ?
What a strange method this is of propagating
the gofpel, that holy law of grace, which, from
being flaves to Satan, initiates us into the
freedom of the children of God.  Will it
be possible for us to infpire them with a love to
its dictates, while they are fo exafperated at
being difpoflefled of that invaluable blefling
Liberty ? The apoftles fubmitted to chains
themfelves, but loaded no man with them.
Christ came to free, not to enflave us. — Sub
mission to the faith he left us, ought to be a
voluntary act, and fhould be propagated by
persuasion, gentleness, and reafon."
" At my firft arrival in Hifpaniola, (added
the bifhop) it contained a million of inhabi
tants ; and now (viz. in the fpace of about
twenty years) there remains fcarce the hun
dredth part of them; thoufands have perifhed
through want, fatigue, rriercilefs punifhment,
cruelty, and barbarity. If the blood of one
man unjuftly fhed, calls loudly for. vengeance,
how strong muft be the cry of that of many
" unhappy creatures which is fhedding daily?" —
The good bifhop concluded his fpeech, with im
ploring the King's clemency for fubjedts fo un
justly oppreffed; and bravely declared, that hea
ven would one day call him to an account,
for the numberlefs acts of cruelty which he might
have prevented. The King applauded the* bi-
fhop's

[ 44 3
fhop's zeal; promifed to fecond it; but fo many
of the great ones had an intereft in continuing
the oppreffion, that nothing was done ; fo that
all the Indians in Hifpaniola, except a few who
had hid themfelves in the moft inaccefliblc
mountains, were deftroyed.

CHAP.

[ 45 ]
CHAP. V.
FIRST account of the Englifh trading to Gui
nea. Thomas Windham and feveral others
go to that coaft. Some of the Negroes car
ried off by the Englifh. Queen Elizabeth's
charge to Captain Hawkins refpedting the na
tives : Neverthelefs he goes on the coaft, and
carries off fome of the Negroes. Patents are
granted. The King of France objects to the
Negroes being kept in flavery : As do the col
lege of Cardinals at Rome. The natives, an
inoffenfive people ; corrupted by the Euro
peans. The fentiments of the natives con
cerning the flave trade, from William Smith:
Confirmed by Andrew Brew and James
Barbot.
IT was about the year 155 1, towards the lat
ter end of the reign of King Edward the
Sixth, when fome London merchants fent out
the firft Englifh fhip, on a trading voyage to the
coaft of Guinea; this was foon followed by fe
veral others to the fame parts ; but the Englifh
not having then any plantations in the Weft In
dies, and confequently no occafion for Negroes,
fuch fhips traded only for gold, elephant's teeth,
and Guinea pepper. This trade was carried on.
at the hazard of lofing their fhips and cargoes, if
they had fallen into the hands of the Portugueze,
who claimed an exclusive right of trade, on ac
count of the feveral fettlements they had made there

t 46 3
there f. In the year 1553, we find Captairi
Thomas Windham trading along the coaft with
140 men, in three fhips, and failing as far as
Benin, which lies about 3000 miles down the
coaft, to take in a load of pepper. § Next year
John Lock traded along the coaft of Guinea, as
far as D'Elmina, when he brought away consi
derable quantities of gold and ivory. He fpeaks
well of the natives, and fays,J " That whoever
" will deal with them muft behave civilly, for they
«« will not traffic if ill ufed." In 1555, William
Towerfon traded in a peaceable manner with the
natives, who made complaint to him of the
Portugueze, who were then fettled in their caftle
at D'Elmina, faying, " They were bad men, who
" made them flaves if they could take them, putting
" irons on their legs."
This bad example of the Portugueze was foon
followed by fome evil difpofedEnglifhmen ; for
the fame Captain Towerfon relates, " || That in
" the courfe of his voyage, he perceived the
" natives, near D'Elmina, unwilling to come to
" him, and that he was at laft attacked by them;
" which he understood was done in revenge for
" the wrong done them the year before, by one
"¦ Captain Gainfh, who had taken away the Ne-
tc groe Captain's fon, and three others, with
" their gold, &c. This caufed them to join the
" Portugueze, notwithftanding their hatred of
" them

•J- Aftley's Collection, vol: 1. page 139;
§ Collection, vol. i.p. 148.
J Ibid. 257.
H Ibid. 148.

[ 47 ]
*« them againft the Englifh." The next year
Captain Towerfon brought thefe men back again;
whereupon the Negroes fhewed him much kind-
nefsf . Quickly after this, another inftance of
the fame kind occurred, in the cafe of Captain
George Fenner, who being on the coaft, with
three veflels, was alfo attacked by the Negroes,
who wounded feveral of his people, and vio
lently carried three of his men to their town.
The Captain fent a meffenger, offering any thing
they defired for the ranfom of his men ; but they
refufed to deliver them, letting him know,
" That three weeks before, an Englifh fhip, which
" came in the road, had carried off three of their
" people ; and that till they were brought again, they
" they would not reftore his men, even though they
" fhould give their three fhips to releafe them." It
was probable the evil conduct of thefe, and fome
other Englifhmen, was the occafion of what is
mentioned in Hill's Naval History, viz. "That
" when Captain Hawkins returned from his firft
" voyage to Africa, Queen Elizabeth fent for
" him, when fhe expressed her concern, left any
" of the African Negroes fhould be carried off
" without their free confent; which fhe declared
" would be deteftable, and would call down the
" vengeance of heaven upon the undertakers."
Hawkins made great promifes, which neverthe
lefs he did not perform; for his next voyage
to the coaft appears to have been principally cal
culated to procure Negroe flaves, in order to fell
them to the Spaniards in the Weft Indies ; which
occasioned

f Collection, vol. I. page 157.

[ 48 ]
occasioned the fame author to ufe thefe remark
able words : " Here began the horrid pratlice of
" forcing the Africans into flavery : an injuftice and
" barbarity, which, fo fure as there is vengeance in
" heaven for the worft of crimes, will fome time be
" the deftruSlion of all who acl or who encourage
" it." This Captain Hawkins, afterwards Sir
John Hawkins, feemstohave been the firft Eng-
lifhman who gave public countenance to this
wicked traffick : For Anderfon, before menti
oned, at page 401, fays, " That in the year 1562,
" Captain Hawkins, affifted by fubfcription of
" fundry gentlemen, now fitted out three fhips ;
" and having learnt that Negroes were a very
" good commodity in Hifpaniola, he failed to
" the coaft of Guinea, took in Negroes, and
" failed "with them for Hifpaniola, where he
" fold them, and his Englifh commodities, and
" loaded his three veffels with hides, fugar
tf and ginger, &c. with which he returned home
" anno 1563, making a profperous voyage."
As it proved a lucrative bufinefs, the trade was
continued both by Hawkins and others, as ap
pears from the Naval Chronicle, page 5$, where
it is faid, " That on the 18th of October, 1564,
" Captain John Hawkins, with two fhips of 700
" and 140 tons, failed for Africa; that on the
" 8th of December they anchored to the South of
«c Cape Verd, where the Captain manned the
." boat, and fent eighty men in armour into the
«c country, to fee if they could take fome Ne-
«c groes ; but the natives flying from them, they
" returned to their fhips, and proceeded farther
«' down the. coaft. Here they ftaid certain days,
(t fending; their men afhore, in order (as the
author

[ 49 1
H author fays) to burn and fpoil their iovrrti
" and take the inhabitants. The land they
" obferved to be well cultivated, there being
" plenty of grain, and fruit of feveral forts,
" and the towns prettily laid out; On the 25th,
" being informed by the Portugueze of a town
" of Negroes called Bymba, where there was
ce not only a quantity of gold, but an hundred
<c and forty inhabitants, they refolved to attack
" it, having the Portugueze for their guide;
" but by mifmanagement they took but ten Ne-
" groes, having feven of their own men killed,
cc and twenty-feven wounded. They then went
" farther down the coaft; when, having procured
" a number of Negroes, they proceeded to the
" Weft-Indies, where they fold them to the
" Spaniards." And in the fame Naval Chronicle,
at page 76, it is faid, " That in the year 1567J
" Francis Drake, before performing his voyage
" round the world, went with Sir John Haw-
" kins in his expedition to the coaft of Guinea,
" where taking in a cargo of flaves, they deter-
" mined to fleer for the Caribbee iflands." How
Queen Elizabeth fuffered fo grievous an in
fringement of the rights of mankind to be per
petrated by her fubjedts, and how fhe was per-
fuaded, about the 30th year of her reign, to
grant patents for carrying on a trade from the
North part of the river Senegal, to an hundred
leagues beyond Sierra Leona, which gave rife to
the prefent African company, is hard to account
for; any otherwife than that it arofe from the
mifreprefentation made to her of the fituation
of the Negroes, and of the advantages it Was
pretended they would reap from being made
E ac-

[ so T
acquainted with the Chriftian religion. This
was the cafe of Lewis the Xlllth, King of
France, who, Labat, in his account of the ifles
of America, tells us, " Was extremely uneafy
" at a law by which the Negroes of his colo-
<c nies were to be made flaves; but it being
" strongly urged to him as the readieft means
" for their conversion to Chriftianity, he ac-
" quiefced therewith." Neverthelefs, fome of
the Chriftian powers did not fo eafily give way
in this matter ;. for we find *, " That Cardinal
" Cibo, one of the Pope's principal minifters^
cc of ftate, wrote a letter on behalf of the col-
" lege of Cardinals, or great council at Rome,
" to the miffionaries in Congo, complaining
" that the pernicious and abominable abufe of
cc felling flaves was yet continued, requiring
*c them to remedy the fame, if possible ; but
<c this the miffionaries faw little hopes of ac-
*c complifhing, by reafon that the trade of the
" country lay wholly in flaves and ivory."
From the foregoing accounts, as well as other
authentic publications of this kind, it appears
that it was the unwarrantable luft of gain,
which firft ftimulated the Portugueze, and af
terwards other Europeans, to engage in this
horrid traffic. By the moft authentic relations
of thofe early times, the natives were an inof-
fenfive people, who, when civilly ufed, traded
amicably with the Europeans. It is recorded
of thofe of Benin, the largest kingdom in Gui
nea f, That they were a gentle, loving people ; and
Reynold

* Collection, vol. iii. page 164.
f Idem, vol. i. p. 202.

C ** 3
Reynold fays f, " They found morejinc'ere prbofs
<c of love and good will from the natives, than they
" could find from the Spaniards and Portugueze,
%x even though they had relieved them from the greateft
" mifery." And from the fame relations there
is no reafon to think otherwife^ but that they
generally lived in peace amongft themfelves j
for I do not find, in the numerous publications
I have perufed on this fubjedt, relating to thefe
early times, of there being wars on that coaft,
nor of any fale of captives taken in battle, who
would have been otherwife facrificed by the vic
tors % : notwithstanding fome modern authors,
in their publications relating to the Weft Indies,
defirous of throwing a veil over the iniquity of
the fiave trade, have been hardy enough, upon
mere fuppofition or report, to affert the con
trary. It was long after the PortUgUeze had made a
practice of violently forcing the natives of Africa
into flavery, that we read of the different Negroe
nations making war upon each otherj and felling
E 2 their

f Collection, Vol. i. page 245.
X Note> this plea falls of itfelf, for if the Negroes ap^
prehended they fhould be cruelly put to death, if they were;
not fent away, why do they manifeft fuch reluctance and
dread as they generally do, at beiiig brought from their na
tive country? William Smith, at page 28, fays, " The
" Gambians abhor flavery, and will attempt aiiy thing , though
" never fo defperate, to avoid it," and Thomas Philips, in his
accountof a voyage he performed to the coaftof Guinea, writes,
" They, the Negroes, are fo loth to leave their own country,
" that they have often leaped out of the canoe, boat, or Jhip,
" into the fea, and kept under water till they were drowned,
" tt avoid being takm up.'l

[ S* 3
their captives. And probably this was not the
cafe, till thofe bordering on the coaft, who had
been ufed to fupply the veflels with neceffaries,
had become corrupted by their intercourfe with
the Europeans, and were excited by drunkennefs
and avarice to join them in carrying on thofe
wicked fchemes, by which thofe unnatural wars
were perpetrated ; the inhabitants kept in con
tinual alarms; the country laidwafte; and, as
Francis Moor expreffes it, ct Infinite numbers
" fold into flavery." But that the Europeans
cc are the principal caufe of thefe devafta-
tions, is particularly evidenced by one, whofe
connexion with the trade would rather in
duce him to reprefent it in the faireft co
lours, to wit, William Smith, the perfon fent
in the year 1726 by the African company to fur-
vey their fettlements, who from the information
he received of one of the factors, who had refided
ten years in that country, fays-f, " That the dij-
" cerning natives account it their greateft unhappi-
" nefs, that they were ever vifited by the Europeans."
 " That we Chriftians introduced the traffic of
" flaves -, and that before our coming they lived in
" peace." In the accounts relating to the African trade,
we find this melancholy truth farther afferted
by fome of the principal diredtors in the different
factories ; particularly A. Brue fays§, " That the
" Europeans were far from defiring to a5f as peace-
*c makers amongft the Negroes ; which would be
" ailing

•J- William Smith, page 266.
§ Collection, vol. 2. page 98.

[ 53 ]
" ailing contrary to their intereft, fince the greater
" the wars, the more flaves were procured." And
William Bofman alfo remarks*, " That one of
" the former commanders gave large fums of
" money to the Negroes of one nation, to induce them
" to attack fome of the neighbouring nations, which
" occafioned a battle which was more bloody than the
" wars of Negroes ufually are." This is confirmed
by J. Barbot, who fays, " That the country of
" D'Elmina, which was formerly very powerful and
" populous, was in his timefo much drained of its
" inhabitants by the inteftine wars fomented amongft
" the Negroes by the Dutch, that there did not re-
" main inhabitants enough to till the country."

Bofman, page 31.

CHAP.

[ S4 3

CHAP. VI.

THE conduct of the Europeans and Africans
compared. Slavery more tolerable amongft
the antients than in our colonies. As Chrifti^-
anity prevailed amongft the barbarous nations,
the inconfiftency of flavery became more ap
parent. The charters of manumifflon, granted
in the early times of Chriftianity, founded on
an apprehenfion of duty to God. The antient
Britons, and other European nations, in their
original ftate, no lefs barbarous than the Ne
groes. Slaves in Guinea ufed with much
greater lenity than the Negroes are in the
colonies. — Note. How the flaves are treated
in Algiers, as alfo in Turkey.
SUCH is the woeful corruption of human na
ture, that every practice which flatters our
pridei and covetoufnefs, will find its advocates !
This is manifeftly the cafe in the matter before
us •, the favagenefs of the Negroes in fome of
their cuftoms, and particularly their deviating fo
far from the feelings of humanity, as to join in
captivating and felling each other, gives their
interested oppreflbrs a pretence for reprefenting
them as unworthy of liberty, and the natural
rights of mankind, But thefe fophifters turn
the argument full upon themfelves, when they
inftigate the poor creatures to fuch fhocking im
piety, by every means that fantaftic fubtilty can
fuggeft ; thereby fhewing in their own conduct, a more

C S5 1
a more glaring proof of the fame depravity, and,
if there was any reafon in the argument, a greater
unfitnefs for the fame precious enjoyment. For
though fome of the ignorant Africans may be
thus corrupted by their intercourfe with the bafer
of the Europeon natives, and the ufe of strong
liquors, this is no excufe for high-profeffing ^
Chriftians, bred in a civilized country, with fo
many advantages unknown to the Africans, and
pretending a fuperior degree of gofpel light.
Nor can it juftify them in raising up fortunes to
themfelves from the mifery of others, and calmly
projecting voyages for the feizure of men natu
rally as free as themfelves ; and who they know
are no otherwife to be procured than by fuch
barbarous means, as none but thofe hardened
wretches, who are loft to every fenfe of Chriftian
compaffion, can make ufe of. Let us diligently
compare, and impartially weigh, the fituation
of thofe ignorant Negroes, and thefe enlightened
Chriftians ; then lift up the fcale and fay, which
of the two are the greater favages.
Slavery has been for a long time in practice in
many parts of Afia; it was alfo in ufage among
the Romans when that empire flourifhed ; but,
except in fome particular inftances, it was ra
ther a reafonable fervitude, no ways comparable
to the unreafonable and unnatural fervice extort
ed from the Negroes in our colonies. A late
learned author*, fpeaking of thofe times which
fucceeded the diffolution of that empire,acquaints
us, that as Christianity prevailed, it very much
E 4 remoyed

* See Robertfon's Hiftory of Charles the 5 th.

[ 56 3
removed thofe wrong prejudices and practices,
which had taken root in darker times : after the
irruption of the Northern nations, and the in
troduction of the feudal or military government,
whereby the moft extenfive power was lodged in
a few members of fociety, to the depreffion of
the reft, the common people were little better
than flaves, and many were indeed fuch ; but as
Chriftianity gained ground, the gentle fpirit of
that religion, together with the dodtrines it
teaches, concerning the original equality of man
kind, as well as the impartial eye with which
the Almighty regards men of every condition,
and admits them to a participation of his bene
fits ; fo far manifefted the inconfiftency of fla
very with Chriftianity, that to fet their fellow
Chriftians at liberty was deemed an act of piety,
highly meritqrious, and acceptable to Godf.
Accordingly

f In the years 13 15 and 13 18, Louis X. and his brother
Philip, Kings of P'rance, iffued ordinances, declaring,
'*' That as all men were by nature free-born, and as their
f ' kingdom was called the kingdom of Franks, they de-
" termined that it ihould be fo in reality, as well as in
f name ; therefore they appointed that enfranchifements
" fliouldbe granted throughout the whole kingdom, upon
f juft and reafonable conditions." " Thefe edicts were car-
" Tied into immediate execution within the royal domain."
"  In England, as the fpirit of liberty gained ground,
f the very name and idea of perfonal fervitude, without
" any formal interpofition of the legislature to prohibit it,
(( was totally aboliihed."
f The effects of fuch are markable change in the con-
" dition of fo great a part of the people, could not fail of
" being confiderable. and extenfive. The hufbandman,
" mailer of his own indultry, and fecure of reaping for
" himfelf

t 57 3
Accordingly a great part of the charters granted
for the manumiffion or freedom of flaves about
that time, are granted pro amore Dei, for the love
of God, pro mercede anima, to obtain mercy for the
fpul. Manumiffion was frequently granted on
death-beds, or by latter wills. As the minds of
men are at that time awakened to fentiments of
humanity and piety, thefe deeds proceeded from
religious motives. The fame author remarks,
That there are feveral forms of thofe manumif-
fions ftill extant, all of them founded on religious
confederations, and in order to procure the favour of
God. Since that time, that pradtice of keeping
of men in flavery gradually ceafed amongftChrif-
tians, till it was renewed in the cafe before us.
And as the pre valency of the fpirit of Chriftian
ity caufed men to emerge from the darknefs they
then lay under, in this refpect ; fo it is much co
be feared that fo great a deviation therefrom, by
the encouragement given to the flavery of the
Negroes

" himfelf the fruits of his labour, became farmer of
f the fame field where he had formerly been compelled
*' to toil for the benefit of another. The odious name of
" maftef and of Have, the moft mortifying and depreffmg
" of all diftinctions to human nature, were abolifhed. New
f profpefts opened, and new incitements to ingenuity and
" enterprife prefented themfelves, to thofe who were eman-
" cipated. The expectation of bettering their fortune, as
" well as that of railing themfelves to a more honourable
f condition, concurred in calling forth their activity and
f genius ; and a numerous clafs of men, who formerly
" had no political existence, and were employed merely as
" instruments of labour, became ufeful citizens, and con-
" tributed towards augmenting the force or riches of the
" fociety, which adopted them as members." William
Rrjbertfon's Hillory of Charles the 5th, vol. 1. p. 35.

[ 5§ 3
Negroes in our colonies, if continued, will, by-
degrees, reduce thofe countries which fupport
and encourage it, but more immediately thofe
parts of America which are in the practice of it,
to the ignorance and barbarity of the darkeft
ages. If inftead of making flaves of the Negroes, the
nations who affume the name and character of
Chriftians, would ufe their endeavours to make
the nations of Africa acquainted with the nature
of the Chriftian religion, to give them a better
fenfe of the true ufe of the bleffings of life, the
more beneficial arts and cuftoms would, by de
grees, be introduced amongft them ; this care
probably would produce the fame effect upon
them, which it had on the inhabitants of Europe,
formerly as favage and barbarous as the natives
of Africa. Thofe cruel wars amongft the blacks
would be likely to ceafe, and a fair and honour
able commerce, in time, take place throughout
that vaft country. It was by thefe means that
the inhabitants of Europe, though formerly a
barbarous people, became civilized. Indeed the
account Julius Casfar gives of the ancient Britons
in their state of ignorance, is not fuch as fhould
make us proud of ourfelves, or lead us to defpife
the unpolifhed nations of the earth ; for he in
forms us that they lived in many refpedts like our
Indians, " Being clad with fkins, painting their
bodies, &c." He alfo adds, " That they, bro-
" ther with brother, and parents with children,
" had wives in common." A greater barbarity
than any heard of amongft the Negroes. Nor doth
Tacitus give a more honourable account of the
Germans, from whom the Saxons, our immedi ate

[ 59 3
ate ancestors, fprung. The Danes who fucceed-
ed them (who may alfo be numbered among our
progenitors) were full as bad, if not worfe.
It is ufual for people to advance as a pallia
tion in favour of keeping the Negroes in bond
age, that there are flaves in Guinea, and that
thofe amongft us might be fo in their own coun
try; but let fuch confider the inconfiftency of
our giving any countenance to flavery, becaufe
the Africans, whom we efteem a barbarous and
favage people, allow of it, and perhaps the
more from our example. Had the profeffors of
Chriftianity acted indeed as fuch, they might
have been instrumental to convince the Negroes
of their error in this refpect •, but even this,
when inquired into, will be to us an occafion of
blufhing, if we are not hardened to every fenfe
of ihame, rather than a palliation of our iniqui
tous conduct ; as it will appear that the flavery
endured in Guinea, and other parts of Africa,
and in Afia, * is by no means fo grievous as
that

* In the Hiftory of the Piratical States of Barbary,
printed in 1750, faid to be written by a perfon who refided
at Algiers, in a public character, at page 265 the author
fays, " The world exclaims againft the Algerines for their
" cruel treatment of their flaves, and their employing even
" tortures to convert them to Mahometifm : but this is a
" vulgar error, artfully propagated for felfifli views. So
" far are their flaves from being ill ufed, that they muft
" have committed fome very great fault to fuffer any
" puniftiment. Neither are they forced to work beyond
" their ftrength, but rather fpared, left they fliould fall
" fick. Some are fo pleafed with their fituation, that they
?' will not purchafe their ranfom, though they are able."
Jt is the fame generally through the Mahometan countries, except

[ 60 ]
that in our colonies. Francis Moor, fpeaking
of the natives living on the river Gambia, -f
fays, " That fome of the Negroes have many
" houfe flaves, which are their greateft glory ;
" that thofe flaves live fo well and eafy, that it
** is fometimes a hard matter to know the flaves
" from their masters or miftreffes. And that
" though in fome parts of Africa they fell their
" flaves

except in fome particular inftances, as that of Muley Ifli-
mael, late Emperor of Morocco, who being naturally bar
barous, frequently ufed both his fubjects and flaves with
cruelty. Yet even under him the ufage the flaves met with
was, in general, much more tolerable than that of the Ne
groe flaves in the Weft Indies. Captain Braithwaite, an
author of credit, who aecompanied conful general Ruffel in
a congratulatory ambaffy to Muley Iftimael's fucceffor, upon
his acceillon to the throne, fay6, " The fituation of the
" Chriftian flavesjin Morocco was not near fo bad as repre-
" fented  That it was true they were kept at labour by
" the late Emperor, but not harder than our daily labour.
,c ers go through. — Mafters of fhips were never obliged to
" work, nor fuch as had but a fmall matter of money ta
" give the Alcaide. — When fick, they had a religious houfq
"appointed for them to go to, where they were well at-
" tended . and whatever money in charity was fent them
*' by their friends in Europe, was their own." Braithwaite's
revolutions of Morocco.
Lady Montague, wife of the Englifh ambaffador at Con-
ftantinople, in her letters, vol. 3. page 20, writes, " I
*« know you expect I fhould fay fomething particular of the
" flaves ; and you will imagine me half a Turk, when I do
" not fpeak of it with the fame horror other Chriftians have
" done before me; but I cannot forbear applauding the
** humanity of the Turks to thefe creatures ; they are not
" ill ufed; and their flavery, in my opinion, is no worfe
" than fervitude all over the world. It is true they have
" no wages, but they give them yearly cloaths to a higher
«' value than our falaries to our ordinary fervants."
f F Moor, p- 30.

I 6-i 3
c< flaves born in the family, yet on the river
" Gambia they think it a very wicked thing."
The author adds, " He never heard of but one
" that ever fold a family fiave, except for fuch
" crimes as they would have been fold for if
" they had been free." And in Aftley's Col
lection, fpeaking of the cuftoms of the Negroes
in that large extent of country further down the
coaft, particularly denominated the coaft of
Guinea, it is faid, J " They have not many
" flaves on the coaft; none but the King or
" nobles are permitted to buy or fell any ; fo
" that they are allowed only what are neceffary
" for their families, or tilling the ground."
The fame author adds, " That they generally ufe
*' their flaves well, and feldom correil them.''

J Collection, vol.2, page 647.

C H A P.

t 6i I

CHAP. VII.

MONTESQUIEU'S fentiments on flavery. Mrj^
deration enjoined by the Mofaic law in the
punifhment of offenders. Morgan Goodwyn*s
account of the contempt and grievous rigour
exercifed upon the Negroes in his time. Ac
count from Jamaica, relating to the inhuman
treatment of them there. Bad effects attend
ant on flave-keeping, as well to the mafters
as the flaves. Extracts from feveral laws
relating to Negroes. Richard Baxter's fenti*
ments on flave-keeping.
THAT celebrated civilian Montefquieu, in
his treatife on the fpirit of laws, on the ar
ticle of flavery fays, " // is neither ufeful to the
" mafter nor fiave ; to the fiave becaufe he can do
" nothing through principle (or virtue) ; to the
" mafter, becaufe he contrails with his fiave all forts
" of bad habits, infenfibly accuftoms himfelf to
" want all moral virtues ; becomes haughty, hafiy,
tl hard-hearted, paffionate, voluptuous, and crueL
The lamentable truth of this affertion was
quickly verified in the Englifh plantations.
When the practice of flave-keeping. was intro
duced, it foon produced its natural effedls ; it
reconciled men, of otherwife good difpofitions,
to the moft hard and cruel meafures. It quickly
proved, what, under the law of Mofes, was ap
prehended would be the confequence of unmer
ciful chaftifements. Deut. xxv. 2. " And it
V fhall

[ e3 3
" fhall be if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten,
" that the judge fhould caufe him to lie down, and
" to be beaten before his face, according to his fault,
" by a certain number ; forty ftripes may be given
" him, and not exceed." And the reafon ren
dered, is out of refpedt to human nature, viz.
" Left he fhould exceed, and beat him above thefe
" with many ftripes, then thy brother fhould feem
" vile unto thee." As this effedt foon followed
the caufe, the crueleft meafures were adopted,
in order to make the moft of the poor wretches
labour ; and, in the minds of the matters, fuch an
idea was excited of inferiority, in the nature of
thefe their unhappy fellow creatures, that they
efteemed and treated them as beafts of burden :
pretending to doubt, and fome of them even
prefuming to deny, that the efficacy of the death
of Christ extended to them. Which is particu
larly noted in a book, intitled, " The Negroes
" and Indians Advocate," dedicated to the then
Archbifhopof Canterbury, written fo longfince
as in the year 1680, byMorgan Godwyn, thought
to be a clergyman of the church of England.
* The fame fpirit of fympathy and zeal which
ftirred

* There is a principle which is pure, placed in the human
mind, which in different places or ages hath had different
names ; it is, however, pure, and proceeds from God. —
It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion, nor
excluded from any, where the heart ftands in perfect fin-
cerity. In whomfoever this takes root and grows, of what
nation foever, they become brethren in the beft fenfe of the
expreffion. Ufing ourfelves to take ways which appear moft
eafy to us, when inconfiftent with that purity which is with-
sut beginning, we thereby fet up a government of our own, and

[ H 3
ftifred up the good Bifhop of Capia to plead
with fo much energy the kindred caufe of the
Indiana

and deny obedience to Him whofe fervice is true liberty:
He that has a fervant, made fo wrongfully, and knows ic
to be fo, when he treats him otherwife than a free man,
when he reaps the benefit of his labour, without paying
him fuch wages as are reafo»ably due to free men for the
like fervice; thefe things, though done in calmnefs,_ with
out any fhew of diforder, do yet deprave the mind, in like
manner, and with as great certainty, -as prevailing cold
congeals water. Thefe fteps taken by matters, and their
conduct ftriking the minds of their children, whilft young,
leave lefs room for that which is good to work upon them.
The cuftoms of their parents, their neighbours, and the
people with whom they converfe, working upon their
minds, and they from thence conceiving wrong ideas of
things, and modes of conduct, the entrance into their
hearts becomes in a great meafure fhut up againft the gentle
movings of uncreated purity.
From one age to another the gloom grows thicker and
darker, till error gets eftablifhed by general opinion ; but
whoever attends to perfect gocjdnefs, and remains under
the melting influence of it, finds a path unknown to many,
and fees the neceflity to lean, upon the arm of divine
ftrength, and dwell alone, or with a few in the right,
committing their caufe to him who is a refuge to his people.
Negroes are our fellow-creatures, and their prefent condi
tion among us requires our ferious confideration. We
know not the time, when thofe fcales, in which mountains
are weighed, may turn. The Parent of mankind is gra
cious, his care is over his fmalleft creatures, and a multi
tude of men efcape not his notice ; and though many of
them are trodden down and defpifed, yet he remembers
them. He feeth their affliction, and looketh upon the
fpreading increafing exaltation of the oppreffor. He turns
the channel of power, humbles the moft- haughty people,
and gives deliverance to the oppreffed, at fuch periods as
are confident with his infinite juftice and goodnefs. And
wherever gain is preferred to equity, and wrong things
publicly

[ H 1
Indians of America, an hundred and fifty years
before, was equally operating about a century
paft on the minds of fome of the well difpofed
of that day; amongft others this worthy cler
gyman, having been an eye-witnefs of the op-
preffion and cruelty exercifed upon the Negroe
and Indian flaves, endeavoured to raife the at
tention of thofe, in whofe power it might be to
procure therri relief; amongft other matters, in
his addrefs to the Archbifhop, he remarks in
fubftance, " That the people of the ifland of
" Barbadoes were not content with exercifing
" the greatest hardnefs and barbarity upon the
" Negroes* in making the moft of their labour,
" without any regard to the calls of humanity,
IC but that they had fuffered fuch a flight and
" undervaluement to prevail in their minds to-
*c wards thefe their oppreffed fellow-creatures*
ie as to difcourage any ftep being taken, where-
tc by they might be made acquainted with the
" Chriftian religion. That their conduct to-
*c wards their flaves was fuch as gave him rea-
" fon to believe, that either they had fuffered
cc a fpirit of infidelity, a fpirit quite contrary
ct to the nature of the gofpel, to prevail in them,
*' or that it muft be their eftablifhed opinion*
<c that the Negroes had no more fouls than
" beafts ; that hence they concluded them to
" be neither fufceptible of religious impreffions,

publicly encouraged, to that degree that wickednefs takes
root and Spreads wide amongft the inhabitants of a country,
there is a real caufe for forrow, to all fuch whofe love to
mankind ftands on a true principle, and wifely confider the
end and event of things." Confiderations on keeping Ne
groes, by John Woolman, part 2. p. 50.
F " nor

[ 66 J
et nor fit objects for the redeeming grace of God'
" to operate upon. That under this perfuafion,
** and from a difpofition of cruelty, they treated
fc them with far lefs humanity than they did
" their cattle ; for, fays he, they do not Itarve
" their horfes, which they expect fhould both
" carry and credit them on the road •, nor pinch
" the cow, by whofe milk they are fuftained ;
" which yet, to their eternal fhame, is too fre-
" quently the lot and condition of thofe poor
" people, from whofe labour their wealth and
" livelihood doth wholly arife ; not only in their
" diet, but in their cloathing, and overworking
ct fome of them even to death, (which is partr-
tf culari-y the calamity of the moft innocent and
'* laborious) but alfo in tormenting and whip-
«c ping them almoft, and fometimes quite, to
<c death, upon even fmall mifcarriages. He
<c apprehends it was from this prejudice againft
*' the Negroes, that arofe thofe supercilious
tl checks and frowns he frequently met with,
" when ufing innocent arguments and perfua-
tc fions, in the way of his duty as a minifter of
" the gofpel, to labour for the convincement
" and converfion of the Negroes ; being re-
cc peatedly told, with fpitefuLfcofftngs, (even
6t by fome efteemedTeligious) that the Negroes
cc were no more fufceptible of receiving bene-
" fitr by becoming members of the church,
,c than their dogs and bitches. The ufual an-
tc fwer he received, when exhorting their matters
<c to do their duty in that refpedt, being, What!
" thefe black dogs be made Chriftians ! What ! they
Cf be made like us ! with abundance more of the
w fame. Neverthelefs, he remarks that the Ne-
" groes

[ 6) 3
*' groes were Capable, not only of being taughl
" to read and write, &V. but divers of them '
" eminent in the management of bufinefs. He
" declares them to have an equal right with
" us to the merits of Chrift; of which if through
" neglect or avarice they are deprived, that
" judgment which was denounced againft wicked
*' Ahab, muft befal us : Our life fhall go for
" theirs. The lofs of their fouls will be required
" at our hands, to whom God hath given fo
" bleffed an opportunity of being inftrumental
" to their falvation."
He complains, " That they were fuffered to
" live with their women in no better way than
" diredt fornication ; no care being taken to
" oblige them to continue together when mar-
" ried 5 but that they were fuffered at their will
(t to leave their wives, and take to other wo-
" men." I fhall conclude this fympathizing
clergyman's obfervations, with an inftance he
gives, to fhew, " that not only difcouragements
" and feoffs at that time prevailed in Barbadoes,
" to eftablifh an opinion that the Negroes were
" not capable of religious impreffions, but that
*' even violence a'nd great abufes were ufed to
" prevent any thing of the kind taking place. It
" was in the cafe of a poor Negroe, who hav-
" ing, at his own request, prevailed on a clergy -
" man to adminifter baptifm to him, on his
" return home the brutifh overfeer took him to
" talk, giving him to underftand, that that was
" no Sunday's work for thofe of his complexion y
" that he had other bufinefs for him, the neglect
" whereof fhould coft him an afternoon's bapr,
*t tifm in blood, as he in the morning had re-
F 2 " ceived

[ 68 ]
" ceived a baptifm with water, (thefe, fays the
" clergyman, were his own words) which he
" accordingly made good; of which the Negroe
" complained to him, and he to the governor;
" neverthelefs,. the poor miferable creature was
" ever after fo unmercifully treated by that in-
" human wretch, the overfeer, that, to avoid his
" cruelty, betaking himfelf to the woods, he
" there perifhed." This inftance is applicable-
to none but the cruel perpetrator-; and yet it is
an inftance of what, in a greater or lefs degree,
may frequently happen, when thofe poor wretches'
are left to the will of fuch brutifh inconfiderate
creatures as thofe overfeers often are. This is
confirmed in a H'iftory of Jamaica, written in*
thirteen letters, about the year 1740, by a per
fon then refiding in that ifland, who writes as
follows : " I fhall not now enter upon the quef-
«c tion, whether the flavery of the Negroes be
*' agreeable to the laws of nature or not ; though;
<c it feems extremely hard they fhould be re-
** duced to ferve and toil for the benefit of
tc others, without the leaft advantage to them-
*' felves. Happy Britannia, where flavery is
" never known ! where libe'rty and freedom
" cheers every misfortune. Here," fays the
author, " we can boaft of no fuch bleffing ; we
" have at leaft ten flaves to one freeman. I
" incline to touch the hardfhips which thefe-
" poor creatures fuffer, in the tendereft man-
'* ner, from a, particular regard which I have to
if many of their mailers, but I cannot conceal
" their fad circumftances intirely: the moft
*« trivial error is punifhed with moft terrible
(* whipping. I have feen fome of them treated "¦ in

[ 69 ]
'ee in that cruel manner, for no other reafon but
" to fatisfy the brutifh pleafure of an overfeer,
¦" who has their punifhment moftly at his dif-
" cretion. I have feen their bodies all in a
¦" gore of blood, the fkin torn off their backs
" with the cruel whip ; beaten pepper and fait
,c rubbed in the wounds, and a large ftick of
" fealing-wax dropped leifurely upon them. It
" is no wonder, if the horrid pain of fuch in-
*c human tortures incline them to rebel. Moft
" of thefe flaves are brought from the coaft of
" Guinea: when they firft arrive, it is obferv-
" ed, they are fimple and very innocent crea-
" tures ; but foon turn to be roguifh enough :
" and when they come to be whipt, urge the
" example of the whites for an excufe of their
" faults."
Thefe accounts-of the deep depravity of mind
attendant on the practice of flavery, verify the
truth of Montefquieu's remark of its pernicious
effects. And although the fame degree of op
position to instructing the Negroes may not now
appear in the iflands as formerly, efpecially fince
the Society appointed for propagating the Gof
pel have pofieffed a number of Negroes in one
of them ; Jieverthelefs the fituation of thefe op
preffed people is yet dreadful, as well to them
felves, as in its confequence to their hard tafk-
mafters, and their offspring; as muft be evident
to every impartial perfon who is acquainted
with the treatment they generally receive, or
with the laws which from time to time have
been made in the colonies, with refpedt to the
Negroes; fome of them being abfolutely in-
confiftent with reafon, and fhocking to huma-
F 3 nity.

r 70 3
nity. By the 329th act of the affembly of Bar-
badoes, page 125, it is enadted, " That if any
" Negroe or other flave under punifhment by
" his mafter, or his order, for running away,
*' or any other crime or mifdemeanors towards
" his faid mafter, unfortunately fhall fuffer in .
" life or member, (which feldom happens) no
" perfon whatfoever fhall be liable to any fine
*' therefore. But if any man fhall, of wanton-
" nefs, or only of bloody -mindednefs or cruel inten-
" tian, wilfully kill a Negroe,; or other flave of his
" own, he fhall pay into the public treafury, fifteen
(t pounds fierling." Now that the life of a man
fhould be fo lightly valued, as that 'fifteen
pounds fhould be judged a fufficient indemni
fication of the murder of one, even when it is
avowedly done wilfully, wantonly, cruelly, or of
bloody -mindednefs, is a tyranny hardly to be pa
ralleled : neverthelefs human laws cannot make
void the righteous law of God, or prevent the
inquisition of that awful judgment-day, when,
" at the hand of every man's brother the life of
?' man fhall be required." By the law of South
Carolina, the perfon that killeth a Negroe is
only fubjedt to a fine, or twelve months im
prisonment : it is the fame in moft, if not ajl
the Weft-Indies. And by an act of the affem
bly of Virginia, (4 Ann. Ch. 49, feet. 27. p.
227.) after proclamation is iffued againft flaves,
" that run away and lie out, it is lawful for
*c any perfon whatfoever to kill and defiroy fuch
" flaves, by fuch ways and means as he, fhe, or
*c they fhall think fit, without accufation or im-
*c peaebment of any crime for the fame." And left
private intereft fhould incline the planter to
mercy,

[ 7» 3
anercy, it is provided, " That every fiave fo kill-
*c ed, in pursuance of this aM, fhall be^paidfor by
** the public."
It was doubtlefs a like fenfe of fympathy with
that expreffed by Morgan Godwyn before-men
tioned, for the oppreffed Negroes, and like zeal
for the caufe of religion, fo manifeftly trampled
upon in the cafe of the Negroes, which induced
Richard Baxter, an eminent preacher amongft
the Diffenters in the laft century, in his Chrif
tian Direilory} to exprefs himfelf as follows, viz.
" Do you mark how God hath followed you
" with plagues ; and may not confcience tell
" you, that it is for your inhumanity to the
<c fouls and bodies of men .?" — " To go as pi-
*' rates, and catch up poor Negroes, or people
<c of another land, that never forfeited life or
tf liberty, and to make them flaves, and fell
<f them, is one of the worft kinds of thievery
f< in the world; and fuch perfons are to be
« taken for the common enemies of mankind ;
« and they that buy them and ufe them as
ct beafts for their mere commodity, and betray,
«* or destroy, or neglect their fouls, are fitter to
<* be called devils incarnate than Chriftians: it
«« is an heinous fin to buy them, unlefs it be
*f in charity to deliver them. Undoubtedly
*' they are prefently bound to deliver them, be-
•* caufe by right the man is his own, therefore
tf no man elfe can have a juft title to him."

F 4 C H A P.

[ 7* 3

C H A P. VIII.
GRIFFITH HUGHES's Account of the
number of Negroes in Barbadoes. Cannot
keep up their ufual number without a yearly
recruit. Exceffive hardfhips wear the Negroes
down in a furprifing manner. A fervstude
without a condition, inconfiftent with reafon
and natural juftice. The general ufage the
Negroes meet with in the Weft-Indies. In
human calculations of the strength and lives
of the Negroes, Dreadful confequences which
may be expected from the cruelty exercifed
upon this oppreffed part of mankind.
WE are told by Griffith Hughes, redtor
of St. Lucy in Barbadoes, in his natural
history of that ifland, printed in the year 1750,
" That there were between fixty-five and fe-
f< venty thoufand Negroes, at that time, in the
tf ifland, though formerly they had a greater
<c number : that in order to keep up a neceffary
" number, they were obliged to have a yearly
" fupply from Africa: that the hard labour,
" and often want of neceffaries, which thefe
<c unhappy creatures are obliged to undergo,
?c destroy a greater number than are bred there.5*
He a.dds, " That the capacities of their minds,
c* in the common affairs of life, are but little
" inferior, if at all, tp thofe of the Europeans.
1* If they fail in fome arts, he fays, it may be
" owing more to their want of education, and
*? the depreffion of their fpirits by flavery, than
' ' ' « to

[ 73 ]
" to any want of natural abilities." This de-
flrudtion of the human fpecies, through unna
tural hardlhips, and want of neceffary fupplies,
in the cafe of the Negroes, is farther confirmed
in An Account of the European Settlements in Ame
rica, printed London, 1757, where it is faid,
part 6. chap, nth, " The Negroes in our co-
" lonies endure a flavery more complete, and
" attended with far worfe circumstances, than
*c what any people in their condition fuffer in
" any other part of the world, or have fuffered
ft in any other period of time : proofs of this
" are not wanting. The prodigious wafte which
+* we experience in this unhappy part of our
" fpecies, is a full and melancholy evidence of
" this truth. The ifland of Barbadoes, (the
ft Negroes upon which do not amount to eighty
" thoufand) notwithftanding all the means which
«« they ufe to increafe them by propagation, and
te that the climate is in every refpedt (except
(t that of being more wholefome) exactly re-
" fembling the climate from whence they come;
** notwithftanding all this, Barbadoes lies under
rf a neceffity of an annual recruit of five thou-,
tc fand flaves, to keep up the ftock at the num-
" ber I have mentioned. This prodigious fai-
*« lure, which is at leaft in the fame proportion
" in all our iflands, fhews demonftratively that
" fome uncommon and unfupportable hardfhip
" lies upon the Negroes, which wears them
*' down in fuch a furprifing manner."
In an account of part of North America,
publifhed by Thomas Jeffery, 1761, the author,
fpeaking of the ufage the Negroes receive in the
\yeft-Ipdia Jflands, fays, " It is impoffible for
tt a human

r 74 3
*c a human heart to reflect upon the fervitude of
" thefe dregs of mankind, without in fome
" meafure feeling for their mifery, which ends
** but with their lives. — Nothing can be more
" wretched than the condition of this people.
*' One would imagine, they were framed to be
"¦the difgrace of the human fpecies; banifhed
*' from their country, and deprived of that blef-
« ling, liberty, on which all other nations fet
** the greateft value, they are in a meafure re-
«c duced to the condition of beafts of burthen.
«* In general, a few roots, potatoes efpecially,
" are their food, and two rags, which neither
" fcreen them from the heat of the day, nor the
tc extraordinary coolnefs of the night, all their
** covering; their fleep very fhort ; their labour
** almoft continual; they receive no wages, but
«* have twenty lafhes for the fmalleft fault." A
thoughtful perfon, who had an opportunity of
o'bferving the miferable condition of the Ne»
groes in one of our Weft-India iflands, Writes.
thus; " 1 met with daily exercife to fee the
<* treatment which thofe miferable wretches met
" with from their matters ; with but few ex~
cc ceptions. They whip them moft unmerci-
" fully on fmall occasions : you will fee their
w bodies all whealed and fcarred ; in fhort, they
«* feem tofet no other value on their lives, than
K as they coft them fo much money ; and are
,ft reftrained from killing them, when angry, by.
*« no worthier confideration, than that they lofe
" fo much. They act as though they did not
" look upon them as a race of human creatures,
" who have reafon, and remembrance of mif-
" fortunes, but as beafts j like oxen, who are
" ftubborn,

[ 75 3
C( stubborn, hardy, and fenfelefs, fit for burdens, ,
cc and defigned to bear them : they will not
" allow them to have any claim to human pri-
" vileges, or fcarce indeed to' be regarded as the
" work of God. Though it was confiftent
" with the juftice of our Maker to pronounce
" the fentence on our common parent, and
u through him to all fucceeding generations,
" That he and they fhould eat their bread by the
<e fweat of their brows ; yet does it not ftand re-
" corded by the fame eternal truth, That the
" labourer is worthy of his hire? It cannot
<c be allowed, in natural justice, ttiat there
" fhould be a fervitude without condition;
" a cruel, endlefs fervitude. It cannot be re-
" concileable to natural juftice, that whole na-
" tions, nay, whole continents of men, fhould
" be devoted to do the drudgery of life for
" others, be dragged away from their attach-
*' ments of relations and focieties, and be made.
" to ferve the appetites and pleafure of a race
" of men, whofe fuperiority has been obtained
<' by illegal force."
Sir Hans Sloane, in the introduction to his
natural history of Jamaica, in the account he
gives of the treatment the Negroes met with
there, fpeaking of the punilhments inflidted on
them, fays, page 56, " For rebellion, the pu-
" nifhment is burning them, by nailing them
(t down to the ground with crooked flicks on
" every limb, and then applying the fire,, by
" degrees, from the feet and hands, burning
fi them gradually up to the head, whereby
fc their pains are extravagant. For crimes of a
tf lef§ nature, gelding or chopping off half the
" foot

r 7« 3
*c foot with an axe.  " For negligence, they
" are ufually whipped by the overfeers with
£< lance-wood fwitches. — —After they are whip-
" ped till they are raw, fome put on their fkins
" PePPer and fait, to make them fmart; at
" other times, their matters will drop melted
** wax on their fkins, and ufe feveral very exqui-
11 fite torments." In that ifland, the owners of
the Negroe flaves fet afide to each a parcel of
ground, and allow them half a day at the latter
end of the week, which, with the day appointed
by the divine injunction to be. a day of reft and
fervice to God, and which ought to be kept as
iiich, is the only time allowed them to manure
their ground. This, with a few herrings, or
other fait fifh, is what is given for their fupport.
Their allowance for cloathing in the ifland, is
feldom more than fix yards of oznabrigs each
year. And in the more northern colonies,
where the piercing westerly winds arc long and
fenfibly felt, thefe poor Africans fuffer much
for want of fufficient cloathing; indeed fome
have none till they are able to pay for it
by their labour. The time that the Negroes
work in the Weft Indies, is from day-break
till noon ; then again from two o'clock till
dark (during which time, they are attended by
overfeers, who feverely fcourge thofe who appear
to them dilatory) ; and before they are fuf
fered to go to their quarters, they have ftill
fomething to do, as collecting the herbage for
the horfes, gathering fuel for the boilers, &c.
fo that it is often paft twelve before they can
get home, when they have fcarce time to grind
and boil their Indian corn ; whereby, if their food

I 77 3
food was not prepared the evening before, it
fometimes happens that they are called again to
labour before they can fatisfy their hunger. And
here no excufe or delay will avail ; for if they
are not in the field immediately upon the ufual
notice, they muft expect to feel the overfeer's
lafh. In crop time (which lafts many months)
they are obliged, by turns, to work moft of
the night in the boiling houfe. Thus their
owners, from a defire to make the greateft gain
by the labour of their flaves, lay heavy burthens
on them, and yet feed and cloath them very
fparingly, and fome fcarce feed or cloath them
at all ; fo that the poor creatures are obliged to
fhift for their living in the belt manner they
can, which occafions their being often killed in
the neighbouring lands, ftealing potatoes, or
other food, to fatisfy their hunger. And if they
take any thing from the plantation they belong
to, though under fuch pressing want, their own
ers will correct them feverely for taking a little
of what they have fo hardly laboured for ; whilft
many of themfelves riot in the greateft luxury
and excefs. It is matter of aftonifhment how a
people, who as a nation, are looked upon as
generous and humane, and fo much value them
felves for their uncommon fenfe of the benefit of
liberty, can live in the practice of fuch extreme
oppreffion and inhumanity, without feeing the
inconfiftency of fuch conduct, and feeling great
remorfe. Nor is it lefs amazing to hear thefe
men calmly making calculations about the
ftrength and lives of their fellow men. In Ja
maica, if fix in ten of the new imported Negroes
furvive the feafoning, it is looked upon as a
gaining

[ 78 3
gaining purchafe. And in moft of the other"
plantations, if the Negroes live eight or nine
years, their labour is reckoned a fufficientCofn-
penfation for their coft. If calculations of this
fort were made on the ftrength and labour of
beafts of burden, it would not appear fo strange;
but even then, a merciful man would certainly
ufe his beaft with more mercy than is ufually
fhewn to the poor Negroes. Will not the groans*
the dying groans, of this deeply afflicted and' op
preffed people reach heaven ? and when the cup
of iniquity is full,^muft not the inevitable con-
fequence be, the pouring forth the judgments of
God upon the oppreflbrs ? But alas ! is it not
too manifeft that this oppreffion has already long
been the object of the divine difpleafure ? For
what heavier judgment, what greater calamity,
can befall any people, than to become fubjedt to
that hardnefs of heart, that forgetfulnefs of God,
and infenfibility to every religious impreflion,
as well as that general depravation of manners,
which fo much prevails in thefe colonies, in pro
portion as they have more or lefs enriched them
felves at the expence of the blood and bondage
of the Negroes.
It is a dreadful consideration, as a late au
thor remarks, that out of the flock of eighty
thoufand Negroes in Barbadoes, there die every
year five thoufand more than are born in that
ifland; which failure is probably in the fame
proportion in the other iflands. In effetl, this
people is under a neceffity of being entirely renewed
every fixteen years. And what muft we think of
the management of a people, who, far from in-
creafing greatly, as thofe who have no lofs by
war

[ 79 3
war ought to do, muft, in fo fhort a time as fix*-
teen years, without foreign recruits, be entirely
confumed to a man ! Is it not a Chriftian doctrine,
that the labourer is worthy of his hire? And hith
not the Lord, by the mouth of his prophet,
pronounced, " Wo unto that man who buildeth
" his houfe by unrighteoufnefs, and his chambers by
« wrong ; who ufes his neighbour' s fervice without
" wages, and giveth him nought for his work ?"
And yet the poor Negroe flaves are conftrained,
like the beafts, by beating, to work hard with
out hire or recompence, and receive nothing
from the hand of their unmerciful matters, but
fuch a wretched provifion as will fcarce fupport
them under their fatigues. The intolerable
hardfhips many of the flaves undergo, are furfi-
ciently proved by the fhortnefs of their lives. —
And who are thefe miferable creatures, that re
ceive fuch barbarous treatment from the planter?
Can we reftrain our juft indignation, when we
confider that they are undoubtedly his brethren!
his neighbours ! the children of the fame Father, and
fome of thofe for whom Chrifi died, as truly as for the
planter himfelf. Let the opulent planter, or mer
chant, prove that his Negroe flave is not his bro
ther, or that he is not his neighbour, in the
fcripture fenfe of thefe appellations; and if he is
not able fo to do, how will he juftify the buying
and felling of his brethren, as if they were of no
more consideration than his cattle ? The wearing
them out with continual labour, before they
have lived out half their days ? The fevere whip
ping and torturing them, even to death, if they
refift his infupportable tyranny ? Let the hardieft
flave-holder look forward to the tremendous dav,

t to 3
day, when he muft give an account to God of
his ftewardfhip ; and let him ferioufly confider
whether, at fuch a time, he thinks he fhall be
able to fatisfy himfelf, that any adt of buying and
fellingy or the fate of war, or the birth of child
ren in his houfe, plantation, or territories, or
any other circumftance whatever, can give him
fuch an abfolute property in the perfons of men,
as will juftify his retaining them as flaves, and
treating them as beafts ? Let him diligently con
fider whether there will not always remain to the
flave afuperior property or right to the fruit of
his own labour ; and more efpecially to his own
perfon j that being which was given him by
God, and which none but the Giver can juftly
claim ?

CHAP,

t u 3
Chap. ix.

THE advantage which would have accrued to
the natives of Guinea, if the Europeans had
acted towards them agreeably to the dictates
of humanity and Chriftianity. An inordinate
defire of gain in the Europeans, the true oc
cafion of the flave trade. Notice of the mif-
reprefentations of the Negroes by moft au
thors, in order to palliate the iniquity of the
flave trade. Thofe mifreprefentations refuted,
particularly with refpedt to the Hottentot Ne
groes.
FROM the foregoing accounts of the natural
difpofition of the Negroes, and the fruit
fulnefs of moft parts of Guinea, which are con
firmed by authors of candour, who have written
from their own knowledge, it may well be con
cluded, that the Negroes acquaintance with the
Europeans might have been a happinefs to them,'
if thefe laft had not only borne the name, but
had alfo acted the part, of Chriftians, and ufed
their endeavours by example, as well as precept,
to make them acquainted with the glad tidings
of the gofpel, which breathes peace and good
will to man, and with that change of heart, that
redemption from fin, which Chriftianity pro-
pofeth. Innocence and love might then have
prevailed, and nothing would have been wanting
to complete the happinefs of the fimple Africans.
But the reverfe has happened ; the Europeans,
forgetful of their duty as .men and Chriftian?,
G have

[ 82 3
have conducted themfelves in fo iniquitous a?
manner, as muft neceffarily raife in the minds
of the thoughtful and well-difpofed Negroes,
the utmoft fcorn and deteftation of the very
name of Chriftians. All other confiderations
have given way to an insatiable defire of gain,
which has been the principal and moving caufe
of the moft iniquitous and dreadful fcene that was,
perhaps, ever acted upon the face of the earth.
Inftead of making ufe of that fuperior know
ledge with which the Almighty, the common
Parent of mankind, had favoured them, to
ftrengthen the principle of peace and good will
in the breafts of the incautious Negroes, the Eu
ropeans have, by their bad example, led them
into excefs of drunkennefs, debauchery, and ava
rice; whereby every paffion of corrupt nature
being inflamed, they have been eafily prevailed
upon to make war, and captivate one another ;
as well to furnifh means for the exceffes they had
been habituated to, as to fatisfy the greedy de-
lire of gain in their profligate employers, who to
this intent have furnifhed them with prodigious
quantities of arms and ammunition. Thus they
have been hurried- into confufiony diftrefs, and
all the extremities of temporal mifery ; every
thing, even the'power of their kings, has been
made fubfervient to this wicked purpofe; for
inftead of being protectors of their fubjects, fome
of thofe rulers, corrupted by the exceffive love
of fpirituous liquors, and the tempting baits laid
before them by the factors, have invaded the
liberties of their unhappy fubjedts, and are be
come their oppreffors. Here

( 83 )
Here it may be neceffary to obferve, that the
accounts we have of the inhabitants of Guinea,
are chiefly given by perfons engaged in the trade,
who, from felf-interefted views, have defcribed
them in fuch colours as were leaft likely to ex
cite compaffion and refpedt, and endeavoured to
reconcile fo manifeft a violation of the rights of
mankind to the minds of the purchafers; yet
they cannot but allow the Negroes to be poffefled
of fome good qualities, though they contrive as
much as poffible to caft a fhade over them. A
particular inftance of this appears in Aflley's Col
lection, vol. ii. p. 73. where the author, fpeak
ing of the Mandingos fettled at Galem, which
is fituated 900 miles up the Senegal, after
faying that they carry on a commerce to all the
neighbouring kingdoms, and amafs riches, adds,
" That excepting the vices peculiar to the Blacks,
" they are a good fort of people, honeft, hofpi-
" table, juft to their word, laborious, induf-
" trious, and very ready to learn arts and fci-
" ences." Here it is difficult to imagine what
vices can be peculiarly attendant on a people fo
well difpofed as the author defcribes thefe to be.'
With refpedt to the charge fome authors have
brought againft them, as being void of all natu
ral affection,1 it is frequently contradicted by
others. In vol. ii. of the Collection, p. 275, and
629, the Negroes of North Guinea, and the Gold
Coaft, are faid to be fond of their children, whom
they love with tendernefs. And Bofman fays, p.
340, "Not a few in his country (viz. Holland)
" fondly imagine, that parents here fell their
" children, men their wives, and one brother
" the other: but thofe who think fo deceive
G 2 " them-

( «4 J
" themfelves ; for this rlever happens ori any
" other account but that of neceffity, or fome1
" great crime." The fame is repeated by J.
Barbot, p. 326, and alfo confirmed by Sir Hans
Sloane, in the introduction to his natural history
of Jamaica ; where fpeaking of the Negroes, he
fays, " They are ufualjy thought to be haters
" of their own children, and therefore it is be-
" lieved that they fell and difpofe of them to
<c ftrangers for money : but this is not true j.
" for the Negroes of Guinea being divided into
" feveral captainfhips, as well as the Indians of
*' America, have wars ; and befides thofe flain in
" battle, many prifoners are taken, who are fold
" for flaves, and brought hither : but the pa-
" rents here, although their children are flaves
cc for ever, yet have fo great love for them, that ,
" no mafter dares fell, or give away, one of their
" little ones, unlefs they care not whether their
" parents hang themfelves or no." J. Barbot, >
fpeaking of the occafion of the natives of Guinea
being reprefented as a treacherous people, afcrib.es
it to the Hollanders (and doubtlefs other Euro-.
peans) ufurping authority, and fomenting di-
vifions between the Negroes. At page no,, he-
fays, "It is well known that many of the Eu-
" ropean nations trading amongft thofe people,
" have very unjuftly and. inhumanly, without,
*' any provocation, ftolen away, from time to
" time, abundance of the people, not only on
" this coaft, but almoft every where in Guinea,
'* who have come on board their fhips in a
«' harmlefs and confiding manner :. thefe they
«f have in great numbers carried away, and' fold
<f in the plantations, with other flaves which
tc they

C 85 )
** they had purchafed." And although fome
of the Negroes may be juftly charged with in
dolence and fupinenefs, yet many others are fre
quently mentioned by authors as a careful, in
duftrious, and even laborious people. But nothing
fhews more clearly how unfafe it is to form a
judgment of diftant people from the accounts gi
ven of them by travellers, who have taken but
a transient view of things, than the cafe of the
Hottentots, viz. thofe feveral nations of Ne
groes who inhabit the moft fouthern part of Af
rica : thefe people are reprefented by feveral au
thors, who appear to have very much copied
their relations one from the other, as fo lavage
and barbarous as to have little of human, but
the fhape : but thefe accounts are strongly con
tradicted by others, particularly Peter Kolben,
who has given a circumstantial relation of the
difpofition and manners of thofe peoplef * He
was a man of learning, fent from the Court of
Pruffia folely to make aftronomical and natural
obfervations there ; and having no intereft in
the flavery of the Negroes, had not the fame in
ducement as moft other relators had, to mifre-
prefent the natives of Africa. He refided eight
years at and about the Cape of Good Hope,
during which time he examined with great care
into the cuftoms, manners, and the opinions of
the Hottentots, whence he fets thefe people in
a quite different light from what they appear
in former authors, whom he corrects, and
blames for the falsehoods they have wantonly
G 3 told

* See Kolbqn's account of the Cape pf Good Hope.

[ 86 ]
told of them. At p. 61, he fays, " The details
" we have in feveral authors, are for the moft
" part made up of inventions and hearfays,
" which generally prove falfe." Neverthelefs,
he allows they are juftly to be blamed for their
floth. — The love of liberty and indolence is their all:
compulfion is death to them. While neceffity obliges
them to work they are very tratlable, obedient, and
faithful; but when they have got enough to fatisfy
the prefent want, they are deaf to all further en
treaty. He alfo cenfures them for their naftinefs,
the effect of floth ; and for their love of drink,
and the practice of fome unnatural cuftoms,
which long ufe has eftablifhed amongft them ;
which, neverthelefs, from the general good dif
pofition of thefe people, there is great reafon to
believe they might be perfuaded to refrain from,
if a truly Chriftian care had been extended to
wards them. He fays, " They are eminently
*' diftinguifhed by many virtues, as their mutual
" benevolence, friendfhip, and hofpitality ; they
" breathe kindnefs and good-will to one ano-
" ther, and feek all opportunities of obliging.
" Is a Hottentot's afiiftance required by one of
" his countrymen ? he runs to give it. Is his
*' advice afked ? he gives it with fincerity. Is
" his countryman in want ? he relieves him to
" the wtmoft of his power." Their hofpitality
extends even to European strangers : in travel
ling through the Cape countries, you meet with
a chearful and open reception, in whatfoever vil
lage you come to. In fhort, he fays, p. 339,
" The integrity of the Hottentots, their ftridt-
«' nefs and celerity in the execution of juftice,
« and their charity, are equalled by few nations. " fa

( 87 )
fi* In alliances, their word is facred; there being
" hardly any thing they look upon as a fouler crime
" than, breach of engagements. Theft and adultery
*' they punifh with death. They firmly believe
there is a God, the author of all things, whom
they call the God of gods; but it does not ap
pear that they have any inftitution of worfhip
directly regarding this fupreme Deity. When
preffed on this article, they excufe themfelves by
a tradition, " That their firft parents fo grievoufly
" offended this great God, that he curfed them and
** their pofterity with hardnefs of heart; fo that
*c they know little about him, and have lefs inclina-
" tion to Jerve him." As has been already re
marked, thefe Hottentots are the only Negroe
nations bordering on the fea, we read of, who
are not concerned in making or keeping flaves.
Thofe flaves made ufe of by the Hollanders at
the Cape, are brought from other parts of Gui
nea. Numbers of thefe people told the anthor,
" That the vices they faw prevail amongft Chrif-
" tians ; their avarice, their envy and hatred of
" one another ; their reftlefs, difcontented tem-
" pers ; their lafcivioufnefs and injuftice, were
" the things that particularly kept the Hotten-
" tots from hearkening to Chriftianity."
Father Tachard, a French Jefuit, famous for
his travels in the Eaft Indies, in his account of
thefe people, fays, " The Hottentots have more
" honefty, love, and liberality for one another,
" than are almoft any where feen amongft Chrif-
" tians.

G 4 CHAP.

( 88 )
C H A P. X.

MAN-STEALING efteemed highly criminal,
and punifhable by the laws of Guinea: No Ne
groes allowed to be fold for flaves there, but
thofe deemed prifoners of war, or in punilh-
ment for crimes. Some of the Negroe rulers,
corrupted by the Europeans, violently infringe
the laws of Guinea. The King of Barfailay
noted in that refpedt,
BY an inquiry into the laws and cuftoms
formerly in ufe, and ftill in force amongft
the Negroes, particularly on the Gold Coaft, it
will be found, that provifion was made for the
general peace, and for the fafety of individuals;
even in W. Bofman's time, long after the Eu
ropeans had eftablifhed the flave-rtrade, the na-.
tives were not publicly enflaved, any otherwife
than in punifhment for crimes, when prifoners
of war, or by a violent exertion of the power
of their corrupted Kings, Where any of the
natives were ftolen, in order to be fold to the
Europeans, it was done fecretly, or at leaft,
only connived at by thofe in power: this appears
from Barbot and Bofman's account of the matter,,
both agreeing that man-ftealing was not allow
ed on the Gold Coaft, The firft, * fays, " Kid
napping

<<

?arbot, p. 303,

( 89 )
f( napping or ftealing of human creatures is punifh*
" ed there, and even fometimes with death." And
W. Bofman, whofe long residence on the coaft,
enabled him to fpeak with certainty, fays, -f-
" That the laws were fevere againft murder^
*c thievery, and adultery." And adds, " That
" man-ftealing was punijhed on the Gold Coaft with
<? rigid feverity, and fometimes with death itfelf.'*
Hence it may be concluded, that the fale of the
greateft part of the Negroes to the Europeans
is fupported by violence, in defiance of the laws,
through the knavery of their principal men, \ who
(as is too often the cafe with thofe in European
countries) under pretence of encouraging trade,
and increasing the public revenue, difregard the
dictates of juftice, and trample upon thofe liber
ties which they are appointed to preferve.
Francis Moor alio mentions man-ftealing as
being difcountenanced by the Negroe govern
ments on the river Gambia, and fpeaks of the in-
flaving the peaceable inhabitants, as a violence
which only happens under a corrupt administra
tion of juftice; he fays, * " The kings of that
" country generally advife with their head men,
" fcarcely doing any thing of confequence, with-
" out confulting them firft, except the King of
*' Barfailay, who being fubjedt to hard drinking,
*' is very abfolute. It is to this King's infati-
" able

f Bofman, p. 143. ,
X Note. Barbot, p. 270, fays, the trade of flaves is
\n a more peculiar manner the bufinefs of Kings, rich men,
and prime merchants, exclufive of the inferior fort of
blacks. * Moor, page 6 1.

[ 9° 3
" able thirft for brandy, that his fubjedts freedom
" and families are in fo precarious a fituation :"
cr * Whenever this King wants goods or brandy,
'* he fends a meffenger to the Englifh Governor
" at James Fort, to defire he would fend a (loop
" there with a cargo : this news, being not at all
*' unwelcome, the Governor fends accordingly.
" Againft the arrival of the floop, the King goes
*' and ranfacks fome of his enemies towns, feiz-
«* ing the people, and felling them for fuch com-
tf modities as he is in want of, which commonly
" are brandy, guns, powder, balls, piftols, cut-
" laffes, for his attendants and foldiers ; and
*' coral and filver for his wives and concubines.
" In cafe he is not at war with any neighbouring
" King, he then falls upon one of his own towns,
" which are numerous, and ufes them in the fame
" manner:" " He often goes with fome of his
" troops by a town in the day time, and return-
" ing in the night, fets fire to three parts of it,
" and putting guards at the fourth, there feizes
" the people as they run out from the fire ; he
" ties their arms behind them, and marches them
" either to Joar or Cohone, where he fells them
«* to the Europeans."
A. Brue, the French director, gives much the
fame account, and fays, f That having received
" goods, he wrote to the King, that if he had a
" fufficient number of flaves, he was ready to
" trade with him. This Prince, as well as other
" Negroe Monarchs, has always a fure way of
" fupplying his deficiencies, by felling his own
" fubjedts,

• Moor, p. 46. f Colle&ion, vol. 2. p. 29,

( 9* )
" fubjedts, for which they feldom want a pre-
" tence. The King had recourfe to this me-
" thod, by feizing three hundred of his own
" people, and fent word tp the director, that he
" had the flaves ready to deliver for the goods."
It feems, the King wanted double the quantity
of goods which the fadtor would give him for
thefe hundred flaves ; but the fadtor refufing
to truft him, as he was already in the Com
pany's debt, and perceiving that this refufal had
put the King much out of temper, he propofed
that he fhould give him a licence for taking fo
many more of his people, as the goods he ftill
wanted were worth ; but this the King refufed,
faying, " It might occafion a disturbance amongft
" his fubjedts."* Except in the above inftance, and

* Note, This Negroe King thus refufing to comply with
the fa&or's wicked propofal, Shews, he was fenfible his own
conduct was not juftifiable; and it likewife appears, the
factor's only concern was to procure the greateft number of
flaves, without any regard to the injuftice of the method
by which they were procured. This Andrew Brue, was,
for a long time, principal director of the French African
Factory in thofe parts ; in the management of which, he is
in the collection faid to have had an extraordinary fuccefs.
The part he ought to have acted as a Chriftian towards the
ignorant Africans feems quite out of the queftion ; the pro
fit of his employers appears to have been his fole concern.
At page 62, fpeaking of the country on the Senegal river,
he fays, " It was vexy populous, the foil rich ; and if the
" people were induftrious, they might, * of their own pro-
" duce, carry on a very advantageous trade with ftrangers ;
" there being but few things in which they could be ex-
" felled; but (he adds) it is to be hoped, the Europeans will

( 9* )
2nd fome others, where the power of the Negroe
Kings is unlawfully exerted over their fubjedts,
the flave trade is carried on in Guinea with fome
regard to the laws of. the country, which allow
of none to be fold, but prifoners taken in their
national wars, or people adjudged to flavery in
punifhment for crimes ; but the largenefs of
the country, the number of kingdoms or com
monwealths, and the great encouragement given
by the Europeans, afford frequent pretences
and opportunities to the bold defigning profli
gates of one kingdom, to furprize and feize upon
not only thofe of a neighbouring government,
but alfo the weak and helplefs of their own ; *
and the unhappy people, taken on thofe occa^
fions, are, with impunity, fold to the Europeans.
Thefe practices are doubtlefs difapproved of by
the moft considerate amongft the Negroes, for
Bofman acquaints us, that even their national
wars are not agreeable to fuch. He fays, -f- " If
" the perfon who occafioned the beginning of
" the war be taken, they will not eafily admit
" him to ranfom, though his weight in gold
" fhould be offered, for fear he fhould in future
" form fome new defign againft their repofe."
C H A P.

*' never let them into the fecret." A remark unbecoming-
'* humanity, much more Chriftianity!
* This inhuman practice is particularly defcribed by
Brue, in Coiled, vol. 2. p. 98, where he fays, " That fome
" of the natives are, on all occafions, endeavouring to fur-
" prize and carry off their country people. They land (fays
«* he) without noife, and if they find a lone cottage, without
" defence, they furroundit, and carry off all the people and
" effects 'to their boat, and immediately reimbark," This
feems to be moftly practifed by fome Negroes who dwell ott
the fea coaft. f Bofman, p. 155.

( 93 )
C H A P. XL

AN account of the fhocking inhumanity, ufed in
the carrying on of the flave trade, as defcribed
by factors of different nations, viz. by Francis
Moor, on the river Gambia ; and by John Bar
bot, A. Brue, and William Bofman, through
the coaft of Guinea. Note. Of the large re
venues arifing to the Kings of Guinea from'
the flave trade.
FIRST, Francis Moor, fadtor for the Englifh
African Company, on the river Gambia,
* writes, " That there are a number of Negroe
" traders, colled joncoes, or merchants, who
'* follow the flave trade as a bufinefs ; their
*' place of residence is fo high up in the country,
tc as to be fix weeks travel from James Fort*>
'c which is fituate at the mouth of that river.
" Thefe merchants bring down elephants teeth,
and in fome years two thoufand flaves, moft
" of which, they fay, are prifoners taken in war.
Cc They buy them from the different princes'
" who take them ; many of them are Bum-
" brongs and Petcharies ; nations, who each of
" them have different languages, and are brought
" from a vaft way inland. Their way of bring-
" ing them is tying them by the neck with leather
" thongs, at about ayard diftant from each other,.
" thirty or forty in a firing, having generally
" a bundle

Moor, page ?8.

«c

C 94 )
£t a bundle of corn or elephants teeth upon
" each of their heads. In their way from the
" mountains, they travel through very great
" woods, where they cannot for fome days get
" water ; fo they carry in fkin bags enough to
" fupport them for a time. I cannot," adds
Moor, " be certain of the number of merchants
" who follow this trade, but there may, per-
'* haps, be about an hundred, who go up into
*c the inland country, with the goods which
*' they buy from the white men, and with them
tc purchafe, in various countries, gold, flaves,
" and elephants teeth. Befides the flaves, which
11 the merchants bring down, there are many
<c bought along the river : thefe are either
l( taken in war, as the former are, or men con-
" demned for crimes-, or elfe people ftolen, which
" is very frequent. — Since the flave-trade has
" been ufed, all punifhments are changed into
" flavery ; there being an advantage on fuch
" condemnation, they ftrain for crimes very hard,
" in order to get the benefit of felling the criminal."
John Barbot, the French factor, in his ac
count of the manner by which the flaves are
procured, fays, " * The Slaves fold by the Ne-
" groes, are for the moft part prifoners of war,
" or taken in the incurfions they make in their
" enemies territories ; others are ftolen away
" by their neighbours, when found abroad on
" the road, or in the woods; or elfe in the corn
" fields, at the time of the year when their pa-
" rents keep them there all the day to fcare

John Barbot, page 47,

cc

away

( 95 )
" away the devouring fmall birds." Speaking
of the tranfadtions on that part of Guinea called
the Slave Coaft, where the Europeans have the
moft fadtories, and from whence they bring
away much the greateft number of flaves, the
fame author, and alfo Bofman, -f- fays, " The
" inhabitants of Coto do much mifchief, in
" Healing thofe flaves they fell to the Euro-
" peans, from the upland country. — That the
" inhabitants of Popo excel the former ; being
" endowed with a much larger fhare of cou-
" rage, they rob more fuccefsfully, by which
" means they increafe their riches and trade."
The author particularly remarks, " That they
" are encouraged in this prailice by the Europeans ;
" fometimes it happens, according to the fuc-
t( cefs of their inland excurfions, that they are
" able to furnifh two hundred flaves or more,
" in a few days." And he fays, " J The
" blacks of Fida, or Whidah, are fo expedi-
" tious in trading for flaves, that they can de-
*c liver a thoufand every month." — " If there
" happens to be no flock of flaves there, the
" factor muft truft the blacks with his goods,
" to the value of one hundred and fifty, or two
" hundred pounds ; which goods they carry up
" into the inland country, to buy flaves at all
*' markets jj, for above fix hundred miles up
" the

f Bofman, page 310.
% Barbot, page 326.
|| When the great income which arifes to the Negroe
Kings on the Slave Coaft, from the flaves brought through
their feveral governments, to be ihipped on board the Eu
ropean

( 96 )
" the country, where they are kept like cattle
" in Europe; the flaves fold there being gene-
" rally prifoners of war, taken from their ene^
€t mies like other booty, and perhaps fome few
*c fold by their own countrymen, in extreme
" want, or upon a famine, as alfo fome as a
" punifhment of heinous crimes." So far Bar-
bot's account; that given by William Bofman.
is as follows : tc * When the flaves which are
" brought from the inland countries come to
c< Whidah, they are put in prifon together;
" when we treat concerning buying them, they
" are all brought out together in a large plain,
" where, by our furgeons, they are thoroughly.
" examined, and that naked, both men and
" women, without the leaft diftinction or mo-
" defty.f Thofe which are approved as good, are.

tc

ropean veffels, is confidered, we have no caufe to wonder
that they give fo great a countenance to that trade : Wil-
lkm-Bofman fays, page 337, " That each Jhip which comes
" to Whidah to trade,, reckoning one with another, either by
" toll, trade, or cuftom, pays about four hundred pounds, and'1
" fcmetimes fifty Jhips come hither in a year." Barbot con-.,
firms the fame, and adds, page 350, " That in the neigh-
" bouring kingdom of Ardah, the duly to the King is the value.
" "f feventy or eighty flaves for each trading Jhip." Whicli'
is near half as much more as at Whidah; nor can the Eu
ropeans, concerned in the trade, with any degree of pro
priety, blame the African Kings for countenancing it,-
while they continue to fend veffels, on purpofe to take in
the flaves which are thus ftolen, and that they are permit
ted, under the fandtion of national laws, to fell them to
the colonies.
* Bofman, page 34.0.
t Note, from the above account of the indecent and-
(hocking manner in. which the unhappy Negroes are treated, ic

v 91 1
Vc'"are fet on one fide; itl the mean while a
" burning iron, with the arms or name of the
" company, lies in the fire, with which ours
" are marked on the breaft. When we have
" agreed with tfhe owners of the flaves, they
" are returned to their prifons, where, from
" that- time forward, they are kept at our
" charge, and coft us two pence a day each
*? flave, which ferves to fubfift them like cri-
**• minals on bread and water ; fo that to fave
" charges, we fend them on board our fhips
" the

it is reafonable for perfons unacquainted with thefe people,
to conclude them to be void of that natural modefty, fo be
coming a reafonable creature ; but thofe who have had in-
tercourfe with the Blacks in thefe northern colonies, know
that this would be a wrong conclufion, for they are indeed
as fufceptible of modefty and fhame as other people. It is
the unparalleled brutality, to which the Europeans have,
by long cuftom, been inured, which urgeth them, without
blufhing, to act fo fhameful a part. Such ufage is certainly
grievous to the poor Negroes, particularly the women ;
but they are flaves, and muft fubmit to this, or any other
abufe that is offered them by their cruel tafk-mafters, or
expect to be inhumanly tormented into acquiefcence. That
the Blacks are unaccuftomed to fuch brutality, appears from
an inftance mentioned in Aftley's Collection, vol. 2. page
201. viz. '" At an audience which Caffeneuve had of the
'" King of Congo, where he was ufed with a great deal of
" civility by the Blacks, fome flaves were delivered to
" him. The King obferving Caffeneuve (according to the
" cuftom of the Europeans) to handle the limbs of the
*' flaves, burft out' a laughing, as did the great rnen about
" him : the factor afking the interpreter the occafion of
" their mirth, was told it proceeded from his fo nicely
" examining the flaves. Neverthelefs, the King was fo
" ajhamed of it, that he defired him, for decency' s fake , to da
" it in a more private manner" H

C 9« 1
" the very firft opportunity} before which,
" their mafters ftrip them of all they have on
" their backs, fo that they come on board ftark
" naked, as well women as men. In which
" condition they are obliged to continue, if
" the mafter of the fhip is not fo charitable
" (which he commonly is) as to heftow fome-
" thing on them to cover their nakednefc. Six
u or feven hundred are fometimes put on board
" a veflel, where they lie as clofe together as
" it is poffible for them to be crouded,"

CHAP.

[ 99 1

CHAP. XII.
EXTRACTS of feveral Journals of Voyages
to the coaft of Guinea for flaves, whereby
the extreme inhumanity of that traffic is de
fcribed. Melancholy account of a fhip blown
up on that coaft, with a great number of
Negroes on board. Inftances of fhocking bar
barity perpetrated by mafters of veffels to
wards their flaves. Inquiry why thefe fcan-
dalous infringements, both of divine and
human laws, are overlooked by the govern
ment.
THE mifery and bloodfhed attendant on
the flave-trade, are fet forth by the fol
lowing extracts of two voyages to the coaft of
Guinea for flaves. The firft is in a veffel from
Liverpool, taken verbatim from the original
manufcript of the Surgeon's Journal, viz.
" Seftro, December the 2,9th, 1724. No trade
" to-day, though many traders came on board ;
" they informed us, that the people are gone
" to war within land, and will bring prifoners
" enough in two or three days, in hopes of
*c which we ftay."
The 30th. " No trade yet, but our traders
" came on board to-day, and informed us the
" people had burnt four towns of their ene-
«* mies, fo that to-morrow we expedt flaves off:
" another large fhip is come in. Yefterday
" came in a large Londoner."
The j 1 ft. " Fair weather, but no trade yet >
H 2 " we

[ roo J
" we fee~ each night towns burning, but we
" hear the Seftro men are many of them killed
" by the inland Negroes, fo that we fear this
" war will be unfuccefsful."
The ad of January.. " Laft night we faw
" a prodigious fire break out about eleven
" o'clock, and this morning fee the town of
" Seftro burnt down to the ground ; (it con-
" tained fome hundreds of houfes) fo that we
" find their enemies are too hard for them at
" prefent, and consequently our trade fpoiled
" here ; therefore, about feven o'cloek, we
" weighed anchor, as did likewife the three
«' other veffels, to proceed lower down."
The fecond relation, alfo taken from the ori
ginal manufcript Journal of a perfon of credit,
who went furgeon on the fame trade, in a veffel
from New York, about twenty years paft, is as
follows; viz. " Being on the coaft, the Com-
" mander of the veffel,. according to cuftom,,
" fent a perfon on fhore with a prefent to the
" King, acquainting him with his arrival, and
" letting him know, they wanted a cargo of
" flaves. The King promifed to furnifh them
" with the flaves; and, in order <to do it, fet
" out to go to war againft hisenemies ; design*-
" ing to furprife fome town, and take all the
" people prifoners. Some time after, the King
" lent them word, he had not yet met with the
" defired fuccefs ; having been twice repulfed,
" in attempting to break up two towns, but
" that he ftill hoped to procure a number of
*'• flaves for them ; and in this defign he. per-
" filled, till he met his enemies in the field,
" where a battle was fought, which lafted three
" days,

I 101 3
** days, during which time the engagement was
" fo bloody, that four thoufand five hundred
" men were flain on the fpot." The perfon
•who wrote the account, beheld the bodies, as
•they lay on the field of battle. " Think," fays
he in his Journal, " what a pitiable fight it was,
" to fee the widows weeping over their loft
xt hufbands, orphans deploring the lofs of their
<c fathers, &V.&V." In the 6th vol. ofChurchill's
Collection of Voyages, page 219, we have the
relation of a voyage performed by Captain
Philips, in a fhip of 450 tons, along the coaft
of Guinea, for elephants teeth, gold, and Ne
groe flaves, intended for Barbadoes ; in which
he fays, that they took " feven hundred flaves
" on board, the men being all put into irons
" two by two, fliackled together to prevent
" their mutinying or fwimming afhore. That
" the Negroes are fo loth to leave their own
" country, that they often leap out of the canoe,
" boat, or fhip, into the fea, and keep under
" water till they are drowned, to avoid being
" taken up, and faved by the boats which purfue
*c them," — They had about twelve Negroes who
willingly drowned themfelves ; others ftarved
themfelves to death.- — Philips was advifed to cut
off the legs and arms of fome to terrify the reft,
{as other Captains had done) but this he refufed
to do. From the time of his taking the Negroes on
board, to his arrival at Barbadoes, no lefs" than
three hundred andtwentydiedofvariousdifeafes.* H 3 Reader,

* The following relation is inferted at the requeft of the
author.
That I may contribute all in my power towards the good of

[ IOl ]
Reader, bring the matter home to thy own
heart, and confider whether any fituation can be

of mankind, by infpiring any individuals with a Suitable ab-
horence of that deteftable practice of trading in our fellow-
creatures, and in fome meafure atone for my neglect of duty
as a Chriftian, in engaging in that wicked traffic, I offer tp
their ferious confideration fome few occurrences, of which I
was an eye-witnefs ; that being ftruck with the wretched and
affe&ing fcene, they may fofter'that humane principle, which
is the noble and difinterefted charafteriftic of man, and im
prove it to the benefit of their children's children.
About the year 1749, I failed from Liverpool to the coaft
of Guinea. Some time after our arrival, I was ordered to
go up the country a confiderable diftance, upon having no
tice from one of the Negroe Kings, that he had a parcel of
flaves to difpofe of. I received my inftructions, and went,
carrying with me an account of fuch goods as we had on
board, to exchange for the flaves we intended to purchafe.
Upon being introduced, I prefented him with a fmall cafe
of Englifh fpirits, a gun, and fome trifles ; which having ac
cepted, and having understood by an interpreter what goods
we had, the next day was appointed for viewing the flaves ;
we found about two hundred confined in one place. But here
how fhall I relate the affecting fight I there beheld ! How
can I Sufficiently defcribe the Silent forrow which appeared
in the countenance of the afflicted father, and the painful
anguifh of the tender mother, expecting to be for ever fe-
parated from their tender offspring; the diftreffed maid,
wringing her hands in prefage of her future wretehednefs,
and the general cry of the innocent from a dreadful appre-
lenfion of the perpetual flavery to which they were doomed !
Under a fenfe of my offence to God, in the perfon of his
creatures, I acknowledge I purchafed eleven, whom I con
ducted tied two and two to the fliip. Being but a fmall
fhip, (ninety ton) we foon purchafed our cargo, confifting
of one hundred and feventy flaves, whom thou mayeft,
reader, range in thy view, as they were fhackled two and
two together, pent up within the narrow confines of the
mam deck, with the complicated diftrefs offrcknefs, chains, end.

t i°3 3
.be more -completely miferable, than that of
thefe di Arretted captives. When we reflect that
each individual of this number had probably
fome tender attachment, which was broken by
this cruel feparation; fome parent or wife, who
had not an opportunity of mingling tears in a
parting embrace ; perhaps fome infants, or aged
parents, whom his labour was to feed, and vigi
lance protect ; themfelves under the moft dread
ful apprehension of an unknown perpetual fla
very ; confined within the narrow limits of a
¦veffel, where often feveral hundreds lie as clofe
H 4 as

and contempt.; deprived of every fond and focial tie, and,
in a great meafure, reduced to a ftate of defperation. We
had not been a fortnight at fea, before the fatal confe-
quence of this defpair appeared ; they formed a defign of re
covering their natural right, Liberty, by rifing and mur
dering every man on board; but the goodnefs of the Al
mighty rendered their fcheme abortive, and his mercy fpared
us to have time to repent. The plot was difepvered ; the
ring-leader, tied by the two thumbs over the barricade door,
at fun-rife received a number of lafhes : in this fituation he
remained till fun-fet, expofed to the infults and barbarity
of the brutal crew of failors, with full leave to exercife their
cruelty at pleafure. The confequence of this wa.s, that next
morning the miferable fufferer was found dead, flayed from
the fhoiilders to the waift. The next victim was a youth,
who, from too Strong a fenfe of his mifery, refufed nourifh-
jnent, and died difregarded and unnoticed, tiH the hogs had
fed on part of his flefh. Will not Chriftianity blufh at this
impious facrilege ? May the relation of it ferve to call back
the ftruggling remains of humanity in the hearts of thofe,
who, from a love of wealth, partake in. any degree of this op-
preflive gain ; and have fuch an effect on the minds of the fiii-
cere, as may be productive of peace, the happy effect of true
repentance for,paft tranfgreflions, and a refolution to renounce
all connexion with it for the time to come.

[ 104 3
as poflible. Under thefe aggravated diftrefles,
they are often reduced, to a ftate of defpair, in
which many have been frequently killed, -and
fome deliberately put to death under the greateft
torture, when they have attempted to rife, in
order to free themfelves from 'prefent mifery,-and
the flavery defigned them, f Many accounts of
this nature might be mentioned.; indeed from
the vaft number of veffels employed in the trade,
and the repeated relations in the public prints
of Negroes rifing on board the veffels from Gui
nea, it is more than probable, that many fuch
inftances occur every year. I fhall only mention
one example of this kind, by which the reader
may judge of the reft; it is in Aftley's Collection,
vol. 2. page 449, related by John Atkins, fur
geon on board Admiral Ogle's fquadron, of one
" Harding, mafter of a veffel in which feveral
" of the men-flaves and women-flaves attempt-
" ed to rife in order to recover their liberty;
<l fome of whom the mafter, of his own author
** rity, feritenced to cruel death, making them
<c first eat the heart and liver of one of thofe he
" had killed. The women he hoifted by the
" thumbs, whipped, and flafhed with knives be-
" fore the other flaves, till fne died*." As de-
teftable

f See the Appendix.
* A memorable inftance of fome of the dreadful effects of
the flave-trade, happened about five years paft, on a fhip
from this port, then at anchor about three miles from fhore,
near Acra Fort, on the coaft of Guinea. They had pur
chafed between four and five hundred Negroes, and were
ready to fail for the Weft-Indies. It is cuftomary on board
thofe veffels, to keep the men fhackled two by two, each by
one

[ i©5 3
testable and fhocking as this may appear to fuch
whofe- hearts' are not yet hardened by the prac
tice of that cruelty, which the love of wealth by
degrees introduceth into the human mind, ic
¦Will not be Arrange to thofe who have been con-
¦cerned or employed in the trade.
Now here arifes a neceffary query to thofe how
hold the balance of justice, and who muft be ac
countable

one leg to a ffnall iron bar ; thefe are every day brought on
"the deck for the benefit of the air ; and left they fhould at
tempt to recover their freedom, they are made, fait to two
common chains, which are extended each fide the main deck ;
the women and children are loofe. This was the fituation of
the flaves on board this veffel, when it took fire by means of
a perfon who was drawing fpirits by the light of a lamp ;
the cafk burfting, the fire fpread with fo much violence, that
in about ten minutes, the failors, apprehending it impoffi-
ble to extinguifh it before it could reach a large quantity of
powder they had on board, concluded it neceffary to eaft
themfelves into the fea, as the only chance of faving their
lives ; and firft they endeavoured to loofe the chains by which
the Negroe men were fattened on the deck ; but in the con-
fufion the key being miffing, they had but juft time to loofe
one of the chains by wrenching the ftaple ; when the vehe
mence of the fire fo increafed, that they all but one man jump
ed over board, when immediately the fire having gained the
powder, the veffel blew up with all the flaves who remained
fattened to the one chain, and fuch others as had not follow
ed the failors examples. There happened to be three Por
tugueze veflels in fight, who, with others from the fhore,
putting out their boats, took up about two hundred and fifty
of thofe poor fouls who remained alive ; of which number,
about fifty died on fhore, being moftly of thofe who were
fettered together by iron fhackles, which, as they jumped
into the fea, had broken their legs, and thefe fractures being
inflamed.tjy fo long a Struggle in the fea, probably mortifi
ed, which occafioned the death of every one that was Co
wounded. The two hundred remaining alive, were foon
difpofed of, for account of the owners, to other purchafers.

[ ie>6 3
countable to God for the ufe they have made of
it, That as the principles on which the Britifh.
constitution is founded, are fo favourable to the
common rights of mankind, how it has happened
that the laws which countenance this iniquitous
traffic, have obtained the fanction of the legifla-
ture ? and that the executive part of government
fhould fo long fhut their ears to continual re
ports of the barbarities perpetrated againft thefe
unhappy people, and leave the trading fubjedts
at liberty to trample on the moft precious rights
of others, even without a rebuke r Why are the
matters of veffels thus fuffered to be the fove,-
reign arbiters of the lives of the miferable Ne<-
groes, and allowed with impunity thus to def-
troy (may I not properly fay, to murder) their fel
low-creatures ; and that by means fo cruel, as
cannot be even related but with fhame and hor-*
ror?

CHAP.

[ 107 ]

CHAP. XIII.

USAGE of the Negroes, when they arrive in
the Weft Indies. An hundred thoufand Ne
groes brought from Guinea every year to the
Englifh colonies. The number of Negroes
who die in the paffage and feafoning. Thefe
are, properly fpeaking, murdered by the pro-
fecution of this infamous traffic. Remarks
on its dreadful effecls and tendency.

WHEN the veffels arrive at their deftined
port in the colonies, the poor Negroes
are to be difpofed of to the planters ; and here
they are again expofed naked, without any dif-
tindtion of fexes, to the brutal examination of
their purchafers; and this, it may well be judg
ed, is, to many, another occafion of deep dif-
trefs. Add to this, that near connexions muft
now again be feparated, to go with their feveral
purchafers ; this muft be deeply affecting to alj,
but fuch whofe hearts are feared by the love of
gain. Mothers are feen hanging over their
daughters, bedewing their naked breafts with
tears, and daughters clinging to their parents,
not knowing what new ftage of diftrefs muft fol
low their feparation, or whether they fhall ever
meet again. And here what fympathy, what
commiferation, do they meet with ? Why, in
deed, if they will not feparate as readily as their
owners think proper, the whipper is called for,
and

I 108 3
and the lafh exercifed upon their naked bodies,
till obliged to part. Can any human heart,
which has not become callous by the pradlice of
fuch cruelties, be unconcerned, even at the re
lation of fuch grievous affliction, to which this
oppreffed part of our fpecies are fubjedted.
In a book, printed in Liverpool, called-T^
Liverpool Memorandum, which contains, amongft
other things, an account of the trade of that
port, there is an exact lift of the veffels employ
ed in the Guinea trade, and of the number
of flaves imported in each veffel ; by which it
appears that in the year 1753, the number im
ported to America by one hundred and one vef
fels belonging to that port, amounted to up,
wards of thirty thoufand; and from the number
of veffels employed by the African company in
London and Bristol, we may, with fome degree
of certainty, conclude, there are one hundred
thoufand Negroes purchafed and brought on
board our fhips yearly from the coaft of Africa.
This is confirmed in Anderfon's Hiftory of Trade
and Commerce, lately printed ; where it is faid,
" * That England fupplies her American colo-
*' nies with Negroe flaves, amounting in number
" to about one hundred thoufand every year."
When the veflels are full freighted with flaves,
they fail for our plantations in America, and may
be two or three months in the voyage ; during
which time, from the filth and flench that is
among them, distempers frequently break out,
which

* Appendix to Anderfon's Hiftory, page 68,

[' io9 ]
which carfy off commonly a fifth, a fourth, yea
fometimes a third or more of them: fo that taking
all the flaves together, that are brought on board
our fhips yearly, one may reafonably fuppofe that
at leaft ten thoufand of them die on the voyage.
And in a printed account of the ftate of the Ne
groes in our plantations, it is fuppofed that a
fourth part, more or lefs, die at the different
iflands, in what is called the feafoning. Hence
it may be prefumed, that at a moderate com
putation of the flaves who are purchafed by our
African merchants in a year, near thirty thou
fand die upon the voyage, and in the feafoning.
Add to this, the prodigious number who are
killed in the incurfions and inteftine wars, by
which the Negroes procure the number of flaves
wanted to load the veffels. How dreadful then
is this flave-trade, whereby fo many thoufands
of our fellow creatures, free by nature, endued
with the fame rational faculties, and called to be
heirs of the fame falvation with us, lofe their
lives, and are, truly and properly fpeaking, mur
dered every year ! for it is not neceffary, in order
to convict a man of murder, to make it appear
that he had an intention to commit murder. Who
ever does, by unjuft force or violence, deprive
another of his liberty, and, while he hath him
in his power, continues fo to oppress him by
cruel treatment, as eventually to occafion his
death, is actually guilty of murder. It is enough
to make a thoughtful perfon tremble, to think
what a load of guilt lies upon our nation on this
account ; and that the blood of thoufands of
poor innocent creatures, murdered every year
in the profecution of this wicked trade, cries
aloud

[ 116 3
aloud to Heaven for vengeance, Were we to
hear or read of a nation that deftroyed every year,
in fome other way, as many human creatures as
perifh in this trade, we fhould certainly confider
them as a very bloody, barbarous people. If it
be alledged, that the legiflature hath encourag
ed, and ftill do encourage this trade ; it is an-
fwered, that no legiflature on earth can alter the
nature of things, fo as to make that to be right
which is contrary to the law of God (the fupreme
Legiflature and Governor of the world) and op-
pofeth the promulgation of the Gofpel of peace
on earth, and good-will to man. Injuftice may be
methodized and eftabliihed by law, but ftill it
will be injuftice, as much as it was before -,
though it being fo eftablifhed may render men
more infenfible of the guilt, and more bold and
fecure in the perpetration of it.

CHAP.

I i» 3

CHAP. XlV.

OBSERVATIONS on the difpofition and capa
city of the Negroes : Why thought inferior
to that of the Whites. Affecting inftances of
the flavery of the Negroes. Reflections thereon.

DOUBTS may arife in the minds of fome,
whether the foregoing accounts, relating
to the natural capacity and good difpofition of
the inhabitants of Guinea, and of the violent
manner in which they are faid to be torn from
their native land, are to be depended upon ; as
thofe Negroes who are brought to us, are not
heard to complain, and do but feldom mani
feft fuch a docility and quicknefs of parts, as is
agreeable thereto. But thofe who make thefe ob
jections, are defired to note the many difcou
ragements the poor Africans labour under, when
brought from their native land. Let them con
fider, that thofe afflicted Arrangers, though in an
enlightened Chriftian country, have yet but little
opportunity or encouragement to exert and im
prove their natural talents : They are conftantly
employed in fervile labour; and the abject con
dition in which we fee them, naturally raifes an
idea of a fuperiority in ourfelves ; whence we,
are apt to look upon them as an ignorant and
contemptible part of mankind. Add to this,
that they meet with very little encouragement of
freely converting with fuch of the Whites, as
might

might impart instruction to them. It is a fond-
nefs for wealth, for authority, or honour, which
prompts moft men in their endeavours to excell ;
but thefe motives can have littletnfiuence upon
the minds of the Negroes ; few of them having
any reafonable prolpect of a,ny o^her than a ftate
of flavery ; fo that, though their natural ca^
parities were ever fo good, they have neither
inducement or opportunity to exert them to ad*
vantage. This naturally tends to deprefs their
minds, and fink their fpirits into habits of idle-
nefs and floth, which they would, in all likeli
hood, have been free from, had they ftQpd, upon
an equal footing with the white people. They
are fuffered, with impunity, to cohabit together,
without being married ; and to part, when fo-
lemnly engaged to one another as man ?nd wife;
notwithftanding the moral and religious laws of
the land, ftrictly prohibiting fuch practices.
This naturally tends to beget apprehenfions in
the moft thoughtful of thofe people, that we look
upon them as a lower race, not worthy of the
fame care, nor liable, to the fame revyards and
punilhments as ourfelves. Neverthelefs it may
with truth be faid, that both amongft thofe who
have obtained their freedom, and thofe who re
main in fervitude, fome have manifefteclaftrong
fagacity and an exemplary uprightnefs of heart.
If this hath, not been generally the cafe with them
is it a matter of fijrprize ? Have we not reafon to
make the fame complaint of many white fer-
vants, when difcharged from our fervice, though
many of tliem have had much greater opportu*
nities of knowledge and improvement than the
blacks ; who, even when free, labour under the
fame

[ n3 3
fame difficulties as before : having but little ac-
cefs to, and intercourfe with, the moft reputable
white people, they remain confined within their
former limits of converfation. And if they fel
dom complain of the unjuft and cruel ufage they
have received, in being forced from their native
country, &c. it is not to be wondered at; it
being a considerable time after their arrival
amongft us, before they can fpeak our language;
and, by the time they are able to exprefs them
felves, they have great reafon to believe, that
little or no notice would be taken of their com
plaints : yet let any perfon inquire of thofe who
are capable of reflection, before they were
brought from their native land, and he will hear
fuch affecting relations, as, if not loft to the
common feeling's of humanity, will fenfibly affect
his heart. The cafe of a poor Negroe, not long
fince brought from Guinea, is a recent inftance
of this kind. From his firft arrival, he appeared
thoughtful and dejedted, frequently dropping
tears when taking notice of his mailer's child
ren, the caufe of which was not known till he
was able to fpeak Englifh, when the account he
gave of himfelf was, *< That he had a wife and
" children in his own country; that fome of thefe
" being fick and thirfty, he went in the night
" time to fetch water at a fpring, where he was
" violently feized and carried away by perfons
" who lay in wait to catch men, from whence he
*' was transported to America. The remem-
" brance of his family, friends, and other con-
ft nexions, left behind, which he never expected
" to fee any more, were the principal caufe of
his dejection and grief." Many cafes, equally
I affecting,

«

C "4 3
affecting, might be here mentioned j but one
more inftance, which fell under the notice of a
perfon of credit, will suffice. One of thefe
wretched creatures, then about fifty years of age,
nformed him, " That being violently torn from
' a wife and feveral children in Guinea, he was
c fold in Jamaica, where never expecting to fee
his native land or family anymore, he joined
himfelf to a Negroe woman, by whom he had
two children : after fome years, it anting the
intereft of his owner to remove him, he was
feparated from his fecond wife and children,
and brought to South Carolina, where expedt*
ing to fpend the remainder of his days, he en
gaged with a third wife, by whom he had an*
other child; but here the fame confequence
of one man being fubjedl to the will and
pleafure of another man occurring, he was
feparated from this laft wife and child,
and brought into this country, where he re
mained a flave." Can any, whofe mind is
not rendered quite obdurate by the love of
weahh, hear thefe relations, without being
deeply touched with fympathy and forrow ? And
doubflefs the cafe of many, very many of thefe
afflicted people, upon inquiry, would be found
to be attended with circumstances equally tra-»
gical and aggravating. And if we inquire of thofe
Negroes, who were brought away from their na-.
tive country when children, we fhall find moft
of them to have been ftolen away, when abroad
from their parents on the roads, in the woods,
or Watching their corn-fields. Now, you that
have ftudied the book of confcience, and you
that are] learned in the law,, wha,t wiU you fay to
fuch

I »5 3
fuch deplorable cafes.? When, and how, have thefe
oppreffed people forfeited their liberty ? Does
not juftice loudly call for its being restored to
them ? Have they not -the- fame right to demand
it, as any of us should have, if we had been vio
lently fnatched by pirates from our native land?
Is it not the duty of every difpenfer of juftice,
who is not forgetful of his own humanity, to re
member that thefe are men, and to declare them
free ? Where inftances of fuch cruelty frequently
occur, and are neither inquired into, nor re-
dreffed, by thofe whofe duty it is, to feek judg
ment, and relieve the oppreffed, Ifaiah i. 17. what
can be expected, but that the groans and cries of
thefe fufferers will reach Heaven, and what fhall
we do when God rifeth up ? And when he vifiteth,
what will ye anfwer him P Did not he that made
them, make us •, and did not one fafhion us in the
V&omb? Job raxxi. 14.

la CHAP.

[ us- 3

CHAP. XV."

THE expediency of a general freedom being
granted to the Negroes confidered. Reafons
why it might be productive of advantage and
fafety to the Colonies,
IT is fcarce to be doubted, but_that the fore
going accounts will beget in the hearts of the
confiderate readers an earnest defire to fee a flop
put to this complicated evil; but the objection
with many is, What fhall be done with thofe
Negroes already imported, and born in our
families ? Muft they be fent to Africa ? That
would be to expofe them, in a Arrange land, to
greater difficulties than many of them labour
under at prefent. To fet them fuddenly free
here, would be perhaps attended with no lefs
difficulty; for, undifciplined as they are in re
ligion and virtue, they might give a loofe to
their evil habits, which the fear of a mafter
would have reftrained. Thefe are objections,
which weigh with many well difpofed people,
and it muft be granted, thefe are difficulties in
the way; nor can any general change be made, or
reformation effedled, without fome j but the
difficulties are not fo great but that they may be
furmounted. If the government was fo confi
derate of the iniquity and danger attending on
this pradlice, as to be willing to feek a remedy,
doubtlefs the Almighty would blefs this good
intention,

t n> 3
Intention, and fuch methods would be thoifghfi
of, as would not only put an end to the unjuffi
oppreffion of the Negroes, but might bririg them
under regulations, that would enable them, to
become profitable members of fociety •, for the
furtherance of which the following propofals are
offered for confideration : That all further im
portation of flaves be abfolutely prohibited ; and
as to thofe born among us, after ferving fo long
as may appear to be equitable, let them by law
be declared free. Let every one, thus fet free,
be enrolled in the county courts, and be obliged
to be a refident, during a certain number of
years, within the faid county, under the care of
the overfeers of the poor. Thus being, in fome
fort, ftill under the direction of governors, and
the notice of thofe who were formerly acquainted
with them, they would be obliged to act the
more circumfpedtly, and make proper ufe of
their liberty, and their children would have an
opportunity of obtaining fuch instructions, as
are neceffary to the common occafions of life;
and thus both parents and children might gra
dually become ufeful members of the communi
ty. And further, where the nature of the counj
try would permit, as certainly the uncultivated
condition of our fouthern and moft weftern co
lonies eafily would, fuppofe a fmall tract of land
were assigned to every Negroe family, and they
obliged to live upon and improve it, (when not
hired out to work for the white people) this
would encourage them to exert their abilities,
and become industrious fubjedts. Hence, both
planters and tradefmen would be plentifully fup-
plied with chearful and willing-minded labour-
I 3 crs»

[ »« 1
ers, much vacant land would be cultivated, the
produce of the country be juftly increafed, the
taxes for the fupport of government leffened to
the individuals, by the increafe of taxables, and
the Negroes, inftead of being an object of ter-
rorj-,'as they certainly muft be to the government
where their numbers are great, would become
interefted in their fafety and welfare.

f The hard ufage the Negroes meet within the plantati
ons, and the great difproportion between them and the
white people, will always be a juft caufe of terror. In Jam
aica, and fome parts of South-Carolina,, it is fuppofed that
there ate fifteen blacks to one white.

CHAP,

t "9 3

CHAP. XVL

ANSWER t;o a mistaken opinion, that the
warmth of the climate in the Welt Indies, will
not permit the white people to labour there.
No complaint of difability in the whites, in
that refpedt, in the fettlement of the iflartdSa,
Idlenefs and difeafes prevailed, as the ufe of
flaves increafed. The great advantage which
might accrue to the Britifh nation, If the flave
trade was entirely laid afide, and a fair and
friendly commerce eftablifhed through the
whole coaft of Africa.
IT is frequently offered as an argument, in
vindication of the ufe of Negroe flaVes, that
the warmth of the climate in the Weft Indies
will not permit white people to labour in the cul*
ture of the land ; but upon an acquaintance with
the nature of the climate, and its effedls upon fuch
labouring white people, as are prudent and
moderate in labour, and the ufe of fpirituous
liquors, this will be found to be a miftaken opi
nion. Thofe iflands were, at firft, wholly cul
tivated by white men j the encouragement they
then met with, for a long courfe of years, was
fuch as occafioned a great increafe of people*.
Richard Ligon, in his Hiftory of Barbadoes*
where he refided from the year 1647 to 1650*
about 24 years after the firft fettlement, writes*
" that there were then fifty thoufand fouls on
I 4 '! that

r

[ «o J
ie that ifland, befides Negroes ; and that thongf?
" the weather was very hot, yet not fo fcalding
t( but that fervants, both Chriftians and flaves
" laboured ten hours a day." By other accounts
we gather, that the white people have fince de-
creafed to lefs than one half the number which
was there at that time ; and by relations of the
firft fettlements of the other iflands, we do not
meet with any complaints of unfitnefs in the
white people for labour there, before flaves were
introduced. The ifland of Hifpaniola,. which
is one of the largest of thofe iflands, was at firft
planted by the Buccaneers, a fet of hardy labori
ous men, who continued fo for a longcourfe of
years ; till following the example of their neigh
bours, in thepurchafe and ufe of Negroe flaves,
idlenefs andexcefs prevailing, debility and difeafe
naturally fucceeded, and have ever fince continu
ed. If, under proper regulations, liberty was
proclaimed through the colonies, the Negroes,
from dangerous, grudging, half-fed flaves, might
become able, willing-minded labourers. And
if there was not a fufficient number of thofe to
do the neceffary work, a competent number of
labouringpeoplemight be procured fromEurope,
which affords numbers of poor diftreffed objects,
who, if not overworked, with proper ufage,
might, in feveral refpedts, better anfwer every
good purpofe in performing the neceffary labour
in the iflands, than the flaves now do.
A farther considerable advantage might accrue
to the British nation in general, if the flave trade
was laid afide, by the cultivation of a fair friend
ly, and humane commerce with the Africans;
without which, it is notpoffible the inland trade of

[ 121 ] .
of that country fhould ever be extended to
the degree it is capable of; for while the fpirit
of butchery and making flaves of each other, is
promoted by the Europeans amongft the Ne
groes, no mutual confidence can take place ;
nor will the Europeans be able to travel with
iafety into the heart of their country, to form
and cement fuch commercial friendfhips and al
liances, as might be neceffary to introduce the
arts and fciences amongft them, and engage their
attention to inftrudtion in the principles of the,
Chriftian religionj which is the only fure founda
tion of every focial virtue. Africa has about ten
thoufand miles of fea coaft, and extends in depth
near three thoufand miles from eaft to weft, and
as much from north to fouth, ftored with vaft
treafures of materials, neceffary for the trade
and manufactures of Great-Britain ; and from its
climate, and the fruitfulnefs of its foil, capable,
under proper management, of producing, in the
greatest plenty, moft of the commodities which
are imported into Europe from thofe parts of
America fubjedt to the Englifh governmentfj
and as, in return, they would take our manu^
fadtures, the advantages of this trade would foon
become fo great, that it is evident this fubjedt
merits the regard and attention of the govern*
ment.

f See note, page 91,

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

QUERIES propofed, in the Univerfal Dictio
nary of Trade and Commerce, by MalachV
Postlethwait, who was a Member of the
African Committee.
I. Whether fo extenfive and populous a coun
try as Africa is, will not admit of a far more
extenfive and profitable trade to Great Britain,
than it yet ever has done ?
II. Whether the people of this country, not
withftanding their colour, are not capable of
being civilized, as well as great numbers of the
Indians in America and Afia have been? and
whether the primitive inhabitants of all coun
tries, fo far as we have been able to trace them,
were not once as favage and inhumanized as the
Negroes of Africa ? and whether the ancient
Britons themfelves, of this our own country,
were not once upon a level with the Africans ?
III. Whether, therefore, there is not a pro
bability that this people might, in time, by
proper management in the Europeans, become
as wife, as induftrious, as ingenious, and as hu
mane, as the people of any other country has
done? IV. Whether their rational faculties are not,
in the general, equal to thofe of any other of
the human fpecies ; and whether they are not,
from experience, as capable of mechanical and
manufactoral arts and trades, as even the bulk
of the Europeans ? V. Whether

[ ™3 ]
V. Whether it would not be more to the in
tereft of all the European nations concerned in
the trade to Africa, rather to endeavour to cul
tivate a friendly, humane, and civilized com
merce with thofe people, into the very center of
their extended country, than to content them
felves only with fkimming a trifling portion of
trade upon the fea coaft of Africa ?
VI. Whether the greateft hindrance and ob-
ftrudlion to the Europeans cultivating a humane
and Chriftian-like commerce with thofe popu
lous countries, has not wholly proceeded from
that unjuft, inhumane, and unchriftian-like traf
fic, called the Slave Trade, which is carried on
by the Europeans ?
VII. Whether this trade, and this only, was
not the primary caufe, and ftill continues to be
the chief caufe, of thofe eternal and inceffant
broils, quarrels, and animofities, which fubfift
between the Negroe princes and chiefs ; and
confequently thofe eternal wars which fubfift
among them, and which they are induced to
carry on, in order to make prifoners of one an
other, for the fake of the Slave Trade ?
VIII. Whether, if trade was carried on with
them for a feries of years, as it has been with
moft other favage countries, and the Europeans
gave no encouragement whatever to the Slave
Trade, thofe cruel wars among the blacks would
not ceafe, and a fair and honourable commerce
in time take place throughout the whole coun
try? IX. Whether the example of the Dutch, in
the Eaft Indies, who have civilized innumerable
of the natives, and brought them to the Euro pean

[ I24 3
pean way of cloathing, &c. does not give rda*
fonable hopes that thefe fuggeflions are not
visionary, but founded on experience, as well
as on humane and Chriftian-like principles ?
X. Whether commerce in general has not
proved the great means of civilizing all nations,
even the moft favage and brutal ; and why not
the Africans ?
XI. Whether the territories of thofe European
jiations, that are interefted in the colonies and
plantations in America, are not populous enough,
or may not be rendered fo, by proper encourage
ment given to matrimony, and to the breed of
foundling infants, to fupply their refpedlive co
lonies with labourers, in the place of Negroe
•flaves ?
XII. Whether the Britifh dominions in gene
ral have not an extent of territory fufficient to
increafe and multiply their inhabitants; and
whether it is not their own fault that they do
not increafe them fufficiently to fupply their
colonies and plantations with whites inftead of
blacks ?

EXTRACT

[ i*5 3

EXTRACT of a Letter from Harry Gaudy
of Briftol, formerly a Captain in the Afri
can Trade, to William Dillwyn of Wal-
thamftow, dated 26th of 7th Month 1783.
" I wrote thee a few lines the 8th, in reply
to thine of the 3d inftant, intending to anfwer
thy poflfcript, concerning the African Trade,
another opportunity. Since then I have care
fully perufed Anthony Benezet's Tracts on that
fubjedt : whilft reading them, I felt fuch reflec
tions arife as I never experienced before, doubt
lefs owing to my formerly being lefs convinced
of the iniquity of fuch a traffic than I am now.
His Treatifes appear to me incontrovertible,
and fupported by good authority. Whoever
reads them, and remains infenfible of the unpa
ralleled injuftice of fuch a trade, muft require
fomething more than proofs and arguments to
break the callous membrane of his obdurate
heart. Though the love of gain has been the
only incentive to it, and example, authorifed
by human laws, has infenfibly led many to en
gage in it, yet, on fuch ftrong fuggeftions of
its injuftice and lamentable effects, many, I truft,
who, like myfelf, once approved, would not
only inftantly decline it, but earnestly contribute
their endeavours to abolifh it, and fubftitute in
its ftead, a commercial correfpondence with the
Africans, by an exchange of commodities on
fecial and friendly principles; which 1 conceive
may be done to great mutual advantage. Be
fore I had attentively re-perufed the above-men
tioned tracts, I thought (as I hinted in my laft
letter)

[ iaff ]
letter) I had fomething to communicate that
might throw a little light on this interefting fub
jedt ; but the many correct defcriptions of the
coaft, and interior parts of Africa, its fertility
and produce, as well as of the genius, temper,
and difpofition of the inhabitants, contained in
them, have induced me to think fo contempti
bly of what I had to offer, that I am now almost
afhamed to mention it. I fhall therefore re
duce what I had in view to the few following
remarks and occurrences, t
Strongly prepofleffed with a roving difpofition
when very young, I embraced the firft opportu
nity that prefented of going to fea from this city,
and foon afterwards was perfuaded, for the fake
of better wages, to go to London, where I fhip-
ped myfelf on board a fmall fnow, belonging
to the African Company, John Bruce Com*.
mander, bound to the river Gambia ; about 200
miles up that river we got our cargo, confuting
of 190 flaves, whereof upwards of 100 were
remarkably flout men, fhackled and handcuffed
two and two together, They meffed, as ufual,
twice a day on deck ; at which times we always
flood to arms, pointed through the barricado,
as well to deter as fupprefs an insurrection, if
attempted. Notwithftanding this precaution, it
fo fell out, foon after our leaving the coaft, that
fome of the men flaves privately loofed their
manacles, and rofe at noon day; and although
our people immediately difcharged their loaded
mufkets among them, yet they quickly broke
open the barricado door, forced the cutlafs, from
the centry, and after a few minutes conteft with.
our people, cleared the quarter-deck of them, who

[ 127 3
who retreated as they could up the fhrouds into
the tops. During this conflict, I was fitting
quite abaft, on one of the ftern hen-coops, fhift-
ing my cloaths : the fight alarmed me exceed
ingly, fo that I knew not what to do, nor where
to go ; to advance was certain death, and to
retreat feemed impoffible. In this dilemma I
looked over the ftern, if haply I might fee a
rope fit to fufpend me there out of their fight ;
for either they had not yet feen me, or if they
had, did not think me worth their notice : how
ever, by this means I faw the cabin windows
were open, and immediately going that way
into it, told Captain Bruce, who was then ex
tremely ill in bed, that the Negroes had driven
the people all aloft, and taken the veffel. On
this surprizing news, the Captain got up, weak
as he was, and went with me to a loaded arm^
cheft in the fteerage, where alfo lay one of our
men very ill : he likewife got up, and with the
Captain and myfelf took, each of us, a loaded
piece, firft removing the ladder to prevent the
Negroes coming down. By this time they had
furrounded the companion, and being fupplied
with billets of wood out of the hold, by the
way of the main deck, they threw them down
at us, as opportunity permitted. On the other
hand, we three in the fteerage fired at them, as
often as we could, from loaded pieces taken out.
of the arm- cheft. By this means, often repeat-.
ed, many foon lay dead ^bout the companion j
and thofe who. happened to be fettered with
them, not being able to get away, of courfe
fhared the fame fate: this at length fo intimi
dated the reft, that they quitted the quarter deck,

[ •"« 3
deck, which we directly mounted, and being
joined by the reft of our company from aloft,
the Captain ordered us to fire a volley among
the thickeft of the Negroes, on which the fur-
vivors fled and concealed themfelves as they
could. As foon as this bloody piece of bufi
nefs was over, a no lefs dreadful fcene enfued :
the Captain having ordered every wounded flave
to be brought on deck, directed the Doctor to
examine the wounds, and wherever he pro
nounced a cure improbable, the poor wounded
creature was ordered to jump into the fea, which
many of them did with all feeming chearfulnefs,
and were drowned ; fome only desiring to take
leave of thofe they were to be thus parted from,
and then alfo plunging into the water without
the leaft apparent reluctance. This deliberate
clofe of the horrid bufinefs appeared to me,
young and thoughtlefs as I was, more fhocking
than the former part of it. Another piece of
cruelty committed on board that fnow, I may
alfo mention, though out of the order of time,
as it happened fome time before the infurredtion
which I have related. One of the men flaves
being fufpedled of exciting others to rebel, was
therefore feparated from his companion ; and
being fhackled and hand-cuffed fingly, his feet
were made faft to the ring boll, and the burton
tackle hooked in the bolt of his hand-cuffs :
with that purchafe, he was fo ftretched in a per
pendicular pofture, as nearly to diflocate every
joint ; and in this inhuman manner, expofed
naked to all the fhip's crew, each of whom was
at liberty to fcourge him as they pleafed ; nor
was he taken down till he was almoft dead, and
then

[ 129 ]
then was thrown overboard. The confequence
of fuch mifconduct, and of the infurrection, was
that, of the 190 flaves brought from the coaft,
only 90 arrived in Barbadoes. This I think
was in the year 1 740.
My next voyage to the coaft of Africa was
from the Weft-Indies, in 1757, on board a brig
I then commanded, to the river Gambia, and
from thence to Goree, De Lofs Iflands, Sierra -
leon, &c. On my return, I was particularly
careful to treat the flaves with all poffible ten-
dernefs, as well from fuch a propensity in my-
felf, as to give them a favourable opinion of us
who were made inftrumental to their captivity.
And although many of them died by diforders
incident to fuch clofe confinement, I only loft
two of them by other means ; which happened
thus : — One night, when at fea, an attempt was
made by fome of the men flaves to get their
irons off; being informed of it, I ordered an
officer down to examine them, with directions,
if he found any loofe, to fend them on deck.
Accordingly two flout men, who had got the
fetters off their feet, were lent up with their
hand-cuffs on. Thefe I ordered to the other
fide of the deck, until further fearch was made
below, intending only to fecure them fo as to
prevent fuch an attempt in future; but in a few
minutes afterwards, to my great furprize, they
plunged into the fea together, and were drown
ed, notwithftanding all poffible means were ufed
to fave them.
My third and laft voyage to Africa, was alfo
from the Weft-Indies, in 1762, in a fnow, of
which I was mafter, but nothing more material
occurred during it, than that, as ufual, I loft"
many of the poor flaves through ficknefs.
K In

[ i3° 3
In thefe two laft voyages, many months being
fpent on the coaft, 1 had frequent opportunities
of going into the country, and once went fur
ther up one of the branches of Sierraleon River,
than I believe was ever before done by any Eu
ropean. From that excursion, and what I have
obferved in other parts, I am fully convinced
of the peculiar richnefs of the foil, the great
civility of its interior inhabitants, and their ex
emplary modefty and innocency ; inftances
whereof I faw with pleafure and admiration.
A fix and twenty years refidence in the Weft-
Indies gave me a full opportunity of knowing
the cruelties exercifed there on the flaves, having
in the way of trade frequented almoft all the
Englifh iflands, and fome of the Dutch, French,
and Spanifh. I can therefore confidently af
firm, that the accounts given by Anthony Be-
nezet, and other writers quoted by him, are by
no means exaggerated, but rather fhort of what
I have many times feen with horror and deep
concern. I do not remember his mentioning
any thing of examination by torture, which is
commonly made by thumb-fcrews, and lighted
matches fecured between the fingers, which oc-
cafions fuch exquifite pain, that many I believe
have been thereby induced to accufe themfelves
falfely, and fo fuffered death in preference to
the continuance of fuch extreme anguifh. Pre
vious to execution, in fome parts, the con
demned criminal is frequently carried on a fledge
about the town, and at every public place burnt
in the arm with a hot pair of crooked iron tongs,
formed to the fhape of the arm ; and fo to the
place of execution, where he is either broke on
the wheel, or his hands, feet, or head chopped
off, according to the nature of the offence. For
trivial

[ i3' 3
trivial crimes, fuch as being abfent from muf-
ter, petty theft, fhort defertion, or the like,
the flave committing it is obliged to lie flat,
with his belly on the ground, and naked ; and
if he offers to ftir, he is fo flaked down that he
cannot move. While in this extended pofture,
the executioner, ftanding at a confiderable dif-
tance, and having a whip with a long lafh, made
of hide remarkably twilled and knotted, gives
the offender as many ftrokes as he is fuppofed
to deferve, and fometimes fo feverely applied,
that every one makes an incifion. " Thefe- cruel -
barbarities are exercifed upon them under the
fandlion of laws which difgrace humanity. . The
mere recital of them, as committed by a people
under the Chriftian name, is painful. But the
evils of this trade, and its confequent flavery,
are indeed increafed to a degree of enormity
that calls aloud for the interpofition of Govern
ment ; and I cannot therefore but sincerely wifh,
that in whatever hands the important tafk of
reforming them may providentially fall, the
God of mercy and juftice may grant them fuc-
cels !"
FINIS.

In the PRESS,
An ESSAY en the Slavery and Commerce of the
Human Species, particularly the African, tranflated from
a Latin DifTertation, which was honoured with the Firft
Prize in the Umverfity of Cambridge, for the Year 1785.
By the Rev. T. Clarkfon.
Alfo by the fame Author,
An ESSAY on the Impolicy of the Slave Trade.

TRACTS on SLAVERY Printed for J. Philups.
AN ESSAY on the Treatment and Converfion of
African Slaves in the Britifh Sugar Colonies. By
the Rev. J. Ramfay, Vicar of Teflon in Kent. 4s.
Boards. An INQUIRY into the Effects of putting a Stop to
the African Slave Trade, and of granting Liberty to the
Slaves in the Britifh Sugar Colonies. By J. Ramfay. 6d.
A REPLY to the Perfonal Invectives and Objections
contained in Two Anfwers, publifhed by certain anony
mous Perfons, to an Eflay on the Treatment and Con
verfion of African Slaves in the Britifh Colonies. By
James Ramfay. 2s.
A LETTER to James Tobin, Efq. late Member of
his Majesty's Council in the Ifland of Nevis. By James
Ramfay. 6d.
A LETTER from Capr. J. Smith to the Rev. Mr.
Hill, on the State of the Negroe Slaves. To which are
added an Introduction, and Remarks on Free Negroes.
By the Editor. 6d.
A CAUTION to Great Britain and her Colonies, in
a fhort Reprefentation of the calamitous State of the en
flaved Negroes in the Britifh Dominions.. By Anthony
Benezet.'*" 6d.
THOUGHTS on the Slavery of the Negroes. 4A.
A Serious ADDRESS to the Rulers of America, on
the Inconfiftency of their Conduct refpecting Slavery. 3d.
The CASE of our Fellow-Creatures, the Oppreffed
Africans, refpectfully recommended to the ferious Con-
fideration of the Legiflature of Great Britain, by the
People called Quakers. 2d.
A Summary VIEW of the Slave Trade,, and of the
probable Confequences of its Abolition. 2d.
A LETTER to the Treasurer of the Society insti
tuted for the Purpofe of effecting the Abolition of the
Slave Trade. From the Rev. Robert Boucher Nickolls,
Dean of Middleham. A new Edition enlarged. 4d.
An ACCOUNT of the Slave Trade on the Coaft of
Africa. By Alexander Falconbridge, late Surgeon in
the African Trade, gd.
WEST INDIAN ECLOGUES, dedicated to the
late Lord Bifhop of Chefter, by a Perfon who refided
feveral Years in the Weft-Indies. 2s. mar-
REMARKS on the Slave Trade, arfd th<0aVe¥yE.„
the Negroes, in a Series of Letters. By Africanus. 2s. 6d^

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