A CARGO OF SLAVES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 605, 25 August 1858, Page 2

A CARGO OF SLAVES.

M^OT;^£ptters-^ecbllections-of West: ..-■;. „-\ ;; f; 'Life.) .. ;T; was once afc Montego Bay when a fine - slaver was brought in by one of our cruisers, with a numerous cargo of slaves, the greater rpart of whom were boys and girls. They occu- ■ pied less, space on board than adults, and consequently- a. greater number might be taken in the same vessel to the Cuba market, where they were much more valuable than old negroes. The person who commanded the schooner was^ a Frenchman, and-1 had some.conversation.with liim. I told him if he continued in the trade, 'h6 would ', probably, end by being hung as a pirate. He; treated my observation with great - contempt, saying, that the.next slaver he commanded should be heavily! armed, and, if he .metany of our cruisers; he ; would s fight it out .'. 'with them. ; WhenT replied:that he was:now a prisoner, and that he would be sent to thejHa- ' vana, where, in all probability, he would be sentenced to confinement fora lengthenedperiod, - and thereby; prevented -from recommencing his '■■-••old practices,vhe; merely smiled, as much as ;to '•'•'; say,if.tliatfis all* I have, t»'apprehend, it is not a matter of much importance. I heard afterr.ward^; that similar characters escape piinish,'!r~:meht in some such way"as this.: They feign : ' illhessj-and are taken to the hospital, where, by - 'bribing the employes, they are reported^dead. .'tlnstead of a corpse, the live man is put into a : r and carried away by friendly accomplices, :who liberate him to reappear in command of another slaver, and under another name. ; As --sooti :as" thei arrival of the prize in question be- ';* came known to the authorities, a large new building, then unoccupied, with a spacious : Wharf attached to it, was hired for the purpose : -of lodging tbem datil the Island Government -could be made acquainted with the circumstan- •■■. -ces. : I went to visit them, and a more shocking -"-scene I uever witnessed. On entering.the gates "the first thing that met my eyes was a high * pile of coffins, heaped one upon another, to * -carry off the dead as they might be required. ■? From the confined space in which they ihad s:been stowed, many of the poor negroes were "bent double; and numbers were, lying about '.; on the "ground dying \ of. dysentery ;and exhaustion, brought on by bad food, and; the 'impure air of the. hold. It was explained to * -me, to account for the distorted shapes, many of, them presented. that they were placed close 1 "to each other in three rows, against the "side of ~the vessel, the two front being seated between the knees of those behind, but owing to-the / : Towness of the deck, the tipper tier could not . / sit erect. They were more like skeletons than _Tiuman beings, and ate ravenously the'food r^ffered to. them. In.the; middleof the yard 7 of soiip were boiling, and a number !>df soup plates and spoons were laid out! for their use. On agiven T signal, they.aU ran to "receive : their ; portions, with; the exception of a ■ party of 15 or 16, who were: sitting together ;-on some planks under a shed. These were the --children of African princes or chiefs, arid when '-they were told to get their dinner, they reTused, saying it must be taken to them, as they were not in the habit:of serving themselves. "Amongst these: was a young girl, of a clear olive complexion, and I have, seen many Spaniards and Portuguese much darker. Her frame *was moulded in faultless symmetry, and, her features were small and delicate. Who she was, or how she came to be entrapped and brought away captive, I could not ascertain. The kindness of the inhabitants of Montego Bay to these poor creatures, in ministering to their wants arid necessities, was truly praiseworthy. It was an' ample refutation of the stories current at the time, of the inhamanity of Jamaica planters to their negroes j but so unaccustomed were these poor creatures generally to such kind treatment that many of them thought they were only fattened to be killed and eaten afterwards. A report of some atrocities committed on board the slaver was so, prevalent ■that the Government ordered tho matter to be in\ estimated. It was ssy& that, af*--er having left the usast of Afrjc-a'aboat three weeks, they met with calrng'and adverse wiridsj and that their stock, of provisions was consequently : .^--shortened. One day when the slaves were bestween decks, the captain and some of the crew' -called a man who had been usually employed as a cabin servant to the fore-part of ihe schooner, and deliberately cut his throat, throwing his hea 1, hands, and feet overboard.- This horrid murder was distinctly seen under the sail, which partly concealed the actors in the tragedy, 'by a young black, who was sweeping the afteripart of the deck; and he particularly stated ;that, to prevent discoloring the boards, they held his head over an iron pot to receive' the , -..-: "blood as it flowed. They then put the rekt of the body into a barrel with salt, pickle, after -cutting it into small pieces; the following*day -it was served out to the slaves with the usual of rice; but on the cruiser bearing , down towards them, the barrel with its contents was thrown into the sea. Incredible as1 this . ; :-story may appear, I had reason to think there -must be some truth in it, for, in attending the court of inquiry, held by a special magistrate, ■■■,:-■. I there heard the evidence of some of; the „:,.unfortunate negroes rendered into EnMish ■ .%. an interpreter from one of the estates. . 'They, all gave much the same account of what had happened; and what added greater weight «tb then* statements was, that they were brought from the various properties where they were 'located, and could- have had no communication ""-■; with each other. A sister of the murdered ■ -man; by name Zuleia or Zuleica, when questioned on the subject, burst into tears, and was ■st long time before!she could give any answer. :She said slie. distinctly heard her brother callin» _ Jier and crying, "They are murdering me,

Zuleia," as heimade vain efforts to escape; that his voice "became gradually lesSjiaudible, alf though she heard "his groans ; and* that/ from* that timesbe had never seen him agaimj'l did not learn the; result of this investigation j- but' many thought with me, that there was a reason to believe in the correctness of the statement made by the slaves. It was asserted too that in consequence of the strict surveillance exercised by our men of war on the coast of Africa, the vessels employed in the slave trade are built so sharp, for the purpose of fast sailing, that there is little room for the stowage of ■ provisions in addition to the live cargo. The voyage might be occasionally prolonged by variation iii the weather. It is impossible to say correctly from whence all the capital comes that is embarked in this nefarious traffic. ."