When they left the coast they had nearly
one thousand parrots on board.
O'Brien perceiving that I had taken possession, sent another boat to
know what the vessel was. I desired the surgeon to be sent on board, as
some of the men and many of the poor slaves were wounded by our shot. Of
all the miserable objects, I know of none to be compared to the poor
devils of slaves on board of a slave vessel: the state of suffocation
between decks--the dreadful stench arising from their filth, which is
hardly ever cleared away--the sick lying without help, and looked upon
by those who are stronger with the utmost indifference--men, women, and
children, all huddled and crowded together in a state of nudity, worn to
skin and bone from stench, starvation, and living in an atmosphere that
none but a negro could exist in. If all that occurs in a slave-ship were
really known, I think it would be acknowledged that to make the
slave-trade piracy would be nothing more than a just retribution; and
this is certain, that unless it be made piracy, it never will be
discontinued.
By daylight the vessel was ready, and O'Brien determined to take her to
Dominica, so that the poor devils might be immediately sent on shore. We
anchored with her, in a few days, in Prince Rupert's Bay, where we only
had twenty-four hours to obtain some refreshments and arrange about our
prize, which I hardly need say was of some value.
During the short time that I was on shore, purchasing some fowls and
vegetables for O'Brien and our own mess, I was amused at witnessing a
black serjeant drilling some of his regiment of free negroes and
mulattoes.
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