Part 9 (1/2)
IN THE
EUROPEAN COLONIES.
CHAP. I.
Having confined ourselves wholly, in the second part of this Essay, to the consideration of the _commerce_, we shall now proceed to the consideration of the _slavery_ that is founded upon it. As this slavery will be conspicuous in the _treatment_, which the unfortunate Africans uniformly undergo, when they are put into the hands of the _receivers_, we shall describe the manner in which they are accustomed to be used from this period.
To place this in the clearest, and most conspicuous point of view, we shall throw a considerable part of our information on this head into the form of a narrative: we shall suppose ourselves, in short, on the continent of Africa, and relate a scene, which, from its agreement with unquestionable facts, might not unreasonably be presumed to have been presented to our view, had we been really there.
And first, let us turn our eyes to the cloud of dust that is before us.
It seems to advance rapidly, and, accompanied with dismal shrieks and yellings, to make the very air, that is above it, tremble as it rolls along. What can possibly be the cause? Let us inquire of that melancholy African, who seems to walk dejected near the sh.o.r.e; whose eyes are stedfastly fixed on the approaching object, and whose heart, if we can judge from the appearance of his countenance, must be greatly agitated.
”Alas!” says the unhappy African, ”the cloud that you see approaching, is a train of wretched slaves. They are going to the s.h.i.+ps behind you.
They are destined for the English colonies, and, if you will stay here but for a little time, you will see them pa.s.s. They were last night drawn up upon the plain which you see before you, where they were branded upon the breast with an _hot iron_; and when they had undergone the whole of the treatment which is customary on these occasions, and which I am informed that you Englishmen at home use to the _cattle_ which you buy, they were returned to their prison. As I have some dealings with the members of the factory which you see at a little distance, (though thanks to the Great Spirit, I never dealt in the _liberty_ of my fellow creatures) I gained admittance there. I learned the history of some of the unfortunate people, whom I saw confined, and will explain to you, if my eye should catch them as they pa.s.s, the real causes of their servitude.”
Scarcely were these words spoken, when they came distinctly into sight.
They appeared to advance in a long column, but in a very irregular manner. There were three only in the front, and these were chained together. The rest that followed seemed to be chained by pairs, but by pressing forward, to avoid the lash of the drivers, the breadth of the column began to be greatly extended, and ten or more were observed abreast.
While we were making these remarks, the intelligent African thus resumed his discourse. ”The first three whom you observe, at the head of the train, to be chained together, are prisoners of war. As soon as the s.h.i.+ps that are behind you arrived, the news was dispatched into the inland country; when one of the petty kings immediately a.s.sembled his subjects, and attacked a neighbouring tribe. The wretched people, though they were surprized, made a formidable resistance, as they resolved, almost all of them, rather to lose their lives, than survive their liberty. The person whom you see in the middle, is the father of the two young men, who are chained to him on each side. His wife and two of his children were killed in the attack, and his father being wounded, and, on account of his age, _incapable of servitude_, was left bleeding on the spot where this transaction happened.”
”With respect to those who are now pa.s.sing us, and are immediately behind the former, I can give you no other intelligence, than that some of them, to about the number of thirty, were taken in the same skirmish.
Their tribe was said to have been numerous before the attack; these however are _all that are left alive_. But with respect to the unhappy man, who is now opposite to us, and whom you may distinguish, as he is now looking back and wringing his hands in despair, I can inform you with more precision. He is an unfortunate convict. He lived only about five days journey from the factory. He went out with his king to hunt, and was one of his train; but, through too great an anxiety to afford his royal master diversion, he roused the game from the covert rather sooner than was expected. The king, exasperated at this circ.u.mstance, immediately sentenced him to slavery. His wife and children, fearing lest the tyrant should extend the punishment to themselves, _which is not unusual_, fled directly to the woods, where they were all devoured.”
”The people, whom you see close behind the unhappy convict, form a numerous body, and reach a considerable way. They speak a language, which no person in this part of Africa can understand, and their features, as you perceive, are so different from those of the rest, that they almost appear a distinct race of men. From this circ.u.mstance I recollect them. They are the subjects of a very distant prince, who agreed with the _slave merchants, for a quant.i.ty of spirituous liquors_, to furnish him with a stipulated number of slaves. He accordingly surrounded, and set fire to one of his own villages in the night, and seized these people, who were unfortunately the inhabitants, as they were escaping from the flames. I first saw them as the merchants were driving them in, about two days ago. They came in a large body, and were tied together at the neck with leather thongs, which permitted them to walk at the distance of about a yard from one another. Many of them were loaden with elephants teeth, which had been purchased at the same time. All of them had bags, made of skin, upon their shoulders; for as they were to travel, in their way from the great mountains, through barren sands and inhospitable woods for many days together, they were obliged to carry water and provisions with them. Notwithstanding this, many of them perished, some by hunger, but the greatest number by fatigue, as the place from whence they came, is at such an amazing distance from this, and the obstacles, from the nature of the country, so great, that the journey could scarcely be completed in seven moons.”
When this relation was finished, and we had been looking stedfastly for some time on the croud that was going by, we lost sight of that peculiarity of feature, which we had before remarked. We then discovered that the inhabitants of the depopulated village had all of them pa.s.sed us, and that the part of the train, to which we were now opposite, was a numerous body of kidnapped people. Here we indulged our imagination. We thought we beheld in one of them a father, in another an husband, and in another a son, each of whom was forced from his various and tender connections, and without even the opportunity of bidding them adieu.
While we were engaged in these and other melancholy reflections, the whole body of slaves had entirely pa.s.sed us. We turned almost insensibly to look at them again, when we discovered an unhappy man at the end of the train, who could scarcely keep pace with the rest. His feet seemed to have suffered much from long and constant travelling, for he was limping painfully along.
”This man,” resumes the African. ”has travelled a considerable way. He lived at a great distance from hence, and had a large family, for whom he was daily to provide. As he went out one night to a neighbouring spring, to procure water for his thirsty children, he was kidnapped by two _slave hunters_, who sold him in the morning to some country merchants for a _bar of iron_. These drove him with other slaves, procured almost in the same manner, to the nearest market, where the English merchants, to whom the train that has just now pa.s.sed us belongs, purchased him and two others, by means of their travelling agents, for a _pistol_. His wife and children have been long waiting for his return. But he is gone for ever from their sight: and they must be now disconsolate, as they must be certain by his delay, that he has fallen into the hands of the _Christians_”.
”And now, as I have mentioned the name of _Christians_, a name, by which the Europeans distinguish themselves from us, I could wish to be informed of the meaning which such an appellation may convey. They consider themselves as _men_, but us unfortunate Africans, whom they term _Heathens_, as the _beasts_ that serve us. But ah!
how different is the fact! What is _Christianity_, but a system of _murder_ and _oppression_? The cries and yells of the unfortunate people, who are now soon to embark for the regions of servitude, have already pierced my heart. Have you not heard me sigh, while we have been talking? Do you not see the tears that now trickle down my cheeks? and yet these hardened _Christians_ are unable to be moved at all: nay, they will scourge them amidst their groans, and even smile, while they are torturing them to death. Happy, happy Heathenism! which can detest the vices of Christianity, and feel for the distresses of mankind.”
”But” we reply, ”You are totally mistaken: _Christianity_ is the most perfect and lovely of moral systems. It blesses even the hand of persecution itself, and returns good for evil. But the people against whom you so justly declaim; are not _Christians_. They are _infidels_. They are _monsters_. They are out of the common course of nature. Their countrymen at home are generous and brave. They support the sick, the lame, and the blind. They fly to the succour of the distressed. They have n.o.ble and stately buildings for the sole purpose of benevolence. They are in short, of all nations, the most remarkable for humanity and justice.”
”But why then,” replies the honest African, ”do they suffer this? Why is Africa a scene of blood and desolation? Why are her children wrested from her, to administer to the luxuries and greatness of those whom they never offended? And why are these dismal cries in vain?”
”Alas!” we reply again, ”can the cries and groans, with which the air now trembles, be heard across this extensive continent? Can the southern winds convey them to the ear of Britain? If they could reach the generous Englishman at home, they would pierce his heart, as they have already pierced your own. He would sympathize with you in your distress.
He would be enraged at the conduct of his countrymen, and resist their tyranny.”--