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And when they have done that they can be divided into two gangs, one on deck to draw and pass water, and the other below, with all the scrubbing-brushes and swabs that can be mustered, to give the slave-deck a thorough cleansing. That is what I should do, were they my property."
So, as I could do no better, I got a piece of the oldest and softest canvas I could find, and a bucket of water, with which I descended to the slave-deck and carefully bathed the poor lacerated shoulders of those unfortunates who had suffered most severely at the hands of the boatswain and his mate, a little piece of attention that I saw was most gratefully received.
The vessel was of about 140 tons; the length of the slave-deck, 37 feet; its mean breadth, 21½ feet; its height, 3½ feet a horrible space to contain between four and five hundred human beings. How they could even breathe is scarcely conceivable. The captain and one of the crew were said to have been drowned in the surf at the embarkation of the negroes.
Huge casks called leaguers had been placed in the hold; in these were stowed the provisions, wood for fuel, and other stores; above them was fitted a slave-deck, between which and the upper deck there was a space of about four feet. On this the slaves were to sit with shackles on their feet, and secured to iron bars running from side to side.
Hemming looked round the dark hold of the supposed slaver, but there was no sign of a slave-deck, nor, after a careful search, could he find anything to warrant him in detaining her. In the fore-peak a rather numerous crew for the size of the vessel were asleep, or pretending to be asleep, for some lifted up their heads even to have a look at the intruders. At length Hemming returned on deck.
"There are plenty of those creatures about here, and I was sure that it wouldn't be long before they had hold of him." I have not mentioned the poor slaves all this time. The wounded were suffering dreadfully, and since they had again been sent down to the hot slave-deck, several had died. The mate, while waiting for the expected boat, ordered some hands below to overhaul them.
The following are the articles by which a slaver can be condemned if found on board: A slave-deck, or planks ready for a deck; slave irons and slave coppers, which are a large cooking apparatus for the slaves and crew, standing generally amidships on the upper-deck; an extra quantity of farina, rice, water, or other provisions, which cannot be accounted for.
Her outfit and general appearance were extremely suspicious, for she had not only a slave-deck, with irons, &c., but also two slaves, secreted in the forehold, from whom we learnt that they had been stolen from Po-Po, near Wydah.
The cries of the helpless slaves below, uniting in one fearful chorus, overwhelmed the voices of the white crew. "We must set these poor wretches at liberty. It would be a fearful subject of thought if we were to leave them to perish," observed Charley. "There is a hatch, I know, which leads from the main cabin to the slave-deck, although it is kept closed." "Ay, ay, sir!
It occupied me the whole morning to pass the entire cargo through the bath and secure the thorough cleansing of their persons, and the whole of the afternoon to get the slave-deck properly cleansed and purified; but when the sun set that evening the ship was once more sweet and wholesome, while the slaves had taking one with another been on deck and actively exercised for about half a day instead of about twenty minutes morning and evening.
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