I Was Myself Filled With Disgust Towards The Whites, As Well As Pity Towards The Blacks, On Beholding, Immediately On Our Arrival, A Gang Of Forty Or Fifty Negroes, Of Both Sexes, And Nearly All Ages, Working In Shackles On The Wharf.

These, I was informed, were principally captured fugitives; they looked haggard and care-worn, and as they toiled with

Their barrows with uncovered heads, under a burning sun, they were mercilessly lashed with a heavy slave-whip, by a tall, athletic negro, who acted as overseer, and who, with refined cruelty, dispensed the punishment alike on stout men, slender youths, and thin attenuated females. Our arrival having attracted the notice of the gang, and induced a momentary halt in their work, the unfeeling wretch commenced a furious onslaught with the whip, each crack of which, followed, as it was, by the groans or cries of the sufferer, roused the indignant feelings of the passengers, many of whom were from the free states, and who simultaneously raised a yell of execration which made the welkin resound, and caused the cruel driver to stand aghast. This demonstration drew a remonstrance from the captain, who represented to the passengers the danger of such conduct, and concluded by observing that if it was repeated, it would probably arouse the indignation of the citizens, who were very bigoted. He should be sorry, he added, to be obliged to put the vessel about again, a proceeding that might be necessary for the safety of all on board, unless they were more cautious.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 94 of 194
Words from 25821 to 26078 of 53222