This account, which nearly corresponded with my own, was
as follows:--In the vessel of twenty-five tons, the length of the upper
part of the hold, or roof, of the room, where the seventy slaves were to be
stowed, was but little better than ten yards, or thirty-one feet. The
greatest breadth of the bottom, or floor, was ten feet four inches, and the
least five. Hence, a grown person must sit down all the voyage, and
contract his limbs within the narrow limits of three square feet. In the
vessel of eleven tons, the length of the room for the thirty slaves was
twenty-two feet. The greatest breadth of the floor was eight, and the least
four. The whole height from the keel to the beam was but five feet eight
inches, three feet of which were occupied by ballast, cargo, and
provisions, so that two feet eight inches remained only as the height
between the decks. Hence, each slave would have only four square feet to
sit in, and, when in this posture, his head, if he were a full-grown
person, would touch the ceiling, or upper deck.
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