He answered, without any reserve, that he had not; for that he
had now done with it. Never were any words more welcome to my ears than
these--"Yes--I have done with the trade"--and he said also, that he was
free to give me information concerning it. Was he not then one of the very
persons, whom I had so long been seeking, but in vain?
To detail the accounts which he gave me at this and at subsequent
interviews, relative to the different branches of this trade, would fill no
ordinary volume. Suffice it to say in general terms, as far as relates to
the slaves, that he confirmed the various violent and treacherous methods
of procuring them in their own country; their wretched condition, in
consequence of being crowded together, in the passage; their attempts to
rise in defence of their own freedom, and, when this was impracticable, to
destroy themselves by the refusal of sustenance, by jumping overboard into
the sea, and in other ways; the effect also of their situation upon their
minds, by producing insanity and various diseases; and the cruel manner of
disposing of them in the West Indies, and of separating relatives and
friends.
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