Another cruel act of proprietors in those days was to brand the negroes with their owner’s initials. This was done with a red-hot iron, upon young and old, male and female. Indeed, altogether, the negroes were treated more like cattle than human beings. Before the abolition of the slave-trade, cargoes of from 100 to 200, and upwards, used frequently to be brought to this island. When landed, they were generally in a state of nudity, with the exception of strings of beads tied round them; and in this state they remained until purchased. Upon the arrival of these cargoes of “livestock,” the merchants sometimes made an offer for the whole, and then retailed them out, should their offer be accepted. At other times, the master or supercargo of the vessel had them sold at public auction, or disposed of a part, and carried the remainder to another market. Those merchants who dealt principally in this commodity used to provide themselves with a long room, for the reception of these poor creatures, where they were placed all together, like so many horses or mules —the floor being littered down with trash.[12] They were fed twice a-day with rice, horse-beans, or cornflour; and every morning and evening, they were placed in a rank, two and two together, and driven to a pond to water. When persons wanted negroes, they went to the slave-store, and had several brought out to look at—made them skip, jump, run, and dance, to see if they were strong, and their limbs in perfect order; and then, if approved of, their price was paid in “paltry gold,” and they became the property of a new master, a being like themselves, only differing, perhaps, in the colour of their skin.
Montesquieu, an eminent French writer, speaking of the unlawfulness of thus entrapping and selling these poor Africans, says—“The strongest reason which can be given for using negroes like beasts of burden is their having black skins and flat noses.” Our own immortal Cowper, when writing upon this subject, expresses himself in a similar manner:—
“He finds the fellow guilty of a skin Not colour’d like his own; and, having power T’ enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey.”
That men, fashioned by the hands of the same Creator, descended from the same common parent, could thus buy and sell their fellow-creatures just as they would a horse or a cow, seems almost incredible. Future generations will, no doubt, be inclined to discredit such a report, as the wild tale of some imaginary mind. Even in this day, in this island, it causes surprise to many to think they acted so; and the different paragraphs in an old Antigua newspaper, which now lies before me, would appear almost as strange to them as they do to me. Among the list of imports for the week, in this old paper, are “_seven negroes_, five casks of coffee, one bag of cotton, and an old copper kettle!” Thinking of slavery as I do, I could almost say, with the poet—