ure
result of violent restriction is to imperil still more both life and
cargo.

1st.--The treaty with Spain, it is said, was enforced some time before
it was properly promulgated or notified; so that British cruisers
seized over eighty vessels, one third of which certainly were not
designed for slave-trade.

2d.--As the compact condemned slave vessels to be broken up, the
sailing qualities of craft were improved to facilitate escape, rather
than insure human comfort.

3d.--The Spanish slavers had recourse to Brazilians and Portuguese to
cover their property; and, as slavers could not be fitted out in Cuba,
other nations sent their vessels ready equipped to Africa, and (under
the jib-booms of cruisers) Sardinians, Frenchmen and Americans,
transferred them to slave traders, while the captains and parts of the
crew took passage home in regular merchantmen.

4th.--As the treaty created greater risk, every method of economy was
resorted to; and the crowding and cramming of slaves was one of the
most prominent results. Water and provisions were diminished; and
every thing was sacrificed for gain.

CHAPTER XII.

In old times, before treaties made slave-trade piracy, the landing of
human cargoes was as comfortably conducted as the disembarkation of
flour. But now, the enterprise is effected with secrecy and hazard. A
wild, uninhabited portion of the coast, where some little bay or
sheltering nook exists, is commonly selected by the captain and his
confederates. As soon as the vessel is driven close to the beach and
anchored, her boats are packed with slaves, while the craft is quickly
dismantled to avoid detection from sea or land. The busy skiffs are
hurried to and fro incessantly till the cargo is entirely ashore, when
the secured gang, led by the captain, and escorted by armed sailors,
is rapidly marched to the nearest plantation. There it is safe from
the rapacity of local magistrates, who, if they have a chance, imitate
their superiors by exacting "_gratifications_."

In the mean time, a _courier_ has been dispatched to the owners in
Havana, Matanzas, or Santiago de Cuba, who immediately post to the
plantation with clothes for the slaves and gold for the crew.
Preparations are quickly made through brokers for the sale of the
blacks; while the vessel, if small, is disguised, to warrant her
return under the coasting flag to a port of clearance. If the craft
happens to be large, it is considered perilous to