ch was close to us, and intimated that if they did not behave
themselves we should call her to our assistance; so, with no very good
grace, they consented to step into one of our boats to be carried on
board the Juno. I was very glad to get rid of them, for I could not
help feeling, as I walked about the deck, that any moment they might set
upon us and knock us on the head. As soon as they had gone, Mr Talbot
sent Sommers and me round the deck with water and farinha; that is the
food the blacks are fed on. We had four men with us carrying the
provisions. I could not have supposed that human beings, with flesh and
blood like ourselves, could have existed in such a horrible condition.
In the first place, there was barely four feet between the decks, and
that was very high for a slaver; many are only three feet. Even I had
to bend down to get along. Close as they could be packed, the poor
creatures sat on the bare, hard, dirty deck, without even room to
stretch their legs. I almost fainted, and even Sommers and the men had
great difficulty in getting along. Oh! how eagerly the poor creatures
drank the water when we put it to their mouths, though they did not seem
to care much about the food. Many could not even lift up their heads to
take the water. Several were dying; and as we put the tin cups to their
mouths, even while gazing at us, and, I am sure, feeling grateful, they
fell back and died. Many were already dead when we came to them, and
there they lay, chained to the living. Sometimes we found that a father
had died, leaving two or three small children; sometimes a mother had
sunk, leaving an infant still living. Several poor children had died,
and it was hard work, and cruel it seemed, to make the poor mothers give
up the bodies to be thrown overboard. We came to one black lad, who was
sitting by the side of a woman, whom we guessed must be his mother.
Sommers said that he thought she had not many minutes to live. The poor
fellow seemed so grateful when we gave her some water and food, which
revived her somewhat. I never saw a greater change in anybody's
countenance. He was at first the very picture of misery and despair.
Then he thought that she was going to recover. He looked up as if he
could almost have worshipped us, with a smile which, though his
countenance was black, was full of expression. We knocked off her
chains, and then those of the lad, and Sommers directed one of the men
to assist me