Page:The American Slave Trade (Spears).djvu/104

 Captain Hugh Crow, the one-eyed slaver of Liverpool, by alleviating the sufferings of the slaves by means of good food, daily washings, and some effort to make them cheerful, such as playing musical instruments, etc., to keep the death rate down to one or two per centum. Captain John Newton, who became a famous preacher, says regarding his own experience:

"I had the pleasure to return thanks in the churches for an African voyage performed without any accident or the loss of a man; and it was much noticed and acknowledged in the town. I question if it is not the only instance of the kind . . . . It [the slave-trade] is, indeed, accounted a genteel employment, and is usually very profitable."

Other captains did carry a cargo each without the loss of a man, but such passages were rare. The ordinary slaver captain at the end of the eighteenth century was not so careful, while many a slaver was simply without any sympathy for the unfortunates.

The story of the Zong, Captain Luke Collingwood, illustrates this statement. The Zong sailed from the island of St. Thomas, off the coast of Africa, on September 6, 1781, bound for Jamaica, with four hundred and forty slaves. The water on board was insufficient in quantity, and the slaves began to die for want of it. On arriving off Jamaica, Collingwood made the mistake of supposing he was off Hayti, and the death-rate was now so great that he began to think the voyage would be unprofitable. On casting about for some way of saving the owners from the impending loss of profits, Captain Collingwood remembered that the underwriters were always obliged to pay for all cargo jettisoned — thrown overboard — either to lighten the