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added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had
scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced
copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for
respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a
sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to
the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This
wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains,
now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into
which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks
of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene
of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon
reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost
always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In
this situation I expected every hour to share the fate of my
companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the
point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my
miseries. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much
more happy than myself. I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as
often wished I could change my condition for theirs. Every
circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful,
and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the
whites. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had
killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to
our astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to
us to eat as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea
again, although we begged and prayed for some as well as we could, but
in vain; and some of my countrymen, being pressed by hunger, took an
opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a
little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured
them some very severe floggings. One day, when we had a smooth sea and
moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together
(I was near them at the time), preferring death to such a life of
misery, somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea:
immediately another quite dejected fellow, who, on account of his
illness, was suffered to be out of irons, also followed their example;
and I believe many more would very soon have done the same if they had
not been prevented by the ship's crew, who were instantly alarmed.
Those of us that were the most active were in a moment put down under
the deck, and there was such a noise and confusion amongst the people
of the ship as I never heard before, to stop her, and get the boat out
to go after the slaves. However two of the wretches were drowned, but
they got the other, and afterwards flogged him unmercifully for thus
attempting to prefer death to slavery.

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