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A Description of New Guinea

Slaves. Those sold by the Blacks are for the most part prisoners of war, taken either in fight, or pursuit, or in the incursions they make into their enemies territories; others stolen away by their own countrymen… The kings are so absolute, that upon any slight pretence of offences committed by their subjects, they order them to be sold for slaves, without regard to rank, or possession... In times of dearth and famine, abundance of those people will sell themselves, for a maintenance, and to prevent starving ... some slaves are also brought to these Blacks, from very remote inland countries, by way of trade, and sold for things of very inconsiderable value... This country [Acra] is continually in war with some of the neighbouring nations, which are very populous, and from whom they take very many prisoners, most of whom, they sell… At other times slaves are so scarce there, that in 1682, 1 could get but eight from one end of the coast to the other not only becase we were a great number of trading ships on the coast at the same time, but by reason the natives were every where at peace…

Of the Slave Coast... The rate in trade is generally adjusted with the king, and none permitted to buy or sell till that is proclaimed; whereby he reserves to himself the preference in all dealings, he for the most part having the greatest number of slaves, which are sold at a set price, the women a fourth or a fifth cheaper than the men. This done, and the king's customs paid… the factor has full liberty to trade... As the slaves come down... from the inland country, they are put into a booth, or prison, built for that purpose, near the beach, all of them together, and when the Europeans are to receive them, they are brought out into a large plain, where the surgeons examine every part of every one of them... Such as are allowed good and sound, are set on one side, and the others by themselves; which slaves so rejected are there called Mackrons, being above thirty five years of age, or defective in their limbs, eyes or teeth; or grown grey, or that have the venereal disease, or any other imperfection. Those being so set aside, each of the others, which have passed as good, is marked on the breast, with a red-hot iron, imprinting the mark of the French, English, or Dutch companies, that so each notion may distinguish their own, and to prevent their being chang'd by the natives for worse, as they are apt enough to do. In this particular, care is taken that the women, as tenderest, be not burnt too hard.

The branded slaves, after this, are returned to their former booth, where the factor is to subsist them at his own charge, which amounts to about two-pence a day for each of them, with bread and water, which is all their allowance. There they continue sometimes ten or fifteen days, till the sea is still enough to send them aboard… the slaves are carried off by parcels, in bar-canoes, and put aboard the ships in the road.

Before they enter the canoes, or come out of the booth, their former Black masters strip them of every rag they have, without distinction of men or women; to supply which, in orderly ships, each of them as they come aboard is allowed a piece of canvas, to wrap around their waist, which is very acceptable to those poor wretches… The factor… having finished his sale, is to present the king again with two muskets, twenty five pounds of powder, and the value of nine slaves in other goods, as an acknowledgement to that prince for his favour in granting him the permission to trade in his dominions…

(Donnan, Ibid, Volume II, pp. 284, 287, 289, 292-294, 297, first published by John Barbot in 1732).

SOURCE: Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery, Perspectives on History Series Edited by Phyllis Raybin Emert, Discovery Enterprises, Ltd.