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Traders by Day; Robbers by Night

... I had two opportunities of seeing how slaves were procured in the River of Old Calabar. I resided with the king of New Town for four months, and he allowed me to go up the river with him to trade for slaves. I went with him twice within that time. In the first expedition, there was a fleet consisting of from ten to twelve canoes, which were properly manned and armed. With this fleet we set out to trade. In the day time we called at the villages as we passed, and purchased our slaves fairly; but in the night we made several excursions on the banks of the river. The canoes were usually left with an armed force: the rest, when landed, broke into the villages, and, rushing into the huts of the inhabitants, seized men, women, and children... We obtained about fifty negroes in this manner, in our first expedition.

In our second, the same practices were in force; for we traded fairly by day, and became robbers in the night...

(The testimony of witnesses as reported by Thomas Clarkson, from Donnan, Ibid, Volume II, p. 572).

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