The slave-schooner had two decks and between them the captives were packed in such a manner that they had scarcely room to move. They were packed closely together, and covered with dirt and vermin. A contemporary newspaper describes their condition as follows: The poor captives were in a wretched condition-all of them naked and the greater part seemed to have been half starved. On board were the 370 survivors of the approximately 500 Africans who had been boarded in Cabinda (Angola) approximately 46 days earlier. In brief, these accounts relate how in April a British naval vessel captured the slave ship and brought it to Port Royal. The engravings shown here were made from photographs sent by the writer to the Illustrated London News. Dated Kingston, Jamaica, May 11, 1857, the letter includes excerpts from two Jamaican newspapers these provide details on the capture and the condition of the Africans on board. This is one of a group of five illustrations that accompany a letter to the editor describing the capture by the British Navy of a slave ship, the Zeldina, blown off course near the coast of Cuba. The men are shown restrained in pairs with handcuffs and leg-irons."Ĭaption, Sleeping position of slaves in the pack, shows two of the liberated Africans with tin or wood identification or registration tags placed on them by the colonial authorities. The image also shows how men and women were segregated on board. Anti-slavery campaigners used this print to remind the public of how extraordinarily cramped conditions were on slave ships. Nantes was the main French slave-trading port. The Royal Navy squadron that captured the ‘Vigilante’ also seized a further six French and Spanish slave ships in a very successful action. The slaves were found lying on their backs on the lower deck, as represented below, those in the centre were sitting some in the posture in which they are shown & others with their legs bent under them, resting upon the soles of their feet’. She was 240 tons burden & had on board, at the time she was taken 345 slaves. The caption reads: ‘The representation of the brig Vigilante from Nantes, a vessel employed in the slave trade, which was captured by Lieutenant Mildmay, in the River Bonny, on the coast of Africa, on the 15th of April 1822. The ‘Vigilante’ was captured by the Royal Navy off the coast of Africa in 1822, carrying 345 Africans bound for slavery in the Americas. According to the Maritime Museum website, "the print shows plan and sections of the ‘Vigilante’, indicating the dreadful conditions in which people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean.
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