Page:The American Slave Trade (Spears).djvu/162

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THE AMERICAN SLAVE TRADE

slaves into the United States varied between $350 and $500 per head.

Details of the smugglers' methods are to be had in sufficient number, but the story of one trip described by Drake may suffice for all.

"The kaffle, under charge of negro drivers, was to strike up the Escambia River, and thence cross the boundary into Georgia, where some of our wild Africans were mixed with various squads of native blacks and driven inland till sold off, singly or by couples, on the road. . . . The Spanish possessions were thriving on this inland exchange of negroes. . .Florida was a sort of nursery for slave-breeders, and many American citizens grew rich by trafficking in Guinea negroes and smuggling them continually, in small parties, through the Southern United States. At the time I mention, the business was a lively one."