the inhabitants," and got two slaves for their share of the plunder.
That Captain Smith's act was not according to the ordinary usages of the trade may be inferred from what happened when he returned to Boston. A quarrel with the ship's owners over the proceeds of the voyage resulted in a lawsuit. The story of the voyage was told in court, and although it was nota criminal trial], one of the magistrates "charged the master with a threefold offence — murder, man-stealing, and Sabbath-breaking." The captain escaped punishment on these charges, on the ground that the court had no jurisdiction over crimes committed in Africa, a decision that was typical of what was to come. But the two slaves were returned home.
On the other hand, when we consider the usual course of trade, we may say that, viewed fairly and by the light of the age, the gathering of slaves on the coast of Africa, previous to 1750, was conducted with as great a regard for honesty as was any other trade with uncivilized people.
The voyage to the coast in the Newport slaver days lasted anywhere from six to ten weeks, according to the ship and the luck in winds. On reaching Bonny, or Anamaboe, or Old Calabar, then favorite ports, the captain made ready for a grand entertainment in honor of the native chiefs and headmen. To put it bluntly, the chiefs were invited on board to get drunk, and they accepted the invitation with an eager thirst.
In addition to this free debauch the chiefs received sundry presents. According to Alexander Falconbridge, a surgeon in the trade in the latter half of the
