THE MASSACRES IN SYRIA:
A FAITHFUL ACCOUNT OF THE Massacres and Outrages Suffered by the Christians OF MT. LEBANON, DURING THE LATE CRUEL PERSECUTIONS IN SYRIA;
WITH A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF MAHOMETANISM, AND THE RISE OF MARONITES, DRUSES, WAHABIES, YEZIDEES, OR DEVIL-WORSHIPPERS, AND OTHER ORIENTAL SECTS; AND AN ACCOUNT OF "THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN," AND HIS TRIBE OF ASSASSINS COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED.
[View Figure]
"They slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little chidren and
women."—EZEKIEL, ix. 6.
NEW YORK: ROBERT M. DE WITT. PUBLISHER, 13 FRANKFORT STREET.
page: (TitlePage) [View Page (TitlePage) ]REVELATIONS OF A SLAVE SMUGGLER: BEING THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF Capt. RICH'D DRAKE, AN AFRICAN TRADER FOR FIFTY YEARS—FROM 1807 TO 1857; DURING WHICH PERIOD HE WAS CONCERNED IN THE TRANSPORTATION OF HALF A MILLION BLACKS From African Coasts to America.
WITH A PREFACE BY HIS EXECUTOR, REV. HENRY BYRD WEST, OF THE PROTESTANT HOME MISSION.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT M. DE WITT, PUBLISHER,
13 FRANKFORT STREET.
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by ROBERT M. DE WITT. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. W. H. TINSON, Stereotyper.
INTRODUCTION.
BY THE EDITOR.
IT was in the summer of 1856, while engaged in a humanitarian tour of the river districts, that I met with the unfortunate man whose story, given in his own language, is related in the following pages. I found him in a deplorable condition, both of mind and body. The squalid room which he occupied was at the top of an old building in a narrow lane leading from the Bowling Green to Greenwich street. Its broken roof admitted the rains freely, and the filthy rags that constituted his bed, were reeking with puddled water which covered the floor. He was entirely friendless and neglected; and would have been thrown into the street by the landlord or agent, who kept a sailor's drinking place below, if his delirious situation had not precluded removal. Though familiar with scenes of suffering, so common in the degraded localities which hide, if they do not shelter, the poor of New York city, I could not but be shocked at the extreme desolation presented in this instance. The last ravages of consumption page: iv-v[View Page iv-v] tion combined with torture of mind to render their subject a deplorable ruin of humanity. Grey haired, with nearly seventy winters, and wasted almost to a skeleton, he seemed the naked type of outcast poverty; and yet there was something about his very destitution of friends and sympathy which, from the first, attracted my interest.
The mental state of this old man was worse, if possible, than his bodily condition; for, in his feverish ravings, he blasphemed and threatened alternately all who approached him; and uttered incoherent words that indicated a conscience afflicted with remorse for crimes committed in his past life. I gathered enough from broken sentences to learn that he had been engaged in the SLAVE TRADE, and my feelings were at once pained and interested by the unhappy sufferer's despairing wretchedness. With an assurance to his landlord that I would be responsible for the cost, I obtained a promise of some little attention to the apartment, and took measures for procuring food and medicine, for want of which the invalid was perishing.
- Lives there a savage ruder than the slave?
- Cruel as death, insatiate as the grave,
- False as the winds that round his vessel blow,
- Remorseless as the gulf that yawns below,
- Is he who toils upon the wafting flood,
- A Christian broker in the trade of blood!
- Boisterous in speech, in action prompt and bold,
- He buys, he sells, he steals, he kills—for GOLD
- At noon, when sky and ocean, calm and clear,
- Bend round his bark, one blue, unbroken sphere;
- When dancing dolphins sparkle through the brine,
- And sunbeam circles o'er the waters shine;
- He sees no beauty in the heaven serene,
- No soul-enchanting sweetness in the scene,—
- But, darkly scowling at the glorious day,
- Curses the winds that loiter on their way!
- When, swoll'n with hurricanes, the billows rise,
- To meet the lightning midway from the skies;
- When, from the burden'd hold, his shrieking slaves
- Are cast at midnight, to the hungry waves,—
- Not for his victims, strangled in the deeps,
- Not for his crimes, the harden'd Pirate weeps;
- But, grimly smiling, when the storm is o'er,
- Counts his sure gains, and hurries back for MORE!"
"THE GUINEA CAPTAIN.
The story of Philip Drake is but one of a thousand similar records of wickedness which the Slave Trade of our day page: vi-vii[View Page vi-vii] might furnish. From all that transpired between myself and the dying man, from intimations and disclosures of names, places, and dates, that leave no doubt in my mind of the accuracy of his statements, I am convinced that the traffic is at this time carried on under circumstances of barbarity and recklessness which disgrace both civilization and Christianity And when statements like the following, which I quote, are now so common as to be considered only every-day items of news, I think it full time that the disclosures which are made in this autobiography should be brought before a civilized and Christian public, as a reminder of its duty to humanity:
The Mobile 'Mercury' of the 22d July, 1860, says: "Some negroes who never learned to talk English, went up the railroad the other day. They did not get aboard at Mobile, but somewhere up in the piney woods country. It is not necessary to mention the particular place. There were twenty-five of them, apparently all of the pure, unadulterated African stock. Their destination is unknown. They may have been bound for Enterprise, to supply a demand which existed in that market some while ago for full-blooded African slaves, as per advertisement of sundry gentlemen up there, offering to buy such at a certain price. They were in charge of one who knows how to buy and sell negroes."
The New Orleans "Picayune" of the 27th, remarks that "It is believed that the slaver lately burned off the coast of Cuba, whose crew were a few days since brought into Key West, was the bark Sultana, Capt. Bowen, which cleared at New York, the 26th of January, for Rio Zaire and a market. She was sold in December, 1859, for $15,000, to a foreign firm in New York, for a Havana house. She was fitted out at the foot of Fourth street, East River. It is said that she landed some 1,200 to 1,300 negroes in Cuba before she was burned.
"A 'Congo Club,' being in favor of reopening the slave-trade, has been organized at Port Gibson, Miss. T. G. Humphreys has been elected President, and Rufus Shoemaker Secretary."
An account, dated Nassau, N. P., July 28, 1860, alludes to the last slave vessel overhauled on our coast:
"A not very large schooner, supposed to be American, struck on the back of Lanyard or Little Harbor Bay, Abaco, on Wednesday night last, and went to pieces. The people from Cherokee Sound found the wreck and saved 360 Africans, who, as just reported, are here. Some were drowned, some died from lassitude, and some of the crew were also drowned. Of these latter who were saved, all appear to be Spaniards or Portuguese, two of whom speak English; but among the blacks appears an intelligent fellow, dressed, who speaks Spanish, and is evidently a decoy duck, used by the traders.
"The condition of the Africans is anything but pleasing; they appear to have scurvy and ophthalmia, and seem to be half starved. Men, boys and girls (there are no women) are all perfectly naked. The original captain had cut his throat and jumped overboard before the vessel struck."
The following, from the N. Y. "Herald" of August 5, 1860, gives a hint concerning our method of importation:
"Padre Island, or rather Father Island, is called so, from being the largest of a number of similar islands along the Gulf coast of Texas, and is about a hundred and twenty-five miles long, by from one to two miles in width. It is an island, because between it and the main shore of Texas there exists a regular belt or estuary of the sea, extending from the harbor of Brazos Santiago to Corpus Christi. Its adaptability has made Padre Island a resort for the initiation of those measures which were necessary in order to make popular a matter of vital importance to the South. To have boldly ventured into New Orleans, with negroes freshly imported from Africa, would not only have brought down upon the head of the importer the vengeance of our very philanthropic Uncle Sam, but also the anathemas of the whole sect of philanthropists and negrophilists everywhere. To import them for years, however, into quiet places, evading with impunity the penalty of the law, and the ranting of the thin-skinned sympathizers with Africa, was gradually to popularize the traffic by creating a demand for laborers, and thus to pave the way for the GRADUAL REVIVAL OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
page: viii-ix (Table of Contents) [View Page viii-ix (Table of Contents) ]"To this end, a few men, bold and energetic, determined, ten or twelve years ago, to commence the business of importing negroes, slowly at first, but surely; and for this purpose they selected a few secluded places on the coast of Florida, Georgia and Texas, for the purpose of concealing their stock until it could be sold out. Without specifying other places, let me draw your attention to a deep and abrupt pocket or indentation in the coast of Texas, about thirty miles from Brazos Santiago. Into this pocket a slaver could run at any hour of the night, because there was no hindrance at the entrance, and here she could discharge her cargo of movables upon the projecting bluff, and again proceed to sea inside of three hours. The live stock thus landed could be marched a short distance across the main island, over a porous soil which refuses to retain the recent foot-prints, until they were again placed in boats, and were concealed upon some of the innumerable little islands which thicken on the waters of the Laguna in the rear. These islands, being covered with a thick growth of bushes and grass, offer an inscrutable hiding place for the 'black diamonds.'"
That the experience of one repentant slaver, as given in Philip Drake's narrative, may have some influence in directing public scrutiny into the implication of our country with the worst horrors of Slave Trading, I heartily hope and pray. The poor, misguided being whose confession I here present, is now at rest; and his last hours, I may remark, were soothed by an earnest confidence in the mercy of our Almighty Father. Whatever were his errors, I trust they are atoned for by his contrition; and in placing his autobiography before the world, let me be permitted to share his last wish—that this faithful record may serve some good purpose, in calling attention to the Crimes of the Slave Trade.
HENRY BYRD WEST,
Of the Protestant Home Mission.
CONTENTS.
- CHAPTER I. My Orphanage—Stockford Workhouse—Life in a Mill—My Uncle's Visit—Experiences in Moss-picking—Sickness and a new Friend—I am shipped off. 9
- CHAPTER II. An Irish Emigrant Ship—Typhus and Dysentery—Sharks fed with Passengers—Seventy-seven days' Passage—Arrival at Boston—Quarantine in Olden Time—A Search for an Orphan—I find a Friend in a Stranger—Dr. Thady Mooney—I adopt a Profession—A kind Couple—I lose my Protectors—The Scotch Apothecary, M'Intosh. 14
- CHAPTER III. My Uncle turns up—I part from Mr. M'Intosh—At Sea again—A Gale—Monte Video—Rio de Janeiro—A Brazilian Slave Overseer and his Hospital. 18
- CHAPTER IV. Value of "Live Stock"—We leave Rio de Janeiro—Chased by French Cruisers—A Fog and a Drift—The Coral Isles—A Runaway Slave-hunt—I commence Journal-keeping—A chance Cargo. 23
- CHAPTER V. My Journal Continued—Account of St. Domingo Troubles—My Uncle in Luck—Isle of St. Vincent's—African Coast—Our Schooner—Town of Malee—Gold Hunting—Our Expedition—A Forest March—Quobah the Ashantee—A Negro Ambuscade—The Author is captured by Negroes—A Night of Horror—Journey to the Interior—Arrival at Yallaba—King Mammee. 26
- CHAPTER VI. Captivity in Yallaba—Quobah the Captive—A Lion in the Valley—Quobah to be Sacrificed—He Volunteers to Kill the Lion—Great Battle between Man and Beast—Quobah's page: x-xi (Table of Contents) [View Page x-xi (Table of Contents) ] Liberation—Preparation for a Slave-hunt—Our Expedition—Capture and Burning of Towns—Successful Return, and a Sacrifice. 32
- CHAPTER VII. Yallaba—The Princess Sooluh—A Scorpion Bite—Life among the Blacks—A Proposition of Marriage—I become a husband at Seventeen—Another War-party—I am made Prisoner by the Foolas—Fandee and the Foola People—The Gambia—Captain Fraley and his Sloops—Slave-packing—Kidnapping—The Brig Friendship—Congo River—Mutiny and Murder—Taken by the Kroos—Captain Baker—Up the Calabar—Dr. Maxwell again—My Uncle sends for me. 36
- CHAPTER VIII. The Calabar and Qua Rivers—Town of Gambo—King Ephraim—Making up a Kaffle of Slaves—Shakoe the Driver—Inspecting the Stock—Branding the Blacks—March to the River—Packing Negroes—Arrival at Camarones—I recover my Chest—Resume Journalizing—Stowing a Cargo—Arrangements for Comfort—Revolt of the Slaves—A Deadly Struggle—Arrival at Berbice—Dutch Slave Market—An Incident—Rio de Janeiro again—Don Juan and his Daughter—Dr. Maxwell leaves us—My Uncle's Plans—Back to Africa—Cape Palmas—Prince Vinegar—Rio Basso—Don Ricardo's Settlement. 42
- CHAPTER IX. Life at Rio Basso—Building Barracoons—Don Miguel's Household—Our Slave Quarters and Hospital—Safe Transhipments—Sierra Leone and my Uncle's Foresight—I leave Rio Basso—Captain Leclerc and Diego Ramos—Journalizing—Ophthalmia shows itself—Small-pox breaks out—The Boa Morte a Pest Ship—A Slaver's Sabbath—Poisoning and Suffocation too late—Leclerc in Danger—Ramos in Good Spirits—A Hurricane in the Gulf Stream—Florida—Proceeds of our Cargo—The Boa Morte Sold—I start for the United States—Slave Smuggling—My Impressions of Travel. 48
- CHAPTER X. A New Voyage—A Partnership Scheme with Diego Ramos—New Society and an old Friend—Brother and Sister—Shipwreck—The Mandingoes—Death of Arthur Jackson—Rio Basso again—Our Speculation—New Tyre—My Uncle in Love—Donna Emelia, the Nun—Burning of a Convent—Honeymoon at Gambia—Our clipper Miranda. 53
- CHAPTER XI. Diego Ramos on Slave Cargoes—Slave-life on Shipboard—The Miranda on Fire—An awfu. Crisis—Making a Raft—The Slaves let Loose—Keeping off the Survivors—A call on "Philip"—Sooluh and her Child—A dying Appeal—Fate of my African Relatives—Three days on a Raft—Picked up by a British Frigate—Sierra Leone—The end of our Speculation—Return to New Tyre. 59
- CHAPTER XII. A New Partnership—King Moussy—My Uncle's "Love-passages"—Donna Emelia taken Sick—Her rapid Recovery—Arrival of the Caravan—The Grand Market—King Moussy and Myself—New Tyre Flourishing—The Donna my Hostess—Arrival of Strangers—The Quadroon Marina—I take Another Trip to Rio—What followed. 64
- CHAPTER XIII. Back to Africa—Strangers at New Tyre—My first sight of Pedro Blanco—The Mexican Blas—The Quadroon Marina—Her Strange Disease—Witchcraft vs. Poison—I go to Palm Valley—Extracts from my Journal—I Betray Confidence—Blas Covado goes to Rio Basso, and Returns—Treachery and its Results—A Brutal British Officer—Our Race for Liberty—My Uncle is Shot—Donna Emelia the Temptress—Our Flight and My Infatuation. 71
- CHAPTER XIV. A Wife and a Fortune—I arrive at the Senegal—The Slave-trade thriving—We go to France—Paris and its Expenses—We emigrate to Cuba—My new Estate—I turn Planter—My Wife's Amusement—She Murders a Slave-girl—Our Visitors—A new Excitement—The Hunt with Bloodhounds—Death of a Runaway Slave—Donna Emelia's Perfidy, and my Ruin—I meet my Uncle again—His Despair and Suicide. 79
- CHAPTER XV. I go back to Africa—The Brig Gloria—Her Devil Captain and Devil Crew—Massacre of the Queahs—Treachery of Ruiz—Piracy and Murder—The Torments of Thirst—The Plague breaks out—We abandon the Gloria—I ship in the Poncheeta—Massacre at Badagry—A Collision at Sea—We escape to the Boats—The Poncheeta sinks with all on board—I go to Angola—Gallinas and Don Pedro Blanco—My new Situation—A Trip to Cuba—I go into Speculation—Sail as Captain—Voyage of the Aguila—A Smuggler's Home—Blowing up of the Magazine—End of my Speculation. 88
- CHAPTER XVI. My Journey to Ashantee—African Sacrifices—A Missionary in Coomassie—We Visit Abomey, the Capital of Dahomey—Whyduh, the Slave Mart—I discover Da Souza—Cha-Chu offers me a Wife—Fate of Donna Emelia—I return to Brazil—The Slave-Hospital—I am transferred to the Gulf of Mexico—Our Island Nursery and Slave-Farm—Loss of the Amistad—My Visit to Baltimore—Wretched Conclusion. 94
- STATISTICAL ITEMS FROM RELIABLE AUTHORITIES. 98
