30 HORRORS OF SLAVE-SHIPS. 
form and colouring of the luxuriant and gigan- 
tic vegetation that thickly clothes the valleys 
and mountains even to the sea-shore. A breeze 
from the land wafted to us the most delicious 
perfumes; and crowds of beautiful insects, but- 
terflies, and birds, such as only the tropics pro- 
duce, hovered about us. Nature seems to have 
destined these lovely regions for the unmixed 
enjoyment of her creatures; but, alas! hard 
labour and a tyrant’s whip have, to the unhappy 
Negro, transformed this Paradise into a place 
of torment. 
The sight of two slave-ships formed a revolt- 
ing contrast to the enchantment of the prospect : 
they had that day arrived from Africa, and lay 
near us at anchor. The trade in human flesh, 
that foul blot on civilized nations, of which 
most of them are already ashamed, yet flou- 
rishes here in detestable activity, and is carried 
on, with all the brutality of avarice, under the 
sanction of the laws. The ships employed in 
this abominable traffic are so over-crowded that 
the slives: have scarcely room to move. They 
are brought up by turns to inhale for a while 
the refreshing breeze, but the deck being only 
