230 : The Atlantic 



I made a voyage over the route of the Middle Passage from Dakar 

 to the West Indies, was probably smaller than any of the vessels 

 carrying slaves. We found the sailing conditions fast and agreeable 

 though we found the trade winds stronger and the seas more lively 

 than we had expected. Incidentally, on this voyage we took our de- 

 parture from Goree Island, a small island south of the port of Dakar 

 on which stand black, tall-walled buildings that were used as fortress 

 and barracoons in the days of the slave trade. 



Ships leaving a West African port south of the equator or near it 

 could correspondingly seek the southeast trades and the South Equa- 

 torial Current and this would have been a particularly favorable 

 course for slavers bound for Brazil. As the charts show, the passage 

 from the south end of the slave coast to Cuba, another market and 

 distributing point for the slave trade, could also be made with ease 

 provided that the vessel kept to the southeast trades until it began to 

 approach the eastern shore of South America. Here there is a point 

 in the Atlantic at which the South Equatorial Current is diverted 

 northward and crosses the equator and thus would assist the vessel 

 throughout the latter portion of its voyage to Cuba. 



The shortest possible passage from land to land would be that 

 from Dakar to the extreme eastern ports in Brazil. This, however, 

 would involve crossing the equator and the belt of fitful winds and 

 calms called the doldrums. Here was the greatest risk in this part of 

 the Atlantic. Vessels running out of the trades and getting into the 

 doldrums might encounter weeks of calms or baffling intermittent 

 winds. 



As long as a vessel is in the belt where the trade wind is blowing 

 even though it is in low latitudes, conditions are comfortable, but 

 life aboard a sailing vessel that is becalmed in the doldrums or else- 

 where in the tropics would provide the slavers and the slaves with 

 the foretaste of hell. The deck planking begins to shrivel, any metal 

 work about the ship gets so hot that it will blister fingers laid upon 

 it, even an awning or the shadow of a sail gives little protection from 

 the scorching sun. 



There is no breeze and thus no circulation of air below decks is 

 possible. The air vibrates as though it were being heated in a fur- 

 nace. Even though there is no wind, the ship is not still. Big swells 

 keep sweeping across the sea and the vessel is in constant move- 

 ment. Even though it is flat calm, some sail is usually carried in the 

 wild hope that some breeze or stir of air will help to carry the vessel 

 out of the iron grip of the calm, but the sails hang idle. There is no 



