The place was low, not more than seven feet in height, and the slaves lay ironed in the bilge water on the bottom of the vessel.

They were crowded as thick as they could lie, being chained to rings fixed in the sides of the ship.
Altogether there may have been two hundred of them, men, women and children, or rather there had been two hundred when the ship sailed a week before.

Now some twenty were dead, which was a small number, since the Spaniards reckon to lose from a third to half of their cargo in this devilish traffic.

When I entered the place a deadly sickness seized me, weak as I was, brought on by the horrible sounds and smells, and the sights that I saw in the flare of the lanterns which my conductors carried, for the hold was shut off from light and air.

But they dragged me along and presently I found myself chained in the midst of a line of black men and women, many feet resting in the bilge water.