The Diligent : a voyage through the worlds of the slave trade

496 Pages·2002·41.561 MB·English

by  Harms, Robert W.

The
A Voyage Through the
Worlds of the Slave Trade
e
BASIC
BOOKS
A Member of the Perseus Books Group

Copyright © 2002 by Robert Harms
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
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and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 10 East 53rd Street,
New York, NY 10022-5299.
Text design by Trish Wilkinson
Typeset in 11-point Bembo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harms, Robert W., 1946-
The Diligent: a voyage through the worlds of the slave trade / Robert
Harms.— 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-465-02871-3
1. Slave trade—France—History—18th century. 2. Slave trade —Africa, West—
History— 18th century. 3. Diligent (Ship) I. Title.
HT1177.H37 2001
38o.i’44'o96—dc2i 2001043237
CIP
First Edition
02 03 04 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C o n t e n t s
List of Illustrations VII
Preface XI
Illustrations Credits XXIII
Acknowledgments XXIX
PART I M atters of M o ra lity 1
PART 2 T he F in a n c ier s 29
PART 3 O u tfittin g a S laver 63
PART 4 Sa ilin g S outh 87
PART 5 C r u isin g the
A frican C oast 119
PART 6 W h yd ah 149
PART 7 Assou 197
PART 8 J a k in 225
vi | Contents
PART 9 A tla n tic Islan ds 265
PART 10 T he M id d le Passage 293
PART II M a rtin iq u e 331
PART 12 T he R etu rn 377
Afterword 409
Appendix A: Reconstructing the Balance Sheet
of the Diligent 411
Appendix B; Abbreviations Used in Notes 415
Notes 417
Index 453
L i s t of I l l u s t r a t i o n s
Part 1. Matters of Morality
1.1 With three masts and a lateen mizzen, the Diligent looked very
much like this ship painted by Claude-JosephVernet in 1755.
1.2 Choir habit of the nuns of Notre Dame du Calvaire.
2.1 Redrawn version of Delisle’s 1730 map of Africa showing the
mythical land of Nigritie.
Part 2. The Financiers
4.1 Nantes at the beginning of the eighteenth century.
5.1 Place Louis-le-Grand in Paris.
5.2 John Law.
5.3 Lorient in 1724.
5.4 Crowds of desperate sellers at the Company of the Indies stock
office in Paris.
6.1 The Count of Maurepas.
Part 3. Outfitting a Slaver
7.1 Durand’s drawing of the Diligent.
7.2 Breton peasants during wheat harvest.
7.3 Port ofVannes in the early eighteenth century. Billy house is at
the right corner of the port.
10.1 The harbor of Le Palais on Belle lie.
vii
viii | List of Illustrations
Part 4. Sailing South
11.1 Jean Bouguer’s diagram showing how to determine the angle of
the sun using the cross staff.
11.2 Redrawn version of the Pieter Goos map used on the Diligent,
showing its route fromVannes to Whydah.
14. i Durands drawing of the Isle of May, Cape Verde Islands.
14.2 Durand’s drawing of the port of La Praya, Cape Verde Islands.
14.3 Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts.
Part 5. Cruising the African Coast.
15.1 Durand’s drawing of the African coast at Sestos.
16.1 African kingdoms of the Gold Coast as shown on this 1729 map
by D’Anville.
16.2 Durand’s drawing of the Dutch fort at Axim.
16.3 Durand’s drawing of the fort he called “Fort Brandenburg or
Fort Konny.”
17.1 Durand’s drawing of Elmina castle.
17.2 Durand’s drawing of Cape Coast casde.
17.3 The slave dungeon was underneath the courtyard of Cape Coast
castle.
18.1 Durand’s drawing of the town of Keta.The Dutch trading lodge
is on the right.
Part 6. Whydah
19.1 Coronation of the king of Whydah.
19.2 European trading compounds at Savi.
19.3 Procession of the Serpent in Whydah.
20.1 Redrawn version of Norris’s 1793 map showing Whydah, Allada
(Ardrah), and Dahomey.
20.2 Clothing worn by nobles and the king’s wives in Whydah, 1725.
Dress at the court of Dahomey was probably similar.
22.1 The king’s presence chamber in St. James’s Palace, London.
Part 7. Assou
23.1 Durand’s drawing of the harbor of Whydah.
23.2 Des Marchais’s 1725 map of the tents and forts on the coast of
Whydah.
List of Illustrations | ix
24.1 Portuguese sketch of Fort St.John the Baptist at Whydah, 1721.
24-2 English fort at Whydah in 1727.
24-3 French fort at Whydah in 1718.
Part 8. Jakin
26.1 Durand’s drawing of the beach at Jakin.
27.1 Durand’s drawing of Joseph de Torres’s Portuguese fort at Jakin.
28.1 Cross section of a slave ship showing the platforms between the
main and lower decks.
28.2 Slave ship showing the barricade separating the front of the ship
from the back.
Part 9. Atlantic Islands
31*1 Durand’s drawing of the harbor at Principe.
Durand’s drawing of Sao Tome City. Note the cathedral beside
32,1
the Aqua Grande Paver. Sailors believed that the river was the
dividing line between the hemispheres.
32.2 Durand’s drawing of the fort at Sao Tome.
Part 10. The Middle Passage
33.1 Slave irons that bound the right leg of one captive to the left leg
of another.
34-1 These drawings of the slave ship Vigilante from Nantes show the
arrangement of the captives on the slave deck and the platforms.
34- 2 Slaves on the deck during the day.
34*3 Cutaway view of a slave ship showing food and water storage.
35- R1edrawn version of the Pieter Goos map showing the Diligent*s
route from Whydah to Martinique.
37-i Harbor of St. Pierre, Martinique, with Mount Pelee in the back­
ground.
Part 11. Martinique
38.1 Slave buying on the deck of a slave ship.
40.1 Slaves doing laundry in St. Pierre.
40.2 Horse-driven sugar mill.
40.3 Working in the boiling house.
40.4 Slaves preparing cassava.
x | List of Illustrations
Part 12. The Return
47.1 Port ofVannes showing the new Billy mansion (with two figures
in front).
47.2 The port ofVannes in the late eighteenth century.
47.3 The Billy mansion.