Plans of the Seraphic Mary. Armed by Mr. Gruel de Nantes for Angola, the ship carried barrels in the holds and 307 slaves piled up on the steerage. Engraving, 1770 • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS From the XVI th in the 19 th century, about 25,000 slave convoys crossed the Atlantic. 443 shipwrecks and 148 expeditions lost at sea were recorded, which demonstrates how difficult and perilous the voyage was for sailors. But the Africans paid the heaviest price:it is estimated that more than a million of them lost their lives during the journey, victims of diseases aggravated by promiscuity, cruel punishments and mistreatment inflicted by the crew. "Commodity" placement While women and children were sometimes allowed to spend the day on deck, the men were locked up in the steerage. A document from the beginning of the 19 th century explains that, each evening, "the lieutenant and his second go down into the 'holds' with a whip in hand and arrange the negroes for the night. Those on the starboard side are spoon-shaped, facing forward. Those on the port side face aft; this is the best position, because it allows you to breathe well. » Supervision and punishment Security was an obsession of the crew of the slave ships. The slaves were closely watched, especially at the beginning of the crossing, because the captives, still sensing the proximity of Africa, showed themselves aggressive and ready for desperate acts. In case of insubordination or mutiny, they saw themselves inflicted with cruel punishments. After the slave revolt of L’Africain , in 1737, the officers seized four ringleaders, made them lie down on the deck to whip them, then cut their thighs with a knife before sprinkling the wounds with powder, lemon juice and pepper, "to prevent gangrene and so that it burns them”, according to the account of a witness. Food The food of the slaves consisted of a soup of rice, cassava and beans, sometimes decorated with fish:an economical menu, intended to prevent the spread of epidemics, one of the worst fears of a captain slave trader. Water was a huge problem. According to a witness, "it putrefies two or three times during the crossing, becomes thick and muddy, and is sometimes full of worms". If everyone behaved well, it was advisable to distribute from time to time a little brandy, a biscuit, or even a piece of boiled beef. The Aurora Extensive documentation has made it possible to understand the characteristics of a French slave ship, the Aurore , launched in 1784 in Nantes, the main French slave port. This three-master of about 300 tons had a crew of 45 men, and her holds could hold up to 600 slaves. The ship was divided into three parts:the deck, the steerage where the slaves were kept, and the holds filled with barrels of water for the crossing to America, and loaded with barrels of sugar on the return to Europe.
