A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade. (Cass Library of African Studies. Slavery Series,) [Hardcover]

William Snelgrave (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1971 | ISBN-10: 0714618985 | ISBN-13: 978-0714618982 | Edition: Reprint

Snelgrave was a trader at a time when commerce between England and Guinea was rapidly increasing. First published in 1734, he discusses how the Negroes became slaves, their export from Guinea to America, their mutinies, piracies and sacrifices.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Reprint edition (September 1, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714618985
• ISBN-13: 978-0714618982
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,980,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sea captain's account of piracy and the African slave trade., August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade. (Cass Library of African Studies. Slavery Series,) (Hardcover)

Captain William Snelgrave's "New Account" is the eye-witness narrative of an early eighteenth century British sea captain who spent much of his career as a slave trader between Africa's Guinea coast and the West Indies. The book provides a fascinating inside view of the African side of the slave trade. Snelgrave was the first European visitor of the crafty and powerful King of Dahomey who was waging a war of conquest against his African neighbors. Snelgrave paints a graphic portrait of the villages he visits, the societies of the various kingdoms (the cultures were quite different), the rituals including widespread human sacrifice, and of course the very competative and mercantile-based slave trade. Most of the slaves of this region were the captives of the interminable wars and intrigues between the kingdoms. Malefactors of a given tribe were also enslaved, but were usually kept for a kind of indentured servitude at home rather than being sold to the white slave traders. Snelgrave set down many amazing first-hand vignettes, including the time, while the guest of a chieftain, he witnessed a mass human sacrifice. When the villagers started to sacrifice a infant boy, Snelgrave could stand it no more, and asked the chieftain to desist. At grave risk to himself and his men, Snelgrave took up arms and stated clearly that he would not allow this sacrifice to take place. The chief reluctantly sold the boy to Snelgrave. When he brought the child aboard his ship, he was witness to a touching reunion between the boy and one of the female slaves aboard his ship, who turned out to be the boy's mother. Later, at Barbadoes, Snelgrave purchased the boy and his mother out of his personal funds and granted them their freedom. The biographical information about the subtle King of Dahomey and his conquests and strategies make for very interesting reading. For all of his fierceness and policy, this redoubtable king wilted in the face of the periodic attacks of the people of the Loes from beyond the great eastern lake. The Loes warriors came mounted on horses, and the Dahomeys did not know how to contend with them. The interior of Africa was very mysterious to Snelgrave and his associates. The Europeans were not allowed to penetrate more than 50 miles into the interior, and only rumors and legends reached them about these mysterious lands. The last third of the book contains the spellbinding account of Snelgrave's capture by pirates. His ship was taken by the pirate Cocklyn off the coast of Africa. The account of his captivity among the bloodthirsty, foulmouthed crew is harrowing. The drunken quartermaster had a grudge against Snelgrave for trying to rally his crew to fight off the pirates during the capture, and made at least three attempts to murder Snelgrave, most of which were foiled by his own inebrity or the chance intercession of other pirates who were better disposed toward Snelgrave. Another of the pirate captains, Davis, sailed away from Cocklyn's ship, with Davis later being killed by the Portugese while visiting one of their African colonies. The man who took over Davis' ship was none other than the infamous Bartholomew Roberts, one of history's more renowned pirates. This book is captivating, not only telling a compelling true action story, but revealing history from the perspective of one who witnessed it first hand.