Sometimes we are taken outside to exercise but there are always white men staring, with their guns pointed at us. At night they get noisy and take some women away. The women always return crying - I don't want to imagine what happens to them.
An ivory trade token inscribed with the words 'Tom Buck of Grandy Bonny, an Honest Trader; he sold me 20 Slaves, Ship Liverpool'.
Africans were allowed on deck to eat or exercise (some ships allowed women more access to the deck than men). This was the time when captives were most likely to attack their captors, so the crew carried weapons and watched the Africans carefully.
Europeans thought that Africans were racially inferior. As slaves they were simply possessions without rights and were often beaten, raped and even murdered. Anything the captives received in the way of food, water and exercise was only provided so they would look healthy and raise a higher price when sold.