rs. Men with different complexions Equiano had never seen or encountered before, had long hair, and who spoke a completely different language dragged him aboard. He was in a state of total confusion; he could not understand what they are saying, he did not know anyone, and he had no idea where he was going. He was convinced they were going to kill and eat him. The conditions aboard the ship were intolerable and many times Equiano found himself wishing he were dead rather than kept alive on the ship. “I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste anything. I now wished for the last friend, death to relieve me…” In the case of suicide, nets lined the sides of the ship in order to catch any who might attempt to end their misery. Some succeeded while others who were unfortunate enough to be caught were severely flogged, another brutality never seen or encountered before by Equiano. Most slaves in the end did die of malnutrition and diseases. Equiano was kept aboard the ship for a long time in the traveling between countries. Many new things he had never encountered before still terrified him, men on horseback, houses made out bricks but, even more terrifying, the manner in which the slaves were sold. “On a signal given (as the beat of a drum), the buyers rush at once into the yard where the slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they like best.” The white slave traders based their purchases upon the age and sex of slaves, the older males being more expensive. Equiano learned of the brutality the West Indies through the stories of other slaves and their experiences. “I have seen a Negro man stacked to the ground, and cut most shockingly, and...
