Page 138 - Transcriptions d'actes notariés - Tome 20 - 1682-1686

Amongat his aiinlysis oi Negro ljfe aiid cnitoms he remarked concerri-
irig their relipioti that if it ivere pocsillle ior them to lie coriverted lo
Christinnity, the Homan Catholic religion w~ould likely sncceed better
han the Protestant, hzeanse oi the ceremoiiies and of the ~iatnral,
litnrgical rhvt hm of ~he Cathiilir: Chureh.
ln his descriplion, whirh is a vrrv Iengthy one irideed, of the aeinal
operations of [lie slave trade. he made several tiiitigs quite clenr. Fji si,
the slaves 1i.r re snpplied liv ihe Afriean t r iliec itiemee11,e~. Secoridl y,
when tlit slaves offered for sale ivere preseriieci brlore the fort of the
European eompany, in this case the Dnieli fori rd St. George Del Mna,
the slaves were ilien earrfullv examined in their rornpletely naked
erinditjon by the comynny offieials arid Company doctor. Thosr whieh
wre set aside for pnreh~se after liaving Iieen boupht werP then branded
un the breast with n branding irtiti which imprinted on their ilesh tlie
wnis or name of the cornpan). This ivas done iri order to tliffeientiate
tIie alaves {rom the slaves of ~he French, English, Da~ic.: and those of
the Africnnli thpniselves. Bosman notes with ironical delicacv rhat the
femaie _.laies were not branded quite so hard as rhe tnale slaves. At the
end of his lclnp aeeonnt oi the slave trade, Wiiliani Hcismnn clearly
pondered in hi3 miiid ~he effect that tbis deseriptiriii miKlit have on hi3
civilized nnele in ihe Netherlanda. "1 doubi iiclt hut tliat ihrj iradr
seems ver). barharous io rcln hiit sinee it ia iolloived by mere neees~ity
it rnnst po ori. .
Alt houeh Bosrnari himself seems Iiardeiied 10 ihe problems (11 li ie
ori 11ie We~t Coast of Airica, yet even he setlned to iealize dirnlr that
[lie slave rrnde was nrit cinti of the better ieatures of Eiiropean civilization.
I'he Hev. Richard Enrter and nishop George Berkeley
It is a point well takeri in histrir! tliat the past may nclr Le juclped by
ihr standards oi the present. Yet. lie Iiave eurely the riglit tri ivonder if
inetitutirins sanctioned bl- cuatom did iiot have their ripporients even in
theii own da!.. Professur Donnan, for cxam~ile. iii a Piirtnguese ncconnt
translnted into Etiglish, allorvs ns to sec iliat when the hrfil Negro slaxes
weie bion~ht to ParLi~~al in 14-41? the miserable lut iii ilie captives,
shocked aftei their ca11tui.e and loriging for their home land. present~d
a sad speclacle ivhich toiiehed mtist uf the Poriuguese who iritnesaed it.
Another documenl, ir-ritten jii 1.b.U: acknoivledger the iealitj- thii t people
were ticcornin; aeenstomeil 10 ihe sight of slaverv, and that ihe meiehaiita
had fonnd it profiiable. Two justiiicaiiiins aroar io allay the conseitnces
of the Prirt~i~nese. One ivas ihnt tliese sla\t~ were pagan or inbdel, and,
thertIiJre, ou tside the protection of Christ endom. Related to this was
the eunsulation rhat L~CW wretehecl Negrries rr-ould nriiv be coti~-erted to
the triie failh, and iherrliy rnure souls n~onld be gained for Christ. The
ireond juetihcatjcln came from the Bible. Erudite ecclesiaciies priinted oiit
ihst the Negro race sprang frclrn ihe loine of Ham, who was the son oI
Noah reaprinsible for his falher's tuo-foltl disgiaee of drnnkenneeri

(13) Idt-rrr, Lriier XIX, p. 364.