Logbook of the sloop Betsey and the brigantine Sally, 1765-1767

ArchivalResource

Briggs, Nathaniel. Logbook of the sloop Betsey and the brigantine Sally, 1765-1767

Logbook of the sloop Betsey and the brigantine Sally, 1765-1767

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/768421245

Logs of two voyages by ships engaged in the slave trade, owned by the Newport, R.I. merchant Aaron Lopez; the logs written by the master for both voyages, Nathaniel Briggs. The first entry is for July 24, 1765, with the Betsey outward bound from Newport, R.I. to the West Coast of Africa. There are day to day entries with weather and navigational observations; some entries record the crew preparing for their eventual cargo of slaves. On arrival at Senegal, Briggs records that there is "no trade" (no slaves available) there, and moves down the coast to various locations until reaching "Cape Vargas" on September 28, 1765. On February 3rd, the Betsey begins her voyage out from Sierra Leone for Barbados, but in fact [according to other records] she proceeds to Jamaica. The exact number of slaves on board is not recorded; only one death among the slaves is recorded on the voyage, that of "a gal slave" 3 feet, 6 inches tall. The final leg of the voyage is recorded from Port Royal, April 23, 1766. The Betsey sails around the western tip of Cuba along the Florida Keys, and up the coast, arriving at The Hamptons, L.I. May 18th. On the previous day, Briggs records "speaking" (sighting and contacting) another sloop from Barbados to New London which informs him that the British Stamp Act has been repealed. The Voyage of the Brig Sally (or "Salley") began on August 23rd, 1766 from Newport , arriving at Cape Verde October 13 after an uneventful crossing. The second leg of the Sally's "triangle" begins on February 8th from Cape Coast on the Gold Coast to Barbados with 216 slaves recorded aboard. Of that number 18 are recorded as having perished during the "Middle Passage." Not every individual death is recorded, though on March 4th the first death is noted with a typical, business-like entry: "this day buried a man slave with the flax" (sic, flux). On March 30, 11 slaves are recorded as dying, though only 5 individual deaths are recorded, including one man with marked "SL" on the foot. Afterwards, Briggs numbers the total losses until April 9. Two more deaths follow on the 14th, making a total of 18. On April 20th the Sally arrives in Barbados where Briggs again does not make entries until his homeward bound leg of the voyage from St. Christopher on June 12th, 1767. The last extant entry is for June 23, off Georgia.

1 v. ([62] p.) ; 33 x 22 cm.

Brown University, Brown University Library