[33] The reason seems to have been that
dry-goods and sundries required much more cargo space for the same value
than did rum.
[Footnote 32: Massachusetts Historical Society, _Collections_, LXIX, 524.]
[Footnote 33: _Ibid_., 500.]
The English vessels were generally twice as great of burthen and with twice
the height in their 'tween decks. But this did not mean that the slaves
could stand erect in their quarters except along the center line; for when
full cargoes were expected platforms of six or eight feet in width were
laid on each side, halving the 'tween deck height and nearly doubling the
floor space on which the slaves were to be stowed. Whatever the size of the
ship, it loaded slaves if it could get them to the limit of its capacity.
Bosnian tersely said, "they lie as close together as it is possible to be
crowded."[34] The women's room was divided from the men's by a bulkhead,
and in time of need the captain's cabin might be converted into a hospital.
[Footnote 34: Bosnian's _Guinea_, in Pinkerton's _Voyages_, XVI, 490.]
While the ship was taking on slaves and African provisions and water the
negroes were generally kept in a temporary stockade on deck for the sake
of fresh air.
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