Dr. Alexander Falconbridge

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Recommended: The middle passage

Dr. Alexander Falconbridge describes the middle passage: The slaves lie on bare planks. The surgeon, upon going between decks, in the morning, to examine the situation, frequently finds several dead. These dead slaves are thrown to the sharks. It often happens that those who are placed at a distance from the latrine buckets, in trying to get to them, tumble over their companions, as a result of being shackled. This situation is added to by the tubs being too small and only emptied once every day. Alexander Falconbridge (a ship's doctor), An Account of the Slave Trade (1788) Interviewed in Bristol with Thomas Clarkson

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