slovenly. It being Lent when I came hither there was no buying any flesh
till Easter-eve, when a great number of bullocks were killed at once in
the slaughterhouses within the town, men, women and children flocking
thither with great joy to buy, and a multitude of dogs, almost starved,
following them; for whom the meat seemed fittest, it was so lean. All
these tradesmen buy negroes, and train them up to their several
employments, which is a great help to them; and they having so frequent
trade to Angola, and other parts of Guinea, they have a constant supply
of blacks both for their plantations and town. These slaves are very
useful in this place for carriage, as porters; for as here is a great
trade by sea and the landing-place is at the foot of a hill, too steep
for drawing with carts, so there is great need of slaves to carry goods
up into the town, especially for the inferior sort; but the merchants
have also the convenience of a great crane that goes with ropes or
pulleys, one end of which goes up while the other goes down. The house in
which this crane is stands on the brow of the hill towards the sea,
hanging over the precipice; and there are planks set shelving against the
bank from thence to the bottom, against which the goods lean or slide as
they are hoisted up or let down. The negro slaves in this town are so
numerous that they make up the greatest part or bulk of the inhabitants:
every house, as I said, having some, both men and women, of them. Many of
the Portuguese, who are bachelors, keep of these black women for misses,
though they know the danger they are in of being poisoned by them, if
ever they give them any occasion of jealousy. A gentleman of my
acquaintance, who had been familiar with his cookmaid, lay under some
apprehensions from her when I was there. These slaves also of either sex
will easily be engaged to do any sort of mischief; even to murder, if
they are hired to do it, especially in the night; for which reason I kept
my men on board as much as I could; for one of the French king's ships
being here had several men murdered by them in the night, as I was