Depredations — Effect of Slave Trade
In old Calabar River are two towns, Old Town and New Town. A rivalship in trade produced a jealousy between the towns; so that, through fear of each other, for a considerable time no canoe would leave their towns to go up the river for slaves. |Astley’s Voyages.| In 1767, seven ships lay off the point which separates the towns; six of the captains invited the people of both towns on board on a certain day, as if to reconcile them; at the same time agreed with the people of New Town to cut off the Old Town people who should remain on board the next morning. The Old Town people, persuaded of the sincerity of the captains’ proposal, went on board in great numbers. Next morning, at eight o’clock, one of the ships fired a gun, as the signal for commencing hostilities. Some of the traders were secured on board, some were killed in resisting, and some got overboard and were fired upon. When the firing began, the New Town people, who were in ambush behind the Point, came forward and picked up the people of Old Town, who were swimming, and had escaped the firing. After the firing was over, the captains of five of the ships delivered their prisoners (persons of consequence) to the New Town canoes; two of whom were beheaded alongside the ships; the inferior prisoners were carried to the West Indies. One of the captains, who had secured three of the king’s brothers, delivered one of them to the chief man of New Town, who was one of the two beheaded alongside; the other brothers he kept on board, promising, when the ship was slaved, to deliver them to the chief man of New Town. This ship was soon slaved, from this promise, and the number of prisoners made that day; but he refused to deliver the king’s two brothers, and carried them to the West Indies, and sold them.