THE KINS OF THE SLAVE TRADERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1285, 15 October 1896, Page 8

THE KINS OF THE SLAVE TRADERS.

THE STORY OF PEDRO BLANCO

A recent visitor to the Gallinas river, on the west coast of Africa, just north of Liberia, says a great many traces yet exist of the large establishments maintained by Pedro Blanco, when he was making his enormous fortune in the slave trade 60 years ago.

The story of Pedro Blanco is a remarkable one. Of the hundreds of men who for three centuries engaged in the African slave trade, the Spaniard Pedro Blanco towered above them all in the extent and success of his operations.

Pedro Blanco was a man of education. He was born at Malaga, Spain, of good family, and had excellent advantages in his youth. He chose, however, to embark in a disreputable business because he saw in it the prospects of a great fortune. At first he commanded a slave ship running from West Africa to the West Indies, where he sold his slaves. After a few years he established himself in Africa, at the mouth of the Gallinas river, for the purpose of accumulating the cargoes there which his fleet of slave vessels were to carry to all parts of the West Indies and the south American coast.

In 1836 Captain Canot visited Pedro Blanco and wrote the best description of his establishment that we have. It was written, however, in the blunt style of a sailor, and undoubtedly he omitted a great many interesting details.

He said as he entered the river and pushed upward among the many islands, he was astonished at the great pains the Spaniard had taken to avoid being surprised by cruisers, which were constantly on the alert to capture slaving vessels.

He saw at least 20 watch towers made of high piles protected against the sun and rain and enabling the watchmen to observe the sea at a height of from 60 to 100 feet above the ground. A number of these watch towers were fixed in lofty trees.

Each watchman had a powerful spyglass, with which he was continually sweeping the horizon. Then there were other towers extending into the interior, within signalling distance of each other. Upon the appearance of a hostile sail the news was telegraphed by signals in a few minutes from the coast for miles into the interior, and thus Pedro Blanco and his agents were instantly informed that there was danger in the air. Then there was a great hustling of the of slaves who filled the great trader's bariacoons, or slave sheds, into the mangrove swamps, or off into the jungle, where there was not one chance in a hundred of their presence being detected. If the vessels sent a few boatloads of men ashore they found nothing in the sheds except bales of harmless merchandise, and Pedro Blanco was ready to receive them with the blandest of smiles, and an apparently very hearty welcome, assuring them that lie was glad to receive visits from people of his own colour, and that he had quit slaving for a living, and was now in legitimate commerce, and he hoped that they would see him often. At that very time he would probably have 2,000 or 3,000 slaves out in the swamps. In a similar way 'the new 3 communicated from post to post of Blanco’s establishment whenever one of his little vessels returned from the western world for a fresh cargo. It would lie at anchor off the coast, take on a little Indiarubber, cocoanut oil, and other articles of legitimate commerce, and wait for some dark night when nothing had been seen or heard of any cruiser, and then it would rapidly fill its hold with the poor wretches, who were tied together in the barracoons, and off it would start for America.

Pedro Blanco was extremely fortunate. Now and then he lost a slave vessel, but the most of his cargoes of black people reached the western world in safety, and were sold, at great profit, to -the traders there. He could afford to lose an occasional vessel, for the profits on a single cargo that safely reached America amounted to a small fortune.

Each of his slave depots on the islands was in charge of an agent. Upon one of these islands near the mouth of the river Blanco had his business head-quarters, but he resided miles up the riyer upon another island, where for a long time his aiater shared with him business cares,

There he lived in all the luxury of a semi barbaric prince. Further up the river, upon another island, was his seraglio, in which were his wives, who, after the custom of the tribes in that neighbourhood, had each a separate dwelling.

He built on the islands 12 large slave barracks or barracoons, each of which generally contained 100 to 500 slaves. The walls of these barracks were made of a double row of thick piles driven five feet into the ground, and fastened together with strap iron. The roofs were of poles, with palm leaf thatch, which kept the barracks comparatively dry and cool. Etch of the barracoons were guarded by three or four Spaniards or Portuguese. In 1839 Pedro Blanco gave up the business and retired to Havanna with his fortune, said to have amounted to several millions of francs. This famous slave, dealer was known for a long time as the Rothschild of West Africa, and his paper was current and accepted in the money marts of Europe. The king of the slave traders lived for many years to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. At last the business that had enriched him was completely suppressed, and there is little now to remind the world that Pedro Blanco ever lived except the ruins of his slave barracoons and of the little palace he built for himself on the island in the Gallinas river.