1818-1819: Captain George Collier submitted a report on the West African coast detailing the merciless treatment of captives by those engaged in the illegal …

1818-1819: Captain George Collier submitted a report on the West African coast detailing the merciless treatment of captives by those engaged in the illegal slave trade. He described the horror of the Middle Passage where individuals were crowded together without room to move and remained unfettered only after death or when the iron had fretted the flesh to the bone. Collier expressed extreme wonder that any captives survived the putrid and pestilential atmosphere of the ships. His account provided powerful eyewitness evidence for the ongoing wretchedness of the trade long after its official abolition by major powers.