1831–1864: By 1831, Cuba remained the only major slave market operating in the Caribbean, receiving the vast majority of new arrivals.

1831–1864: By 1831, Cuba remained the only major slave market operating in the Caribbean, receiving the vast majority of new arrivals. Slaves recorded in the British Caribbean during these years arrived almost exclusively as a result of shipwrecks while they were being transported to Spanish colonies. Although individual voyages were shorter on average during the end of the slave-trade era, onboard mortality was often higher due to the clandestine and hazardous nature of the illegal trade. The desperate conditions on these illegal vessels reflected the lack of regulation and the constant fear of capture by abolitionist patrols.