elanya

This is from a book I am dreading for class on the slave trade, primarily from the French perspective, called The Diligent (p.247). I'm leaving the line of greatest creepyness in context though, so you can see that, well, it is just creepy no matter how you look at it. Emphasis my own, of course.



The preliminary inspection was devoted to classifying the group according to age, gender, and ethnicity. The best slaves, it was believed, were between ten and fifteen years old. The Portuguese had a reputation for buying only captives in that age range. The English factor at Whydah had once described the type of slaves that the Portuguese got in exchange for their gold as "without beard and as fine as waxworks." Older slaves, in contrast, were often referred to as "beard slaves." Prior to the inspection, the African slave merchants would often shave captive men in their twenties as closely as possible to make them appear younger and would rub their chins with a pumice stone to make them smooth and soft. In order to detect any trace of stubble, Portuguese slave traders had a habit of running their tongues over the cheeks and chins of beardless male slaves. Captives younger than twelve were considered children.

....not like they needed any *more* reasons not to want to be captured and sold to Europeans.... But if this was their first experiences with their new owners... yeek!