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Introduction to probability models 10ed. Edition Ross
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Author(s): Ross, Sheldon M
ISBN(s): 9786316316356, 6316316356
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Year: 2010
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Introduction to Probability Models
Tenth Edition
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction to Probability
Models
Tenth Edition

Sheldon M. Ross
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ross, Sheldon M.
Introduction to probability models / Sheldon M. Ross. – 10th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-12-375686-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Probabilities. I. Title.
QA273.R84 2010
519.2–dc22
2009040399

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-12-375686-2

For information on all Academic Press publications

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09 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents

Preface xi

1 Introduction to Probability Theory 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Sample Space and Events 1
1.3 Probabilities Defined on Events 4
1.4 Conditional Probabilities 7
1.5 Independent Events 10
1.6 Bayes’ Formula 12
Exercises 15
References 20

2 Random Variables 21
2.1 Random Variables 21
2.2 Discrete Random Variables 25
2.2.1 The Bernoulli Random Variable 26
2.2.2 The Binomial Random Variable 27
2.2.3 The Geometric Random Variable 29
2.2.4 The Poisson Random Variable 30
2.3 Continuous Random Variables 31
2.3.1 The Uniform Random Variable 32
2.3.2 Exponential Random Variables 34
2.3.3 Gamma Random Variables 34
2.3.4 Normal Random Variables 34
2.4 Expectation of a Random Variable 36
2.4.1 The Discrete Case 36
2.4.2 The Continuous Case 38
2.4.3 Expectation of a Function of a Random Variable 40
2.5 Jointly Distributed Random Variables 44
2.5.1 Joint Distribution Functions 44
2.5.2 Independent Random Variables 48
2.5.3 Covariance and Variance of Sums of Random Variables 50
vi Contents

2.5.4 Joint Probability Distribution of Functions of Random

Variables 59
2.6 Moment Generating Functions 62
2.6.1 The Joint Distribution of the Sample Mean and Sample
Variance from a Normal Population 71
2.7 The Distribution of the Number of Events that Occur 74
2.8 Limit Theorems 77
2.9 Stochastic Processes 84
Exercises 86
References 95
3 Conditional Probability and Conditional Expectation 97
3.1 Introduction 97
3.2 The Discrete Case 97
3.3 The Continuous Case 102
3.4 Computing Expectations by Conditioning 106
3.4.1 Computing Variances by Conditioning 117
3.5 Computing Probabilities by Conditioning 122
3.6 Some Applications 140
3.6.1 A List Model 140
3.6.2 A Random Graph 141
3.6.3 Uniform Priors, Polya’s Urn Model, and Bose–Einstein
Statistics 149
3.6.4 Mean Time for Patterns 153
3.6.5 The k-Record Values of Discrete Random Variables 157
3.6.6 Left Skip Free Random Walks 160
3.7 An Identity for Compound Random Variables 166
3.7.1 Poisson Compounding Distribution 169
3.7.2 Binomial Compounding Distribution 171
3.7.3 A Compounding Distribution Related to the Negative
Binomial 172
Exercises 173
4 Markov Chains 191
4.1 Introduction 191
4.2 Chapman–Kolmogorov Equations 195
4.3 Classification of States 204
4.4 Limiting Probabilities 214
4.5 Some Applications 230
4.5.1 The Gambler’s Ruin Problem 230
4.5.2 A Model for Algorithmic Efficiency 234
4.5.3 Using a Random Walk to Analyze a Probabilistic
Algorithm for the Satisfiability Problem 237
4.6 Mean Time Spent in Transient States 243
4.7 Branching Processes 245
Contents vii

4.8 Time Reversible Markov Chains 249

4.9 Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods 260
4.10 Markov Decision Processes 265
4.11 Hidden Markov Chains 269
4.11.1 Predicting the States 273
Exercises 275
References 290

5 The Exponential Distribution and the Poisson Process 291

5.1 Introduction 291
5.2 The Exponential Distribution 292
5.2.1 Definition 292
5.2.2 Properties of the Exponential Distribution 294
5.2.3 Further Properties of the Exponential Distribution 301
5.2.4 Convolutions of Exponential Random Variables 308
5.3 The Poisson Process 312
5.3.1 Counting Processes 312
5.3.2 Definition of the Poisson Process 313
5.3.3 Interarrival and Waiting Time Distributions 316
5.3.4 Further Properties of Poisson Processes 319
5.3.5 Conditional Distribution of the Arrival Times 325
5.3.6 Estimating Software Reliability 336
5.4 Generalizations of the Poisson Process 339
5.4.1 Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process 339
5.4.2 Compound Poisson Process 346
5.4.3 Conditional or Mixed Poisson Processes 351
Exercises 354
References 370

6 Continuous-Time Markov Chains 371

6.1 Introduction 371
6.2 Continuous-Time Markov Chains 372
6.3 Birth and Death Processes 374
6.4 The Transition Probability Function Pij (t) 381
6.5 Limiting Probabilities 390
6.6 Time Reversibility 397
6.7 Uniformization 406
6.8 Computing the Transition Probabilities 409
Exercises 412
References 419

7 Renewal Theory and Its Applications 421

7.1 Introduction 421
7.2 Distribution of N(t) 423
7.3 Limit Theorems and Their Applications 427
viii Contents

7.4 Renewal Reward Processes 439

7.5 Regenerative Processes 447
7.5.1 Alternating Renewal Processes 450
7.6 Semi-Markov Processes 457
7.7 The Inspection Paradox 460
7.8 Computing the Renewal Function 463
7.9 Applications to Patterns 466
7.9.1 Patterns of Discrete Random Variables 467
7.9.2 The Expected Time to a Maximal Run of
Distinct Values 474
7.9.3 Increasing Runs of Continuous Random Variables 476
7.10 The Insurance Ruin Problem 478
Exercises 484
References 495

8 Queueing Theory 497

8.1 Introduction 497
8.2 Preliminaries 498
8.2.1 Cost Equations 499
8.2.2 Steady-State Probabilities 500
8.3 Exponential Models 502
8.3.1 A Single-Server Exponential Queueing System 502
8.3.2 A Single-Server Exponential Queueing System Having
Finite Capacity 511
8.3.3 Birth and Death Queueing Models 517
8.3.4 A Shoe Shine Shop 522
8.3.5 A Queueing System with Bulk Service 524
8.4 Network of Queues 527
8.4.1 Open Systems 527
8.4.2 Closed Systems 532
8.5 The System M/G/1 538
8.5.1 Preliminaries: Work and Another Cost Identity 538
8.5.2 Application of Work to M/G/1 539
8.5.3 Busy Periods 540
8.6 Variations on the M/G/1 541
8.6.1 The M/G/1 with Random-Sized Batch Arrivals 541
8.6.2 Priority Queues 543
8.6.3 An M/G/1 Optimization Example 546
8.6.4 The M/G/1 Queue with Server Breakdown 550
8.7 The Model G/M/1 553
8.7.1 The G/M/1 Busy and Idle Periods 558
8.8 A Finite Source Model 559
8.9 Multiserver Queues 562
8.9.1 Erlang’s Loss System 563
Contents ix

8.9.2 The M/M/k Queue 564

8.9.3 The G/M/k Queue 565
8.9.4 The M/G/k Queue 567
Exercises 568
References 578
9 Reliability Theory 579
9.1 Introduction 579
9.2 Structure Functions 580
9.2.1 Minimal Path and Minimal Cut Sets 582
9.3 Reliability of Systems of Independent Components 586
9.4 Bounds on the Reliability Function 590
9.4.1 Method of Inclusion and Exclusion 591
9.4.2 Second Method for Obtaining Bounds on r(p) 600
9.5 System Life as a Function of Component Lives 602
9.6 Expected System Lifetime 610
9.6.1 An Upper Bound on the Expected Life of a
Parallel System 614
9.7 Systems with Repair 616
9.7.1 A Series Model with Suspended Animation 620
Exercises 623
References 629
10 Brownian Motion and Stationary Processes 631
10.1 Brownian Motion 631
10.2 Hitting Times, Maximum Variable, and the Gambler’s
Ruin Problem 635
10.3 Variations on Brownian Motion 636
10.3.1 Brownian Motion with Drift 636
10.3.2 Geometric Brownian Motion 636
10.4 Pricing Stock Options 638
10.4.1 An Example in Options Pricing 638
10.4.2 The Arbitrage Theorem 640
10.4.3 The Black-Scholes Option Pricing Formula 644
10.5 White Noise 649
10.6 Gaussian Processes 651
10.7 Stationary and Weakly Stationary Processes 654
10.8 Harmonic Analysis of Weakly Stationary Processes 659
Exercises 661
References 665

11 Simulation 667
11.1 Introduction 667
11.2 General Techniques for Simulating Continuous Random
Variables 672
x Contents

11.2.1 The Inverse Transformation Method 672

11.2.2 The Rejection Method 673
11.2.3 The Hazard Rate Method 677
11.3 Special Techniques for Simulating Continuous Random
Variables 680
11.3.1 The Normal Distribution 680
11.3.2 The Gamma Distribution 684
11.3.3 The Chi-Squared Distribution 684
11.3.4 The Beta (n, m) Distribution 685
11.3.5 The Exponential Distribution—The Von Neumann
Algorithm 686
11.4 Simulating from Discrete Distributions 688
11.4.1 The Alias Method 691
11.5 Stochastic Processes 696
11.5.1 Simulating a Nonhomogeneous Poisson Process 697
11.5.2 Simulating a Two-Dimensional Poisson Process 703
11.6 Variance Reduction Techniques 706
11.6.1 Use of Antithetic Variables 707
11.6.2 Variance Reduction by Conditioning 710
11.6.3 Control Variates 715
11.6.4 Importance Sampling 717
11.7 Determining the Number of Runs 722
11.8 Generating from the Stationary Distribution of a
Markov Chain 723
11.8.1 Coupling from the Past 723
11.8.2 Another Approach 725
Exercises 726
References 734

Appendix: Solutions to Starred Exercises 735

Index 775
Preface

This text is intended as an introduction to elementary probability theory and

stochastic processes. It is particularly well suited for those wanting to see how
probability theory can be applied to the study of phenomena in fields such as engi-
neering, computer science, management science, the physical and social sciences,
and operations research.
It is generally felt that there are two approaches to the study of probability the-
ory. One approach is heuristic and nonrigorous and attempts to develop in the
student an intuitive feel for the subject that enables him or her to “think proba-
bilistically.” The other approach attempts a rigorous development of probability
by using the tools of measure theory. It is the first approach that is employed
in this text. However, because it is extremely important in both understanding
and applying probability theory to be able to “think probabilistically,” this text
should also be useful to students interested primarily in the second approach.

New to This Edition

The tenth edition includes new text material, examples, and exercises chosen not
only for their inherent interest and applicability but also for their usefulness in
strengthening the reader’s probabilistic knowledge and intuition. The new text
material includes Section 2.7, which builds on the inclusion/exclusion identity to
find the distribution of the number of events that occur; and Section 3.6.6 on left
skip free random walks, which can be used to model the fortunes of an investor
(or gambler) who always invests 1 and then receives a nonnegative integral return.
Section 4.2 has additional material on Markov chains that shows how to modify a
given chain when trying to determine such things as the probability that the chain
ever enters a given class of states by some time, or the conditional distribution of
the state at some time given that the class has never been entered. A new remark
in Section 7.2 shows that results from the classical insurance ruin model also hold
in other important ruin models. There is new material on exponential queueing
models, including, in Section 2.2, a determination of the mean and variance of
the number of lost customers in a busy period of a finite capacity queue, as well as
xii Preface

the new Section 8.3.3 on birth and death queueing models. Section 11.8.2 gives
a new approach that can be used to simulate the exact stationary distribution of
a Markov chain that satisfies a certain property.
Among the newly added examples are 1.11, which is concerned with a multiple
player gambling problem; 3.20, which finds the variance in the matching rounds
problem; 3.30, which deals with the characteristics of a random selection from a
population; and 4.25, which deals with the stationary distribution of a Markov
chain.

Course
Ideally, this text would be used in a one-year course in probability models. Other
possible courses would be a one-semester course in introductory probability
theory (involving Chapters 1–3 and parts of others) or a course in elementary
stochastic processes. The textbook is designed to be flexible enough to be used
in a variety of possible courses. For example, I have used Chapters 5 and 8, with
smatterings from Chapters 4 and 6, as the basis of an introductory course in
queueing theory.

Examples and Exercises

Many examples are worked out throughout the text, and there are also a large
number of exercises to be solved by students. More than 100 of these exercises
have been starred and their solutions provided at the end of the text. These starred
problems can be used for independent study and test preparation. An Instructor’s
Manual, containing solutions to all exercises, is available free to instructors who
adopt the book for class.

Organization
Chapters 1 and 2 deal with basic ideas of probability theory. In Chapter 1 an
axiomatic framework is presented, while in Chapter 2 the important concept of
a random variable is introduced. Subsection 2.6.1 gives a simple derivation of
the joint distribution of the sample mean and sample variance of a normal data
sample.
Chapter 3 is concerned with the subject matter of conditional probability and
conditional expectation. “Conditioning” is one of the key tools of probability
theory, and it is stressed throughout the book. When properly used, conditioning
often enables us to easily solve problems that at first glance seem quite diffi-
cult. The final section of this chapter presents applications to (1) a computer list
problem, (2) a random graph, and (3) the Polya urn model and its relation to
the Bose-Einstein distribution. Subsection 3.6.5 presents k-record values and the
surprising Ignatov’s theorem.
Preface xiii

In Chapter 4 we come into contact with our first random, or stochastic, pro-
cess, known as a Markov chain, which is widely applicable to the study of many
real-world phenomena. Applications to genetics and production processes are
presented. The concept of time reversibility is introduced and its usefulness illus-
trated. Subsection 4.5.3 presents an analysis, based on random walk theory, of a
probabilistic algorithm for the satisfiability problem. Section 4.6 deals with the
mean times spent in transient states by a Markov chain. Section 4.9 introduces
Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. In the final section we consider a model
for optimally making decisions known as a Markovian decision process.
In Chapter 5 we are concerned with a type of stochastic process known as a
counting process. In particular, we study a kind of counting process known as
a Poisson process. The intimate relationship between this process and the expo-
nential distribution is discussed. New derivations for the Poisson and nonhomo-
geneous Poisson processes are discussed. Examples relating to analyzing greedy
algorithms, minimizing highway encounters, collecting coupons, and tracking
the AIDS virus, as well as material on compound Poisson processes, are included
in this chapter. Subsection 5.2.4 gives a simple derivation of the convolution of
exponential random variables.
Chapter 6 considers Markov chains in continuous time with an emphasis on
birth and death models. Time reversibility is shown to be a useful concept, as it
is in the study of discrete-time Markov chains. Section 6.7 presents the compu-
tationally important technique of uniformization.
Chapter 7, the renewal theory chapter, is concerned with a type of counting
process more general than the Poisson. By making use of renewal reward pro-
cesses, limiting results are obtained and applied to various fields. Section 7.9
presents new results concerning the distribution of time until a certain pattern
occurs when a sequence of independent and identically distributed random vari-
ables is observed. In Subsection 7.9.1, we show how renewal theory can be used
to derive both the mean and the variance of the length of time until a specified
pattern appears, as well as the mean time until one of a finite number of specified
patterns appears. In Subsection 7.9.2, we suppose that the random variables are
equally likely to take on any of m possible values, and compute an expression
for the mean time until a run of m distinct values occurs. In Subsection 7.9.3, we
suppose the random variables are continuous and derive an expression for the
mean time until a run of m consecutive increasing values occurs.
Chapter 8 deals with queueing, or waiting line, theory. After some prelimi-
naries dealing with basic cost identities and types of limiting probabilities, we
consider exponential queueing models and show how such models can be ana-
lyzed. Included in the models we study is the important class known as a network
of queues. We then study models in which some of the distributions are allowed to
be arbitrary. Included are Subsection 8.6.3 dealing with an optimization problem
concerning a single server, general service time queue, and Section 8.8, concerned
with a single server, general service time queue in which the arrival source is a
finite number of potential users.
xiv Preface

Chapter 9 is concerned with reliability theory. This chapter will probably be

of greatest interest to the engineer and operations researcher. Subsection 9.6.1
illustrates a method for determining an upper bound for the expected life of a
parallel system of not necessarily independent components and Subsection 9.7.1
analyzes a series structure reliability model in which components enter a state of
suspended animation when one of their cohorts fails.
Chapter 10 is concerned with Brownian motion and its applications. The theory
of options pricing is discussed. Also, the arbitrage theorem is presented and its
relationship to the duality theorem of linear programming is indicated. We show
how the arbitrage theorem leads to the Black–Scholes option pricing formula.
Chapter 11 deals with simulation, a powerful tool for analyzing stochastic
models that are analytically intractable. Methods for generating the values of
arbitrarily distributed random variables are discussed, as are variance reduction
methods for increasing the efficiency of the simulation. Subsection 11.6.4 intro-
duces the valuable simulation technique of importance sampling, and indicates
the usefulness of tilted distributions when applying this method.

Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge with thanks the helpful suggestions made by the
many reviewers of the text. These comments have been essential in our attempt
to continue to improve the book and we owe these reviewers, and others who
wish to remain anonymous, many thanks:
Mark Brown, City University of New York
Zhiqin Ginny Chen, University of Southern California
Tapas Das, University of South Florida
Israel David, Ben-Gurion University
Jay Devore, California Polytechnic Institute
Eugene Feinberg, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Ramesh Gupta, University of Maine
Marianne Huebner, Michigan State University
Garth Isaak, Lehigh University
Jonathan Kane, University of Wisconsin Whitewater
Amarjot Kaur, Pennsylvania State University
Zohel Khalil, Concordia University
Eric Kolaczyk, Boston University
Melvin Lax, California State University, Long Beach
Preface xv

Jean Lemaire, University of Pennsylvania

Andrew Lim, University of California, Berkeley
George Michailidis, University of Michigan
Donald Minassian, Butler University
Joseph Mitchell, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Krzysztof Osfaszewski, University of Illinois
Erol Pekoz, Boston University
Evgeny Poletsky, Syracuse University
James Propp, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Anthony Quas, University of Victoria
Charles H. Roumeliotis, Proofreader
David Scollnik, University of Calgary
Mary Shepherd, Northwest Missouri State University
Galen Shorack, University of Washington, Seattle
Marcus Sommereder, Vienna University of Technology
Osnat Stramer, University of Iowa
Gabor Szekeley, Bowling Green State University
Marlin Thomas, Purdue University
Henk Tijms, Vrije University
Zhenyuan Wang, University of Binghamton
Ward Whitt, Columbia University
Bo Xhang, Georgia University of Technology
Julie Zhou, University of Victoria
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction to
Probability Theory CHAPTER

1.1 Introduction
Any realistic model of a real-world phenomenon must take into account the possi-
bility of randomness. That is, more often than not, the quantities we are interested
in will not be predictable in advance but, rather, will exhibit an inherent varia-
tion that should be taken into account by the model. This is usually accomplished
by allowing the model to be probabilistic in nature. Such a model is, naturally
enough, referred to as a probability model.
The majority of the chapters of this book will be concerned with different
probability models of natural phenomena. Clearly, in order to master both the
“model building” and the subsequent analysis of these models, we must have a
certain knowledge of basic probability theory. The remainder of this chapter, as
well as the next two chapters, will be concerned with a study of this subject.

1.2 Sample Space and Events

Suppose that we are about to perform an experiment whose outcome is not
predictable in advance. However, while the outcome of the experiment will not
be known in advance, let us suppose that the set of all possible outcomes is known.
This set of all possible outcomes of an experiment is known as the sample space
of the experiment and is denoted by S.

Introduction to Probability Models, ISBN: 9780123756862

Copyright © 2010 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
2 Introduction to Probability Theory

Some examples are the following.

1. If the experiment consists of the flipping of a coin, then

S = {H, T}

where H means that the outcome of the toss is a head and T that it is a tail.
2. If the experiment consists of rolling a die, then the sample space is

S = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

where the outcome i means that i appeared on the die, i = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

3. If the experiments consists of flipping two coins, then the sample space consists of the
following four points:

S = {(H, H), (H, T), (T, H), (T, T)}

The outcome will be (H, H) if both coins come up heads; it will be (H, T) if the
first coin comes up heads and the second comes up tails; it will be (T, H) if the
first comes up tails and the second heads; and it will be (T, T) if both coins come
up tails.
4. If the experiment consists of rolling two dice, then the sample space consists of the
following 36 points:
⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎪(1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (1, 5), (1, 6)⎪⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪(2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6)⎪⎪
⎪
⎨ ⎬
(3, 1), (3, 2), (3, 3), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6)
S=
⎪(4, 1),
⎪ (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4), (4, 5), (4, 6)⎪⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎪
⎪
⎪(5, 1), (5, 2), (5, 3), (5, 4), (5, 5), (5, 6)⎪⎪
⎪
⎩ ⎭
(6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5), (6, 6)

where the outcome (i, j) is said to occur if i appears on the first die and j on the second
die.
5. If the experiment consists of measuring the lifetime of a car, then the sample space
consists of all nonnegative real numbers. That is,

S = [0, ∞)∗ 

Any subset E of the sample space S is known as an event. Some examples of

events are the following.
1 . In Example (1), if E = {H}, then E is the event that a head appears on the flip of the
coin. Similarly, if E = {T}, then E would be the event that a tail appears.
2 . In Example (2), if E = {1}, then E is the event that one appears on the roll of the
die. If E = {2, 4, 6}, then E would be the event that an even number appears on
the roll.
∗ The set (a, b) is defined to consist of all points x such that a < x < b. The set [a, b] is defined
to consist of all points x such that a  x  b. The sets (a, b] and [a, b) are defined, respectively, to
consist of all points x such that a < x  b and all points x such that a  x < b.
1.2 Sample Space and Events 3

3 . In Example (3), if E = {(H, H), (H, T)}, then E is the event that a head appears on
the first coin.
4 . In Example (4), if E = {(1, 6), (2, 5), (3, 4), (4, 3), (5, 2), (6, 1)}, then E is the event
that the sum of the dice equals seven.
5 . In Example (5), if E = (2, 6), then E is the event that the car lasts between two and six
years. 

We say that the event E occurs when the outcome of the experiment lies in E.
For any two events E and F of a sample space S we define the new event E ∪ F
to consist of all outcomes that are either in E or in F or in both E and F. That is,
the event E ∪ F will occur if either E or F occurs. For example, in (1) if E = {H}
and F = {T}, then

E ∪ F = {H, T}

That is, E ∪ F would be the whole sample space S. In (2) if E = {1, 3, 5} and
F = {1, 2, 3}, then

E ∪ F = {1, 2, 3, 5}

and thus E ∪ F would occur if the outcome of the die is 1 or 2 or 3 or 5. The

event E ∪ F is often referred to as the union of the event E and the event F.
For any two events E and F, we may also define the new event EF, sometimes
written E ∩ F, and referred to as the intersection of E and F, as follows. EF consists
of all outcomes which are both in E and in F. That is, the event EF will occur
only if both E and F occur. For example, in (2) if E = {1, 3, 5} and F = {1, 2, 3},
then

EF = {1, 3}

and thus EF would occur if the outcome of the die is either 1 or 3. In Exam-
ple (1) if E = {H} and F = {T}, then the event EF would not consist of any
outcomes and hence could not occur. To give such an event a name, we shall
refer to it as the null event and denote it by Ø. (That is, Ø refers to the event
consisting of no outcomes.) If EF = Ø, then E and F are said to be mutually
exclusive.
We also define unions and intersections of more than two events in a simi-
lar manner. If E1 , E2 , . . . are events, then the union of these events, denoted by
∞
n=1 En , is defined to be the event that consists of all outcomes that are in En
for at least one value of n = 1, 2, . . . . Similarly, the intersection of the events En ,
denoted by ∞ n=1 En , is defined to be the event consisting of those outcomes that
are in all of the events En , n = 1, 2, . . . .
Finally, for any event E we define the new event Ec , referred to as the
complement of E, to consist of all outcomes in the sample space S that are not
in E. That is, Ec will occur if and only if E does not occur. In Example (4)
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Title: A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Author: William Wilberforce

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER ON

THE ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE TRADE ***
Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber
and is placed in the public domain.
 Mr. Wilberforce,

ON

The Abolition of the Slave Trade.

 A LETTER
ON

THE ABOLITION
OF THE

SLAVE TRADE;
ADDRESSED TO THE

FREEHOLDERS AND OTHER INHABITANTS

OF

YORKSHIRE.

By W. WILBERFORCE, Esq.

“There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,

Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on
therefore bowels of mercies, kindness,” &c.—Col. iii. 11. 12.

“God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the
face of the earth.”—Acts xvii. 26.

LONDON:
Printed by Luke Hansard & Sons,
FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, STRAND; And,
J. HATCHARD, PICCADILLY.

1807.
CONTENTS.
 Page

INTRODUCTION 1

Sources of Information 11

Methods by which the Slaves are supplied in Africa 18

Slave Trade’s Effects in the Interior and on the Coast 30

Proof of Abolitionists’ Facts decisive, and contrary Allegations

groundless 47

Pleas against Abolition, that Negroes are an inferior Race 53–4

Opponents’ description of Negro Character contrasted with other

Accounts 57

Argument from Africa’s never having been civilized, considered 71

New Phœnomenon—Interior of Africa more civilized than Coast 86

Plea of Opponents, that Slaves State in Africa extremely miserable 89

Plea from Cruelty of African Despots 92

Ditto, that refused Slaves would be massacred in case of Abolition 95

Middle Passage 96

Opponents’ grand Objection—that Stock of Slaves cannot be kept up

in West Indies without Importations 103

Presumptive Arguments against the above Allegation, from universal

Experience 104
Positive Proof that the Stock of Slaves might be kept up without
Importations—Argument stated 109

I.—Abuses sufficient to account for great Decrease.

The Increase a subordinate Object of Attention 116

Insufficient Feeding 119

Defective Clothing and Lodging, and overworking 122

Moral Vices of the System 123

Especially Degradation of the Negro Race, and its important Effects 127

Proofs of Degradation—a Negroe-Sale 133

Sale of Negroes for Owners Debts 136

Working under the Whip 140

Cruel and indecent Public Punishments 144

Inadequate legal Protection 147

Ditto, considered in its Effect of degrading, and late Barbadoes

Incidents 153

Three other Vices of the System—Absenteeship 177

Pressure of the Times 186

West Indian Speculations 190

Admirals and Governors contrary Evidence and Remarks 192

Decisive Proof that Slaves’ State is miserable 205

II.—Yet, though Abuses so great, the Decrease quite inconsiderable 211

III.—Hence, Abuses being corrected, Slaves would rapidly increase 215

West Indians most plausible Objections, and remaining Pleas against

Abolition 216

Grand Plea, that Co-operation of Colonial Legislatures necessary 219

Disproved, both by Reason 222

And Experience 225

Mr. Burke’s supposed Plan 238

Efficacy and beneficial Consequences of Abolition 241

Immediate, preferable to gradual, Abolition 254

Abolitionists vindicated for not emancipating 256

Abolition’s Effects on Commerce and Manufactures 261

Present West Indian System ruinous 266

West Indian Opposition to Abolition accounted for, 274

Strong Party Spirit Proofs 282

No Hopes of West Indian Opposition ceasing 288

Appeal to gradual Abolitionists 288

Objection to Abolition on the ground of Slave Trade’s Effects on our

Marine 302

Objection, that Foreign Nations would carry on Slave Trade if we

relinquished it 305
Objection to Abolition on grounds of Justice 312

Objection on grounds of Religion 318

Abolitionists’ further Plea against Slave Trade—Insurrection, extreme

danger of 321

Our Population drained to defend the West Indies 330

Summary View of the Miseries produced by the Slave Trade 333

Instance of Individual Misery 340

Conclusion 345

APPENDIX.—A few Specimens in Proof of Effects of the Slave Trade

in Africa, and of the natural Dispositions and Commercial 353 to
Aptitudes 394

English Slave Trade as carried on so late as Henry 2d’s Time.

 INTRODUCTION.

For many years I have ardently wished that it had been possible
for me to plead, in your presence, the great cause of the Abolition of
the Slave Trade. Conscious that I was accountable to you for the
discharge of the important trust which your kindness had committed
to me, I have longed for such an opportunity of convincing you, that
it was not without reason that this question had occupied so large a
share of my parliamentary life. I wished you to know, that the cause
of my complaint was no minute grievance, which, from my eyes
having been continually fixed on it, had swelled by degrees into a
false shew of magnitude; no ordinary question, on which my mind,
warming in the pursuit of its object, and animated by repeated
contentions, had at length felt emotions altogether disproportionate
to their subject. Had I however erred, unintentionally, I have too
long experienced your candour not to have hoped for your ready
forgiveness. On the contrary, if the Slave Trade be indeed the foulest
blot that ever stained our National character, you will not deem your
Representative to have been unworthily employed, in having been
among the foremost in wiping it away.
Besides the desire of justifying myself in the judgment of my
Constituents, various other motives prompt me to the present
address. Fourteen long years have now elapsed since the period
when the question was fully argued in Parliament; and the large
share of national attention which it then engaged, has since been
occupied successively by the various public topics of the day. During
the intervening period, also, such strange and interesting spectacles
have been exhibited at our very doors, as to banish from the minds of
most men all recollection of distant wrongs and sufferings. Thus it is
not only by the ordinary effects of the lapse of time, that the
impression, first produced by laying open the horrors of the Slave
Trade, has been considerably effaced, but by the prodigious events of
that fearful interval.
It should also be remembered, that, within the last fourteen or
fifteen years, a great change has taken place in the component parts
of Parliament, especially in those of the House of Commons; not
merely from the ordinary causes, but also from the addition which
has been made to the National Legislature by our Union with
Ireland. Hence it happens, that, even in the Houses of Parliament
themselves, though a distinct impression of the general outlines of
the subject may remain, many of its particular features have faded
from the recollection. For hence alone surely it can happen, that
assertions and arguments formerly driven fairly out of the field,
appear once more in array against us. Old concessions are retracted;
exploded errors are revived; and we find we have the greater part of
our work to do over again. But if in Parliament, nay even in the
House of Commons itself, where the subject was once so well known
in all its parts, the question is but imperfectly understood, much
more is it natural, that great misconceptions should prevail
respecting it in the minds of the people at large. Among them,
accordingly, great misapprehensions are very general. To myself, as
well as to other Abolitionists, opinions are often imputed which we
never held, declarations which we never made, designs which we
never entertained. These I desire to rectify; and now that the
question is once more about to come under the consideration of the
legislature, it may not be useless thus publicly to record the facts and
principles on which the Abolitionists rest their cause, and for which,
in the face of my country, I am willing to stand responsible.
But farther I hesitate not to avow to you; on the contrary, it would
be criminal to withhold the declaration, that of all the motives by
which I am prompted to address you, that which operates on me with
the greatest force, is, the consideration of the present state and
prospects of our country, and of the duty which at so critical a
moment presses imperiously on every member of the community, to
exert his utmost powers in the public cause.
That the Almighty Creator of the universe governs the world which
he has made; that the sufferings of nations are to be regarded as the
punishment of national crimes; and their decline and fall, as the
execution of His sentence; are truths which I trust are still generally
believed among us. Indeed to deny them, would be directly to
contradict the express and repeated declarations of the Holy
Scriptures. If these truths be admitted, and if it be also true, that
fraud, oppression, and cruelty, are crimes of the blackest dye, and
that guilt is aggravated in proportion as the criminal acts in defiance
of clearer light, and of stronger motives to virtue (and these are
positions to which we cannot refuse our assent, without rejecting the
authority not only of revealed, but even of natural religion); have we
not abundant cause for serious apprehension? The course of public
events has, for many years, been such as human wisdom and human
force have in vain endeavoured to controul or resist. The counsels of
the wise have been infatuated; the valour of the brave has been
turned to cowardice. Though the storm has been raging for many
years, yet, instead of having ceased, it appears to be now increasing
in fury; the clouds which have long been gathering around us, have at
length almost overspread the whole face of the heavens with
blackness. In this very moment of unexampled difficulty and danger,
those great political Characters, to the counsels of the one or the
other of whom the nation has been used to look in all public
exigencies, have both been taken from us. If such be our condition;
and if the Slave Trade be a national crime, declared by every wise
and respectable man of all parties, without exception, to be a
compound of the grossest wickedness and cruelty, a crime to which
we cling in defiance of the clearest light, not only in opposition to our
own acknowledgments of its guilt, but even of our own declared
resolutions to abandon it; is not this then a time in which all who are
not perfectly sure that the Providence of God is but a fable, should be
strenuous in their endeavours to lighten the vessel of the state, of
such a load of guilt and infamy?
Urged by these various considerations, I proceed to lay before you
a summary of the principal facts and arguments on which the
Abolitionists ground their cause, referring such as may be desirous of
more complete information to various original records,[1] and for a
more detailed exposition of the reasonings of the two parties, to the
printed Report of the Debates in Parliament,[2] and to various
excellent publications which have from time to time been sent into
the world.[3] The advocates for abolition court inquiry, and are
solicitous that their facts should be thoroughly canvassed, and their
arguments maturely weighed.
 I fear I may have occasion to request your accustomed candour,
not to call it partiality, for submitting to you a more defective
statement than you might reasonably require from me. But when I
inform you that I had just entered on my present task when I was
surprized by the dissolution of Parliament, I need scarcely add, that I
have been of necessity compelled to employ in a very different
manner the time which was to have been allotted to this service.
Under my present circumstances, I had almost resolved to delay
addressing you till I could look forward to a longer interval of leisure,
than the speedily approaching meeting of Parliament will now allow
me; but I hope that this address, though it may be defective, will not
be erroneous. It may not contain all which I might otherwise lay
before you; but what it does contain will be found, I trust, correct;
and if my address should bear the marks of haste, I can truly assure
you that the statements and principles which I may hastily
communicate to you, have been most deliberately formed, and have
been often reviewed with the most serious attention. But I already
foresee that my chief difficulty will consist in comprising within any
moderate limits, the statements which my undertaking requires, and
the arguments to be deduced from them; to select from the immense
mass of materials which lies before me, such specimens of more
ample details, as, without exhausting the patience of my readers,
may convey to their minds some faint ideas, faint indeed in colouring
but just in feature and expression, of the objects which it is my office
to delineate. If my readers should at any time begin to think me
prolix, let them but call to mind the almost unspeakable amount of
the interests which are in question, and they will more readily bear
with me.
Probable Effects of It might almost preclude the necessity of
the Slave Trade. inquiring into the actual effects of the Slave
Trade, to consider, arguing from the acknowledged and never failing
operation of certain given causes, what must necessarily be its
consequences. How surely does a demand for any commodities
produce a supply. How certainly should we anticipate the
multiplication of thefts, from any increase in number of the receivers
of stolen goods. In the present instance, the demand is for men,
women, and children. And, can we doubt that illicit methods will be
resorted to for supplying them? especially in a country like Africa,
imperfectly civilized, and divided in general into petty communities?
We might almost anticipate with certainty, the specific modes by
which the supply of Slaves is in fact furnished, and foretell the sure
effects on the laws, usages, and state of society of the African
continent. But any doubts we might be willing to entertain on this
head are but too decisively removed, when we proceed in the next
place to examine, what are the actual means by which Slaves are
commonly supplied, and what are the Slave Trade’s known and
ascertained consequences? To this part of my subject I intreat
peculiar attention; the rather, because I have often found an idea to
prevail; that it is the state of the Slaves in the West Indies, the
improvement of which is the great object of the Abolitionists. On the
contrary, from first to last, I desire it may be borne in mind, that
Africa is the primary subject of our regard. It is the effects of the
Slave Trade on Africa, against which chiefly we raise our voices, as
constituting a sum of guilt and misery, hitherto unequalled in the
annals of the world.
Evidence against But, before I proceed to state the facts
the Slave Trade themselves, which are to be laid before you,
difficult to be it may be useful to make a few remarks on
procured.
the nature of the evidence by which they are
supported; and more especially on the difficulties which it was
reasonable to suppose would be experienced in establishing, by
positive proof, the existence of practices discreditable to the Slave
Trade, notwithstanding the great numbers of British ships which for
a very long period have annually visited Africa, and the ample
information which on the first view might therefore appear to lie
open to our inquiries.
Africa, it must be remembered, is a country which has been very
little visited from motives of curiosity. It has been frequented, almost
exclusively, by those who have had a direct interest in it’s peculiar
traffic; as, the agents and factors of the African Company, or of
individual Slave merchants, or by the Captains and Officers of slave
ships. The situation of captain of an African ship is an employment,
the unpleasant and even dangerous nature of which must be
compensated by extraordinary profits. The same remark extends in a
degree to all the other officers of slave ships; who, it should also be
remarked, may reasonably entertain hopes, if they recommend
themselves to their employers, of rising to be Captains. They all
naturally look forward, therefore, to the command of a ship, as the
prize which is to repay them for all their previous sacrifices and
sufferings, and some even of the Surgeons appear, in fact, to have
been promoted to it. Could these men be supposed likely to give
evidence against the Slave Trade? nay, must not habit, especially
when thus combined with interest, be presumed to have had it’s
usual effect, in so familiarizing them to scenes of injustice and
cruelty, as to prevent their being regarded with any proportion of
that disgust and abhorrence which they would excite in any mind not
accustomed to them? In truth, were the secrets of the prison-house
ever so bad, these men could not well be expected to reveal them. But
let it also be remembered, that when the call for witnesses was made
by Parliament, the question of the Abolition of the Slave Trade had
become a party question; and that all the West Indian as well as the
African property and influence were combined together in it’s
defence. The supporters of the trade were the rich and the powerful,
the men of authority, influence and connection. They had ships and
factories and counting houses, both at home and abroad. Theirs it
was, to employ shopkeepers and artizans; theirs to give places of
emolument, and the means of rising in life. On the other hand, it was
but too obvious (I am sorry to say my own knowledge fully justifies
the remark) that, in the great towns especially, in which the African,
or West Indian Trade, or both, were principally carried on, any man
who was not in an independent situation, and who should come
forward to give evidence against the Slave Trade, would expose
himself and his family to obloquy and persecution, perhaps to utter
ruin. He would become a marked man, and be excluded from all
opportunities of improving his condition, or even of acquiring a
maintenance among his own natural connections, and in his
accustomed mode of life. Any one who will duly weigh the combined
effect of all these circumstances, will rather be surprized to hear that
any of those who had been actually engaged in carrying on the Slave
Trade, were found to give evidence of it’s enormities, than that this
description of persons was not more numerous.
Evidence actually For, notwithstanding all the obstacles to
obtained. which I have been alluding, much oral
testimony of the most valuable kind was obtained from persons who
had been engaged in the actual conduct of the Slave Trade. And of by
far the greatest part of those witnesses it may be truly said, that the
more closely they were examined, and the more strongly their
evidence was illustrated by light from other quarters, the more was
it’s truth decisively established. So much I have thought it the more
necessary to observe; because insinuations, to use the softest term,
have been not seldom cast against some of the witnesses who gave
evidence unfavourable to the Slave Trade, before the House of
Commons.—Happily, however, some other sources of information
were discovered; and the exact conformity of the intelligence derived
from these, with that which has been already mentioned, gave to
both indubitable confirmation. A very few men of science were
found, who from motives of liberal curiosity had visited those parts
of the coast of Africa where the Slave Trade was carried on. Some few
also of His Majesty’s naval and military officers, who, while on
service in Africa, had opportunities of obtaining useful information
concerning the Slave Trade, consented to be examined. They were
indeed little on shore, and they went to no great distance within the
country; but still the facts they stated, were of the utmost
importance; the more so, because of the credit which they reflect on
the testimony of others, who, on account of their inferior rank in life,
might in the judgment of some persons be more exceptionable
witnesses.
Other sources of Lastly, there lay open to the Abolitionists
information:—Old another source of information, to which
Authors. great attention was due; the acknowledged
publications of several persons who at different periods had resided
in Africa, some of them for many years, and in high stations, in the
employ of the chief Slave trading Companies of the various European
nations, and whose accounts had been given to the world long before
the Slave Trade had become a subject of public discussion.
It might indeed be presumed, that though no attack had yet been
made on the Slave Trade, such persons would be disposed to regard
it with a partial and indulgent eye. To it they had owed their
fortunes; and, even independently of all pecuniary interest, no man
likes to own that he is engaged in a way of life which is hateful and
dishonourable, Still, if it be not the express purpose of a narrative to
deceive, the truth is apt to break out at intervals, and the Advocates
for Abolition might therefore expect to find some indirect proofs,
some occasional and incidental notices of the real nature and effects
of the Slave Trade. They were at least entitled to claim the full benefit
of any facts to the disparagement of the Slave Trade, which should be
found in this class of writings; and where these earlier publications,
of writers so naturally biassed in favour of the Slave Trade, should
exactly accord, in what they might state to it’s disparagement, with
other living witnesses, several of them, men most respectable in rank
and character, and utterly uninterested either way in the decision of
the question concerning it’s abolition; men too, whose testimony was
the result of their own personal knowledge; the facts which should be
thus proved, would be established by a force of evidence, little short
of absolute demonstration.
Modern valuable Lastly, there are several other printed
information. accounts of Travels in Africa, which contain
much valuable information. The authors of the publications here
referred to, having visited Africa of late years, can scarcely indeed be
said to be so unexceptionably free, as those who wrote before the
Slave Trade had become a subject of public discussion, from all bias,
either from their connections, their interest, or their preconceived
opinions. No imputation, however, is hereby intended to be thrown
out against them. With the character of one of them, Dr.
Winterbottom, I have long been well acquainted, and it is such as
must alone entitle him to the full credit which he has universally
obtained. But Mr. Parke justly stands at the head of all African
travellers. There prevails throughout his work a remarkable air of
authenticity, and to all the facts which it contains, entire credit is
due. At the same time, I have heard, from persons who saw his
original minutes, that they contained several statements favourable
to the views of the Abolitionists, which are not inserted in the
publication. His work, however, must ever be read with avidity, from
its containing that which perhaps of all human spectacles is the most
interesting, the exhibition of superior energies, called into action by
extraordinary difficulties and dangers. Other publications
concerning Africa have since appeared. That of Golberry, was drawn
up and published under the patronage of Bonaparte, about the very
time when the latter entered on his crusade against the Blacks in St.
Domingo; the Abolitionists may therefore claim the benefit of any
facts to the discredit of the Slave Trade which it contains. Barrow’s
highly interesting account of the Cape of Good Hope, and his late
work, containing the account of the expedition to the Booshuana
country, reflect also much light on the African character, and
indirectly on the effects of the Slave Trade.
Methods by which Let us now proceed to examine what are
Slaves are supplied. the principal sources from which the Slave
Wars. market is furnished with its supplies. The
result of that Inquiry will enable us to judge
what effect that traffic produces on the happiness of Africa. A very
large proportion of the Slaves consists of prisoners of war. But here it
becomes advisable to rectify some misconceptions, which have
prevailed on this head. The Abolitionists have been represented as
maintaining, that in Africa, wars never arise from the various causes
whence wars have so commonly originated in the other quarters of
the globe; but that they are undertaken solely for the purpose of
obtaining captives, who may be afterwards sold for Slaves. In
contradiction to this position, various African wars have been cited,
which historians state to have arisen from other causes; and it has
been denied that wars furnish any considerable supply to the Slave
market. Can it be necessary to declare, that the advocates for
abolition never made so foolish, as well as so false an assertion, as
that which has been thus imputed to them? Africans are men—The
same bad passions therefore which have produced wars among other
communities of human beings, produce the same wasteful effects in
Africa likewise. But it will greatly elucidate this point to state, that, as
we are informed by Mr. Parke, who has travelled farther into the
interior of Africa than any modern traveller, there are two kinds of
war in Africa. The one bears a resemblance to our European contests,
is openly avowed, and previously declared. “This class however, we
are assured, is generally terminated in a single campaign. A battle is
fought; the vanquished seldom think of rallying; the whole
inhabitants become panick struck; and the conquerors have only to
bind their slaves,[4] and carry off their plunder and their victims.”
These are taken into the country of the invader, whence, as
opportunities offer, they are sent to the Slave market.
Predatory But the second kind of warfare, called
expeditions. Tegria, which means, we are told,
plundering or stealing, and which appears to be no other than the
practice of predatory expeditions, is that to which the Slave market is
indebted for its chief supplies, and which most clearly explains the
nature and effect of the Slave Trade. Mr. Parke indeed tells us, that
this species of warfare arises from a sort of hereditary feud, which
subsists between the inhabitants of neighbouring nations or districts.
If we take into the account that the avowed compiler of Mr. Parke’s
work, the patron to whose good will he looked for the recompense of
all his labours, was one of the warmest and most active opposers of
the abolition of the Slave Trade, we shall not wonder that the fact
alone is stated, without being traced to it’s original cause. This
however is a case, if such a case ever existed, in which the features of
the offspring might alone enable us to recognise the rightful parent.
But in truth we know from positive testimony, that though hereditary
feuds of the deadliest malignity are but too surely generated by these
predatory expeditions, and consequently that hatred and revenge
may sometimes have a share in producing a continued course of
them, yet that, speaking generally, the grand operating motive from
which they are undertaken, and to which therefore, as their primary
cause, they may be referred, is the desire of obtaining Slaves. “These
predatory expeditions,” Mr. Parke tells us, “are of all dimensions,
from 500 horsemen, headed by the son of the king of the country; to
a single individual, armed with his bow and arrow, who conceals
himself among the bushes, until some young or unarmed person
passes by. He then, tyger-like, springs upon his prey, drags his victim
into the thicket, and at night carries him off as a slave.” (Vide note,
p. 19). “These incursions,” Mr. Parke goes on to inform us, “are
generally conducted with great secresy; a few resolute individuals,
led by some person of enterprize and courage, march quietly through
the woods, surprize in the night some unprotected village, and carry
off the inhabitants, (vide note, p. 19) and their effects, before their
neighbours can come to their assistance.”—“One morning,” says Mr.
Parke, “during my residence at Kamalia, we were all much alarmed
by a party of this kind. The prince of Focladoo’s son, with a strong
party of horse, passed secretly through the woods, a little to the
southward, and the next morning plundered three towns belonging
to a powerful chief of Jollonkadoo. The success of this expedition
encouraged the governor of another town to make a second inroad
on a part of the same country. Having assembled about 200 of his
people, he passed the river in the night, and carried off a great
number of prisoners. (Vide note, p. 19). Several of the inhabitants
who had escaped these attacks, were afterwards seized by the
Mandingoes (another people, let it be observed) as they wandered
about in the woods, or concealed themselves in the glens and strong
places in the mountains.”
Predatory “These plundering excursions are very
expeditions very common, and the inhabitants of different
common. communities watch every opportunity of
undertaking them.”—“They always,” as Mr. Parke adds, “produce
speedy retaliation; and when large parties cannot be collected for
this purpose, a few friends will combine together, and advance into
the enemy’s country, with a view to plunder, or carry off the
inhabitants.” (Note, vide, pa. 19). Thus hereditary feuds are excited
and perpetuated between different nations, tribes, villages, and even
families, each waiting but for the favourable occasion of
accomplishing it’s revenge. Such is the picture of the Interior of
Africa, as it is given by one who penetrated much further inland than
any other modern traveller, and of whom it must be at least
confessed, that he was not disposed to exaggerate the evils produced
by the Slave Trade.
Sources of supply In another part of the country, we learn
continued. from the most respectable testimony, a
Village-breaking. practice prevails called Village-breaking. It
is precisely the Tegria of Mr. Parke, with
this difference, that though often termed making war, it is
acknowledged to be practised for the express purpose of obtaining
victims for the Slave market. It is carried on, sometimes by armed
parties of individuals; sometimes by the soldiers of the petty kings
and chieftains, who, perhaps in a season of drunkenness, the
consequences of which when recovered from the madness of
intoxication they have themselves often most deeply deplored, are
instigated to become the plunderers and destroyers of those very
subjects whom they were bound to protect. The village is attacked in
the night; if deemed needful, to increase the confusion, it is set on
fire, and the wretched inhabitants, as they are flying naked from the
flames, are seized and carried into slavery. This practice, especially
when conducted on a smaller scale, is called panyaring; for the
Panyaring, or practice has long been too general not to
kidnapping. have created the necessity of an appropriate
term. It is sometimes practised by Europeans, especially when the
ships are passing along the coast, or when their boats, in going up
the rivers, can seize their prey without observation; in short,
whenever there is a convenient opportunity of carrying off the
victims, and concealing the crime: and the unwillingness which the
natives universally shew to venture into a ship of war, until they are
convinced it is not a Slave ship, contrasted with the freedom and
confidence with which they then come on board, is thus easily
accounted for[5]. But these depredations are far more commonly
perpetrated by the natives on each other; and on a larger or a smaller
scale, according to the power and number of the assailants, and the
resort of ships to the coast, it prevails so generally, as, throughout
the whole extent of Africa, to render person and property utterly
insecure.
Allegation, “that a And here, before we proceed to other
small proportion of sources of supply, let us for a moment recur
Slaves are prisoners to the assertions formerly mentioned, on
of war,” considered.
which our opponents lay very considerable
stress,—that but a small proportion of the whole supply of the
market consists of prisoners of war, and that African wars do not
often originate from the desire of obtaining Slaves. Should we even
concede these points, we are now abundantly qualified to estimate
the force of the concession; for though we should grant, that declared
and national wars are not often undertaken for the purpose of
obtaining Slaves, yet it is at least equally undeniable, that those
predatory expeditions which are so common, and of which it is the
express object to acquire Slaves, are often productive of national
wars on the largest scale, and of the most destructive consequences;
while they also are the sure and abundant cause of those incessant
quarrels and hereditary feuds, which are said to be universal in
Africa, and which acts of mutual outrage cannot fail to generate, in
countries where the artificial modes of controlling and terminating
the disputes and hostilities of adverse tribes and nations are
unknown. It appears also, that wars are in Africa rendered singularly
cruel and wasteful, by the peculiar manner in which they are carried
on. So that though we cannot fairly lay to the charge of the Slave
Trade all the wars of Africa, we yet may allege that to the causes
which produce wars elsewhere, the Slave Trade superadds one
entirely new and constant source of great copiousness and efficiency,
while it gives to the wars, which arise from every other cause, a
character of peculiar malignity and desolation. But happy even, from
what has been already stated, happy would it be for Africa, if her
greatest miseries were those of avowed and open warfare. War,
though the greatest scourge of other countries, is a light evil in the
African estimate of suffering. Direct and avowed wars will happen
but occasionally, as the circumstances which produce them may
arise. Wars, besides, between uncivilized nations, scarcely ever last
long; those of Africa, Mr. Parke tells us, seldom beyond a single
campaign; and the very consciousness that an evil will be of short
duration, mitigates the pain which it occasions. But it is not of
accidental or temporary injuries that Africa complains. Her miseries,
severe in degree, are also permanent; they know neither intervals or
remissions.
Sources of supply But the Slave Trade is not sustained
continued. exclusively by acts of hostile outrage. The
Administration of administration of justice is turned into
justice. another engine for its supply. The
punishments, as we are told by some of the old writers,[6] were
formerly remarkable for their lenity; but by degrees, they have been
moulded, especially on the coast, into a more productive form. The
most trifling offences are punished by the fine of one or more Slaves,
which if the culprit be unable to pay, he himself is to be sold into
slavery, often for the benefit of the very judges by whom he is
condemned.[7] When the necessity for obtaining Slaves becomes
more pressing, new crimes are fabricated, accusations and
convictions are multiplied; the unwary are artfully seduced into the
commission of crimes. The imaginary offence of witchcraft becomes
often a copious source of supply, a conviction being punished by the
sale of the whole family.
Native Indeed, on some parts of the country
superstitions: bordering on the coast, this charge
Witchcraft. furnishes the ready means of obtaining,
especially for a chieftain, the supply of European articles. A person
accused of this crime is required to purge himself by the ordeal of
drinking what is called ‘red water’. If the accused drinks it with
impunity, he is declared innocent, but if, as more commonly
happens, the red water being generally medicated for the purpose,
the party is taken sick, or dies, in general the whole, or at the least a
certain number of his family, are immediately sold into slavery. An
eye witness, who stated the effects of this system, mentioned his
having seen king Sherbro, the chief of the river of that name, kill six
persons in that way in a single morning. In some extensive districts
near the windward coast of Africa, almost every death is believed by
the natives to be occasioned by magical influence; and the belief, it is
difficult to say, whether real or pretended, in this superstition, is
carried to such an extent as to break every tie of natural affection. In
these districts it is estimated that two-thirds of the whole export of
Slaves were sold for witchcraft. Every man who has acquired any
considerable property, or who has a large family, the sale of which
will produce a considerable profit, excites in the Chieftain near
whom he resides, the same longings which are called forth in the
wild beast, by the exhibition of his proper prey, and he himself lives
in a continual state of suspicion and terror.
Famine and To this long catalogue are to be added
Insolvency. two other sources, famines, and insolvency.
In times of extreme scarcity, persons sometimes sell themselves for
subsistence; and still more frequently, it is said, children are sold by
their parents to procure provisions for the rest of the family. These
famines, Mr. Parke, who mentions this source of slavery, observes,
are often produced by wars. But while on the one hand we must
remark, that this effect arises chiefly out of that peculiarly wasteful
manner of carrying on war in Africa, which we have already noticed;
so may we not fairly presume that to the Slave Trade also, and to the
habits of mind which it generates, it is to be ascribed, that in such
seasons of general distress, he who possesses food refuses to part
with so much as will suffice for the bare maintenance of his
neighbours and fellow sufferers, at any price except that of selling
themselves or their children into perpetual slavery? With respect to
debt or insolvency, the laws respecting debtor and creditor which
prevail in Africa, furnish a striking illustration of the effect of the
Slave Trade, in gradually moulding to it’s own purpose all the
institutions and habits of the country in which it prevails, and
rendering them instrumental in forwarding the grand object of
furnishing a supply for the Slave market. Creditors, in compensation
of their claims on the debtor, have not only a right to seize his own
person, and sell him for a Slave, but also any of his family; and if he
or they cannot be taken, any inhabitants of the same village, or, as
Mr. Parke says, any native of the same kingdom. Indeed it is very
rarely that the debtor himself is molested, it is his neighbours or
townsmen who are the sufferers. Hence persons become debtors
more freely, because, while they gratify their appetites by obtaining
the European goods they want, they are not likely to pay for their
rashness in their own persons. The Captains of Slave ships are in
their turn less backward in advancing goods on credit to the Black
factors, and they again to other native dealers, knowing that from
some quarter or another the Slaves will surely be supplied.
Distinctions In giving this general account of the
between the manner of procuring Slaves, it ought to be
Interior countries, observed, that the number and extent of the
and those on the
Coast.
countries whence the Slaves are furnished,
and their varying circumstances, will
doubtless occasion some variations in the manner of carrying on the
traffic: still we might presume that the same causes, operating for a
long course of years, on human beings, in something like the same
rude state of society, would produce nearly similar effects. In fact we
find, from positive testimony, that there is this general similarity in
the consequences of the Slave Trade wherever it exists. But there is
one distinction which ought to be noticed, that between the inland
countries and those on the coast. The proportion furnished by them
respectively varies in different parts of Africa; but every where the
greater number is supplied from the interior. Many of them come
from great distances inland, and the sufferings of these unhappy
beings during their journey are such as would alone, if the voice of
humanity were to be heard, prompt us to abandon at once so horrid a
traffic. Mr. Parke travelled down with a small party of them; and
hard indeed must be the heart of that man who can read his account
without shuddering.
The difference between the circumstances of the inland districts
and those adjacent to the coast, will of course create some
corresponding difference in the effects produced on them by the
Slave Trade. In the interior of the country, the kingdoms, though
even they are often split into a number of independent states, are
generally of greater extent than on the coast, which is often,
especially on the Windward and Gold coast, separated into
numberless petty communities, under their respective Chieftains or
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