Describimg the conditions of enslaved people for sale:
They seemed past all hope of recovery. God knows what we shall do with what remain, they are a most scabby flock, all of them full of crockeraws - some have extreme sore eyes, three very puny children and add to this the worst infirmity of all others with which 6 or 8 are attended (viz.) Old Age...
A sloop arrived with 150 prime slaves from the factories at Gambia and Bence Island, [but this did not] harm your sale as it was not discovered what a prime parcel they were until the first day's sale was over.
Letter, Henry Laurens (a slave trader) to Vernon brothers, Newport, (1756)