Quobna Ottabah Cugoano, in his autobiography, describes a time on the slave ship and his thoughts on this:
There was nothing to be heard but the rattling of chains, smacking of whips, and the groans and cries of our fellow-men... Death was preferable to life, and a plan was made to blow up the ship and perish altogether in the flames; but we were betrayed...
Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of Slavery (1787)