Olaudah Equiano, describes his arrival in the West Indies in his autobiography:

When we arrived in Barbados (in the West Indies) many merchants and planters came on board and examined us. We were then taken to the merchant’s yard, where we were all pent up together like sheep in a fold. On a signal the buyers rushed forward and chose those slaves they liked best.

The interesting life of Olaudah Equiano 1789