'  It  would  seem,  from  what  little  of  the  history  of  the
slave-trade  I  have  been  able  to  trace,  that  in  1481,  the  na
tives  having  become  terrified  by  the  frequent  depredations
committed  upon  them,  retired  into  the  interior.  Their  in
vaders  finding  it  difficult,  therefore,  to  obtain  slaves  in  so


104  CONVERSATIONS  ON  SLAVERY.
Slaves  introduced  into  Hispaniola.
great  numbers  and  so  expeditiously  as  they  desired,  a  treaty-
was  made  through  the  influence  of  bribes  and  presents,  be
tween  the  traders  and  African  chiefs,  the  chiefs  engaging  to
furnish  subjects  for  the  inhuman  traffic.  Wars  between  dif
ferent  tribes,  man-stealing,  treachery  and  distrust,  misery
and  ruin,  have  been,  thenceforward,  the  consequence ;  and
slavery  has  been  the  systematized  business  of  the  several
tribes.
4  The  Portuguese  have  the  credit,  in  history,  of  com
mencing  the  unhallowed  traffic,  and  of  introducing  slavery
into  this  Western  world.  In  1508,  slaves  were  carried  into
Hispaniola,  or  Little  Spain,  as  it  was  called  by  Columbus  ;
now  St.  Domingo,  one  of  the  West  India  Islands  :  and  in
the  year  1517,  slaves  were  introduced  into  the  Brazilian
colonies  in  South  America.
