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Barracoon Dedication To CharlotteMason MyGodmother,andtheoneMotherofall theprimitives,whowiththeGodsinSpaceis concernedabouttheheartsoftheuntaught Epigraph Buttheinescapablefactthatstuckinmycraw,was:mypeoplehadsoldmeandthewhite peoplehadboughtme….Itimpresseduponmetheuniversalnatureofgreedandglory. —ZoraNealeHurston,DustTracksonaRoad Definition Barracoon:TheSpanishwordbarracoon translates as “barracks” and is derived from barraca,whichmeans“hut.”Theterm“barracoon”describesthestructuresusedtodetain AfricanswhowouldbesoldandexportedtoEuropeor theAmericas.Thesestructures, sometimesalsoreferred toasfactories,stockades,corrals,andholdingpens,werebuilt nearthecoast.Theycouldbeasinsubstantialasa“slaveshed”orasfortifiedasa“slave house”or“slavecastle,”whereinAfricanswereforcedintothecellsofdungeonsbeneath theupperquartersofEuropeanadministrators.Africansheldinthesestructureshadbeen kidnapped,captured in localwarsandraids,orwere trekked in fromthehinterlandsor interior regionsacross thecontinent.Manydied in thebarracoonsasa consequenceof their physical condition upon arrival at the coast or the length of time it took for the arrivalofaship.Somediedwhilewaitingforashiptofill,whichcouldtakethreetosix months.Thisphaseof the trafficwascalled the“coasting”period.During theyearsof suppressionofthetraffic,captivescouldbeconfinedforseveralmonths. Contents Cover TitlePage Dedication Epigraph Definition Foreword: ThoseWhoLoveUsNeverLeaveUsAlonewithOurGrief:ReadingBarracoon:TheStoryof theLast“BlackCargo”byAliceWalker Introduction Editor’sNote Barracoon Preface Introduction I II:TheKingArrives III IV V VI:Barracoon VII:Slavery VIII:Freedom IX:Marriage X:KossulaLearnsAboutLaw XI XII:Alone Appendix TakkoiorAttako—Children’sGame StoriesKossulaToldMe TheMonkeyandtheCamel StoryofdeJonah NowDisaAbrahamFaddadeFaitful TheLionWoman AfterwordandAdditionalMaterialsEditedbyDeborahG.Plant Afterword Acknowledgments FoundersandOriginalResidentsofAfricatown Glossary Bibliography Notes AbouttheEditor AbouttheAuthor AlsobyZoraNealeHurston Copyright AboutthePublisher Foreword ThoseWhoLoveUsNeverLeaveUsAlonewithOurGrief ReadingBarracoon:TheStoryoftheLast“BlackCargo” Thosewholoveusneverleaveusalonewithourgrief.Atthemomenttheyshowusourwound, theyrevealtheyhavethemedicine.Barracoon:TheStoryoftheLast“BlackCargo”isaperfect exampleofthis. I’mnotsuretherewaseveraharderreadthanthis,forthoseofusdutyboundtocarrythe ancestors,toworkforthem,asweengageindailylifeindifferentpartsoftheworldwherethey were brought in chains. And where they, as slaves to cruel, or curious, or indifferent, white persons(withfewexceptions)existedinprecarioussuspensiondisconnectedfromtheirreallife, andwherewealsohavehadtostruggletoprotectourhumanity,toexperiencejoyoflife,inspite ofeverythingevilwehavewitnessedortowhichwehavebeensubjected. ReadingBarracoon, one understands immediately the problem many black people, years ago, especially black intellectuals and political leaders, had with it. It resolutely records the atrocitiesAfricanpeoplesinflictedoneachother,longbeforeshackledAfricans,traumatized,ill, disoriented,starved,arrivedonshipsas“blackcargo”inthehellishWest.Whocouldfacethis visionoftheviolentlycruelbehaviorofthe“brethren”andthe“sistren”whofirstcapturedour ancestors? Who would want to know, via a blow-by-blow account, how African chiefs deliberatelysetouttocaptureAfricansfromneighboringtribes,toprovokewarsofconquestin order to capture for the slave tradepeople—men,women, children—whobelonged toAfrica? Andtodothisinsohideousafashionthatreadingaboutittwohundredyearslaterbringswaves ofhorroranddistress.Thisis,makenomistake,aharrowingread. Wearebeingshownthewound. However, Zora Hurston’s genius has once again produced a Maestrapiece. What is a Maestrapiece?Itisthefeminineperspectiveorpartofthestructure,whetherinstoneorfancy, without which the entire edifice is a lie. And we have suffered so much from this one: that Africanswereonlyvictimsoftheslavetrade,notparticipants.PoorZora.Ananthropologist,no less!AdaughterofEatonville,Florida,where truth,whatwas real,whatactuallyhappened to somebody,mattered.And so, she sitswithCudjoLewis.She sharespeaches andwatermelon. (Imaginehowmanygenerationsofblackpeoplewouldneveradmittoeatingwatermelon!)She gets the grisly story from one of the last people able to tell it. How black people came to America,howweweretreatedbyblackandwhite.HowblackAmericans,enslavedthemselves, ridiculed theAfricans;makingtheir livessomuchharder.Howthewhitessimply treated their “slaves” like pieces of machinery. But machinery that could be whipped if it didn’t produce enough. Fast enough. Machinery that could be mutilated, raped, killed, if the desire arose. Machinerythatcouldbecheated,cheerfully,withoutatraceofguilt. Andthen,thestoryofCudjoLewis’slifeafterEmancipation.Hishappinesswith“freedom,” helpingtocreateacommunity,achurch,buildinghisownhouse.Histenderloveforhiswife, Seely,andtheirchildren.Thehorribledeathsthatfollow.WeseeamansolonelyforAfrica,so lonelyforhisfamily,wearestruckwiththerealizationthatheisnamingsomethingweourselves workhardtoavoid:howlonelywearetoointhisstillforeignland:lonelyforourtrueculture, ourpeople,oursingularconnectiontoaspecificunderstandingoftheUniverse.Andthatwhat welongfor,asinCudjoLewis’scase,isgoneforever.Butweseesomethingelse:thenobilityof asoulthathassufferedtothepointalmostoferasure,andstillitstrugglestobewhole,present, giving. Growing in love, deepening in understanding. Cudjo’s wisdom becomes so apparent, towardtheendofhislife,thatneighborsaskhimtospeaktotheminparables.Whichhedoes. Offeringpeace. Hereisthemedicine: That though theheart isbreaking,happinesscanexist inamoment,also.Andbecause the momentinwhichweliveisallthetimetherereallyis,wecankeepgoing.Itmaybetrue,and often is, that everypersonweholddear is taken fromus.Still.Frommoment tomoment,we watch our beans and our watermelons grow.We plant.We hoe.We harvest.We share with neighbors.Ifayounganthropologistappearswithtwohamsandgivesusone,welookforward toenjoyingit. Life,inexhaustible,goeson.Andwedotoo.Carryingourwoundsandourmedicinesaswe go. Oursisanamazing,aspectacular,journeyintheAmericas.Itissoremarkableonecanonly bethankfulforit,bizarreasthatmaysound.Perhapsourplanetisforlearningtoappreciatethe extraordinarywonderof life that surrounds evenour suffering, and to sayYes, if through the thickestoftears. AliceWalker March2018 Introduction OnDecember14,1927,ZoraNealeHurstontookthe3:40p.m.trainfromPennStation,New York,toMobile,toconductaseriesofinterviewswiththelastknownsurvivingAfricanofthe lastAmericanslaver—theClotilda.HisnamewasKossola,buthewascalledCudjoLewis.He washeld as a slave for five and a half years inPlateau-MagazinePoint,Alabama, from1860 untilUnion soldiers toldhimhewas free.Kossola livedout the rest of his life inAfricatown (Plateau).1Hurston’stripsouthwasacontinuationof thefieldtripexpeditionshehadinitiated thepreviousyear. OlualeKossolahadsurvivedcaptureat thehandsofDahomianwarriors, thebarracoonsat Whydah(Ouidah),andtheMiddlePassage.Hehadbeenenslaved,hehadlivedthroughtheCivil WarandthelargelyunReconstructedSouth,andhehadenduredtheruleofJimCrow.Hehad experiencedthedawnofanewmillenniumthatincludedWorldWarIandtheGreatDepression. WithinthemagnitudeofworldeventsswirledthemomentouseventsofKossola’sownpersonal world. ZoraNealeHurston,asaculturalanthropologist,ethnographer,andfolklorist,waseager to inquireintohisexperiences.“Iwanttoknowwhoyouare,”sheapproachedKossola,“andhow youcametobeaslave;andtowhatpartofAfricadoyoubelong,andhowyoufaredasaslave, andhowyouhavemanagedasafreeman?”Kossolaabsorbedhereveryquestion,thenraiseda tearfulcountenance.“ThankeeJesus!SomebodycomeastaboutCudjo!Iwanttelleesomebody whoIis,somaybedeygoindeAffickysoilsomedayandcalleemynameandsomebodysay, ‘Yeah,IknowKossula.’”2 Overaperiodofthreemonths,HurstonvisitedwithKossola.ShebroughtGeorgiapeaches, Virginiahams,late-summerwatermelons,andBeeBrandinsectpowder.Theofferingswereas much a currency to facilitate their blossoming friendship as a means to encourage Kossola’s reminiscences.Muchofhislifewas“asequenceofseparations.”3Sweetthingscanbepalliative. Kossola trustedHurston to tell his story and transmit it to theworld.Others had interviewed Kossola and hadwritten pieces that focused on him ormore generally on the community of survivorsatAfricatown.ButonlyZoraNealeHurstonconductedextensiveinterviewsthatwould yield a comprehensive, book-length account of Kossola’s life. Shewould alternately title the work“Barracoon:TheStoryoftheLast‘BlackCargo’”and“TheLifeofKossula.”Aswiththe other interviews,Kossolahoped the storyheentrusted toHurstonwould reachhispeople, for whomhewasstilllonely.Thedisconnectionheexperiencedwasasourceofcontinuousdistress. ORIGINS Kossolawasborncirca1841,inthetownofBantè,thehometotheIshasubgroupoftheYoruba peopleofWestAfrica.HewasthesecondchildofFondlolu,whowasthesecondofhisfather’s threewives.HismothernamedhimKossola,meaning“Idonotlosemyfruitsanymore”or“my childrendonotdieanymore.”4HismotherwouldhavefourmorechildrenafterKossola,andhe wouldhavetwelveadditionalsiblingsfromhisextendedfamily.Fondlolu’snameidentifiedher asonewhohadbeen initiatedasanOrìs.àdevotee.His fatherwascalledOluale.5Thoughhis fatherwasnotofroyalheritageasOlu,whichmeans“king”or“chief,”wouldimply,Kossola’s grandfatherwasanofficerofthekingoftheirtownandhadlandandlivestock. By age fourteen, Kossola had trained as a soldier, which entailed mastering the skills of hunting,camping,andtracking,andacquiringexpertiseinshootingarrowsandthrowingspears. Thistrainingpreparedhimforinductionintothesecretmalesocietycalledoro.Thissocietywas responsibleforthedispensationofjusticeandthesecurityofthetown.TheIshaYorubaofBantè livedinanagriculturalsocietyandwereapeacefulpeople.Thus,thetrainingofyoungmenin theartofwarfarewasastrategicdefenseagainstbellicosenations.Atagenineteen,Kossolawas undergoinginitiationformarriage.Buttheseriteswouldneverberealized.Itwas1860,andthe worldKossolaknewwascomingtoanabruptend. TRANS-ATLANTICTRAFFICKING Bythemid-nineteenthcentury,theAtlanticworldhadalreadypenetratedtheAfricanhinterland. AndalthoughBritainhadabolished the international traffickingofAfricanpeoples,orwhat is typicallyreferredtoas“thetrans-Atlanticslavetrade,”in1807,andalthoughtheUnitedStates had followed suit in 1808,European andAmerican shipswere still finding theirway to ports alongtheWestAfricancoast toconductwhatwasnowdeemed“illegitimate trade.”Lawshad beenpassedandtreatieshadbeensigned,buthalfacenturylater,thedeportationofAfricansout ofAfricaandintotheAmericascontinued.FranceandtheUnitedStateshadjoinedforceswith British efforts to suppress the traffic.However, itwas a largelyBritish-led effort, and theUS patrols proved to be ambivalent and not infrequently at cross-purposes with the abolitionist agenda.6 Habituatedtothelucrativeenterpriseoftrafficking,andencouragedbytherelativeeasewith whichtheycouldfindbuyersfortheircaptives,Africansopposedtoendingthetrafficpersisted intheenterprise.TheFonofDahomeywasforemostamongthoseAfricanpeopleswhoresisted thesuppression.Notonlywastheinternalenslavementoftheirprisonersperceivedasessential totheirtraditionsandcustoms,theexternalselloftheirprisonersaffordedtheirkingdomwealth andpoliticaldominance.Tomaintainasufficient“slavesupply,”thekingofDahomeyinstigated warsandledraidswiththesolepurposeoffillingtheroyalstockade. KingGhezoofDahomeyrenouncedhis1852 treaty toabolish the trafficandby1857had resumed his wars and raids. Reports of his activities had reached the newspapers ofMobile, Alabama.ANovember 9, 1858, article announced that “theKing ofDahomeywas driving a brisk trade atOuidah.”7 This article caught the attention of TimothyMeaher, a “slaveholder” who,likemanyproslaveryAmericans,wantedtomaintainthetrans-Atlantictraffic.Indefiance ofconstitutional law,MeaherdecidedtoimportAfricansillegallyintothecountryandenslave them.InconspiracywithMeaher,WilliamFoster,whobuilt theClotilda,outfitted theship for transportofthe“contrabandcargo.”InJuly1860,henavigatedtowardtheBightofBenin.After six weeks of surviving storms and avoiding being overtaken by ships patrolling the waters, FosteranchoredtheClotildaattheportofOuidah. BARRACOON From1801to1866,anestimated3,873,600Africanswereexchangedforgold,guns,andother European and Americanmerchandise. Of that number, approximately 444,700 were deported fromtheBightofBenin,whichwascontrolledbyDahomey.8During theperiod from1851 to 1860,approximately22,500Africanswereexported.Andofthatnumber,110weretakenaboard theClotildaatOuidah.Kossolawasamongthem—atransactionbetweenFosterandKingGlèlè. In 1859, KingGhezowasmortally shot while returning from one of his campaigns. His son Badohunhadascendedtothethrone.HewascalledGlèlè,whichmeans“theferociousLionof theforest”or“terrorinthebush.”9Toavengehisfather’sdeath,aswellastoamasssacrificial bodies for certain imminent traditional ceremonies, Glèlè intensified the raiding campaigns. Under the pretext of having been insultedwhen the king ofBantè refused to yield toGlèlè’s demandsforcornandcattle,Glèlèsackedthetown. Kossola described to Hurston the mayhem that ensued in the predawn raid when his townspeopleawoke toDahomey’sfemalewarriors,whoslaughtered themin theirdaze.Those whotriedtoescapethroughtheeightgatesthatsurroundedthetownwerebeheadedbythemale warriorswhowerepostedthere.Kossolarecalledthehorrorofseeingdecapitatedheadshanging about thebeltsof thewarriors,andhowon thesecondday, thewarriorsstopped themarch in ordertosmoketheheads.Throughthecloudsofsmoke,hemissedseeingtheheadsofhisfamily andtownspeople.“Itiseasytoseehowfewwouldhavelookedonthatsighttooclosely,”wrote asympatheticHurston.10 AlongwithahostofotherstakenascaptivesbytheDahomianwarriors,thesurvivorsofthe Bantèmassacrewere“yokedbyforkedsticksandtiedinachain,”thenmarchedtothestockades at Abomey.11 After three days, they were incarcerated in the barracoons at Ouidah, near the BightofBenin.Duringtheweeksofhisexistenceinthebarracoons,Kossolawasbewilderedand anxiousabouthisfate.Beforehimwasathunderousandcrashingoceanthathehadneverseen before. Behind him was everything he called home. There in the barracoon, as there in his Alabamahome,Kossolawastransfixedbetweentwoworlds,fullybelongingtoneither. KOSSOLA,HURSTON,CHARLOTTEMASON,AND“BARRACOON” InSeptember1927,HurstonhadmetandcomeundercontractwithCharlotteOsgoodMason,a patrontoseveralHarlemRenaissanceluminaries.MasonfundedHurston’sreturntoAlabamafor the extended interviews with Kossola, and she supported Hurston’s research efforts while preparingBarracoonforpublication.InaMarch25,1931,lettertoMason,Hurstonwritesthat thework“iscomingalongwell.”Shereportedthatshehadtorevisesomepassages,butthatshe was “within a few paragraphs of the end of thewhole thing. Then for the final typing.” She described the revisionsand relatedhernewresearch findings:“I foundat the libraryanactual accountoftheraidasKossulasaidthatithappened.Alsothetribename.Itwasnotonthemaps because theentire tribewaswipedoutby theDahomeytroops.Thekingwhoconqueredthem preservedcarefullytheskullofKossula’skingasamostworthyfoe.”12 HurstonandMasonconversedaboutthepotentialpublicationofBarracoonoveraperiodof years. In her desire to see Hurston financially independent, Mason encouraged Hurston to prepareBarracoon,aswellasthematerialthatwouldbecomeMulesandMen,forpublication. CharlotteMason considered herself not only a patron to black writers and artists, but also a guardianofblackfolklore.Shebelieveditherdutytoprotectitfromthosewhiteswho,having “nomoreinterestingthingstoinvestigateamongthemselves,”weregrabbing“ineverydirection materialthatbyrightbelongsentirelytoanotherrace.”FollowingthesuggestionsofMasonand Alain Locke, Hurston advised Kossola and his family “to avoid talking with other folklore collectors—whiteones,nodoubt—whoheandGodmotherfelt‘shouldbekeptentirelyawaynot only from the project in hand but from this entiremovement for the rediscovery of our folk material.’”13 Mason’ssupportofHurston’seffortswithBarracoonextendedtomonetarycontributionsto Kossola’swelfare.MasonandKossolawouldeventuallycommunicatedirectlywitheachother, andKossolawouldcometoconsiderMasona“dearfriend.”Asonelettersuggests,Kossolawas strugglingfinancially.IthadcometoMason’sattentionthatKossolahadusedexcerptsfromhis copy of Hurston’s narrative to gain financial compensation from local newspapers. Kossola dictatedalettertoMasoninresponsetoherconcern: DearfriendyoumayhaveseeninthepapersaboutmyHistory.ButthishasbeenoverthreeyearssinceIhas letanyonetakeitofftocopyfromit.Ionlydidthatsotheywouldhelpme.Butthereisnoonedidformeasyou has.The lordwillBless youandwillgiveyoua longLife.Where there’snomoreparting, yours inChrist. CudjoLewis.14 As Mason was protective of Hurston’s professional interests, both women remained concerned aboutKossola’swelfare.Having discovered thatKossolawas not receivingmoney thatMasonhadmailedtohim,Hurstonlookedintothematter.SheupdatedMasonaccordingly: Ihavewritten toClaudiaThornton tocheckuponKossulaandallabout things. Ihavealsoasked thePost OfficeatPlateautocheckanyletterscomingtoCudjoeLewisfromNewYork.15 AsHurstoncheckedonKossola,shecontinuedrevisingthemanuscript.“Secondwritingof Kossulaalldoneandabouttyped,”shewroteMasononJanuary12,1931.OnApril18,shewas enthusiastic: “At last ‘Barracoon’ is ready for your eyes.”16 Appreciative ofMason’s support, Hurstondedicatedthebooktoherandbegansubmittingittopublishers.InSeptember1931,she contemplatedViking’sproposal: “TheVikingpress again asks for theLifeofKossula, but in languageratherthandialect.ItlieshereandIknowyourmindaboutthatandsoIdonotanswer them except with your tongue.”17 The dialect was a vital and authenticating feature of the narrative.Hurstonwouldnotsubmittosuchrevision.Perhaps,asLangstonHugheswroteinThe Big Sea, the Negro was “no longer in vogue,” and publishers like Boni and Viking were unwillingtotakeriskson“Negromaterial”duringtheGreatDepression.18 THEGRIOT There seems to be a note of disappointment in the historian Sylviane Diouf’s revelation that HurstonsubmittedBarracoontovariouspublishers,“butitneverfoundataker,andhasstillnot beenpublished.”19Hurston’smanuscript is an invaluable historical document, asDiouf points out, and an extraordinary literary achievement aswell, despite the fact that it foundno takers during her lifetime. In it, Zora Neale Hurston found a way to produce a written text that maintains the orality of the spoken word. And she did so without imposing herself in the narrative, creatingwhat some scholars classify asorature. Contrary to the literary biographer RobertHemenway’sdismissalofBarracoon asHurston’s re-creationofKossola’s experience, thescholarLyndaHillwritesthat“throughadeliberateactofsuppression,sheresistspresenting herownpointofviewinanatural,ornaturalistic,wayandallowsKossula‘totellhisstoryinhis ownway.’”20 ZoraNealeHurstonwasnotonlycommittedtocollectingartifactsofAfricanAmericanfolk culture, she was also adamant about their authentic presentation. Even as she rejected the objective-observerstanceofWesternscientificinquiryforaparticipant-observerstance,Hurston still incorporatedstandardfeaturesoftheethnographicandfolklore-collectingprocesseswithin hermethodology.Adoptingtheparticipant-observerstanceiswhatallowedhertocollectfolklore “like a new broom.”21AsHill points out,Hurstonwas simultaneouslyworking and learning, whichmeant,ultimately,thatshewasnotjustmirroringhermentors,butcomingintoherown. Embedded in the narrative of Barracoon are those aspects of ethnography and folklore collectingthatrevealHurston’smethodologyandauthenticateKossola’sstoryashisown,rather thanasafictionofHurston’s imagination.Thestory, in themain, is toldfromKossola’sfirst- personpointofview.HurstontranscribesKossola’sstory,usinghisvernaculardiction,spelling hiswordsasshehearsthempronounced.Sentencesfollowhissyntacticalrhythmsandmaintain his idiomatic expressions and repetitive phrases. Hurston’s methods respect Kossola’s own storytellingsensibility;itisonethatis“rooted‘inAfricansoil.’”“Itwouldbehardtomakethe case that she entirely inventedKossula’s language and, consequently, his emerging persona,” commentsHill.22Anditwouldbeanequallyhardcasetomakethatshecreatedthelifeevents chronicledinKossola’sstory. EvenasHurstonhasherownideaabouthowastoryistobetold,Kossolahashis.Hurstonis initially impatient with Kossola’s talk about his father and grandfather, for instance. But Kossola’s proverbial wisdom adjusts her attitude: “Where is de house where demouse is de leader?”23 Hurstoncomplained inDustTracksonaRoad ofKossola’s reticence.Yet her patience in gettinghisstoryisquiteapparentinthenarrative.Sheispersistentinherreturningtohishome even when Kossola petulantly sends her away. He doesn’t always talk when she comes, but ratherchoosestotendhisgardenorrepairhisfence.Andsometimeshertimewithhimisspent drivingKossolaintotown.Sometimesheislostinhismemories. Recording such moments within the body of the narrative not only structures the overall narrativeflowofeventsbutrevealsthebehavioralpatternsofherinformant.AsHurstonisnot justanobserver,shefullyparticipatesintheprocessof“helpingKossulatotellhisstory.”“In writinghisstory,”saysHill,“Hurstondoesnotromanticizeorinanywayimplythatidealssuch asself-fulfillmentorfullyrealizedself-expressioncouldemergefromsuchsufferingasKossula hasknown.Hurstondoesnot interprethiscomments,exceptwhenshebuildsa transitionfrom one interview to thenext, inher footnotes,andat theendwhenshesummarizes.”24Thestory Hurston gathers is presented in such a way that she, the interlocutor, all but disappears. The narrativespaceshecreates forKossola’sunburdening issacred.Rather than insertherself into thenarrativeasthelearnedandprobingculturalanthropologist, theinvestigatingethnographer, ortheauthorialwriter,ZoraNealeHurston,inherstilllistening,assumestheofficeofapriest.In thisspace,OlualeKossolapasseshisstoryofepicproportionontoher. DeborahG.Plant Editor’sNote ZoraNealeHurston’sintroductiontoBarracoonhasbeeneditedtoalignwiththeconventions ofspelling,punctuation,grammar,andusage.Contemporaryspellingandusagehavealsobeen appliedtonamesandplaces.Incomposingtheintroductiontoherwork,Hurstonmadeagood- faith effort to document the source material she used to set the context for the Barracoon narrative.Asshestatesinherpreface,“Forhistoricaldata,IamindebtedtotheJournalofNegro History,andtotherecordsoftheMobileHistoricalSociety.”Shereiteratesthisacknowledgment inherintroductionandalludestotheuseofother“records.”HurstondrewfromEmmaLangdon Roche’sHistoric Sketches, but she references this work indirectly, and her citation from this book, aswell as theother sources sheutilized,was inconsistent.Wherever there is aquestion regardingheruseofparaphraseanddirectquotation,Ihaverevisedthepassageasadirectquote andhavedocumenteditaccordingly. Regardingtheactualnarrative,Ihavereadtheoriginaltypescriptinrelationtoearliertyped andhandwrittendraftstoproduceadefinitivetext.Minoreditstothetextweremadeinrelation to themechanicsof typography,forpurposesofclarity,or in thecorrectionofapparent typos. Otherwise,thetextremainsasHurstonleftit.Ihavemadenotationsintheendnotestopresent explanations or to provide full bibliographic data for sourcesHurston used in her own notes. Such explanatory entries are labeled “Editor’s note” and are bracketed. All other notes are originaltothemanuscript.Hurston’scitationsandfootnoteshavelikewisebeeneditedtoalign withconventionaldocumentationstyle. D.G.P. The“DoorofNoReturn”atLaMaisondesEsclaves(HouseofSlaves)atGoréeIslandinSenegal,WestAfrica. Abovetheentryway:“Lord,givemypeople,whohavesufferedsomuch,thestrengthtobegreat”(JosephNdiaye). Preface ThisisthelifestoryofCudjoLewis,astoldbyhimself.Itmakesnoattempttobeascientific document,buton thewholehe is rather accurate. If he is a littlehazyas todetail after sixty- seven years, he is certainly to be pardoned. The quotations from the works of travelers in Dahomey are set down, not to make this appear a thoroughly documented biography, but to emphasizehisremarkablememory. Three spellings of his nation are found: Attako, Taccou, and Taccow. But Lewis’s pronunciationisprobablycorrect.Therefore,IhaveusedTakkoithroughoutthework. Iwassentbyawomanof tremendousunderstandingofprimitivepeoples toget thisstory. Thethoughtbackoftheactwastosetdownessentialtruthratherthanfactofdetail,whichisso oftenmisleading.Therefore,hehasbeenpermittedtotellhisstoryinhisownwaywithoutthe intrusionofinterpretation. Forhistoricaldata,IamindebtedtotheJournalofNegroHistory,andtotherecordsofthe MobileHistoricalSociety. ZoraNealeHurston April17,1931 Introduction TheAfricanslavetradeisthemostdramaticchapterinthestoryofhumanexistence.Therefore agreatliteraturehasgrownupaboutit.Innumerablebooksandpapershavebeenwritten.These aresupplementedbythevastlorethathasbeenblownbythebreathofinarticulateonesacross theseasandlandsoftheworld. Thosewhojustifiedslavingonvariousgroundshavehadtheirsay.Amongtheseareseveral slaverunnerswhohaveboastedoftheirexploitsinthecontrabandflesh.Thosewhostoodaloof inloathinghavecriedoutagainstitinlengthyvolumes. Allthetalk,printedandspoken,hashadtodowithshipsandrations;withsailandweather; withrusesandpiracyandballsbetweenwindandwater;withnativekingsandbargainssharp and sinful on both sides; with tribal wars and slave factories and red massacres and all the machinationsnecessarytostockabarracoonwithAfricanyouthonthefirstlegoftheirjourney fromhumanitytocattle;withstoringandfeedingandstarvationandsuffocationandpestilence anddeath;withslaveshipstenchesandmutiniesofcrewandcargo;withthejettyingofcargoes beforethegunsofBritishcruisers;withauctionblocksandsalesandprofitsandlosses. All