The travelling coffle!

Pictured is Master Finneas Webb who makes an honest but modest living by travelling to the outlying plantations buying up reject slaves.

The plantation owners greatly appreciate this service - it eliminates the need and expense of sending an unwanted slave to a far-distant auction vendue - and they ensure there are always a few slaves to sell to him and to shackle into his coffle.

However, as can be seen from the picture, it’s been “slim pickings” this trip as the slaves are of a very low quality and won’t command good prices at auction.

Still, no slave is completely worthless and even these poor specimens have another two to three years of life left in them to toil in the sugarcane fields down in the delta country.

So Finneas is heading south and knows of several sugar growers who’ll pay reasonable prices for these slaves. Despite their appearances, the overseers’ whips will wring the maximum amount of labour from them before they expire thus ensuring the plantation owners aren’t left “out of pocket”.