Barracoons
Pens or walled enclosures in which Africans were held prior to being loaded abroad slave ships. Here, captive might
partially regain their strength after the brutal journey to the coast. However, the barracoons were filthy and overcrowded, and the slaves, who were generally stripped
naked, were sometimes forced to live with goats and other animals. They were fed twice a day, usually boiled yams, beans, and rotten fish. The poor diet, extremely unsanitary conditions, and contaminated water created ideal diseased conditions, and death rate of only 11% of the confined slaves was considered quite good. Once slaves were sold, they were branded with their owner’s names to prevent weaker, less valuable slaves from being substituted for them.
HPS Magazine 