THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO, OR GUSTAVUS VASSA, THE AFRICAN. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. (1789) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm

... I was soon put down under the decks, and there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench, and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had never experienced any thing of this kind before; and although, not being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first time I saw it, yet nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings, I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and, besides, the crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the decks, lest we should leap into the water: and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case with myself. ... from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm

… When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted. … from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm

… The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, … from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm

… The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, … from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African (1789) by Olaudah Equiano https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15399/15399-h/15399-h.htm