Feeding the Ghosts

The tragic story of Mintah, a black woman survivor of the slaveship Zong during the eighteenth century. The ship was loaded with over 400 slaves and heading for Jamaica. When some illness causes the death of some slaves and crew, the captain decides to minimize loss and maximize profit by throwing the sick into the sea.

Mintah was not sick but was also thrown into the sea for daring to speak up to the first mate whom she’d nursed while ill at a Danish fort on the African coast. She managed to climb back without being noticed and survived under cover with the aid of the cook’s assistant. She encouraged the slaves to rebel, which led to more severe punishment being meted out to her. A total of 131 slaves were thrown into the sea. Mintah was sold in Maryland.

The criminal action of the captain and his crew was challenged in a London court, but only because the insurers of the ship were asked to pay for the 131 slaves “lost” at sea. The judgement went in favor of the captain as the society regarded slaves as stock.

Mintah regained her freedom in Maryland, taught blacks to read and write, and later helped many
slaves escape to the North. Then she had to flee to Jamaica where she lived the rest of her life. Probably due to the ill treatment she received on the ship, she was unable to conceive children, and died in a fire that consumed her house.

March 6, 2015. Review initially written in 2000. Novel first published in 1997. Picture source: Yahoo (Images).