When shipments of negroes were commenced from the Texan ports heretofore named, and how often, or to what extent they were made, we are unable to say definitely; but the probabilities are that they commenced immediately after President Lincoln issued his proclamation of freedom to the slaves, September 22, 1862, and were made, to a greater or less extent, thereafter as news reached the dealers elevating or depressing their hopes of a permanent Southern Confederacy. After Sherman commenced his march from Chattanooga to Atlanta, in May, 1864, and especially after he resumed his march from Atlanta to Savannah, in November, 1864, and still more especially after he commenced his march from Savannah to Charleston, and thence to Richmond, in January, 1865, the slave-dealers in Texas thought they saw the handwriting on the wall, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin"--"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting," and from thenceforth every steamer, schooner, or water-craft of any kind, that could carry ten or more persons, and which they could possibly procure in any way, was secured to run the negroes from Texas to such markets as it were possible to reach. They could not be taken to the principal open ports of either Cuba or Brazil, lest, being seen by an anti-slavery man, the facts might be reported to United States consuls and thence to the United States government; but they were taken to out-of-the-way places along the coast of both countries, where copartners in the business were in waiting to receive and make further disposition of them. The money received from sales was sent back to the copartners in Texas by the partner or agent bringing out the last lot, and thus a flow of negroes in one direction, and a flow of money, with which to buy more, in another direction, was kept up constantly.
But it was not necessary in all cases to make purchases and payments. Indeed, towards the close of the war, actual purchases were seldom made, and after the close of the war, none at all, though the business still remained active. The plan pursued was this: a dealer would go to a planter, to a farmer, or to a man living in town or city, and ask him how many slaves he owned. The answer would be ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, or more, as the case might be; but he would probably add, immediately after, that only one-half, or one-fourth, or less were then with him--the others were hired out, or with the army, helping to dig trenches, or running at large, he did not know where. The dealer, after explaining to the owner the nature of his business, would propose to take from him a written bill of sale of all the negroes he owned take his own chances of catching them when and where he could, send them to a market when and where he could, and divide with the owner whatever might be the net result of sales. The owner, reasoning from the standpoint that "a half loaf is better than no bread," and that if the Confederacy proved a failure he would get nothing at all for his slaves, would enter into such written agreement with the dealer. With this in his pocket, to assure him from interference from pro-slavery men, and to prove to all who might question him that his business was of a "mercantile," rather than of a kidnapping, character, the dealer and his agents would go forth to seize the negroes--men, women, and children--for whom he had bills of sale in his pocket. If resisted by a white man, out would come his bill of sale to prove title; if resisted by a black man, he was shot down or hung on the spot; if resisted by the alleged slave, he was at once handcuffed, gagged, and marched away; if identity was questioned by a white man, the questioner had to prove property, while the bill of sale held by the dealer was regarded as _prima facie_ evidence of his right to the person claimed; if identity was questioned by the person seized, or by any other colored man, he was laughed at, gagged, or shot down. In this way thousands were seized, thousands driven from where seized into Texas, and tens of thousands run from Texas to Brazilian and Cuban ports.