Out of 36,000 voyages, there were 500 rebellions. The story of the Dutch slaver Neptunus demonstrates why they so rarely succeeded: on 17 October 1785, off the west African coast, 200 enslaved prisoners were delivered via canoes by African slave traders to Neptunus. The prisoners rebelled and seized the ship, but African slave hunters – paid to recapture escapees – surrounded it, aided by British slavers. Faced with recapture, the courageous rebels lit the gunpowder in the hold and committed mass suicide.
