''Sunny South'', an extreme clipper, was the only full-sized sailing ship built by George Steers, and resembled his famous sailing yacht ''America'', with long sharp entrance lines and a slightly concave bow. Initially, she sailed in the California and Brazil trades. Sold in 1859 and renamed ''Emanuela'' (or ''Manuela''), she was considered to be the fastest slaver sailing out of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. The British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

captured ''Emanuela'' off the coast of Africa in 1860 with over 800 slaves aboard. The

purchased her as a prize and converted her into a Royal Navy store ship, ''Enchantress''. She was wrecked in the Mozambique Channel in 1861.

Construction

''Sunny South'' was built for the China trade, but she was too small to be profitable on that route. The timbers of her wooden hull were somewhat lighter than usual for a ship of her size, and diagonally strapped with iron. ''Sunny Souths topsides were black, and a scaly sea serpent was her

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a practice of who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet '' de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that ...

. A description of her launch (7 September 1857) in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' stated that a large number of people were in attendance, and praised her beauty and fine sailing characteristics, as was characteristic of press coverage of that time.

Voyages to California and Brazil

On her maiden voyage in 1854, ''Sunny South'' made a 143-day passage from New York to San Francisco under Capt. Michael Gregory, putting in at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. She made unusually good time in the Pacific on this passage between the

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and the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...

. She then sailed to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in ballast in 51 days, with a 102-day return passage to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, arriving in January 1856. ''Sunny South'' began sailing to Brazilian ports with her voyage of March 1, 1856. Her fastest passage to Rio was 37 days; her three other trips ranged from 40 to 46 days. The three return passages from Santos, Brazil ranged from 41 to 49 days. On April 14, 1858, ''Sunny South'' arrived in New York from Santos, transporting a portion of the crew of the clipper ship ''John Gilpin'', which was lost off the Falkland Islands. The crew members had been dropped off in Bahia, Brazil, after their rescue by the British ship ''Hertfordshire''.

Capture of ''Emanuela''

In 1859, ''Sunny South'' was sold to Havana for $18,000. She was renamed ''Emanuela'' (or ''Manuela'') and put into the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. ''Sunny South''/''Emanuela'' was one of three American-built clipper ships known to have engaged in the slave trade. (The other two were ''Nightingale'' and ''Haidee''.) Clipper ships were the fastest sailing ships available in the 1850s, and Howard I. Chapelle asserts in ''The Search for Speed Under Sail'' that ''Sunny South'' had the reputation of being the fastest slaver sailing out of Havana. On March 5, 1860, ''Emanuela'' left Havana, allegedly bound for Hong Kong, under the Chilean flag. On August 10, 1860, the British screw

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

captured ''Emanuela'' with 846 slaves aboard, in the Mozambique Channel. At 11:30 am ''Brisk'', under Captain Algernon de Horsey, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel, K. C. B., was running to the northward in the Mozambique Channel when she sighted a ship in the haze with many sails set, which proceeded to change course as if attempting to avoid contact. ''Brisk'' made sail and steam, and reached a speed of 11 1/2 knots as she pursued ''Emanuela.'' Even so, it was at least four hours later before she could draw close enough to fire a shot across ''Emanuelas bow, board her, and take the slaver captain and officers into custody. ''Brisk'' then put into Pomoni in possession of ''Emanuela'' to make arrangements to replace the slaver crew with a prize crew. The speed of this slave ship under sail was sufficiently memorable that years later, in a 1914 novel, ''The Mutiny of the Elsinore'',

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

had an old sailor character exclaim,

I was on the ''Emanuela'' that day in Mozambique Channel when ''Brisk'' caught us with nine hundred slaves between-decks. Only she wouldn't 'a' caught us except for her having steam.

This comment concurs with the opinion of an eyewitness. The explorer John Hanning Speke was aboard ''Brisk'' as a passenger, and described the capture scene in ''The Discovery of the Source of the Nile.'' According to Speke, if the wind had been more favorable, ''Sunny South'' could have outsailed ''Brisk'' and escaped, despite ''Brisk'' having the advantage of an auxiliary steam engine. Speke inspected the slave ship and bore witness in his writings regarding the appalling and inhumane conditions on board. When Speke boarded ''Manuela'' as she lay in Pomoni Harbor, he saw half-starved people below decks, mostly children, along with a few old women who lay dying in "the most disgusting ferret box atmosphere." Other slaves who had the strength were ripping open the ship's hatches and scrambling for the salted fish packed beneath. The slaver's voyage had been stopped in its first few days, and the slave deck had adequate ventilation. As a result, many of the slaves proved healthy despite their lack of food and the horrible stench of the ship. After the prize crew washed down the slave deck as best they could, the two ships proceeded to Mauritius. According to Speke, the slaves he encountered were mostly from the ''Wahiyow'' tribe. They had been captured during local wars and sold to Arab traders, taken to the coast, and then taken to ''Manuela'' in dhows. The slaves were half starved because they had been kept for nearly a week without food while the traders negotiated their deal. The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database says ''Emanuela'' picked up slaves at Quirimba on August 10, 1860. Of the 846 slaves who embarked, 105 died en route, and 741 arrived at the first place of landing. Over half were children (appx. 55%); appx. 87% male, 13% female. Of this number appx. 47% were boys, 40% men, 9% girls, and 5% women. Author

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, who paid a visit to ''Manuela'' six months after its capture, wrote that the ship still smelled horrible despite all attempts to disinfect it. He was told that the crew had been observed dumping ''Manuela''s logs and

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

overboard shortly before being boarded.

Release of captured slaves and crew

The captain of ''Brisk'', Captain de Horsey was angered by the lack of punishment for Manuela's 45-member slaver crew when they reached shore. An official letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dated December 31, 1860, expressed his displeasure:

There appears to be no specific instructions as to the disposal of the crews of captured slavers, such captures having been made with respect to vessels not entitled to the protection of any flag. I consequently discharged the ''Manuela''s crew, 45 in number, to the shore. It is to be regretted that these men should have escaped unpunished. If the severest penalty of the law was inflicted on all crews of slavers, it would prove a considerable check to men engaged in that nefarious traffic.

The freed slaves were put ashore at

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, where they were later hired out to sugar planters.

''Enchantress''

HMS ''Sidon'' destroying ''Enchantress'' at Mayotte, right ''Sunny South'' was taken to

, where a prize court condemned her. The Royal Navy renamed her ''Enchantress'' and used her as a store ship on the coast of Africa, to prevent the ship being purchased by slavers. ''Enchantress'' ran aground on a reef at

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

in the Mozambique Channel on 20 February 1861. According to Dickens, she sailed so fast that the crew did not realize they were already eleven miles offshore and standing into danger. The Royal Navy sent to destroy the wreck by burning.

References

External links

Account of the Capture of the ''Manuela''
by John Hanning Speke
Slaver ''Sunny South'' in Havana
1860 NYT article

transcription from ''The U.S. Nautical Magazine'', Vol. I (1854), pp. 62–63.
Description of new vessel ''Sunny South''
pdfs from ''The U.S. Nautical Magazine'', Vol. I (1854), pp. 62–63. {{1861 shipwrecks California clippers Slave ships of Brazil Storeships of the Royal Navy Ships built in New York City History of Havana 1861 in Africa Quirimbas Islands Shipwrecks of Africa Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in 1860 Maritime incidents in February 1861 Maritime incidents involving slave ships Captured ships 1854 ships Charles Dickens