Question

Read the passage from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. The air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died . . . The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable. Which is described in the text?

Answer 1

The existence of strong smells, is the correct answer.

Answer 2

The correct answer is C: The existence of strong smells.

It is clearly understood the existence of strong smells, when the author refers to “…so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. The air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died…”

This extract is taken from the description of Olaudah Equiano young year’s experiences on board of the slave ship in the book “Middle Passage: the journey between Africa and the New World.”

The Middle Passage is about life in the ship where African’s salves were densely packed onto those ships, to be transported across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. The duration of the trip was about three or four month. The slaves were chained in rows on the floor or on shelves in the most inhuman conditions. The author describes how those slaves –approximately 600 hundred- suffered and even die on the journey to Barbados, a Caribbean Island.