Flux / Dysentery

Flux, now known as dysentery, was likely the leading cause of death for enslaved captives on the Atlantic voyage. Caused by ingesting certain bacteria or parasites that damage the stomach and intestines, the unsanitary conditions aboard slave ships and common occurrences of food and water becoming contaminated heightened the risks of a possible outbreak. Eighteenth-century descriptions and aliases included the “bloody flux,” “obstinate flux,” and “violent flux,” illustrating how the disease’s impact was so devastating. Physicians recorded symptoms (which could last for over two weeks) of "frequent discharge of blood from the bowels,” excrement “mixed with flimsy sharp matter” that caused “severe gripping pains,” and vomiting (Mustakeem).

Outbreaks were a major contributor to psychological stress for everyone on a ship: the captives, the crew, and the captain. For slaves, an outbreak and the consequential deaths of others around them forced the captives to reconcile with their own mortality and the high possibility that their days were very likely numbered. Slave ship surgeon T. Aubrey noted that "you must observe, that when this Flux comes upon them [captives], they know they shall surely [die], and that is the Reason they will neither eat nor drink [anything offered]” (Mustakeem). A wave of dysentery would also have had disastrous consequences for the captain, as the financial loss would have been significant, sometimes even devastating. However, besides additional investments in food provisions, certain medications, and the presence of ship physicians, conditions rarely improved and captives continued to perish in high numbers.

If slaves even received healthcare for their symptoms, treatment often included changes in location and diet as well as additional medical remedies. Physicians suggested moving patients to warm, dry areas of the ship to contrast the dark, hot, damp stowage area, but due to the general cramped conditions, this was not always possible. Dietary restrictions were also recommended, with meals including "sago, rice, weak broth, very slight portable soup or gruel… barley or rice water… [and] rum or brandy and water” (Mustakeem). Medicinal remedies were also occasionally incorporated into treatment. Forced bleeding of approximately six to eight ounces was believed to remove toxins from the body, and Isaac Wilson, another slave ship surgeon, suggested purging in hopes of "clearing the stomach or bowels from any putrid matter that might be lodged therein.” Herbal creations were also created if supplies were available, with some ingredients being rhubarb, calomel, and syrup.