J.M.W. Turner took up a serious incident in 1840 and expressed it in a painting. The incident was the so-called Zong Affair, which changed the attitude towards the British slave trade.
The Slave Ship, by J.M.W. Turner, 1840 (x)
The Zong was until 1777 a Dutch slaver under the name Zorg and after her carpering she belonged to William Gregson and George Case, two well known merchants in the city of Liverpool and former mayors of the city. She sailed from the west coast of Africa on September 6, 1781 with 442 Africans bought as slaves on board, which made the ship completely overloaded and so she did not have sufficient supplies for such a large number of slaves. The poor people were chained in pairs, right leg and left leg, right hand and left hand, each of them having less space than a man in a coffin. The journey took nearly two months, and during that time most of the slaves were malnourished and suffering from disease. Captain Collingwood had lost his way in the Caribbean, which further prolonged the voyage. 60 slaves and 7 crew members had already died, and Collingwood knew that those who survived in poor condition would not fetch a high price on the slave market. He decided to use the lack of fresh water as an excuse to note that his "crew was endangered" to justify throwing 133 living slaves overboard. A reason that had a sinister background.
55 more were thrown overboard on November 29, and another 42 on November 30. A heavy rainstorm the following day provided fresh water, but another 26 slaves were thrown overboard that day, and another 10 jumped in to defy the captain, hugging each other as they sank. It was later claimed that the slaves were thrown overboard for the safety of the ship, as the ship did not have enough water to keep them alive for the rest of the voyage. This claim was later refuted as the ship still had 420 gallons (1910 liters) of water when it arrived in Jamaica on December 22. Let's move on to the reason why Captain Collingwood threw the people overboard alive. Behind it was an insurance policy. Because if a slave died on board, the insurers would not pay, seeing this as "poor cargo management." They would only pay the full sum insured if a slave went overboard alive. The owners demanded £30 per head from the insurers, which was disputed. The owners' lawyer argued, "These people are not charged with murder at all, there is not the slightest allegation”. After the insurers appealed, Lord Chief Justice Manfield upheld the shipowners: "The question left to the jury was whether it was necessary that the slaves should be thrown into the sea, for they had no doubt that the case of the slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard." This ruling that removal was lawful led to a significant turning point in abolitionist campaigns.
The nondenominational Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was founded in 1787. The following year, Parliament passed the first law regulating the slave trade, the Slave Trade Act of 1788, to limit the number of slaves per ship. In 1791, Parliament prohibited insurance companies from compensating shipowners when enslaved Africans were murdered by being thrown overboard. A monument to enslaved Africans murdered on Zong was erected in Black River, Jamaica.
My all time favorite bong!!! Was cleaning her one day outside on the pavement and barely knocked her over, the rest is history, but here she is in all her good glory.
Terrors of the Jungle #7 (December, 1953). Cover by L.B. Cole.
This comic book was published by L.B. Cole’s Star Publications, and consisted of stories reprinted from earlier in the Golden Age.
Bride of the Devil-Beast, the lead (and extremely short) story in this issue, basically came from one of those questions I’m sure fans asked back then: What if Tarzan fought King Kong?
That’s actually a great concept, and one author Will Murray explored in his 2016 novel King Kong vs. Tarzan.
So it made since for writer/artist JayDisbrow to tackle that concept in comic form. Except, instead of Tarzan you get his look-alike knock-off, Torga, and the giant ape is named.....wait for it.....ZONG!
Disbrow throws everything from the original King Kong film into his 6-page story: the white woman captured by a hostile tribe, the tribe chanting a familiar-sounding song, the giant wall that keeps Kong--I mean, Zong--from attacking the tribe, the sacrificial altar that the woman is tied to, and Kong--darn it! I mean Zong!--carrying said woman off into the mountains.
The noises these people and creatures make are something else. “Groof! Agraf!” is something I’ve never heard a gorilla - giant or otherwise - say. And I’ve spoken to more than my fair share.
“AIEECH!”?? Is Luana trying to scream or tell us the eighth letter in the alphabet?
“AAAHHHOOOOAAAAGH!”?? Torga’s trying to sound like one of those old timey cartoon car horns.
Tarzan would normally yell “Kreegah!” (or, the more formal “kreegah bundolo!”) in situations like this. However, Torga ain’t Tarzan, so he says “Kigah!” instead.
Given my long experience battling giant apes, I find it extremely unlikely that Torga’s puny knife was able to penetrate Zong’s chest, much less his heart. Nor do I believe that Zong was unable to reach or throw the jungle man off. On the other hand, Torga used the excellent tactic of slicing the beast’s carotid artery which, as illustrated here, was the more successful attack.
Zong was also very accommodating by plunging to his death directly atop the chief villain of the piece.
And there you have it! Not quite how Edgar Rice Burroughs would have done it, had he been given the chance. Still, Disbrow only had 6 pages to tell his story, while still packing in as many jungle tale cliches as he could.
The bulk of the issue is two reprinted stories featuring Rulah, Jungle Goddess by the master of Good Girl art, Matt Baker. While they are both superior to the first tale, Rulah doesn’t battle a giant ape, which is probably why she didn’t get the lead.
A Poem
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