Aside from the heat and the foul air, there could be so little oxygen that a candle would not burn. If a slave died, the body could remain in the hold for hours, still chained to other living people.
More enslaved people survived the voyage, so less money was lost. Loose pack - fewer enslaved people were loaded, giving them more space to lie out.
People were loaded in so close together that one captain described them as being 'like books on a shelf'. A ship’s hold was cramped - only five feet high, with a shelf running round the edge to carry yet more enslaved people. It was expected that some would die but a large number would survive the voyage.
Tight pack - this method involved packing as many enslaved people into the hold as possible.
