The very administration of justice was turned into an engine for that end.

The smallest offence was punished by a fine equal to the value of a slave.

Crimes were also fabricated; false accusations were resorted to; and persons were sometimes employed to seduce the unwary into practices with a view to the conviction and the sale of them.
It was another effect of this trade, that it corrupted the morals of those, who carried it on.

Every fraud was used to deceive the ignorance of the natives by false weights and measures, adulterated commodities, and other impositions of a like sort.

These frauds were even acknowledged by many, who had themselves practised them in obedience to the orders of their superiors.