As time progressed, in the fall of 1731, the slaves being sold in Jakin derived from two sources. The first source derived from King Agaja's wars. King Agaja battled against the Mahi and Mahi's ally Oyo. .
After a year of warfare, though it was claimed that Agaja was defeated, the King still took a large number of captives. These captives were ultimately sent to Jakin where European slave trading nations were focused. In addition, according to Agaja's point of view, "it was a good commercial situation because slaves sent to Jakin sold instantly and fetched high prices" (Harms 245). The second source of slaves came from a trade route with a river that ran east from Jakin to the Bay of Benin. Many captives who were enslaved along this route included war captives from nearby kingdoms, criminals, debtors, and victims of famine. .
Robert Durand carefully investigated these slaves and he believed the best slaves were between the ages of ten and fifteen years old. Also, the gender ratio was important when selecting the slaves. After thorough investigations of the slaves, Durand listed a total of 256 people "109 men, 71 women, 17 boys, and 4 girls (Harms 263). On November 27th, The Diligent set sail towards its destination. .
Throughout this horrid journey for the slaves, the slave traders had to make sure the slaves were kept alive before reaching the New World. In The Diligent, Harms stated, "slaves were often seized by sadness and despair. Sadness makes them vulnerable to the diseases that kill a great many captives and despair leads many of them to attempt suicide" (Harms 296). In addition, men were shackled two by two with slave irons that bounded the right leg of one captive to the left leg of another slave. As a result, due to the incredibly small space that the slaves were kept in, music became a key component towards the slaves' survival. Music provided a sense of comfort and led the slaves to dance for exercise purposes.
