commerce.

desirous to possess? With respect to the last of these propositions, I am of opinion that the time has not yet arrived when it would be expedient to publish, in detail, the measures which, according to my view, are necessary, in order that the African may be taught to explore the wealth of his exuberant soil, and to enjoy the sweets of legitimate These views have been communicated to Her Majesty's Government. It is for them to decide how far they are safe, practicable, and effectual. When their decision shall have been made, there will be no occasion for any farther reserve. The second portion of this work will then be published, in which it is my purpose to say something on the geography of Africa; something on the moral degradation and cruel superstitions which prevail among its population ; and something on the measures necessary for elevating the native mind. To these I shall add suggestions of the practical means which appear to me best calculated for the deliverance of Africa from the Slave Trade.

Is Africa (if

But the former question remains. justice shall be done to her) capable of yielding a richer harvest than that which has been hitherto reaped from the sale and the slaughter of her people?

Beyond all doubt, she has within herself all that is needed for the widest range of commerce, and for the most plentiful supply of everything which conduces to the comfort and to the affluence of man. Her soil

is eminently fertile.*

Are its limits narrow? It stretches from the borders of the Mediterranean to

* Ptolemy says it "is richer in the quality, and more wonderful in the quantity, of its productions, than Europe or Asia.”

the Cape of Good Hope, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Are its productions such as we little want or lightly value? The very commodities most in request in the civilized world are the spontaneous growth of these uncultivated regions. Is the interior inaccessible? The noblest rivers flow through it, and would furnish a cheap and easy mode of conveyance for every article of legitimate trade. Is there a dearth of population, or is that population averse to the pursuits of commerce? Drained of its inhabitants as Africa has been, it possesses an enormous population, and these eminently disposed to traffic. Does it lie at so vast a distance as to forbid the hope of continual intercourse? In sailing to India we pass along its western and eastern coasts. In comparison with China, it is in our neighborhood.

Are not these circumstances sufficient to create the hope that Africa is capable of being raised from her present abject condition, and while improving her own state, of adding to the enjoyments and stimulating the commerce of the civilized world?

It is earnestly to be desired that all Christian powers should unite in one great confederacy, for the purpose of calling into action the dormant energies of Africa; but if this unanimity is not to be obtained, there are abundant reasons to induce this nation alone, if it must so be, to undertake the task. Africa and Great Britain stand in this relation toward each other. Each possesses what the other requires, and each requires what the other possesses. Great Britain wants raw material, and market for her manufactured goods. Africa wants manufactured goods, and a market for her raw material. Should it, however appear that, in place of

profit, loss were to be looked for, and obloquy instead of honor, I yet believe that there is that commiseration, and that conscience in the public mind, which will induce this country to undertake, and with the Divine blessing enable her to succeed in crushing "the great est practical evil that ever afflicted mankind.”*

* Mr. Pitt.

APPENDIX TO PART I.

(A.)

The Venus, said to be the sharpest clipper-built vessel ever constructed at Baltimore, left that place in July, 1838, and arrived at Havana on the 4th of August following. She sailed from thence, in September, for Mozambique; there she took in a cargo of slaves, being all this time under the flag of the United States. On the 7th of January, 1839, she landed 860 negroes near Havana, under Portuguese colors; and on the 9th these blacks, with 1200 more, were seen at one of the Barracoons, within two miles of the city, exposed for sale, and presenting a most humiliating and melan. choly spectacle.”—Private Letters.

Lieut. Reeve, of date 2d April, 1839, writes to the Secretary of the Admiralty, that unless immediate steps be taken to check the protection of the American flag to the slaver, it will be useless for Her Majesty's cruizers to be employed for the suppression of the traffic; and he adds, "No other flag will be seen on the coast in a short time, for it affords all the protection a slaver can require un. der the existing laws."

Admiral Elliot, of date 6th Feb., 1839, says, "Several of the slave dealers have declared their intention to have an American sailing master and American colors in each vessel, and some have had the impudence to assert that the government of the United States would not discountenance such practices."-Class D, F, S., 1839, p. 31.

(B.)

The case of the Flor de Loando is one which deserves consider. able attention, as it affords an instance, and that a modern one, of dreadful suffering and mortality, and shows the disposition of the Brazilian authorities to thwart, as far as possible, the intentions of the British Government.

On

This slaver was captured on the 11th April, 1838, by H. M. corvette, Rover, with 289 negroes on board, and taken to Rio de Janeiro. The Mixed Commission Court at that port refused, to condemn her, on the ground of her having been seized in Portuguese colors, although both the vessel and slaves were known to be Brazilian property, The Brazilian Government having afterwards received an application to condemn her as a smuggler, or a vessel with false papers, refused to take cognizance of her, or to render any assistance to the slaves, who were now in a dreadful state of disease, having been kept confined in the hold of the slave ship more than three months from the time of her capture. With considerable difficulty the authorities were induced to allow the worst cases to be transferred to the hospital, on being guarantied their ex. penses; but persisted in refusing any means for conveying the wretched negroes to a more wholesome situation, though such a change was pronounced absolutely necessary for the perservation of their lives. The deaths up to this period amounted to 80. the 23d August, Lieutenant Armitage, the officer in command, was ordered to proceed to Sierra Leone, with the slaver and her cargo, then reduced to 140; but on the 27th instant she sprung a leak, and was compelled to return to Rio in a sinking condition. On examination, her timbers were found to be rotten, and she was pronounced totally unfit for sea. The deaths at this time amounted to 119; nothwithstanding, permission was still denied by the Brazilian Government to land the negroes till the 15th September, five months after their capture; during which time expenses were incurred by the British Government to the amount of £812. In order to form an idea of the sufferings of the miserable victims, we must conceive them lying for so many months in the state thus described by Lieutenant Armitage." They were stowed so close, till thinned by death, as necessarily to press one against another, and there was barely room for them to sit upright. He used to visit them of a morning, accompanied by a sailor, in a crouching position, and draw out those who had died, by the legs, there not being room to go between them to take up their bodies." The stench he represents to have been most horrible.