ON BOARD U. S. WAR STEAMER SUMPTER, ST. PAUL DE LOANDO,
_April 14, 1860_.
I was transferred from the war steamer Mystic, and presented to
the officers of the Sumpter, from whom I have received the kindest
evidences of hospitality. Captain McDonough offered me his table
and cabin, and Lieutenant Stewart, and his brother officers, of the
wardroom mess, always make me a welcome guest. A tourist is scarcely
ever found on this benighted coast, and for that reason I am well
treated. It is only when I find myself out of the way of all civilized
lines of communication, that I am willing to trouble either our own
officers, or those of foreign governments; but necessity has obliged me
to sail under the flags of several.
We met the British war steamer Falmouth, which took the American brig
Jehosse, and afterwards released her, the captain abandoned her, as I
wrote you, and came in pursuit of an American man-of-war. Lieutenant
Stewart came on board to verify the certificates which Captain Fitzroy
gave Captain Vincent, who is now with us. He and his officers admitted
their signatures. The documents will be sent to the United States,
copies having already been forwarded for diplomatic action.
We met the sloop-of-war Marion, Captain Brent, and passed a few hours
on board of her, as pleasantly as circumstances would permit, after
the disappointment the officers had experienced in not receiving
instructions to return home after a two years’ cruise. They expected
confidently such orders by the mail we brought down. Fortunately for
me, instead of being transferred to a small schooner at the Congo River
for this port, the Sumpter was ordered here for supplies at the naval
station.
At the Gaboon, a French settlement, they have their barracoons for
free labor, which is slavery under another form, and which the English
and Americans dare not interfere with. The negroes are enlisted for a
term of years, under the payment of a certain sum for service, in the
islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe. They are shipped legitimately,
and not packed as with slavers, who are forced to watch their
opportunity, and escape with as many as possible, without regard
to breathing space or supplies of water. The negroes shipped are
either slaves already, or pawned for debt, and made to say they are
willing--and probably escape much worse bondage than they would in
their native country. They certainly do, if they are treated as our
negroes in the southern states.
Our ship overhauled recently an American brig, with slave deck laid;
but her papers were in order. The captain at first sent a lieutenant
and men on board of her, and was going to send her to the United States
as a prize, no doubt being entertained of the intention of running off
a cargo; but upon reflection and advice, he abandoned the project. If
she was not condemned at home, the owners would come upon the captain
for all the damages, and his private funds would be taken to pay for
it. The government does not assume the responsibility. If commanders do
their duty, they must put their property out of their hands, and have
nothing to lose. They can then take suspicious vessels and send them to
the United States--but they may have judgments hanging over them all
their lives. It is an undisputed fact, that the slave trade is carried
on by American vessels mostly, and to the shame of our northern and
New England states, whence come the constant cries against the South.
A ship which I once made a passage in to Havre, has been fitted out
as a whaler, with all the appliances, for the purpose, without doubt,
as a decoy, and instead of catching the black whales, they intend to
capture another kind of animal of the same color. Her papers are all in
order. Captain Goudon, of the new war steamer Mohican, whom I visited
on this station, boarded her. She is just out from the United States,
and is in suspicious waters, where there are no whales. His excuse is,
they wanted some fresh water. She can take a thousand negroes, and is
here under the garb of a whaler; but no American officer dare take her
without the negroes on board, unless he is made liable for personal
damages. The whole thing is a farce. If our government was honest in
the suppression of the slave trade, and would take the responsibility
of loss in case of failure of confiscation, the trade would soon be
lessened.
We have a squadron of four vessels now on the African coast, and three
are off active duty. The flag ship is at Madeira, the Portsmouth has
just started for that place, and I met the San Jacinto at Teneriffe,
going to Cadiz for repairs.
We are expending large sums to keep up a squadron of eighty guns,
according to the Ashburton Treaty, and are hunting up the game for the
English to bag. They watch and wait, and have their spies; and when
the vessels are filled they seize them. The captain, under threat of
being handed over to an American man-of-war, and tried for piracy,
makes a bargain for his life and the lives of his crew, probably saving
some property, hauls down his flag and throws his papers overboard.
The Englishman gets his bounty money, and turns over the negroes for
colonists for seven years, which probably often means life.
The bay of Loando is deep and tolerably broad; the water close to town
is shallow from the washing of the high clay banks, which extend along
the coast, and form the upper town. This is the oldest settlement
(Portuguese) along the coast, and I notice some old dates, of the year
1600. The slave trade built it up. The Brazil markets were supplied
from here. Some fifty thousand were supplied annually. That has
ceased, and the town and country become commercial. The soil in the
interior is fertile, and produces excellent coffee, which rivals the
Mocha in quality. There is a Governor-General, a custom-house, police
and military force. The lower town is very sandy and hot. The negro
population is large. Slavery continues, but will expire by limitation
in ten years. Fever prevails to a considerable extent; the only
safeguard is, to sleep on shipboard. No hotels or restaurants are to be
found. The merchants who have vessels trading with the United States,
Portugal, and other countries, have as large and comfortable houses as
possible, and frequently invite friends to their table. The English
have a consul and adjudicator for condemned vessels.
The American Consul is connected with a business firm in Salem, who
have trading vessels and factories on the coast. At Quecimbo, a
bartering point along shore, we found four factories, or bungalows,
English, Dutch, and American. They are constructed of reed and palm,
large, light, and airy, inclosing courts or yards by picket-worked
fences, and there they are without protection from the natives, other
than a few fire-arms. An important event occurred there a few days
before our visit. A Congo prince, who had been educated in Portugal,
wishing to make some reform in the negro administration of matters,
was pursued, and took refuge in the English factory. He was demanded
by the natives, who surrounded the establishment in thousands. Finding
that the building would be sacrificed and given up to pillage, he
gave himself up, and was killed within thirty feet, his body cut in
pieces, and scattered about. We were surrounded by a group of these
black, dirty, and naked subjects--two were called princes, but the only
distinction was they wore a sort of cap, while others disdain every
covering but the wool.