the City, chusing for that purpose an elevated and wholesome spot; in which Lazaretto the sick Negroes are to be received, in order to be attended and cured, until the Person appointed, to whom the care of the Lazaretto and the care of the Invalids shall be committed, deem them in a fit state to go to the Houses of the Persons to whom they come consigned, who are to provide the necessary means for their subsistence by a daily allowance, which I order to be regulated by my Royal Junta of Commerce: aud to prevent frauds, deceit, and irregularity in the execution of such necessary precautions, by delaying or making difficulties as to their disembarkation under captious pretexts, with the reprobated intention of extorting illegal remunerations from the Persons interested, who might comply to obtain a speedy conclusion of the business; I have very particularly recommended the Chief Physician of the Kingdom to be extremely circumspect in the selection of Persons intended for such occupations, and to see that they execute their important trust with the fidelity and disinterestedness required; and that any extortion or covetousness used be represented to me, so as to bring the Delinquents to punishment with all the rigor of Law. And, that I may ascertain the exactness practised in the execution of these my salutary and paternal dispositions, and the effect thereof in benefiting the Public Health, I order, that either the said Chief Physician of the Kingdom, or his Deputy, shall grant an Attestation, declaring the number of deaths, and of those sick on board, at the time of the arrival of the Vessel, which is to be laid before my Royal Person by the Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs, and the Ultramarine Dominions.

Wherefore, I order the Chief Judge in the Council Chamber, the President of my Royal Exchequer, the Royal Junta of Commerce, Agriculture, Manufacture, and Navigation, the Chief Justice of the Tribunal of Supplication, or his Deputy, the Principal Judges, Magistrates, Justices, Officers, and other Persons of these my Kingdoms and Dominions, to whom the fulfilment of this my Decree may appertain, to observe and perform the same inviolably and justly, as is therein contained, without any doubt or difficulty attaching thereto, notwithstanding all Laws, Acts, Decrees, Sentences, Regulations, or arrangements to the contrary; all of which I annul, as though special and particular mention were made of each, and which would otherwise remain in full force. And it is to serve as an Act passed by the Chancery, (although that Tribunal does not grant any, the validity whereof is to be for more than 1 year,) notwithstanding any Ordinance to the contrary.

Given in our Palace of the Royal Treasury of Santa Cruz, on the 24th November, 1813. THE PRINCE.

COUNT DAS GALVEAS.

Decree to avail as an Act passed, whereby Your Royal Highness has been pleased to regulate the measurement of Ships employed in the conveyance of Negroes, exported from the Ports of Africa to those of Brazil; Your Royal Highness giving, in virtue of Your incomparable sentiments of humanity and beneficence, the mildest and most wholesome regulations for the benefit of those Individuals.

ROYAL ORDER of the King of Portugal, prohibiting the fitting out of Spanish Vessels in the Ports of Portugal and Brazil, for the Slave Trade.-Rio de Janeiro, 17th February, 1817.

(Translation.)

His Majesty, wishing to take those precautions that may best contribute to the strict and inviolable execution of the Treaty (with Great Britain) of the 22nd January, 1815, whereby he was pleased to prohibit to his Subjects the trading for Slaves in all the Ports of the Coast of Africa, on the Equator, and in others to the Southward of the Line, where the Crown of the United Kingdom has no dominion or right; and being persuaded that one of the most efficacious measures to prevent the simulated violations of the aforesaid Treaty is, without doubt, that of prohibiting all Spanish Ships from fitting out in the Ports of this Kingdom, for the purpose of trading for Slaves, to those of the Coast of Africa, where they have still the right to continue the same Traffic; and which are those comprehended between the Equator and the 10th degree of northern latitude: the same Lord is pleased to order that, 3 months after the date of the present Avizo, all Spanish Ships are prohibited from fitting out in the Ports of the United Kingdom, for the purpose of trading for Slaves in the Ports of the Coast of Africa above-mentioned; it being the duty of the Authorities to whom it belongs, to fiscalize the Cargo and preparations of such Vessels, and to take every measure they may judge necessary to secure the full effect of this prohibition: which I impart for your information, and that you may cause it to be exactly fulfilled in what concerns you. God preserve you.

Palace of Rio Janeiro, 17th February, 1817.

SENOR LUIZ Joze de CARVALHO E MELLO.

CONDE DA BARCA.

CORRESPONDENCE of Naval Officers with the British Government, relative to the African Slave Trade.-1816, 1817.

No. 1.-Captain Sir James L. Yeo to J. W. Croker, Esq. SIR, London, 7th November, 1816. I HAVE the honour to lay before you, for the information of their Lordships, such observations and remarks as I have considered it my duty to make on the present state of Africa.

To His Majesty's Government, and those humane and benevolent Persons who for years past have been exerting their interest and wealth in the cause of Africa, it must be painful to hear that all their efforts towards obtaining the real abolition of Slavery have been of little or no avail; for though fewer Negroes may have been enslaved since the Abolition Acts took place, with respect to this Country, yet the cruelty to those now taken away by the Spaniards and Portuguese has increased quadruple; and those Acts appear to have had no other effect than that of transferring the Slave-trade to Spain and Portugal, whose inhuman Traffic has since wonderfully increased; and there is every reason to suppose that it will still further increase, as the fear of a termination to the Trade in a few years, will induce them to pursue it with much greater activity. They now fill their Ships beyond any former precedent; as a proof of which, His Majesty's Ship Bann, commanded by Captain Fisher, captured the Portuguese Brig San Antonio, only 120 tons, with 600 Slaves. In a passage of 80 leagues, more than 30 died, and as many more appeared irrecoverably gone; in the midst of the sick lay a putrid corpse, and such a horrid stench, that Captain Fisher was apprehensive of a plague, and was obliged to take not only the Crew, but 150 Slaves on board the Bann, and make the best of his way to Sierra Leone. And these Powers consider themselves so safe in the Trade, and are in such perfect good understanding with the Native Chiefs, that on the Bann's capturing the Portuguese Brig Temeraire off Whydah, which Vessel had purchased 600 Slaves, but had not time to load them, the Chief assured the Portuguese Master, who is on shore there, that he would feed the Slaves until another Vessel could arrive for them, on its bringing him some Tobacco as a remuneration; the Master is now at Whydah, in daily expectation of a Vessel, when there is little doubt but he will succeed in taking off his Cargo.

One of the Portuguese Masters I captured, had made 22 trips to the Coast for Slaves, and had only once been captured. The profits they make are enormous. One of the Schooners captured by the Inconstant, off the River Lagos, having arrived but a few days on the Coast, had only purchased 10 Slaves, for which the Master gave 92 rolls of Tobacco, each roll worth in the Brazils 2,000 milreas (about 12s. sterling,) making the cost of each Slave to the Portuguese merchant

51. 10s., for which he would receive 400 dollars. These facts will show, that neither mountains, rivers or deserts, will prove barriers to the Slave-trade, as the Black Chiefs will bring their Slaves from every extremity of Africa, as long as there is a Nation that will afford them a Slave market; and these circumstances will, I presume, clearly show, that the partial abolition of the Slave-trade is of little or no benefit, but that, on the contrary, the wretchedness of the Natives is frequently increased by it; and I am convinced, that the only means of promoting the happiness and civilization of Africa, will be to annihilate the Slavetrade in toto; for whilst there is such a facility in selling Slaves, there will be no incentive to industry in that quarter of the World.

I now beg leave to describe our Settlements in this Country, as I saw them. As Sierra Leone is under the immediate control of the Colonial Department, I shall only remark, that after all the sums of money which have been expended on its improvement, it is still in a most deplorable state; great abuses and mismanagement are said to have existed; and certainly, to judge from its present wretched condition, the reports appear to have been too well founded.

The present Governor, Colonel McCarthy, appears a mild, benevolent, good man; but from the small proportion which the European bears to the Black Population, his efforts towards civilization can make but a slow progress, particularly when we consider the great emolument which the Merchants derive from Trade, which induces them to oppose, by every means in their power, any efforts towards cultivation. Another great objection to Sierra Leone, arises from its being at such a distance, directly to the windward of where the Slave Vessels are captured, which is generally in the Bight of Benin and Biaffra; the Vessels are always crowded and sickly, and the mortality in making the passage exceeds 1-10th: added to this, the Climate is detestable, the rain commencing the end of April, and continuing to the middle of October: it proves the grave of most Europeans who go there, and even those who escape the grave, linger out a painful and miserable existence.

Under these circumstances, I am of opinion that Sierra Leone is not so well calculated for forming a Settlement for emancipated or captured Negroes as the Gold Coast, which possesses every advantage it is much more temperate, the sun is more obscured, and of course has less power, and I am certain must be much more healthy. From the best information I could collect relative to the soil, it is on the sea coast generally light, where a cotton crop would be most certain and profitable. At the distance of 10 or 20 miles inland, it is rich in the extreme, and would produce sugar-cane, rice and indigo; coffee and vegetables of every kind are in abundance. I have been some years in the West Indies, and though it was then the rainy season, and of course the worst time of the year, yet I declare it

is neither so hot or unpleasant as the former; as a proof of which, all the Officers and Crew of the Inconstant complained of the increased heat on their arrival at Barbadoes. Hurricanes are not known in this country, and the tornadoes (of which so much is said) are not more violent than the heavy squalls in the West Indies, nor have I ever seen any so bad; there is also a good and safe anchorage on every part of the Coast. Our Settlements on this Coast are in a very bad condition, and the People residing in them little better than prisoners to the neighbouring Chiefs, who, although they receive pay from the Company, consider it in the light of tribute, and make use of our Forts and Flag to awe their necessitous Neighbours and Subjects, towards whom they frequently use the most violent and oppressive conduct.

Fort Appollonia is completely under the control of Yan Sacka, the King of Appollonia, who is a most cruel and sanguinary Tyrant. It would be highly desirable if we could obtain the Dutch Fort of Axiom, situated a few miles from Fort Appollonia, as it has an excellent anchorage, and the best landing on any part of the Coast; there is also a fine River, navigable for large Boats a considerable distance in the Interior; and it is in my opinion the best point to open a Trade and free intercourse with the Ashantee Country, the Capital of which I believe might be reached in the course of 10 days. The Fort at Dixcove has been useful, on account of the quantity of Timber growing in its neighbourhood.

At Succondee there is a Governor, but neither Fort nor Soldier; it is, however, a good place for Trade. Cape Coast Castle is a fine building; strong towards the Sea, but most improperly weak on the land side; added to which, the Town has been allowed to approach within a very short distance of the Castle. All the houses have thick mud walls, which are impervious to musketry, and would afford shelter to thousands; but the filth which is allowed to accumulate in the streets is sufficient to bring a plague. Neither the Country nor the manners of the People have been improved since it has been in our possession this I imagine is chiefly owing to the want of proper authority; and there is no doubt of their acquiring the qualifications necessary to form good characters, if proper means were adopted towards them. The Natives are at present under no Laws but their own, nor have we the means of bringing a man to Justice, even for murder; they are tolerably honest towards each other, but consider themselves fully authorized to plunder White Men, having no dread of punishment.

To increase our Trade with Africa, enlarge the knowledge of the Natives, and promote their industry, a free intercourse with the Interior is absolutely necessary; but, above all, a Government must be established there, that will secure such property as may be acquired [1816-17.]

K