CUSTOM-HOUSE ARRANGEMENTS. 257 



water from the river Coanza to the city. There is not a 

 single English merchant atLoanda, and only two American. 

 This is the more remarkable as nearly all the commerce is 

 carried on by means of English calico brought hither via 

 Lisbon. Several English houses attempted to establish a 

 trade about 1845, and accepted bills on Eio de Janeiro in 

 payment for their goods; but the increased activity of our 

 cruisers had such an effect upon the mercantile houses of 

 that city that most of them failed. The English merchants 

 lost all, and Loanda f;ot a bad name in the commercial 

 world in consequence. 



One of the arrangements of the custom-house may have 

 had some influence in preventing English trade. Ships 

 coming here must be consigned to some one on the spot; 

 the consignee receives one*hundred dollars per mast, and 

 he generally makes a great deal more for himself by put- 

 ting a percentage on boats and men hired for loading and 

 unloading, and on every item that passes through his hands 

 The port-charges are also rendered heavy by twenty dollars 

 being charged as a perquisite of the secretary of Govern- 

 ment, with a fee for the chief physician, something for the 

 hospital, custom-house officers, guards, &c. &c. But, with 

 all these drawbacks, the Americans carry on a brisk and 

 profitable trade in calico, biscuit, flour, butter, &c. &c. 



The Portuguese home Government has not generally re- 

 ceived the credit for sincerity in suppressing the slave-trade 

 which I conceive to be its due. In 1839, my friend Mr. 

 Gabriel saw thirty-seven slave-ships lying in this harbor, 

 waiting for their cargoes, under the protection of the guns 

 of the forts. At that time slavers had to wait many 

 months at a time for a human freight, and a certain sum 

 per head was paid to the Government for all that were ex- 

 ported. The duties derived from the exportation of slaves 

 far exceeded those from other commerce, and, by agreeing 

 to the suppression of this profitable traffic, the Government 

 actually sacrificed the chief part of the export-revenue. 

 Since that period, however, the revenue from lawful com- 



R 22* 



