450 
SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
" The commerce of Angola has been remark- 
ably neglected by the English ; for though the 
city of Loando contains a population of 11,000 
souls, clothed chiefly in the produce of English 
looms, and though, in many parts of the interior, 
cheap Glasgow and Manchester goods constitute 
the circulating medium, there is not a single 
English house established at the capital. For 
this anomaly, various reasons are assigned, the 
most cogent of which appears to be, that those 
who first attempted to develop a trade, unfor- 
tunately accepted bills on Eio Janeiro, in part 
payment of their cargoes, at a time when the 
increased numbers and vigilance of our cruisers, 
caused the bankruptcy of many houses, both in 
Eio and Loando. Heavy losses were sustained, 
and Angola in consequence, got a bad name in 
the mercantile world. 'No attempt has ever 
since been made. Still with the same difficulties 
and burdens as the English encountered, the 
Americans carry on a flourishing trade with 
Loando. * A very large proportion of the goods 
imported in other ships, are English manufac- 
tures, taken in exchange for colonial produce, 
which has gone by the expensive and circuitous 
route of Lisbon, i. e., produce on which the 
expense of port dues, freight, commission, &c, 
* " The Americans, it is said, do not hesitate to co-operate with 
slavers, whereas the English traders cannot do this." 
