SOUTHERN AFRICA. 299 
to dispose of the whole or part of then' cargoes at the Cape of 
Good Hope ; to the prejudice of the British East India Com- 
pany and the encouragement of Enghsh smugglers, of which, 
indeed, the Directors were not without their apprehensions, 
even whilst the Cape remained in our hands as a dependency 
of the Crown. 
And if the Americans can contrive to make this a beneficial 
commerce, under all the disadvantages of working up a capital 
to trade with in the course of a long protracted voyage, how 
much more so will ships, under neutral flags and English ca- 
pitals, carry on a lucrative trade to and from the southern em- 
porium of Africa; more injurious, in proportion as they are 
more active, than the ships actually employed by foreign 
merchants ? 
Here, then, is another cogent reason that, one might sup- 
pose, would have had some influence on the minds of the Di- 
rectors, and have operated so far, at least, as to have compelled 
them to state to Government the danger to their concerns of 
relinquishing the Cape ; whereas the indifference they thought 
fit to assume, though too afl^ected to be real, unfortunately 
had the ill effect of disparaging and undervaluing it in the eyes 
of the nation. If they should be inclined to plead a want of 
information with regard to the treaty of peace, let them recol- 
lect that, under the administration of Lord Bute, after the pre- 
liminaries of peace had been signed by the Duke of Bedford, the 
latter Avas instructed, at the instance of the Court of Directors, 
to alter an article that related to the Carnaticj or to break off" 
Q Q 2 
