passage to Loanda. This city is the capital of Loango, and the most flourishing of the Portuguese establishments on the African coast.
In a letter announcing the arrival of the vessel, and her reception by the authorities, the Navy Department was informed that an English steamer had arrived, having recently captured a slaver, the bark Navarre, which had sailed from Rio de Janeiro to St. Catharine's, where she had fitted up for a slave cargo, and received a Brazilian captain and crew. When boarded by the English steamer, the slaver had American colors flying; and on being told by the commander that her papers were forged, and yet that he could not search the vessel, but must send her to an American cruiser, the captain then ordered the American colors to be hauled down, and the Brazilian to be hoisted, declaring that she was Brazilian property, sent the Brazilian captain and crew on deck, and gave up the vessel.
The commander of the Perry also informed the Navy Department that, soon after his arrival at Loanda, he had received from various sources information of the abuse of the American flag in connection with the slave-trade; and inclosed copies of letters and papers addressed to him by the British commissioner, and the commander of an English cruiser, which gave authentic information on the subject.
He suggested that as the legitimate commerce of the United States exceeded that of Great Britain and France, on the coast south of the equator, and the American flag had been used to cover the most extensive slave-trade, it would seem that the presence of one or two men-of-war, and the appointment of a consul, or some public functionary at that place, were desirable.
In reference to vessels ostensibly American, which had been engaged in the slave-trade, a British officer, on the 21st of March, 1850, in a letter inclosing a list of American vessels which had been boarded by the cruiser under his command, stated that all the vessels had afterwards taken slaves from the coast, and, with the exception of the "Lucy Ann,"[1] captured with five hundred slaves on board by a British steamer, had escaped. The registers, or sea-letters, of these vessels appeared to be genuine; and he being unable to detect any inaccuracies in their papers, his duty to the American flag had ceased. The vessels in his list had been boarded by himself; but the senior officer of the division was referred to, "who could give a list of many more, all of which would have been good prizes to an officer having the right of search; "for he was well assured that they went over to that coast, fully fitted and equipped for the slave-trade.
On the 25th of March, the commander requested the English captain to
- ↑ The "Lucy Ann," when captured, was boarded fifty or sixty miles to leeward, or north of Loanda. She had an American flag flying, although her papers had been deposited in the consul's office at Rio. The English boarding officer, who was not allowed to see any papers, suspecting her character, prolonged his visit for some time. As he was about leaving the vessel, a cry or stifled groan was heard issuing from the hold. The main hatches were apparently forced up from below, although a boat was placed over them, and the heads of many people appeared. Five hundred and forty-seven slaves were found in the hold, almost in a state of suffocation. The master then hauled down the American flag, declared the vessel to be Brazilian, and gave her up.
