shortly, when I shall make him acquainted with every particular on this and other matters relative to the Slave-trade. John Bidwell, Esq. I have, &c. No. 31.-Mr. Consul-Gcn. Clarke to J. Bidwell, Esq.-(Rec. Oct. 28.) SIR, British Consulate, St. Jago, Aug. 2, 1826. THE Portuguese Brig called the Don Pedro, which has been detained at Brava for some months, left that Island on the 18th ult. with a full cargo of Slaves, direct to the Brazils; the exact number I cannot ascertain, but from the best information I am able to procure, and from her dimensions, should suppose at least from 150 to 200. I have likewise to acquaint you of the arrival at Brava of the Juliana Filles, Freitas, Master, with 100 Slaves, on the 28th ult. ; after having landed them at that Island, she arrived at this Port on the 31st ult., and having refitted, she proceeded to Bissao on the 10th instant for another cargo. I have, &c. John Bidwell, Esq. J. P. CLARKE. No. 32.-Mr. Consul-Gen. Clarke to J. Bidwell, Esq.—(Rec. Oct. 28.) British Consulate, St. Jago, Aug. 16, 1826. SIR, I BEG leave to acquaint you, for the information of Mr. Secretary Canning, that a Spanish Brig, named the General Pepe, commanded by Captain Joze Gomez, mounting 14 guns, with a complement of 80 Men, arrived at this Anchorage on the 14th instant, to refit, previously to her departure for the Gallinas for a Cargo of Slaves for The Havannah. This Vessel was a successful Privateer in the late American War, then named the Munro, and a very fast sailer. Should a conveyance offer for our Settlements on the Coast, I shall transmit a full description of her to Commodore Bullen, of His Majesty's Ship Maidstone. John Bidwell, Esq. I have, &c. J. P. CLARKE. No. 33.-Mr. Consul- Gen. Clarke to J. Bidwell, Esq.-(Rec. Oct. 28.) I BEG leave to state, that a Dutch Schooner of 3 masts, name at present unknown, hove in sight of this Harbour on the 17th instant, having overshot her Port, intending to have made Boavista, where she is at present refitting, with the intention of proceeding to the Coast for Slaves, for Surinam; the Master of her, Oulierre, is an old Slaver; but I am in great hopes some of our Cruizers will fall in with her, being rather a dull sailer. His Majesty's Government may rely, should opportunity offer, of my giving the necessary information to Commodore Bullen. John Bidwell, Esq. I have the honour to be, &c. J. P. CLARKE, BRAZIL. No. 34.-Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Sec". Canning. (Received April 12.) SIR, Rio de Janeiro, February 13, 1826. In the early part of December last, the Thetis, Victualling Transport, under the charge of Lieutenant Hopkins, Royal Navy, arrived here from England. A few miles outside the Bar she fell in with a small Schooner, under Brazilian Colours, laden with Slaves, of which the Lieutenant took possession, (under an idea, as he stated to me, that the Trade had been abolished) and then brought her into this Port, whither, as well as the Thetis, she was bound. The Schooner is called the Amizade de Santos; her Master and Owner's Name is Jozé Lopez de Bastos. She remained in possession of the Mate and 5 Seamen of the Thetis, during about 24 hours, all the while endeavouring to enter the Harbour; and as soon as she came to Anchor, the Men were withdrawn, and her Papers returned by Lieutenant Hopkins's directions, upon his learning that the Slave-trade was still allowed in this Country. No harm was done to the Schooner, nor any violence offered to her Crew or Cargo. Two days afterwards, I saw M. de St. Amaro, who asked me, rather dryly, whether Lieutenants in charge of Transports were authorized by my Government to capture Brazilian Slave-vessels; I told him " certainly not." He then went through a highly-coloured detail of what had passed between the Thetis and the Schooner, and said he should soon make a Representation to me on the subject, requiring full and signal satisfaction for the insult to the Brazilian Flag. I felt no difficulty in assuring him, that my Government would disapprove of the act of the Lieutenant of the Transport, and that they would afford every adequate satisfaction for what had been done by him without authority. I heard nothing more from M. de St. Amaro on the subject. A few days ago, M. de Inhambupe sent me a Note, of which the enclosed is a Translation, containing four Documents respecting the Voyage and detention of the Schooner Amizade de Santos; all of which I take the liberty to transmit herewith. M. de Inhambupe's Note contains, as you will see, rather an inflated representation of the circumstances that took place when the Schooner was detained, and afterwards, until her delivery the next day to the Master and Owner in this Port, founded upon, but not carried to the length of, the gross exaggeration of the latter, as set forth in his Petition and Protest; which Protest, it is to be remarked, is not made before a Notary Publick on shore, but is dated the 5th of December, on Y board the Schooner at Sea, and unblushingly relates, on that day, as facts, circumstances that are declared to have happened afterwards. Both Vessels anchored in this Harbour in the afternoon of the 6th December, and when the Schooner was delivered up by Lieutenant Hopkins, he received (in the presence of the Captain of the Port, as he positively assured me,) the thanks of her Owner and Master, for the mild manner his Men had behaved themselves, and the services they had rendered whilst on board. In reply to M. de Inhambupe, I have repeated the assurances formerly given to M. de St. Amaro, that every adequate reparation should be made for the unauthorized and improper act of one of His Majesty's Officers. I have thought it right, however, not to stop there, but to point out to His Excellency the great informality of the Amizade de Santos's Voyage altogether, and that she, and her Owner and Master, ought to have been visited with the penalties declared by the Law, against Vessels and Persons carrying on the Slave-trade, without being duly authorized thereunto by their own Government. The Passport she produces, dated 23d March, 1825, is for a voyage to Buenos Ayres, and back: she sailed from hence in that Month. In November she is (according to Document C.) at Benguella, with a Cargo of Slaves on board; but she has not a Royal Pass, as stipulated in the 12th Article of the Additional Convention of London, and offers nothing to legalize her Voyage, but a Certificate from the Dispatcher of Vessels at that Port (Benguella,) that she had entered into certain Bonds, and may not carry more than 301 Slaves. All this is clearly at variance with the before-mentioned Stipulation of the Additional Convention, and so I have told M. de Inhambupe, in order to prepare him for any remarks you may be pleased to direct me to make upon the apathy of the Brazilian Government upon this breach of the Law, and their readiness to afford protection to a Slaveship carrying on the Trade in direct violation of an existing Treaty; of which violation the proofs were in their hands. M. de Inhambupe has not sent any Reply to my Letter. The Schooner, according to her own Report of Entry at this CustomHouse, embarked 301, her full number of Slaves (of which 39 died during the voyage ;) 3 Passengers and a quantity of bees-wax: she appears to be about 75 tous burthen, British. I have, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. (Enclosure 1.)—The V. de Inhambupe to Mr. Consul-Gen. Chamberlain. (Translation.) Rio de Janeiro, February 7, 1826. JOSE LOPES DE BASTOS, Owner and Master of the Brazilian Schooner Amizade de Santos, arrived in this Port of Rio de Janeiro on the 6th day of December last past, having represented that, proceeding peaceably on his Voyage from the Port of Benguella for that of this Capital, with a Cargo of Slaves, when he was about to cross the Bar, and between the Islands of Marica and Paios, which are, as is known, within sight of the Fort of Santa Cruz, he was grievously insulted by an English Transport, calling herself the Thetis, which fired upon him at past 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th; following up this unprovoked attack, the Englishmen came on board the said Schooner, armed, and, disrespecting the Brazilian Flag, which was hoisted, as well as the Imperial Passport, which the said Master had the condescension to shew, although the Transport was not competent to judge of its validity, the said Englishmen going to the length of forcibly carrying the said Master and the Crew on board the Transport, and placing in her a Foreign Crew armed, as is all made manifest from the enclosed Representation (A,) Protest (B,) Certificate Bond given in Benguella (C,) and the Passport of the Ship (D); and it being evident that no pretext whatever, however apparent it might be, could authorize a mere English Ship to perform the acts of jurisdiction before-mentioned, in going on board a Brazilian Vessel with an armed force, and committing acts most offensive to the Dignity and Independence of the Empire, and to the Legitimate Rights of the Lord of the Port, within sight of which, and in that of its respective Forts, the said Rights were attacked: The Undersigned, Councillor of State and Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, cannot refrain from calling the most serious attention of Mr. Henry Chamberlain, His Britannick Majesty's ConsulGeneral, to these sufficiently notorious facts, and to request, as he does, by order of His Majesty the Emperor, those explanations that are requisite for the ulterior regulation of His Imperial Majesty's Government, which now, protesting against such arbitrary proceedings, and expecting, in consideration of the good harmony happily existing between the Two Governments, that that of His Britannick Majesty will not but formally disapprove of the conduct of that Transport, trusts no less that a satisfaction and reparation will be given, adequate and corresponding to the offensive acts which form the subject of the present Note. The Undersigned profits, &c. Henry Chamberlain, Esq. VISCONDE DE INHAMBUPE. (Enclosure 1, A.)-Petition of the Master of the Amizade de Santos. (Translation.) Jose Lopes de BASTOS, Master of the Schooner Amizade de Santos, who came into this Harbour on the 6th day of the present Month of December, on his Voyage from Oporto to Benguella, with a Cargo of new Slaves, says, that on his entrance to Barra, and in the District and Waters between the Islands of Marica and Paios, he was greatly insulted by an English Ship called the Thetis, from which 3 cannonballs were fired at him, at half-past 3 in the evening of the 5th day, at the time when they knew that all the Slaves were above deck; in consequence of which, the Slaves, terrified, precipitated themselves upon the deck, and some of them were grievously trodden upon: which insult was followed by the entrance of the English into the said Schooner, armed with swords and pistols, and using very indelicate language to its Crew and Passengers. Other insults followed on those, namely, insisting on the Petitioner shewing them his Passport of the Empire, and returning it with contempt to him, saying that they knew no such Passport, tearing it in part, and taking the Petitioner, with the. Pilot of the Schooner, on board their Vessel; notwithstanding that the said Petitioner was seriously indisposed, on which account they permitted him to return at night to the aforesaid Schooner, at the same time taking away all his Crew, and manning the Ship with 5 very drunken Englishmen, who passed all the night in a state of intoxication, in firing pistols, and making an uproar with each other, until they quarrelled, the Ship remaining as if on the top of the waters, with the sails flapping, from whence ensued her almost total destruction. And all this happened, notwithstanding that I had the Flag of the Empire hoisted; and this, therefore, is a case which calls for reparation for the injury done by Subjects of a Friendly Nation, which every day receives from our's the most sincere proofs of hospitality. He represents this, and may your Imperial Majesty be pleased to take his case into your consideration, seeing, that the Captain, Charles H. Palivend, of the English Ship aforesaid, has been served with a Protest from the Petitioner on that subject, to which he has not replied. JOSE LOPES DE BASTOS, Owner and Master. (Enclosure 1, B.)-Protest of the Master and Crew of the Amizade de Santos.-(Translation.) IN the Year, from the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1825, the 5th of December, when, with my Schooner the Amizade de Santos, laden with Slaves, and proceeding from the Town of St. Philip, in Benguella, I was, at half-past 3 in the afternoon, opposite the Isles of Marica, an English Vessel, the Thetis, approached me to the Leeward, having hoisted the American Flag; but soon after she hoisted the English Flag, and I hoisted my Flag of the Empire of Brazil. When quite near me she fired 3 shots at me. I was on deck with all the Slaves, who were so much alarmed, that some of them were on the point of throwing themselves over-board, so that it required great exertion to quiet the disturbance, in which many were trod under foot, who, I am afraid, cannot recover; and the Boat of the English Vessel coming on board the Schooner, the Boat's Crew raised such a tumult, that a mutiny seemed to have broken out, as the English came armed with swords and muskets, and struck great terror into the Slaves, whom they ill-treated and trampled on; and they even beat me. Nay, it is as I |