St. Paul De Loanda Has Been A Very Considerable City, But Is Now
In A State Of Decay.
It contains about twelve thousand inhabitants,
most of whom are people of color.* There are various evidences
of its
Former magnificence, especially two cathedrals,
one of which, once a Jesuit college, is now converted into a workshop;
and in passing the other, we saw with sorrow a number of oxen
feeding within its stately walls. Three forts continue
in a good state of repair. Many large stone houses are to be found.
The palace of the governor and government offices are commodious structures,
but nearly all the houses of the native inhabitants are of wattle and daub.
Trees are planted all over the town for the sake of shade,
and the city presents an imposing appearance from the sea.
It is provided with an effective police, and the custom-house department
is extremely well managed. All parties agree in representing
the Portuguese authorities as both polite and obliging;
and if ever any inconvenience is felt by strangers visiting the port,
it must be considered the fault of the system, and not of the men.
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* From the census of 1850-51 we find the population of this city
arranged thus: 830 whites, only 160 of whom are females.
This is the largest collection of whites in the country,
for Angola itself contains only about 1000 whites.
There are 2400 half-castes in Loanda, and only 120 of them slaves;
and there are 9000 blacks, more than 5000 of whom are slaves.
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The harbor is formed by the low, sandy island of Loanda, which is inhabited
by about 1300 souls, upward of 600 of whom are industrious native fishermen,
who supply the city with abundance of good fish daily. The space between it
and the main land, on which the city is built, is the station for ships.
When a high southwest wind blows, the waves of the ocean dash over
part of the island, and, driving large quantities of sand before them,
gradually fill up the harbor. Great quantities of soil
are also washed in the rainy season from the heights above the city,
so that the port, which once contained water sufficient to float
the largest ships close to the custom-house, is now at low water dry.
The ships are compelled to anchor about a mile north of their old station.
Nearly all the water consumed in Loanda is brought from the River Bengo
by means of launches, the only supply that the city affords
being from some deep wells of slightly brackish water.
Unsuccessful attempts have been made by different governors to finish a canal,
which the Dutch, while in possession of Loanda during the seven years
preceding 1648, had begun, to bring water from the River Coanza to the city.
There is not a single English merchant at Loanda, 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 Rio 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 got 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 putting 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 government,
with a fee for the chief physician, something for the hospital,
custom-house officers, guards, etc., etc. But, with all these drawbacks,
the Americans carry on a brisk and profitable trade in calico, biscuit,
flour, butter, etc., etc.
The Portuguese home government has not generally received the credit
for sincerity in suppressing the slave-trade which I conceive to be its due.
In 1839, my friend Mr. Gabriel saw 37 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 exported. 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 commerce has very much exceeded that on slaves.
The intentions of the home Portuguese government, however good, can not be
fully carried out under the present system. The pay of the officers
is so very small that they are nearly all obliged to engage in trade;
and, owing to the lucrative nature of the slave-trade, the temptation
to engage in it is so powerful, that the philanthropic statesmen of Lisbon
need hardly expect to have their humane and enlightened views carried out.
The law, for instance, lately promulgated for the abolition
of the carrier system (carregadores) is but one of several
equally humane enactments against this mode of compulsory labor,
but there is very little probability of the benevolent intentions
of the Legislature being carried into effect.
Loanda is regarded somewhat as a penal settlement, and those who leave
their native land for this country do so with the hope of getting rich
in a few years, and then returning home. They have thus
no motive for seeking the permanent welfare of the country.
The Portuguese law preventing the subjects of any other nation
from holding landed property unless they become naturalized,
the country has neither the advantage of native nor foreign enterprise,
and remains very much in the same state as our allies found it in 1575.
Nearly all the European soldiers sent out are convicts,
and, contrary to what might be expected from men in their position,
behave remarkably well.
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