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.
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