Being hungry in the hold when they get back to the Bight of
Benin, they are liable to smell cargo and go in after it, and
therefore are not necessarily the quickest boats home.
Two French companies run to the French possessions, subsidised by
their Government (as the German line is, and as our lines are not) -
the Chargeurs Reunis and the Fraissinet. The South-west Coast
liners of these companies run to Gaboon and then to Koutonu, up near
Lagos, then back to Gaboon, and down as far as Loango, calling on
their way home at the other ports in Congo Francais. They are
mainly carriers of import goods, because they run to time, and on
the South-west Coast unless Time has an ameliorating touch of
Eternity in it you cannot get export goods off.
Below the Congo the rivals of the English and German lines are the
vessels of the Portuguese line, Empreza Nacional. These run from
Lisbon to the Cape Verde Islands, thence to San Thome and Principe,
then to the ports of Angola (Loanda, Benguella, Mossamedes,
Ambrizette, etc.), and they carry the bulk of the Angola trade at
present, because of the preferential dues on goods shipped in
Portuguese bottoms.
The service of English vessels to the West Coast is weekly; to the
Rivers fortnightly; to the South-west Coast monthly; and it is the
chief thing in West Coast trade enterprise that England has to be
proud of.
