Visit to the Portuguese Possessions in South-Western Africa ... Translated from the German with an introduction and annotations ... by H. E. Lloyd, etc

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VISIT TO THE PORTUGUESE POSSESSIONS IN SOUTH-WESTERN AFRICA. BY G. TAMS, M.D. Translated from the German, with an Introduction and Annotations; BY H. EVANS LLOYD, ESQ. DEDICATED Bt PERMISSION TO SIB EDWARD NOKTH BUXTON, BART. VOL. I. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY T. C. NEWBY. 78, MORTIMER STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE. W. & R. WOODCOCK, PRINTERS, BRUNSWICK STKEET, HACKNEY EOAD. DEDICATION. TO SIR EDWARD NORTH BUXTON, BART. MY DEAR SIR EDWARD, To you, as the heir and representative of your venerated father's sentiments and sympathies, with regard to Africa, I am happy to dedicate the following account of a recent visit to the Portuguese possessions on the South-western Coast of that vast continent, given by an impartial and intelligent German, who a DEDICATION, confirms, from personal observation, all that has already been asserted, of the demoralizing effects ofthe slave trade on those who are concerned in it.

He represents the attention of the few European inhabitants, as engrossed by the desire of rapidly acquiring wealth by this impious traffic, to the utter neglect of the immense re sources of those extensive countries, which so abound in all the most valuable productions of the three kingdoms of nature, as to offer an inexhaustible source of riches, prosperity, and happiness, if man would only stretch forth his hand, to re ceive the gifts which nature is ready to shower down upon him, nay, which she actuallv casts at his feet, while DEDICATION. V he will not take the trouble to gather them up. " But what avails this wond'rous waste of wealth — This gay profusion of luxurious bliss ? This pomp of nature ? What their balmy meads, Their pow'rful herbs, and Ceres void of pain ? What all that Afric's golden rivers roll — Her odorous woods and shining ivory shores !

" Our author replies, " Nothing, so long as they shall groan under the curse of the slave-trade," the total abolition of which, he declares to be the only, but, nevertheless the certain, means to raise Africa from the awful state of degradation to which she has been reduced ; and to realise the bright prospects which animated the hopes, and stimulated the exer tions of your late revered father ; and which, though clouded for a VI DEDICATION. time by unlooked-for disappointment and saddened by the death of the brave, are, nevertheless, still che rished with confidence and hope by those who loved him, and were honourably associated with him in promoting this great and good cause. I remain, Dear Sir, Yours very truly, H. EVANS LLOYD. London, Oct. 1845.

Introduction

. Sixty years have now elapsed since the attention of the English nation was aroused, and its feelings of humanity shocked, by the revelation of the horrors of the negro slave-trade ; which were for the first time presented to its notice, in all their naked deformity, by tbe venerable Thomas Clarkson, and brought before Parlia ment by Mr. Wilberforce, in 1788. To dwell on the arduous conflict which humanity and justice had to sustain against self-interest and prejudice, would be wholly irrelavant here, even by one who witnessed its commencement, and who has lived to hail its noble conclusion in the triumph, not only of feeling, but of principle ; but, it deserves to be noted as a remarkable

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. fact, that the interest felt by the nation, in the question has never flagged ; that as one step has been achieved, another has been attempted, till the victory — so far at least, as we were con cerned — was consummated by a sacrifice, which, for its extent, and the unanimous generosity with which it was made, stands without parallel in the history of the human race. Yet, not content with this success, Great Britain continues to exert herself with unremit ting energy, and, at an enormous expense, by treaties with other nations, and by the employ ment of an armed-force, to obtain the total extinction of the negro slave-trade. But facts unhappily testify, that notwithstanding every effort, the extent of this odious traffic is not diminished, that the horrors of the middle passage have even increased : and, that in spite of our treaties with foreign powers, the flags of more than one of them are still shamelessly abused to cover vessels engaged in this service.

Let us hope that our new treaty with France may prove more effectual. INTRODUCTION*. IX Britain fondly hoped that, as the United States of North America were the first to abolish the foreign trade by law — though they refused the right of search — they would co-operate with her, and share with her the glory of sup pressing this nefarious traffic ; but, a fact of appalling import has been revealed within these few days, which, there is every reason to appre hend, proves to demonstration that what could not bear the bright blaze of day, was to be car ried on in silence and in darkness. The circumstance is so remarkable, that we give at length the paragraph which announced it : " The fate of the American steam frigate Missouri, will not soon be forgotten. There was something marvellous about it — something that set speculation, and even superstition, at work, without, however, the smallest legitimate material to work upon.

A noble war steamer, eclipsing any vessel of that class in the British navy, and evidently intended to astonish the world, suddenly appears one Saturday afternoon at Gibraltar. She steers straight past some a5 X

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. British vessels anchored at a safe distance from the shore, aad drops her anchor so near, thatas she steers in shore, she has not more than five feet under her bottom. The British spectators are seized with wonder at the size, the beauty, the armament, and, above all, at the daring of the stranger. Well might they be aghast at the spectacle of these rapid evolutions, performed within a bowsprit's length by a ship of nearly 2,000 tons, 250-feet long, with 350 men on board, carrying 28 enormous guns, and pierced for 44. They look and look again, and count her guns, and admire her beautiful equipment, and are near enough to hear the conversation on board. The captain and chief officers land, and go off to dinner at the American Consul's. The British visitors go down to tea, and have not finished their second cup when they are called to the deck with the cry that " the steamer's on fire."

She is on fire ; and after the preservation of the crew, and every attempt to preserve the vessel by the crews ofthe surrounding British vessels, she is utterly con-

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. XI sumed, and, before next morning, lies at the bottom, a shapeless mass of charred timbers and old iron. A strange discovery has added to the materials of speculation without removing the general perplexity. The wreck and cargo of the Missouri are in the hands of the divers. Day after day they are bringing up doubtless much that a British sailor will easily divine by the analogy of civilized navigation and warfare. But what does he imagine the divers are now bringing up in great quantities day by day, and carrying off in cartloads to their store ? Slave shackles of every strength and size, for men and women, old and young. A correspondent of undoubted authority has sent us three specimens, a family group, for father, mother, and child. They are such as are used in the slave-trade, and are own brothers to those found on board vessels engaged in the traffic.

Were the wreck to be judged by these alone, the divers might con clude the Missouri to be a gigantic slaver, de signed to meet with the arguments of Lynch law

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. the intricacies of the right of search. But, of course, the Missouri was not a slaver. So what mean these countless suits of iron ? Till the question is answered from Washington we can only conjecture somewhat wildly. We feel as if we had broken into what we supposed an old wine-cellar, and had found rings in the wall, stocks, and chains. It is impossible not to pursue the discovery. The world will expect with impatience some account of so suspicious a ballast. But, was there ever an incident so strange as this sober, business-like fact ? No sooner has the anchor of the Missouri touched the British soil below the common sea, than her villainous cargo burns within her, sinks her, drops out of her, and is recovered only to be hung up to universal infamy. The slave touches the British soil, and his shackles fall to the ground.

Such is their irresistible gravitation that the strong hold of the war-frigate cannot retain them. They break through its ribs, or they glow into candid heat, and do not suffer the sun to set before they have involved the

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. XIII vessel with all her wealth and armament in a common destruction. Better ship a thousand tons of sea-water than so fatal a freight. " If a demonstration were intended, one more fatal to the pretensions of America for philan thropy can hardly be conceived ; better far had it been that the Missouri had foundered in mid ocean with her crew, than that they should have survived to so endless a shame. But we wait to hear the American version of the Missouri's doubtful charter and mysterious bill of lading. They owe to themselves and the world some decent solution, if any such is possible. — The Times, Sept. 20. But the English are not a people to be discou raged by temporary disappointment in the pursuit of an object, which they know to be right, and upon the attainment of which they have set their heart.

The abolition of the African slave-trade is unquestionably such an object ; hence, they welcome with joy and gratitude any information which may animate their hopes, assist in direct ing their steps, and hold out the prospect of

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. some advances towards the realisation of their most ardent desire — the entire suppression of the slave-trade, and the civilization of Africa. It may, therefore, be expected that they will receive with satisfaction the following account of a visit to the Portuguese possessions, in South-western Africa, as affording the latest information respecting the present state of those extensive regions, given by an intelligent tra veller, who appears to have made the best use of the short time which he passed on that coast. These vast countries being the source from which the slave-markets of Brazil and Cuba are partly supplied, it is peculiarly interesting to know by whom, and for whose benefit, the trade is now carried on • and what advantages, if any, the mother country derives from it. Now it appears, from Dr. Tarns' work, that the slave-trade is in the hands of a few indivi duals, many of whom are not natives of Portugal, but have been sent to those colonies as convicts,

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. XV often for crimes of the deepest dye ; that they are not subject to any controul or restriction, but are at liberty to direct every effort to one sole object — the rapid acquisition of wealth ; that the slave-trade alone paralyses every en deavour to improve the boundless commercial advantages which might be derived from the infinite variety and excellence of the natural productions of the country, and that this domi nant evil reduces these colonies, which might become the most flourishing in the world, to a state of dependence on Brazil, and even on Europe, not only for many of the luxuries, but even for the daily necessaries of life. Dr. Tams is borne out in this opinion by the concurrent testimonies of numerous intelligent and highly honourable men, among the foremost of whom we must rank the late excellent Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, whose valuable work, " The Slave Trade and its Remedy," contains much important information on this point. It is the calm and d eliberate con viction of these gentle men, that the interests of Portugal herself would

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. be infinitely promoted by the conscientious observance of her treaties with Great Britain, for the suppression of the slave-trade ; and, at no distant time, by the complete abolition of do mestic slavery itself, in her African possessions, which are far more extensive than those of any other European nation on that coast. Portugal, when she first planted her royal standard on the shores of Africa, had more respect to her own commercial interests, as well as to her responsibilities, in the acquisition of such vast territorial possessions, inhabited by a people who were strangers alike to her civilization and to her religion. Many and successful were her endeavours in the early part of her sway, for introducing both into her infant and benighted colonies ; but these soon gave way before the cupidity and avarice of her subjects, who found that the merchandise of men held out the prospect of greater returns than even the luxuriant produce ofthe soil. To dwell upon the results, would be to unfold a volume of horrors, the outline of which is known to all the world.

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. XVII Would that the time past might suffice for these evils, and that the dawn of better things, which, a few years since gleamed upon the minds of the statesmen of Portugal herself would arouse her to act more promptly and decidedly upon the measures which were then proposed. The document which these more enlightened men presented to their sovereign, is as remarkable as it is praiseworthy, and we make no apology for introducing it at length : — "Madam — The civilization of Africa has been, during these latter times, the favourite idea of philanthropists, and an object of assiduous atten tion to the principal governments, which both in the old and the new world lead to the advance ment, and promote the amelioration of the hu man race : while Portugal, which had laboured for centuries in this great work, now, instead of promoting it, throws obstacles in its way. The first title which our great kings, your Majesty's ancestors, added to that of King of Portugal, was that of Lords of Guinea, and of the coun-

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. tries beyond the seas, in Africa ; borne by the hands of our navigators, directed by the daring science of our astronomers, the Portuguese flag waved successively over the seas of Ceuta, tbe fertile regions bathed by the Senegal and Gam bia, and the eastern coast of Africa, where we founded factories, built fortresses, and conquered nations. In our deeds of arms in Africa modern historians have calumniously represented us as trafficking, sword in hand, with the lives and possessions of the nations we discovered , but there is not one document extant which does not prove that the principal, and almost only aim of the Portuguese Government was their civilization by means of the Gospel ; trade was but a secondary object, although likewise a means of civilization ; and dominion was a necessary consequence, and not an object The errors of religions doctrine,1 and the defects of political measures were imputable to the age, not to the men. " India, in the first instance, and the Brazils next, made us abandon Africa, the most natural

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. XIX field for our labours ; but the colonization ofthe Brazils and the exploration of its mines, and, soon afterwards, the interest which all other nations took in America, were the greatest enemies to the civilization of Africa, which we alone had begun at so great a sacrifice of our lives and property. The infamous slave traffic is certainly an indelible stain upon the history of modern nations, but we were neither the only, the principal, nor the most guilty. Those of our accomplices, who afterwards reproached us so severely, were deeper in guilt than ourselves. To repair, therefore, the evil done, to prevent its repetition, are duties binding upon the honour of the Portuguese nation, and conducive to the interests of your Majesty's crown ; for the dominions which we still possess in that part of the world, are the most extensive, the most im portant, and the most valuable possessed by any European nation in Southern Africa. In order to appreciate their value, we are to con sider not only what they are, but what they are susceptible of. Their present state is owing

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. XX not only to the misrule of the mother country, but to the latter having given her almost ex clusive attention to the Brazils. The natives of Africa were captured, and conveyed across the Atlantic to enrich a country whose inhabitants refused to exert themselves for its civilization. " We read in an ancient record, that there were formerly seventeen sugar -mills on the island of St. Thomas, which the Government of Portugal caused to be destroyed, in order not to injure the cultivation of the sugar-cane, which they were then promoting in the Brazils. Our African provinces contain rich mines of gold, copper, iron and precious stones. We can there cultivate all that is cultivated in America. We possess lands of the greatest fertility in the Cape de Verd Islands, in Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique ; great and navigable rivers ferti lize some of our provinces, and facilitate their commerce.

In those vast regions we can culti vate largely the sugar-eane, rice, indigo, coffee, cotton and cocoa ; in short, all those articles commonly called colonial, as well as all the

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. XXI spice plants of the Moluccas and Ceylon, in such abundance as not only to suffice for the con sumption of Portugal, but for exportation in very large quantities to the other markets of Europe, and at a less price than those of Ame rica ; since the African cultivator would not be obliged to seek for, and purchase labourers, and then transport them across the Atlantic, while the high price paid by the Brazilian for the slaves he employs, is further increased by the risks attendant upon the contraband traffic by which he obtains them. " Let us promote in Africa the colonization of Europeans, the development of its industry, the employment of its capital, and in a few years we shall again derive the same benefits that we formerly did. But for this purpose a thorough reform of our colonial laws is necessary.

If any system of legislation can be judged of by its results, none can be worse than that by which our colonies have been ruled. Centuries have passed away since first they came under our dominion, and they are but little more civi-

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. lized than they were when we conquered them ; while, as a contrast, the neighbouring colony of the Cape of Good Hope has, within much less time, increased rapidly in white population and in wealth. The glory of continuing the great under taking commenced by King John the Second, was reserved for your Majesty. The civilization of Africa, of which so many powerful nations have despaired, is more feasible to the Queen of Portugal, who holds in her hands the key ofthe principal gates at which it can enter, and whose authority is obeyed in various parts of that vast continent, at distances of more than two hundred leagues from the sea ; and as it was possible for the former sovereigns of Por tugal to open roads for civilization, a step which no other prince had ventured upon, so it will be possible to make that beneficial plant thrive and flourish in those regions. " As an indispensable preliminary to any measures which, for this great purpose, your Majesty, in accordance with the General Cortes,

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. XXIII may take, your Secretaries of State have the honour to propose the following project of a decree for the entire and complete abolition of the slave-trade in your dominions." (Signed by all the Ministers.) Foreign Office, December 10, 1836. Could the Portuguese, at length, be per suaded, not merely to recognise this truth, but to act upon it, a part of the coast, of 12o of latitude, and of unlimited extent in the interior, would be at once delivered ; while Portugal herself would most effectually promote her own interest by an act of honour, justice, and mercy. As matters now stand, it would be better for Portugal to cede or to sell the whole country to Great Britain, with the reservation of certain commercial advantages, which would soon far outweigh all that she now derives from so com paratively useless a possession.

But, whatever may be the circumstances under which Great Britain shall prosecute her mighty task of accomplishing the civilization of Africa, she must be impressed with the con-

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. viction, that this labour of love can never be complete, nay, that the benefits arising from it may prove of a very equivocal nature, unless it be accompanied, I had almost said, preceded, by the propagation of the Christian Religion, in its purest form. The glorious destiny which seems to be reserved for her in the counsels of the Most High, is not only — " The fetter'd slave to free ;" But— " To burst the bonds of superstition's chain, And point the way to Christ's unclouded reign." H. EVANS LLOYD. London, Oct. 1845. PROFESSOR RITTER'S

Preface

. The interesting notice of the almost unknown little negro kingdom of Ambriz, which was published in the Hamburg Literary Journal, excited in many minds a great desire for fur ther information respecting the expedition of Mr. dos Santos to the tropical west coast of Africa. This desire has been most satisfac torily fulfilled by Dr. Tanis, who accompanied that expedition in the character of physician, and who has now published the valuable results of his observations in the following pages. The learned Doctor's clear, unvarnished des cription of the manifold diversity of the natural scenery, and of the manners and customs of the b

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. XXVI inhabitants of this coast, which is so rich in tropical beauty, and comparatively so little known, will at once commend themselves to the reader. The work needs no eulogium to render it popular, nevertheless, in compliance with the wishes of the publisher, I gladly testify, that in looking over the manuscript, I found much instructive and valuable information. The vivid and faithful representations of the tropical coast of Benguela and Loanda, will transport the reader into the midst of the fine natural scenery and the busy life of these singular races of men. We have nothing recent that can be com pared with it. The entrance into Benguela itself, nay, the description of only one day and night, is powerfully attractive ; and the same may be said of the greater part of the subsequent details of that coast.

The observations on the climate, and mode of life, both of the natives and of the residents, are highly useful and instructive to Europeans. The Doctor in troduces many new statements, which he illus trates by facts, and which form an important

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XXVII addition to our knowledge of the negro tribes, their manners, customs, and character ; of the negro caravans, the slave-markets, the custom of tatooing, &c. The acoounts of the trade and natural productions of Angola, are very valuable ; and, although his sphere of observation is not very extensive, the results are, on that very account, the more ample. The publication of this work is doubly wel come, because we are in expectation of receiving from our great naturalist, Dr. Peters, the admir rable observations made by him on the tropical eastern coast of Central Africa, which will enable us to make a comparison between it and the opposite western coast, as here described by his learned colleague, Dr. Tarns. Their residence on this coast, as well as their scientific and pro fessional experience, gave both these gentlemen great advantages over thc generality of travellers, who usually hasten past these dangerous shores. The concluding observations on the intellectual capacity and mental powers of the negro tribes of Congo, founded on experience, b2

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. are especially valuable ; and the promised com munications of the scientific essay on the forma tion of the skull of the Congo tribe, will be valued by all who take an interest in the phy siology of the human race. Many new and interesting details are communicated respecting commerce and maritime intercourse, and the abolition of the horrors of slavery. CARL RITTER. Berlin, 1845. AUTHOR'S

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. The continent of Africa is daily exciting more and more interest in Europe, and increasing efforts are made to acquire a more perfect know ledge of this part of the world, which, since the earliest dawn of history, has attracted universal attention ; yet this applies only to isolated portions of its immense extent. Tracts upon the Northern Coast have indeed been known to us for thousands of years ; but, although Herodotus was tolerably well acquainted with Egypt, and gives some accounts of Central Africa, the latter are only fabulous ; and, even to this day, almost with the exception of its most northern countries, the Cape Colonies, and a proportionably

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. very small tract of coast, the entire continent of Africa is a terra incognita. The elements of an important crisis in the geographical knowledge of Africa seem indeed to be at work ; but we cannot look for a happy result till the cessation of the wars which dis turb its northern frontiers, till civilization shall have made some progress ; and, above all, till the slave-trade shall be totally abolished. So long as that iniquitous traffic exists, the un happy Africans, who groan under its yoke, and are constantly treated with cruelty and barba rity, will be impelled to the same line of con duct; they will be averse from all civilization, and inaccessible to the scientific inquirer. England, of all European nations, has dis tinguished itself during the last fifty years, in acquiring a better knowledge of Africa ; and, if the efforts of a diametrically opposite nature be a merit, the palm must be awarded to Portugal. Of all the European states, Portugal is the most powerful in Africa, as regards the position and extent of the countries which it has subjugated ;

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. XXXI but, satisfied with the accidental honour of being the first discoverer of the whole Western coast, as well as of the Cape of Good Hope, and of the Eastern coast, as far as Melinda, it has been content, since the time of King Don Henriques, with retaining some of its posses sions along the coast, for the purpose of sub serving the basest self-interest, and of convert ing their richest plains into scenes of plunder and the most savage devastation. Every step taken by the unprincipled Por tuguese settlers in that unhappy colony, can strike the African in no other light than the proceedings of the barbarous States of Northern Africa appear in the eyes of the European powers, and fearfully evidences what misery, nay, what a curse oppresses the land which has groaned for centuries under the Portuguese sway.

But the time is not far distant, when this injured race will avenge their own disgrace, and the crime of their oppressors will shake off the European yoke ; and woe, then, to the Por tuguese ! if they have to atone with only one

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. drop of blood for every life which they have wantonly and disgracefully sacrificed ; the entire population of Portugal would not suffice for this atonement ! THE EXPEDITION OF MR. DOS SANTOS TO ANGOLA. Senhor Ribeira dos Santos, the Portuguese Consul-General in Altona, fitted out, in the Spring of 1841, a commercial expedition, con sisting of six ships laden with European goods of all kinds, which was conducted by himself to the coast of Angola, where he proposed to visit every European station, for the purpose of carrying on a trade by barter. The interesting nature of this enterprise presented so many attractions, that I unhesitatingly accepted the proffered appointment of physician, notwithstanding the dangerous climate of that ill-famed coast, and the unfavourable circumstance, that

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. XXXIII our arrival in Africa would take place shortly before the commencement of the great rains, which is the most unhealthy season of the year. Two young naturalists, Mr. Wrede, of Han over, and Mr. Grosbendner, of Hamburgh, were indebted to the kindness of Mr. dos Santos for a passage on board the Camoes, in which I also performed the voyage. Mr. Wrede devoted himself to botany, and Mr. Grosbendner to etymology, and both proved very agreeable and interesting companions. But short as our residence on the coast was, it, alas, proved fatal to both these young men ! thus cutting short their own fond hopes, and the expectations which so many others had formed of the successful results of their discoveries. Three of our vessels, the bark Vasco da Gama, the brig Camoes, and the schooner Sultana, started simultaneously from the harbour of Altona, with the intention of joining the Geor giana, the Maria Hedewiges, and the Esperanza, on the African coast. The Georgiana put to bo

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. sea a few weeks before us, as she was to touch at Lisbon for the purpose of conveying to the Queen a present from Mr. dos Santos, as a proof of his acknowledgments of the numerous fa vours which her majesty had bestowed upon him. The present was a most unique one ; it was a colossal cake, representing the siege of Oporto. The whole ground plan was copied with inimitable art, and the greatest fidelity, from the drawings of first-rate artists. The ships of war lying at anchor, actually fired their little guns, which were furnished with a tin tube inside, and corresponded with similar guns on the batteries on shore. The Queen of Por tugal was surprised, and highly delighted with this present, which she expressed in an auto graph letter to Mr. dos Santos, which he received when at Funchal. All that could conduce to comfort and pleasure on so long a voyage, was liberally provided on board all the vessels ; and the Vasco da Gama, especially, in which Mr. dos Santos sailed, was fitted up with extraordinary splendour. Our