s in one morning,
lying in the port of Gallinas, and fitted for the reception of slaves.
It is a lamentable fact, that most of the harbours, between the Senegal
and the line, were visited by an equal number of American vessels, and
for the sole purpose of carrying away slaves. Although for some years
the coast had been occasionally visited by our cruizers, their short
stay and seldom appearance had made but slight impression on those
traders, rendered hardy by repetition of crime, and avaricious by
excessive gain. They were enabled by a regular system to gain
intelligence of any cruizer being on the coast."[135]

Even such spasmodic efforts bore abundant fruit, and indicated what
vigorous measures might have accomplished. Between May, 1818, and
November, 1821, nearly six hundred Africans were recaptured and eleven
American slavers taken.[136] Such measures gradually changed the
character of the trade, and opened the international phase of the
question. American slavers cleared for foreign ports, there took a
foreign flag and papers, and then sailed boldly past American cruisers,
although their real character was often well known. More stringent
clearance laws and consular instructions might have greatly reduced this
practice; but nothing was ever done, and gradually the laws became in
large measure powerless to deal with the bulk of the illicit trade. In
1820, September 16, a British officer, in his official report, declares
that, in spite of United States laws, "American vessels, American
subjects, and American capital, are unquestionably engaged in the trade,
though under other colours and in disguise."[137] The United States ship
"Cyane" at one time reported ten captures within a few days, adding:
"Although they are evidently owned by Americans, they are so completely
covered by Spanish papers that it is impossible to condemn them."[138]
The governor of Sierra Leone reported the rivers Nunez and Pongas full
of renegade European and American slave-traders;[139] the trade was said
to be carried on "to an extent that almost staggers belief."[140] Down
to 1824 or 1825, reports from all quarters prove this activity in
slave-trading.

The execution of the laws within the country exhibits grave defects and
even criminal negligence. Attorney-General Wirt finds it necessary to
assure collectors, in 1819, that "it is against public policy to
dispense with prosecutions for violation of the law to prohibit the
Slave trade."[14