ems to have destined these lovely regions for the unmixed enjoyment of
her creatures; but, alas! hard labour and a tyrant's whip have, to the
unhappy Negro, transformed this Paradise into a place of torment.

The sight of two slave-ships formed a revolting contrast to the
enchantment of the prospect: they had that day arrived from Africa, and
lay near us at anchor. The trade in human flesh, that foul blot on
civilized nations, of which most of them are already ashamed, yet
flourishes here in detestable activity, and is carried on, with all the
brutality of avarice, under the sanction of the laws. The ships employed
in this abominable traffic are so over-crowded that the slaves have
scarcely room to move. They are brought up by turns to inhale for a
while the refreshing breeze, but the deck being only capable of
accommodating a small portion at once, they are soon returned to the
confined and pestilential atmosphere below. One third of the human
cargo, as a necessary consequence, generally perishes on the voyage, and
the remainder reach their place of destination in a state of miserable
suffering. The decks of the ships I have just mentioned, were crowded
with these unfortunate creatures, naked, fettered, and diseased. Even
mothers with infants at their breasts had not been spared by these
speculators! What still greater misery might not be concealed beneath
the decks!

The darkness, which at once closed from our view all that had delighted
and disgusted us, rendered visible an almost incessant flight of
rockets, and we heard occasionally, throughout the night, the discharge
of guns and musketry from the town. These demonstrations of rejoicing
led to the supposition that some important festival was celebrating, or
that a great victory had probably been gained; we afterwards learnt,
however, that they were occasioned only by the arrest of three
ministers, accused of a conspiracy against the Emperor.

At daybreak the chief pilot came on board. This little fat man, proud
of his name of Vasco de Gama, which he professed to have inherited in a
direct line from the celebrated navigator to the East Indies, was in
many respects a good specimen of his countrymen. He was wholly
uneducated, as they mostly are; and, next to his ancestry, that in which
he took the greatest pride was the independence of Brazil. This feeling,
which is general among all classes, enlists each individual personally
in support of the existing government,