for the enforcement of the prohibition to import Slaves into the Brazils under any other Flag than that of Portugal. The French Vessel from the Bonny, whose arrival at Pernambuco has given rise to this Correspondence, having, as I have learnt within these two days, left that Port, after being allowed to dispose of her whole Cargo of Negroes, my application will be fruitless with respect to her: but, I trust it may have the effect of causing the prohibition to be enforced hereafter. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. (Inclosure.)-M. Andrada e Silva to Mr. Consul-Gen. Chamberlain. (Translation.) Rio de Janeiro, May 23, 1823. JOZE Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva presents his compliments to Mr. Henry Chamberlain, Consul-General of the British Nation, and acknowledging the receipt of the Note he addressed to him on the 10th of the present month, with the information that a French Vessel had entered Pernambuco from the River Bonny, with Slaves, whereof several were disposed of, contrary to the Stipulation in the Additional Article to the Convention of London, of the 28th July, 1817; has to state in reply, that, as soon as the necessary information shall be obtained from the Government of Pernambuco, which will be immediately called upon to explain this matter, His Imperial Majesty will continue to take every measure for the execution of the respective Treaty, which it is His Imperial intention to observe religiously, Mr. Chamberlain being already aware, that though the disagreeable event to which he alludes should have happened, it would have been owing to the unsettled state of that Province, and not to any premeditated desire of infringing the Treaty. Joze Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva renews to Mr. Chamberlain, &c. Henry Chamberlain, Esq. No. 23. Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Secretary Canning.-(Received Oct. 15.) SIR, Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 1823. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the copy of a Statement of the number of Slaves imported into Maranham during the Year 1822*. Two of the Vessels mentioned therein, the General Dom Antonio, with 224 living Negroes, (23 having died during the passage,) and the Maria, with 130 on board, having openly come from Bissau. Mr. Consul Hesketh having mentioned, in the Despatch inclosing this Statement, that he had forwarded to your Office the Documents he had been able to obtain from the Local Government respecting the Importation of Negroes by the Apollo and Maria, direct from the Cape de Verds and Cacheu in 1821, and from Bissau, by the Maria, in 1822, I have written to desire him to forward to you all the information he can procure relating to the importation of the cargo of Negroes from Bissau, last year, by the General Dom Antonio. The Documents that have been forwarded, carry but too convincing evidence of the readiness of the Portuguese Authorities upon the Coast, and of the Local Authorities at Maranham, to allow any pretext to be sufficient to cover the importation into the latter Port, of Negroes from the prohibited Districts, and of their want of inclination to inforce the Law passed in completion of the Treaty of Vienna. So long as the permission of the King for the removal of a family from these Ports, is sufficient to cloak the exportation of cargoes of Negroes, there is little chance of the prohibited Trade being prevented. I have, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. No. 24. Mr. Secretary Canning to Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain. (Extract.) Foreign Office, August 25, 1823. You are aware that a question has arisen at Rio de Janeiro, as to who should pay the expenses of Slaves (captured under the Treaty), between the time of their detention and that of the pronouncing of the sentence, when that sentence is condemnation. The Brazilian Government have expressed their opinion and wish, that these expenses should, in preference, be considered in the nature of Costs, and should be paid by the product of the Ship and cargo: they gave up their moiety of the proceeds of the Emilia for that purpose. The proceeds not being sufficient, the British Commissioners advanced the remainder, by bills upon His Majesty's Victualling Board. His Majesty's Government have never hitherto called upon he Brazilian Government to pay any portion of such surplus of expense, in the case of Slaves carried into Sierra Leone, and condemned there; and a very large sum is annually expended by this Country under that head. You will, therefore, state to the Brazilian Minister, that His Majesty's Government are willing to accede to this principle, to be mutually carried into effect at Rio de Janeiro and at Sierra Leone; namely, that the expenses of Slaves, between the time of their detention, and of the sentence on the Vessel bearing them, when that sentence is a condemnation, should preferably be paid out of the proceeds of the Ship and cargo; and that when these proceeds are not sufficient, the excess of expense of the Slaves beyond that amount should be borne by the Government of that Country which will afterwards have the benefit of the free labour of the Slaves who are on board of the condemned Vessel. I shall send to you by an early opportunity, a statement of the amount of the excess of expenses in the case of the Emilia, in order to the settlement of that account by the Brazilian Government. Henry Chamberlain, Esq. I am, &c. GEORGE CANNING. No. 25. Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Secretary Canning.-(Received December 20.) (Extract.) Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 6, 1823. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of the 28th July, accompanied by a printed Copy of the Correspondence on the Slave Trade, which has been laid before Parliament, for which I beg leave most respectfully to express my thanks. I have, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. No. 26. Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Secretary Canning.-(Received December 20.) SIR, Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 7, 1823. I HAVE the honour to acquaint you that I have this day taken my seat as His Majesty's Acting Commissary Judge of the Mixed Commission, during the absence of Mr. Hayne:-the customary oaths having previously been administered by the Great Chancellor (Chanceler Mor) of the Empire. I have the honour to be, &c. The Rt. Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. No. 27. Mr. Secretary Canning to Mr. Consul-General SIR, Chamberlain. Foreign Office, Oct. 25, 1823. THE inclosed Copy of a Communication, which I have received from His Majesty's Commissary Judge at Sierra Leone, dated the 8th of June last, will put you in possession of the particulars of a practice that prevails in the Brazils, of stating, in the passports granted to those Vessels which are engaged in a lawful Trade in Slaves, that the Vessel is of more tonnage burthen, than, upon a bond fide admeasurement, she is found to be. As the number of Slaves which a Vessel is allowed to carry, is regulated according to her admeasurement, the practice to which I refer, if not defeated in its object by subsequent investigation, is calculated to do away the effect of the humane intentions of the Legislature of Brazil, and to evade the stipulations of the Treaty with Great Britain. The liberal views which the Brazil Government are known to entertain on this subject, leave no doubt but that, upon your making to them a communication of the facts stated in these Papers, they will hasten to give effectual orders to prevent the evil complained of. H. Chamberlain, Esq. I am, &c. GEORGE CANNING. No. 28. Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Secretary Canning.-(Received Jan. 24, 1824.) SIR, Rio de Janeiro, Nov. 10, 1823. I HAVE the honour to transmit a Copy of the intimation which, in obedience to the instructions contained in your Despatch dated the 25th August last, I have made to the Minister, stating the accession of His Majesty's Government to the principle proposed by Snr. Pedro Alvarez Diniz, in his two Portarias to the Mixed Commission in this City, dated 28th August and 4th September, 1821, for regulating the mode of payment of the excess of expense of Negroes, over the amount of nett proceeds, in cases where the detained Vessels are condemned by the Courts of Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone, or at Rio de Janeiro. The present agitated state of this City, and the struggle evidently commencing between the Political Parties into which it is divided, render it unlikely that the Minister will be able to acknowledge its receipt before the Packet sails. I have the honour to be, &c. The Rt. Hon. George Canning. H. CHAMBERLAIN. (Inclosure.)-Mr. Consul-Gen. Chamberlain to M. Carneiro de Campos. Rio de Janeiro, November 8, 1823. THE Undersigned, His Britannick Majesty's Consul-General, has the honour to announce to His Excellency M. le Commandeur Joze Joaquim Carneiro de Campos, Counsellor, Minister, and Secretary of State for the Internal and Foreign Affairs of the Empire, that he is authorized by his Government to signify its adherence to the principle proposed by M. Pedro Alvarez Diniz, in the two Portarias addressed by His Excellency to the Mixed Commission, under date the 28th August and 4th September, 1821, for the payment of the expenses of the Negroes captured under the Treaty, from the moment of their detention till that of sentence being passed, when such sentence is a condemnation, viz: that these expenses should be considered in the nature of costs, and be paid in preference out of the proceeds of the Vessel and its cargo: and that when the proceeds are not sufficient to cover the expenses of the Slaves, the balance should be at the charge of the Government of the Country which profits by the free labour of the Negroes found on board of the condemned Vessel. This principle being admitted by the British Government, will be henceforth regarded as the rule mutually established at Rio de Janeiro, as well as at Sierra Leone, where the Government annually expends very considerable sums, in payment of the excess of the expenses in question, although it has not hitherto proposed that the Brazilian Government should defray a portion thereof. When the Undersigned shall have received the exact account of the excess of expense incurred for the Slaves of the Emilia, condemned by the Mixed Commission at Rio de Janeiro, he will have the honour to transmit it to His Excellency M. le Commandeur Carneiro de Campos, in order that the same may be settled by the Brazilian Government. The Undersigned, &c. H. CHAMBERLAIN. No. 29. Mr. Consul-General Chamberlain to Mr. Secretary (Extract.) Canning.-(Received March 11.) Rio de Janeiro, January 5, 1824. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith a Statement of the number of Negroes imported into Rio de Janeiro during the |