fulfilment of the Treaty regarding the traffic in slaves which it has of late been so frequently my duty to detail to your Lordship will no longer mark the administration of the Government of this province. At the audience I briefly explained to Senhor Andrade that it was no less the express desire of Her Majesty's Government than my own individual wish to act in perfect accord with his Excellency and with all the authorities of His Most Faithful Majesty in carrying out the special duties confided to my care, and I expressed a hope that on matters connected with those duties Her Majesty's Commissioners would no longer meet with any obstruction in corresponding directly with the General Government of this province. In reply, his Excellency assured me that it was his earnest wish to maintain always the best understanding with the British functionaries here, and although on his assumption of the govern. ment he had purposely refrained from making any public announcement of his intended policy, it would ever be his desire to uphold the honour of his country by a scrupulous fulfilment of the Treaty for the extinction of the traffic in slaves, and that he should feel happy in communicating with me at any time, either personally or by letter, for the furtherance of that desirable object. Senhor Calheiros, on the occasion of his publicly resigning the reins of government to his successor, delivered an address, in which, after giving a succinct review of the present state of the province, financial and political, and the unsatisfactory nature of the relations existing with some of the native tribes in the interior, he spoke as follows: "I ought now to refer to a matter of great importance. At the commencement of my administration, the amicable relations between the General Government of this province and the Commander of The United States' Naval Forces were seriously threatened; they were not, however, interrupted, and the solution was satisfactory. "The demands which the Agents of Her Britannic Majesty have at various times pressed upon this General Government have been met in accordance with the law, and as became the dignity of the nation. "The relations with the Commander of the Naval Forces of His Majesty the Emperor of the French have been most cordial." Senhor Calheiros leaves this to-morrow for Lisbon in the Portuguese mail-steamer Zaire, and the person who has held the office of Secretary-General under his administration has also been removed. Earl Russell. EDMUND GABRIEL. REPORTS FROM NAVAL OFFICERS. WEST COAST OF AFRICA STATION. No. 81.-Commodore Edmonstone to the Secretary to the Admiralty. I HAVE the honour to report, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that Her Majesty's Acting Commissioner at Loanda in August last brought under my notice a practice that is now being carried on by direction of the Portuguese authorities of shipping, principally by the periodical packets, socalled free negroes or emigrants from that place to the island of St. Thomas, in apparent contravention of the existing Treaty between Great Britain and Portugal. The Governor being absent, and the services of the Arrogant urgently required elsewhere, I was unable at that moment officially to look into the matter, but, on my return to Loanda a few days since, I lost no time in communicating with the Governor, which I preferred doing in the first instance personally, and in the presence of Mr. Gabriel, rather than enter into any correspondence. As all the bearings and working of this new scheme have already been so fully reported upon by the Commissioners to the Foreign Office, it is not necessary that I should again on this occasion enter into any further details, but will merely express my earnest convic tion that no time should be lost in arranging this important business between the two Governments, in order that our future course may be made clear, and that the serious responsibility of interfering with these packets may be avoided. The Governor, who is a very able and intelligent man, and I believe sincerely desirous of putting down the Slave Trade, has evidently organized this new scheme, no doubt also encouraged by his own Government. At my late interview with him he did not at all attempt to evade the question; on the contrary, he assured me that it had been well considered; that he had taken, and would take, every possible precaution that only bona fide free blacks were embarked; that every one individually carried a passport, which he showed me, endorsed by some responsible party; and that he did not think he would be justified in preventing a free black more than he would a free white in emigrating in the manner described. I pointed to his Excellency what abuses this practice would open the door to; that it evidently was not contemplated when the original Treaty was enacted; and I suggested to him the propriety of deferring any further shipment until the views of our Government had been ascertained on that point; but he declined acceding to my proposal. As this matter evidently is of some importance, and might lead ultimately to unpleasant results, I trust it will not escape the earliest attention of Her Majesty's Government. I may mention that the island of St. Thomas is only one-tenth part cultivated; therefore labour being very valuable, it is not likely that slaves would be resold from there, but it is obviously possible, and not improbable, that at any time it might suit the convenience of the slave-dealers to do so. The Secretary to the Admiralty. I have, &c. W. EDMONSTONE. No. 87-Commodore Edmonstone to the Secretary to the Admiralty. (Extract.) Arrogant, at Ascension, January 2, 1862. ON referring to the annexed documents, it will be seen how utterly useless it is for us to place any reliance whatever on native promises. Even the Abbeokutans, who have received so much consideration and support at our hands, break a solemn Treaty a few days after it is signed; I allude to the one (a copy of which is inclosed) effected by Commander Bedingfeld to do away with the barbarous custom of sacrificing human beings, which still prevails at Abbeokuta. The Secretary to the Admiralty. W. EDMONSTONE. (Inclosure 1.)-Commander Bedingfeld to Commodore Edmonstone. (Extract.) December 9, 1861. 16th.-A MESSENGER arrived from Abbeokuta. Heard that another human sacrifice had taken place there, and, from all accounts, in defiance of the Alake, who tried hard, or professed to do so, to prevent it. I, in consequence, sent his messenger back, demanding a full explanation. 5th.-Received letters from the Alake and Chiefs of Abbeokuta, in explanation of the recent human sacrifice, a copy of which was sent to the Acting Governor, and another annexed. I trust that the publicity now given to the Treaty against this horrible crime. will be of use, but the power of the Alake is very small. From private sources I hear that he is really in earnest, and is doing his best. I regret to say I have been informed that another vessel has shipped slaves near Whydah, the shipper being the notorious Dr. Carvallo, who is now here going home by the mail. I think it a pity something cannot be done to these men, who come out openly in the mail-packet to Lagos, and proceed up to Whydah, and having got off their cargo, return to Lagos to go home by the mail. As the Griffon and Antelope were both watching this vessel, I still hope I may hear of the capture, but I have not heard of any prisoners being landed along the coast. Commodore Edmonstone. NORMAN B. BEDINGFELD. (Inclosure 2.)—Commander Bedingfeld to Acting Governor McCoskry. (Extract.) Prometheus, Lagos, November 16, 1861. I HAVE the honour to report to you, for your information, my proceedings at Abbeokuta. We arrived on Tuesday the 1st instant: on Saturday had an interview with the Alake and Chiefs. Our reception, in the first instance, was not very cordial, but we understood each other better before I left. The usual present of a goat, sheep, and two bags of cowries was made, and we appointed Monday the 4th for our first palaver. On Monday, after having received an explanation of the insulting answer to your letter, we entered, firstly, into the history of the war, the case of human sacrifice, kidnapping, and Mr. Crowther's case. The Alake and Chiefs paid me the compliment of coming to visit me on Tuesday the 5th; and our final palaver, when the annexed Articles were signed, took place on Thursday the 7th. I had several private interviews with the different Chiefs in the meantime, and endeavoured to explain matters fully. We started for this place on Tuesday morning. The Alake having expressed his satisfaction at my having spoken plainly to him upon all these subjects in question, and having patiently listened to all they had to say, as a mark of their esteem he presented me with a horse on leaving. I trust our visit will have done some good in quelling the public mind there, and allaying the irritation against the Christians that was daily increasing; and as I told the Alake and Chiefs plainly that we could not be friends with them if they did not keep faith with us in their Treaty, and committed such abominations as human sacrifices, kidnapping, &c., I think they will be more cautious for the future, and with a little careful diplomacy much may be done towards putting an end to the war. With regard to the insulting letter in answer to yours offering to mediate in the present war, it seems they were in a great state of irritation, in consequence of some reports from Lagos that we wanted to pick a quarrel in order to take Abbeokuta, most likely sent by the same party who lately advised the King of Ijebu not to receive white men, for the same reason. They also did not clearly understand how you could be Acting Governor; upon this being explained, they at once expressed their regret, and having written the annexed letter of apology, promised to treat you with all respect for the future. I fear there is little doubt that the human sacrifice that lately took place outside the walls was done by the Alake's directions, although he stoutly denies it; he seems to have been persuaded to do it in order to insure success in the war, and I suppose thought to clear himself by having it done by the Ifee people outside the town. The man who was offered was brought from Tesein. I am sorry to say that I was informed that these human sacrifices had taken place within the last few years. I told them if such a thing was to happen again, it would most likely cause a rupture between us, and that we were quite sure to hear of it; and I also told them that the English Government would insist upon their fulfilling their promises. They professed all sorts of contrition, of course, and declared we should never have occasion to complain of their want of faith in future. The kidnapping is explained in this way: there seems little doubt that the Tjees are starving, and that in order to save some of their people they have been selling each other to a great extent. The Egbas made a law that the Ijee men who absented themselves from the war, and were found skulking at home, should be sold, as they declared the war was commenced on their account, and some have gone this way; but I heard of one clear case of kidnapping in the town :-A slave woman, left in the care of the Rev. Mr. King whilst money was collected to redeem her, was stolen and sold; she was afterwards recovered and identified. The man belongs to a village in Abbeokuta over which the Alake and Chiefs he has now with him seem not to have much power; they, however, tried the man and found him guilty, ordered him to go home to "go to sleep" (or, in other words, take poison); it seems he has objected to this quiet way of settling matters and is still alive, and they are afraid of creating a civil war if they attempt to seize him whilst the war Chiefs are away. The Alake gave me his word that he should not escape, and that I should shortly hear of his capture and punishment. I told him that although we insisted upon the man being punished, we did not want them to take his life, but if he was made to pay the redemption money for the woman and set her free, it would be a sufficient warning to him this time; to this they agreed, and they also promised that they would use all the means in their power to stop the selling of slaves, although they confessed that they could not hope to stop it entirely while the war was going on, as there are many ways of sending slaves without coming to Abbeokuta; and that any of their enemies selling slaves on the coast are only too glad to say they come from them, in order [1862-63. LIII.] 4 H |