The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-05-31 00:00:00

PORTO BELLO.

The following. account of Porto Bello, in South
America, may- be gratifying to many of our_
readers ; panic:lL:trip as there is a probability of
is soon changing its masters, and again becom-
Lig a bone of contention.
The town of Porto Bello, so thinly inhabited, by
reason of its noxious air, the scarcity of provisions,
and the barrexness of its soil, becomes, a: the time
of the galleons, one of the most populous places
in all South America. Its situation on the isthmus
.betwixt the south and north sea, the goodness of
its harbour, and its small distance from Panama,
have given it the preference tar the rendezvous of
the joint commerce of Spain and Peru, at its fair.
On advice being received at Carthagena, that
the Peru fleet has itnioeded at Panama, the galleons
make the best of their way to Porto Bello, in order
to avail the distempers which have their source
from idleness. The concourse of people, on this
occasion, is so great as to raise the rent of lodging
to an excessive deg:re ; a middling chamber, with
a closet, lets, doing the fair, for a thousand
crowns, and some hu-ge houkes for four, rive, or
six thousand.
The ships are no sooner moored in the harbour,
than the first work is, to croft, in the spare, a
tent, made of the ship's sails, for receiving its cargo ;
at which the proprietors of the goods are present,
in order to fiat their bales, by the marks which
distinguish them. These bales are drawn on sledges,
to their respective places, by the crew of every
ship, and the Money given them is proportionally
divided.
Whilst the seamen and European traders are thus
employed, the land is covered with droves of mules
from Panama, each drove consisting of above an
hundred, loaded with chests of gold and silver, on
account of the merchants of Peru. Some unload
them at the exchange, others in the middle of the
square ; yet, amidst the hurry and confusion of
such crouds„ no theft, loss, or disturbance, is ever -
known. Mb who seen this place during the
sirup meert", or dead time, solitary, poor, and a
perpetual silence reigning every where, the harbour
quite empty, and every place wearing a melancholy
aspect, must be filled with astonishment at the
sudden change, . to see the bustling multitudes,
every house crowded, the square and streets en-
cumbered e with bales and chests of gold and silver
of all kinds ; the harbour full of ships and vessels,
some bringing, by the way of Rio de Chape, the
goods of Peru, as cacao, quinquina, or Jesuits'
bark, Vienna wool, and bezoar stones ; others
coming from Carthagena, loaded with provisions ;
and thus a spot, at uli other times detested for its
deleterious speaks, becomes the staple of the
riches of the old and new world, and the scene of
one of the most considerable branches of commerce
on the while earth.
The ships being unloaded, and the.merchents
of Peru, together with ?tie president of. Penarna,
arrived, the fair comes under deliberation : And
for this purpose the deputies of the several parties
repair on board' the commodore of the galleons,
where, in presence of the commodore, and the
president of Panama (the former, as patron of the
Europeans, and the latter, of the Peruvians), the
prices of the several kinds of merchandise are set-
tied and all preliminaries being adjusted in three
or four meetings, the eintreas ere signed, and
made public, that every one may conform himself
tee keen in the sale el. his &etas. Thus all fraud
js'prccluded. The purchases and sales as likewise
the exchanges of meney, ate trarsa&ed by brokers,
both from Spain and Peru. After this, every one
- begins to &pose of his goods ; the Spanish brokers
embarking their chests of money, and these of Peru..
sending away the goods' they have purchased, is
vessels called chains and h inges, up the river
Ch: ere. And thus the feir of Porto Bello ends.
Formerly this fair was limited to no particular
time.;. but as-a long stay, in such a sickly place, ex-
tremely affiraed the heath of the traders, his. Ca-
tholic
.Majesty tracomihed an order, that the fair
should not last above forty days, reekoaing from
thet in which- the ships came to an enchor iu the
harbour; and that, ii in this space of time die mer-
chants could eat agree in their retell, tliose of Spain
should be allowed to carry their goals up are
country to Peru; aed =online, the commodore
of the galleons has orders to ripiruberk them, and
return to Carthagena ' • otherwise-by virtue of a eons:
pad between. the merchants of .both -kingelems, and
ratified by the Jug, no Speeish trades• is to send his
heels, on his °on account, beyond. Porto Bello;
and, on the contrary, those of Peru carom send z-e-
-ruittances to Spain, for purchasing gocees there.
hula the. English were permitted to semi all an- •
noel ship,. called elide de ihrmistoohq used to
the, file a large cargo a her (mit A4COHAti neVeg.
- .
• fiat

to touch al Jamaica, so that her loading
alone.. was more than half of all thUse bviaug,lit by
the galleons; for, besides that her bortiien w tar,
exteedeii five hundre.l Spanish tuns, that it was evols
more than hundred, she had no pruvislons,
water, or.other.fhings, which flu a beat port at-the,
hold ; she iudced wok them to at Jaiiia.,ea,:frwu
wkiuce ihe, was attwded by fire. Ot; sii
vessels,loaded with goods, which, whto arnvetl na,ar,
Portoliclkh. were put on 'board her, and the pep.
visions removed into the tenders; .arlitt`h artifice.
the single ship was made to earry more than five or
six of Use largest galleons. This nation having a