The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-05 00:00:00

ROYAL NAVY.
•

letter from Rio Janeiro, dated May states, that air T.
Hardy arrived there in the Creole, from Valparaiso and' Lima, • •
on the 13th ; and that the Aurora,.46,-CaPt.: H. Presant, MI/
was to leave on the '2oth, •to go round Cape.lforrs, an'cla&suin.e
the command- in the Pacific. The Leven, 428, Capt. O'ken;an".l
Baticauta, 10, Capt. Cutfteld, had arrived from England, an i
purchased a vessel, as a tender to these surveyiPg vessels, is
'carry 18 months Provisions. These ships left Teneriffe •
March, touched at Sal, St. 'Vincent, St. Nicholas, 'and St. $
(Cape de Verd Islands); left the latter `3d .April, and qnss._';‘.l
the Equator 'on the 15th. Lieutenant Reitz, of the Baracouta,
fell from a preciPice at Sal; broke his thigh, fractured his ankle,
and was Otherwise much hurt: 'he was, however, doing well.
The Leven, Baracouta, and tender, were to leave Rio at ibe
litter end of May, for the Cape, Algoa 'bay, and the other
harbours to the eastward of the Cape, to survey. The Beaveri
18, Captain Arch. M'Lean, is to bring to England the specit:
which was conveyed lately from Lima to, Rio Janeiro. •

On Tuesday the Shamrock surveying-vessel, Capt. Me, 4n
White, anchored at St. Helen's, and sailed thence next mom.
ing for Havre, to survey that part of the coast of France.
Captain Theed, of the Scout, has been promoted to the rank
of Post Captain, and appointed to the Titular, 28, at Jamaica,
vice Sir William .Wiseman, Bart. invalided home; Captain
Wigston to the Scout; Lieut. E. L. Rich to the rank of Com-
mander, and appOinted to the Bustard, :vice Martin, deceas4d ;
Lieut. Porter to command the Alacrity, viteSpencer, promoted;
Lieut. Moorson, to the Prince Regent yacht ; Latent. Godfrey
Brereton to the Sappho.

The Thames 'East 'lndiaman, CiPt. Hainside, for Bengal
and China ; and free trader Sir Edward-Paget, Lieut. E. Geary,
R.N. cOmtnander (mare especially fitted' for parserigers);sailed
from Portsmouth on Saturday afternotki for -Bengal and Ma..
dras : the'fonner put in on Tuesday, with foul wind, the latter
to, embark paSSengers,-of which.she'has between 30 and 40.

SLAVE TRADE.
A letter from Portsmouth, in our Paper of Friday, announced
the capttire of a French slave trading squadron in the river
-Bonny, on the coast of Africa, and the arrival of one of the
prizes at that port. The following interesting details are
copied from the Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth Paper) of

Saturday:—
" On 'Wednesday morning we were surprised with the now
novel circumstance of the arrival of a French brig, of 240 tons,
called the Vigilante, as a prize ; she having been captured,
with several others, in the act of -slave-trading (having 343 on
board), on the 15th of April
,lasti in the- river Bonny (north.;
ward of the Line), by the boats of his Majesty's ships Iphi.
genia and Myrmidon, manned with about 150 seamen,. and
commanded by Lieut. G. Wm. St. John Mildmay, after a most
severe contest, in which two, seamen were killed and seven were
wounded. -his not known how many of the slaves suffered
in this vessel, as they jumped overboard, and were destroved
by the Sharks ; and, mixing with the slaves in the hold, after
our seamen were in possession of the upper deck, several slaves
were also killed. One poor girl, about ten years ofage, had both
her legs amputated, and seas doing well. This vessel, with six-
others, formed a little slave-trading squadron, which was dfs-
•covered by the boats dispatched by Sir R. Mends to reconnoitre
the River Bonny, moored across the stream of the river, -with
Springs on their cables, all armed, with about 400 men on board,
and perfectly prepared to resist the approach of boarders.—
Lieut. Mildmay pushed on with his boats, and as they got.
within range of the slavers, they all opened a heavy fire of can-
nister _and grape shot and musketry ; but as nothing could with
stand the coolness and undaunted courage of our seamen, all the
vessels were soon in their possession—their defenders, on being
boarded, many of them ran below, and others jumped over
I board. The vessels proved to be as follows :—French bri•z
Vigilante, 240 tons, four guns, thirty men, 343 slaves; French
brig Petite Betzey, 148 tons, four guns, 25 men, 218 slaves .
French brigantine L'Ursule, 100 tons, 4 guns, 27 men, 247
slaves; Spanish schooner Yeanam, 3013'tons, 10 guns, 55 men,
380 slaves ; Spanish schooner Becua, 130 tons, J guns, 45 men,
300 slaves ; and another brig, which took part in the ie.:
tion, but she had. no cargo in. The state of the unhappy .
slaves on board these vessels it is impossible to describe,.:-
some were linked in shackles by the leg, in pairs, some of them:
were bound in cords, and many of them had their arms so
lacerated that the flesh was completely eaten through ! Another •
of the inhuirian practices of their purchasers is, to flog them
until they dance and eat, as an antidote to dejection and dr.,
spair, as under these feelings they often throw themselves over-
board in pairsl What individual is there with a heart in air:
degree susceptible of human feelings, but must pray for tlie
extinction of this abominable traffic, and mourn for the iniquit
done by Christanized Europeans in that laud of misery ae.i
woe=-Africa. The fiend-like cruelty of these hateful trete,
slavers was discovered, and happily frustrated ere its &-
sign took effect, on board one of the 'captured. vessel.%
which the slavers, on the attack being made, deserted, placite: .
a lighted match in the magazine, in which were several barrel:,
of gunpowder, in the hope, no doubt, that as soon as our men
had boarded, the vessel would blow up with them, and the
three hundred slaves who were chained together 'in the hold
Providentially one of the men discovered it, very coolly put hie
hat under it, and carried it safely on deck. We regret very much
to state, that on the passage of the prizes from the Bonny River
to Sierra Leone, the fine schooner Yeanam (drawing 17 feet
water), with 500 slaves on boird, and 23 seamen, upset in a
tornado; end all in her perished, excepting eight seamen, who
were picked urr five days afterward by the Myrmidon, in a -
state of derangement from want of food. Messrs. Batty and-
Doughty, Midshipmen, perished in her. The number of slaies
liberated by >he capture of these vessels, was 1,876, about'
.200 of whom died on the passage to. Sierra Leone; the otKrs
(excepting those lost in the schooner) were landed at that
place. Lieutenant Mildenay came home in charge of the Vi-
gilante, and. on landing set off for the Admiralty with di---
patches from Commodore Sir Robert Mends. He left
Sierra Leone on the 20th of June. The rainy season had just
. commenced. The Driver, 13, Captain Thomas Wolrige, and
Bann, 20, Captain Charles Phillips, had arrived out, from
Portsmouth. Sir Robert Mends intended to sail for England .
shortly, in the Iphigenia, to refit. We congratulate the friends
of humanity on the success which has attended the first cruize
of this excellent Officer on the coast, in which a great blow has
been struck at that inhaman traffic which is the disgrace of
Europe.
" The following promotions had taken place in the squadron :
" Messrs Ross, Gregory, Fournier, Thomas, Peyton, Hynd
(since dead), Rothery, G. Elliott, •Helby, Cotgrave, C. Elliott,
J. S. Hunt (since dead), have been promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant ; Ross, Gregory, and Fournier, appointed to the
Morgiana ; Thomas and Peyton, to the Myrmidon; Rothery,
to-the Snapper; Elliott and Ilelby, to the Pheasant; Cragrave,
to the Bann.

" Mr. Lane, assistant-surgeon of the Jphigenia, died after a
few hours' illness. Mr. Bell, surgeon, came home, in the
Vigilante, in charge of the invalids of the squadron.—The
Pheasant, 18, Captain Claverinad recently left the coast or
Africa with Captain Sabine, R.A.-R on board, for the river
Amazon (in Atnerica,) in which neighbourhood this scientific,
officer intends to ascertain the vibration of the pendulum;
and also snake some astronomical observations, particu--
larly to observe some forthcoming transit of planets,
which will be remarkably visible in the western world..—,
Lieut. Mildmay, who conducted the above attack with so much
gallantry and good judgment, is a son of Lady Mildmay, of
llogrnersfield Park, in this county, and brother of the present
Sir 11. Mildmay, l3art.—The Cyrene, 20, Crptain Grace, sailed
from Madeira on the 29th June, for the coast of Africa.".