The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-04 00:00:00

THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.

The following is an extract from a letter dated
from Her Majesty's ship Sappho, Sept. 29, 1857,
off Loando :
,‘ Singe my last letter to you in August circumstances
hare happened of the most stirring kind ; never on this
notorious coast has humanity been more outraged or
the energy eta compassion of British seamen more called
for or shown. We continued cruising, looking in at
the different stations, until the 10th, when at daylight
we saw a schooner at anchor; we made sail for her,
she slipped her cable and steered along the beach. We
followed in the Sappho as near as the depth of water
would allow. The wind was light, so the corn
mender took to the boats and soon came up with her ;
she proved to be a schooner of 150 tons, fully prepared
for the reception of slaves, and had arrived the preceding
day on the coast. The captain had landed—probably
with the specie for the purchase of his cargo, as only 28
doubloons were found, rolled up in a man's gaiters, who
looked foolish enough when the master at arms hauled
them off. We took the schooner to Loando to land the
slave crew, then, finding her not seaworthy, we made a
target of her to exercise our men, and burnt her. This
gave us something to talk about until we returned to
Loando on the 15th; there we found the Castor, with the
Admiral on board, from the Cape; he sailed for Shark's
Point, where the ships were collected for courts-martial,
We left the following day; at 9 'in the morning, on
the 18th, in a thice mist with rain, we closed with a
schooner ; while boarding her the weather cleared, and a

large ship was seen clie7e to the land. Directly our
boats returned we made all sail inchase, the ship making
all sail to avoid us, and the chase became very exciting.
The captain said we were gaining, and so they must
have.thought on board the ship, as he tacked in shore
and we after him ; then he bore away, running along the
edge of the surf, and by help of his large sails was draw-
ing ahead. By this time we were sure he was one
of the large American slave ships, and we feared he
would escape if he got searoom, so the captain took a
b at well manned and armed and pulled to windward tocut
him off, when he would be obliged to tack off shore ; another
boat was sent to leeward, the master, the only officer on
board, being left in charge. The ship was not more than a
mile and a half distant, cline to the surf. Seeing the trap
iaid for him, and that he could not escape, he ran his
ship ashore. We anchored in four fathoms ; the master
took the whale-boat close to the ship, and was soon
joined by the other boats. The ship was rolling in the
breakers with all her sails flapping about, and appeared
to be full of slaves ; the master and craw had abandoned
her with their boats, leaving the American colours flying.
Tuen we beheld a dreadful scene; the slaves forced their
way from below, jumped overbear d, and soon disappeared
in the rollers; it was terrible to see them. Our officers
and men, regardless of their own lives, pulled through
the surf to leeward of the ship, but her heavy lurching
for some time prevented their boarding; when they suc-
ceeded the scene was horrifying, the slaves still forcing
tl,e'r way up from the slave decks with loud yells
running to and fro, and continuing to throw themselve)
overboard. All attempts to pacify them were useless,
force was necessary to drive them below until pre-
parations could be made for their safety. We were
told by one of the slaves who could speak Portuguese,
that they were told the English would cut all their
throats. As soon as the boats could be attended to the
cutter was backed under the stern and a rope thrown
her ; then three of the sl Ives were permitted up at a
time and lowered into the boat, the whale-boat convey-
ing them through the rollers to the large boat, and so on
to the Sappho ; th;s continued until 8 p.m. The surf in-
creased, and it was impossible to save more that night ;
LSO were rescued. The master was left with a guard
on board ; it was an anxious and a sleepless night for
all, as death was rapidly decreasing the number of the
poor negroes, who, starving and naked, died from
utter misery,—men, women, boys, and girls, more
than 200 on board the Sappho, and, as they ceased to
breathe, we were obliged to throw them overboard.
Poor negroes l I hope conscious in their last moments
that English seamen came to save them and now made
a silent prayer over them. Fortunately, we had plenty of
rice from the schooner captured, which we fed them with,
and placed them as best we could under cover of sails. As
food and warmth restored them, in various ways they
signified their sense of kindness. There was one poor crea-
ture with an infant at her breast, naked, cold, and ex-
hausted, apparently dying ; a little wine was given her,
then some rice, which she forced from her own to her
baby's mouth. A sheet was given t) cover her ; she
wrapped her baby in it and pressed it to her heart with
that look of mateinil love which God has given to the
dark as well a, the pale-face race, On board the schooner
the master and guard were with the remaining negroes
in a perilous state ; the former passed the night, in the
forecastle and bowsprit, drenched by the spray of the
heavy rollers. At dawn on the 19th the wind and surf
had increased ; the ship had driven closer to the
beach ; numbers of armed people were collected ; a
signal for assistance was made ; the captain went with
all the boats manned and armed, when the natives on
the beach, led on by the white men, apparently the crew
of the ship, commenced firing with the intention of pre-
venting the rescue of any more negroes. This continued
an hour before we could clear the beach, some of our
shots apparently telling well. On again boarding the
wreck she was found breaking up, with her hold lull of
water. On the tide receding, her hull WAS nearly dry,
and there was no time to spare. The large boats were
stationed to keep the beach clear with their guns • the
cutter was anchored at the back of the surf, and by
watching the rollers they succeeded in throwing her
a rope, when the negroes were lowered and hauled
through the surf, and conveyed, as before, to the
Sappho, 200 more being rescued, then the wreck was set
ire to and our people withdrawn.
We were in such a state, with 330 negroes crowding
our decks ; the stench was putrefying, and it was
possible to work the ship. In this state the second day
closed upon ns. We were 40 miles from Shark's Point ;
the captain resolved to go in his boat and ask for assist-
ance. They pulled all night in heavy rain, and at day-
light on the 20th fortunately met the Yesuvius,
Commodore Wise, with whom the Captain returned.
Commodore Wise took the negroes on board
the „Vesuvius, to be sent to Sierra Leone in the
Alector prize. Having the slaves on board
has caused much sickness; it is passing without
any fatal case. We are ordered to the Cape,
we suppose to cruise in the Mozambique Channel,
if so it is probable our bones will be left there ; its effects
after what we have been through for 2(;) months on this
coast, will be finishing.
I have given you the history of one of the many Ame-
rican ships employed in the slave trade ; six, I think,
have been taken. We seized the Panihita 30 miles up
the coast, and sent her to New York ; we do not know
whether the American Government will condemn her.

THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS ROTAL.—A supple-
ment to the Gazette of Tuesday contaius a long official
account of the celebration of the marriage of the Princess
Royal with Prince Frederic William Nicolas Charles of
Prussia, on Monday week, at the Chapel Royal, St.
James's ; and also an account of the investiture of the
Prince with the order of the Garter at Windsor Castle
on Thursday last. The Gazette publishes addresses of
congratulation to her Majesty on the occasion from the
Military Knights of Windsor, the borough of Tiverton,
fromßelfast, Birmingham, Boston, Morpeth, Edinburgh,
Dunbar, Greenock, Stirling, and Lanark.

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