The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-19 00:00:00

THE BRAZILS.-SLAVE TRADE.

FRANKFORT, AUG. 12.—A private letter from Brazil (of the
middle of April this year) contains the following statements,
which have not been made known through any other channel.
" The public here at Rio, is, indeed almost exclusively en-
gaged about the election of a Regent ; but there is no want
of other matters that deserves at least equal attention. Among
these a lately repeated insurrection of the Negroes at Bahia is
the most important ; for. though it was quelled by the aid of the
crew of a Brazilian frigate, which happened to be in the har-
bour, and by that of the Portuguese merchants and their
clerks, facts bare come to light on the occasion which must
excite the 1:-.eateit apprehension for the future. The worst is
that.alm.4st all the Negroes in that province, whose number in
Bahia alone is 70,000, and in the plantations in the interior
200,000, all belong to the same tribe, speak the same language,
-..nd are almost all of the Mahometan religion. In the investi-
gations which have been set on foot in consequence of •this in-
surrection, the Protocol of a secret society has been discovered,
which holds its meetings in Bahia. It was written in the
Arabic language, which is known to a very great number of
Negroes in Bahia. One of the members took the part of the
Whites, and wished them to be spared ; but yet he was
obliged to subscribe the resolutions of his blood-thirsty com-
panions. It was affirmed that there exists among the
Negroes a general conspiracy, which extends even to Africa;
and for this reason the most vigilant superintendence (as far
as is possible in this country) was exercised, both over the
Slaves and the free Negroes. With this view, the guarantees
of personal liberty given by the Constitution were suspended,
in order that the authorities might be able at all times to pro-
ceed to the necessary investigations and arrests. Besides
this, the Constitutional Regency had confirmed before-hand
all the sentences of death that should be passed either in
Bahia or in Campos, where a similar conspiracy was disco-
vered in time to defeat it.

" In Rio itself there is much less ground for alarm, because
the Negroes there belong to several different tribes, which
hate each other, and because the number of the Whites is in
proportion, much larger than in any other place. It may be-
sides be assumed that two or three thousand Whites are suffi-
cient to keep ten thousand Negroes in order. The Negroes
in the country are, it must be owned, far more dangerous
than those imported from Africa ; but the numerical dis-
proportion between the Whites and the Blacks, is daily be-
coming more alarming, as the Slave Trade actually continues
without interruption. In defiance of all the treaties, about
40.000 Negt* s are annually imported into Brazi. Two hun-
dred ships are engaged in this trade, and each of them makes
two voyages in a year to the African coast. In the interior of
Africa a negro costs five dollars ; when brought to the coast he
is sold to the slave• ship for thirty dollars; on the coast of Brazil
the captain receives 80 dollars for him, and the planter pays
from 150 to 200 dollars; which is on the whole a lower price
than when the slave trade was quite free. The number of
English cruisers on the African coast is not sufficient to pre-
vent the trade, and the Brazilian naval officers do not venture
to capture a slave-ship, because the capitalists who carry on
that atrocious trade (they arc for the most part Portuguese,
North Americans, and Englishmen) have such powerful in-
fluence over the Brazilian Government, that a naval officer
who should do his duty in this respect would, if not run the
risk of his life, at least be sure of being immediately dismissed
from the service under some frivolous pretext."
These accounts confirm the opinion of a man thoroughly
acquainted with everything relative to this subject, one of the
most eminent of recent Portuguese historical and political
writers, which he has expressed in his work on the Portuguese
colonies. This fatal traffic is far too deeply rooted in the cus-
toms and wants as well of the African chiefs as of the
South American planters, and, at the same time, is far too
profitable to those who engage in it, for the efforts of the Eng-
lish Government even (or at least for a long series of years)
to put an end to the slave-trade merely by negative means.
Frankfort Papers, Aug. 12.

SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.--The fourth
anniversary of the opening of the above gardens was celebrated
on Monday by what were termed in the Bills a " Grand Car-
nival and Rustic Fete." The grounds were crowded both on
Monday and yesterday.