The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-06-21 00:00:00

RIO JANEIRO

Extract of a letter from an officer on board her Majesty's
ship Electra, dated April 4, 1839.—" We arrived at this
beautiful place on the 28th' of March, after a tolerable good
passage of 56 days from Spithead, having touched at Lisbon,
Madeira, and Porto Praya. On the 25th and 26th of March
we captured two slavers from the coast, with 480 slaves on
board ; the brigantine Carolina gave us a 12 hours' chase,
and did not heave to till the shot went over her. This in-
human traffic is carried on to such an extent, that 60,000 are
said to have been landed on the coast of Brazil during the
last six months! and unless the British government send out
a number of fast-sailing vessels, the trade will increase. The
lords of Admiralty have sent the Cameleon arid Wizard ;
they might as well send a cow after a hare—indeed, the Bra-
ziliiins do not suppose the British are in earnest, or that they
wish to suppress the slave trade, or they would take more
efficient means to stop it. To give you an idea what a set of
rapals these Brazilians are, au English• merchant was en-
gaged to act proctor to the captors, on which he received a
letter, saying, if he interfered he would be murdered. You
may,,therefore; imagine, what a set of rascals they are. We
ought to have an 80-gun ship, with a flag at this port; the
interests of the British merchants require an imposing force
to protect them and their valuables. You will hardly wonder
when I tell you that six and eight millions of British manu-
faCtured goods are imported annually to this country. On.
our arrival here we found the Gossamer, and she only got in
two days before the Electra.
"APRIL 2.—Arrived, the Stag, from the Falkland Islands,
in 17 days. Lieutenant Salbourn came passenger, haviog
invalided from the Arrow. Lieutenant Robinson, the for-
mer lieutenant of the Stag, had been appointed to the Arrow.
Commanders Mainwaring, of the Stag, and Preston, of the
Electra, have exchanged ships ; the Electra will sail in the
course of a few days, to join Admiral Ross in the Pacific ;
Commander Smith takes a passage in her to join the Presi-
dent. The Dolphin, United States schooner, arrived from.
the river Plata, on her way to New York. She left there
many French ships of war, assisting the Monte Videans
against the Buenos Ayreans, and her Majesty's ships Orestes
and Actaeon. The ships here are the Stag, Electra, Came-
icon, and Grecian ; the latter sails to-morrow, to cruise off
Cape Frio. From her superior sailing I have no doubt she
will capture several vessels in a short time. Three schooners
came in to-day, all in ballast. They certainly landed their
black crop on the coast, as light vessels never come to Rio.
When I boarded the pirate vessel the Electra took on the
25th, they were stowed like pigs in an Irish steamer, and
wallowing in their own filth ; 58 of the poor devils were
chained together, anal had been so for 30 days. As soon as
she arrived at Rio the armourer of the Electra was sent to
knock their irons off ; he released them, which delighted the
poor devils, and nothing could exceed their gratitude. The
small-pox is very prevalent amongst them ; since. they left
the coast they have buried about 50 children Monthly. We
are obliged to keep boats rowing guard at night to prevent
the slaves from being stolen. The other night John Curtis
(son of Sir Lucius), prize master, fired into a large beat that
was coming nearer than she ought, and from the noise on
board it was evident. some of the scoundrels had been hit.
Since that time they had given our prizes a wide berth.
Some difficulty is thrown in the way of condemnation. The
mixed commission is quite a farce.
"The next ship for England is 'the Fly, then Imogene.
Samarang, Sparrowhawk, and Electra. Lieuts. Hesseltme,
of the Electra, and Robinson, of the Grecian, have exchanged
ship".
" The Calliope sailed on the 19th of March for the river
Plata, to strengthen the force in that river ; as, in conse-
quence of the unsettled state of affairs there., the French are
carrying everything before them, The American ships Inde-
pendence and Fairfield are at Monte Video ; the latter is a
corvette, mounting 22 long 24-pounders. I guess Symonds
and Daphne would have no chance with her. The schooner
is going to clear out the customs, and these letters must be
aboard : so farewell."