der different nationalities, eluding detection from papers being in form, and trading with an assorted cargo, she was pronounced a prize, and was sent to America, where, after a long trial, she was condemned as a slaver in the United States District Court of Maryland. By the capture of the Chatsworth, in whose case the ingenuity of these unscrupulous villains had taxed itself to the utmost as far as the American flag was concerned, a severe and unexpected blow was struck at the slavetrade. Four thousand slaves were waiting at the barracoons of Ambriz, ready for shipment, at the time of the seizure; and Lieutenant Foote in his private journal relates that the captain of the Louisa Beaton, who had given information respecting the true character of the Chatsworth, went on shore at Ambriz, at the request of Foote, to procure some papers, and from the time elapsing before his return there was reason to suspect foul play from the slavers in revenge for his informing upon them. Mr. Foote adds: "My plan would have been, had there been foul play, to march at the head of my men out four miles to the slave-barracoons, and let four thousand of the 'oppressed go free,' and thus made free soil and free-soilers."

In a private letter to a friend in Cheshire, dated September 25, 1850, Lieutenant Foote remarks: "Our orders are so stringent that no commander will capture a slaver unless he assume great responsibility. I took the Chatsworth in the face of a protest of $22,000 from her captain and supercargo; still she and the Martha must be condemned."

A visit was made at this time by the commander and officers of the Perry to a native potentate in the interior, the Queen of Ambrizette, who is thus described: "A little withered woman then appeared, having, in addition to her native costume, an old red cloak, drawn tight around her throat, and so worn as to make her look like a loose umbrella with two handles." After a long palaver, the prime-minister of the queen, wearing as his chief garment an old French full-dress navy

Third Southern Cruise.

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uniform coat, suggested that he considered his services on the occasion to be worth two bottles of rum. Compliance with this request was totally impracticable, as the spirit-room casks of the Perry had been filled only with water.

The cruises of the Perry were made upon the total-abstinence principle; and this probably will account for the good health of the crew on that unwholesome coast.

On the 8th of January, 1851, the Perry again reported herself to the commander-in-chief at Porto Praya, after one year's service on the African coast. Here she made preparations for a third southern cruise. As the slave-trade had been pretty much driven out of Ambriz, and had shifted itself to the Congo. River, the Perry proceeded thither, encountering on the passage a heavy tornado. Lieutenant Foote thus describes the Congo River:

"The river is more than two leagues broad at its mouth. At the distance of eight or ten miles seaward, in a northeasterly direction, the water preserves its freshness; and at the distance of fifty and even sixty miles it has a black tinge. Here are often seen small islands floating seaward, formed of fibrous roots, bamboo, rushes, and long grass, and covered with birds. The banks of the Congo are lined with low mangrove bushes, with clumps of a taller species interspersed, growing to the height of seventy feet. Palm-trees, and other trees of a smaller growth, are seen with a rich and beautiful foliage. In going up the river, the southern shore should be hugged, where there is plenty of water close to the land. The current is so strong-often running six miles an hour off Shark's Point-that an exceedingly fresh sea-breeze is necessary in order to stem the stream. The greatest strength of this current, however, is superficial, not extending more than six or eight feet in depth. The Congo, like all the rivers of Africa, except the Nile, is navigable but a short distance before reaching the rapids. The great central region being probably not less than three thousand feet in altitude above the sea, these rapids are formed by a sudden depression of the surface of the country toward the sea, or by a bed of hard rock stretching across the basin of the river."*

"Africa and the American Flag," p. 346.

A paper of considerable hydrographical interest in relation to the Congo River and the navigation of the southern equatorial coast of Africa was drawn up by the first lieutenant of the ship, Mr. Porter, and, after having been carefully supervised by the commander, was dispatched to the United States National Observatory, and has since been published in "Maury's Sailing Directions."

This third cruise of the Perry revealed the fact that the slave-trade had received an effectual check within the past year. Only one suspected American vessel had been seen on the south coast since the capture of the Chatsworth.

In a letter from Sir George Jackson, British commissioner at Loanda, addressed about this time to Lord Palmerston, it was stated that the languishing state of the slave-trade was owing to the activity of British cruisers, the co-operation of part of the American squadron on the southern coast, within the year the capture of two or three slavers bearing the flag of that nation, together with the measures adopted by the Brazilian government; so that it might be said that the trade on this southern coast was now confined to a few vessels bearing the Sardinian flag. How much of this was due to the energetic efforts of Lieutenant Foote, the reader himself is now, it is hoped, capable of judging.

In a private letter of Sir George Jackson to Lieutenant Foote this direct personal allusion is made:

"The zeal and activity displayed by yourself and brother officers, and the seizures which were the results of them, at once changed the face of things. The actual loss which the traffic has sustained, and still more the dread of those further losses which they anticipated on seeing the United States squadron prepared to confront them at those very haunts to which they had been accustomed to repair with impunity, and determined to vindicate the honor of their insulted flag, which they had too long been allowed to prostitute, struck terror into those miscreants on both sides of the Atlantic. And from the date of those very opportune captures not a vessel illicitly assuming American colors has been seen on the coast."

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The Perry continued to cruise vigilantly for some months, only varying the hard monotony of the service by a visit to St. Helena, where Lieutenant Foote and his officers, like seaworn Ulysses and his crew at some pleasant isle of the ocean, were treated with marked kindness and courtesy.

Late in the autumn the Perry sailed for the north coast to her old rendezvous at Porto Praya, where she awaited the coming of the American squadron, one at least of whose vessels, the John Adams, had done good service also on the coast. Commodore Gregory, in an official letter to Lieutenant Foote, wrote: "The course you have pursued meets my fullest commendation; and the zeal, ability, and energy with which you have discharged the important duties assigned you, commands my highest respect, and I have no doubt will be most favorably considered by the Secretary of the Navy."

Upon the commodore's arrival, the Perry was relieved of her duty upon the African station and ordered home, arriving at New York, after a rough winter passage, on the 26th of December, 1851. The appreciation of the services of the commander by the Navy Department was expressed to him through the Secretary (Hon. J. C. Dobbin) in high terms of satisfaction.

Commodore (now Rear-Admiral) Smith, who ever rejoiced in an opportunity to award his friend praise, thus writes to him from Washington:

"It affords me great pleasure to say that the Department, so far as I can learn, is highly gratified with your doings. Your vigilance, discretion, activity, and talents are duly appreciated, and, not least of all, your moral training of those under your orders is, and ought to be regarded as reflecting honor upon the Navy. You have won honor and glory enough to rest upon your laurels for some time."

Mr. Webster also officially signified his approval of the course pursued by the captain of the Perry in his negotiations with the English and other foreign powers in the delicate and difficult business intrusted to his hands.

A few additional observations of a personal nature respecting this service on the African coast, drawn from the journal and notes of Lieutenant Foote, are reserved for the next chapter. It was so cold and stormy when the brig came upon the American coast that, supposing he might be driven off to sea again if he waited for a pilot, the commander, assuming the responsibility, acted as his own pilot, and brought the vessel into port without assistance. It might here be added that our hero reaped more fame than money from his prizes, since he once told a friend that one gold watch was all the material fruit, over and above his regular pay, of his two anxious years' cruising on the coast of Africa.