The native population of Loando and the adjacent villages is said to be 40,000, with only three thousand Portuguese; and of the latter four hundred are convicts, sent here by the Home Government to garrison the forts, protect the people, and sustain the laws. (?) There certainly can be but little confidence inspired by the presence of soldiers made up of such characters; nor can a colony defended by them be a very desirable retreat. The Portuguese ladies appear on the promenade only towards evening, and are then carried in palanquins by their slaves. The extreme heat did not permit of our making an excursion in the vicinity of the town, and we saw but little, therefore, of its natural attractions. The tamarind tree was nourishing, and in full bloom, a little back on the shores of the bay,--its delicate foliage of exquisite green contrasting beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Only a few of the whites speak pure Portuguese, nor can one directly from the mother country understand the _patois_ in use. It is a mixture of Portuguese and Congo, but made up more of the latter than the former. The Portuguese themselves fall into the habit of using it, and are compelled to do so from necessity, as all their servants,--slaves,--as well as the rest of the people about them, speak either this _lingo_ or the pure Congo. Two vessels bearing the American flag were lying at anchor as we entered the harbor, one of which,--the _J. T. Dodd_,--a large American bark, was towed from up the coast a few days previous, by an English gun-boat that fell in with her while cruising in search of slavers. She was first seen near Cape Palmas, and her commander (professing to be the first mate) said that the captain and some of the crew had gone into the interior to bargain for palm oil and ivory, of which they proposed taking a cargo. The vessel had formerly been a slaver, and had already taken two cargoes of slaves from this coast, with the last of which she was herself taken and sold as a slaver. Her appearance now was very suspicious; but nothing could be done, as her papers were all right, and her clearance dated from Cadiz, although her crew were Portuguese. Having, however, all the appliances for shipping a cargo of slaves, the gun-boat hovered about her for many days. She was old, decayed, and in a leaky condition; and her self-styled mate finding that he could not elude the vigilance of John Bull, finally made a virtue of necessity, and wisely concluding that his old craft was unseaworthy, engaged the captain of the gun-boat to tow her into this port, where she was sold the day after our arrival for $2500.