Portuguese, English and French men-of-war were lying at Loanda. The Portuguese commodore had been uniformly attentive and courteous in official and social intercourse. The navy-yard was freely offered for the service of the vessel. One evening, on falling in with the commodore at sea, the Perry beat to quarters; and the first intimation given of the character of the vessel she met, was by the flag-ship running across her stern, and playing “Hail Columbia.” In the last interview, the commodore alluded to our correspondence with the British officers, and expressed his gratification at the results. The French commodore was an intelligent, active officer, whose squadron had made several captures. He often expressed the wish that the Perry would visit his friends, the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and Mr. Bushnell, at the Gaboon Mission, whom he regarded as being, in all respects, highly creditable representatives of American benevolence and culture. The character of the intercourse with the British commissioner may be inferred from a letter to be introduced hereafter. The attentions of the British consul, and in particular his politeness in furnishing news and information from England, were highly appreciated. The agent of the large and respectable house in Salem, Massachusetts, extended a liberal hospitality to the American officers. The governor-general of the province of Angola was a distinguished general in the Portuguese service, and supported great state. He offered, in the complimentary style of his country, the palace and its contents to the officers of the Perry. Salutes had been exchanged with the garrison and all the commodores on the station. The attentions extended to a small cruiser, were the tribute paid to the only representative of a great and highly respected nation. Loanda, with its seventeen thousand inhabitants, numerous fortifications, palace, churches and cathedral, its houses, many being of stone, spacious and substantial, standing as it does on an eminence, presents an impressive appearance, reminding one of a somewhat dilapidated Italian city; while the frequent passing of a palanquin, supported by two stout negroes, in which the movement is agreeably undulating, recalls the eastern luxury of locomotion. But the wealth and prosperity of Loanda have been dependent on the slave-trade. In the year eighteen hundred and forty-eight, the amount of goods entered for the legal trade, amounted to about ninety thousand dollars; and at the same time, there were smuggled goods for the purposes of the slave-trade, amounting to the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars.[10]