12 - Crisis and final abolition, 1850–1851

Summary

In the middle of June 1850 when the steamer Sharpshooter, despatched from England to reinforce the British naval squadron on the Brazilian coast, arrived off Rio de Janeiro and immediately made its presence felt in the vicinity of the capital by capturing two Brazilian vessels–the Malteza which was destroyed on the spot and the Conceição which was sent to StHelena—the Brazilian slave trade was already being carried on less extensively than at any time for almost a decade. The frequently repeated declaration by the Brazilian government of their intention to introduce fresh measures to combat the trade, the activities of British warships along the Brazilian coast during the previous twelve months (in addition to the continued vigilance of the British West African and Cape squadrons) and, perhaps most important, the glut in the Brazilian slave market after several years of exceptionally heavy imports, had combined to reduce the Brazilian slave trade to a mere shadow of its former self. Only 8,000 slaves had been landed along the coast between Santos and Campos during the period January–June 1850, less than a third of the number imported in any comparable period during recent years. Bahia alone, where significantly not a single British cruiser had put in an appearance for almost a year, had imported its usual quota of slaves—a little over 4,000.