Portugal has, we believe, given up the Macao Coolie trade.
At least, she says so, and the Governer of the settlement has prohi- bited it by proclamation. Nevertheless it appears, according to the Journel Officiel, that on Tune 8 the Napoleon Camarero,' an Italian vessel, left Macao with 633 coolies for Callao, there to die in the guano diggings. After a few hours at sea the coolies—all, of course, kidnapped, bought-from the Mandarins, or deceived- found out their destination, rose on the crew, and set fire to the Skip. They calculated, as usual, that the crew would leave, that they could put out the fire, and that they could then run the ship ashore ; but, unfortunately, there were 8,000 packets of fireworks among the cargo. The crew fled in the boats, but the flames reached the -fireworks, and the 633 coolies were blown to atoms. We assume, but do not in the least believe, that some inquiry will be made as to who fired the ship, but even if the crew did it, nobody would be punished. If China had a fleet she would stop that traffic at once by the only method which, to judge from the facts, will be permanently efficacious, namely, a blockade of Callao.
Previous page
