134 Françoise Latour da Veiga Pinto,
A. Carreña
Sá da Bandeira announced the complete abolition of the slave trade throughout
the whole of Portuguese territory. His intentions were sincere; and, though
humanitarian motives came into the decision, so also did political and economic
ones. For the slave trade had impeded the development of Portugal's African
colonies while helping Brazil's; and the object of Sá da Bandeira's policy,
given that Portugal had lost her American colony, was to make Angola into
another Brazil.
But before Angola's huge territory could be developed, the trade in
human beings would have to be stopped, the tribes pacified, and the traditional
pattern of emigration from Portugal to Brazil switched to Africa. The Portu-
guese Government, however, lacked the material resources for carrying out
this enormous task. As far as the slave trade was concerned, there were not
enough ships to maintain effective surveillance, for the fleet was hopelessly
depleted; and the slave-traders had great influence both in Africa and outside
it. In fact, the slave-trading powers stood to gain by the secession of Portugal's
African colonies. In 1838, therefore, Sá da Bandeira formally requested Great
Britain's help. In view of ' the depleted state of the Portuguese navy... and the
Exchequer's lack of resources', he sought in return for Great Britain's right
of surveillance ' an explicit formal guarantee of the possessions of the Portu-
guese crown against any uprising that may take place in these provinces, and
against any attempt whatsoever by foreign powers to foment rebellion or seek
to take over the said possessions '. Spain and Brazil were specifically mentioned.
But Great Britain shrank from such an undertaking, which could have involved
her in defending the Portuguese colonies, and proposed a two-year limit, which
Sá da Bandeira rejected. Great Britain's anxiety was not altogether without
foundation, for already in 1824, in the midst of the crisis in metropolitan
Portugal, Brazil had suggested federation to the African settlers, her associates
in the slave trade. This suggestion had been sympathetically received in Ben-
guela, which led Lisbon to take steps to promote trade between Angola and
Brazil by granting a reduction of customs duty ranging from 50 per cent to
complete remission.
The negotiations dragged on; and meanwhile the slave trade continued
with renewed vigour from the Congo and Angola, because of the Portuguese
authorities' inability to enforce the prohibition, and despite Great Britain's
expenditure of money and effort.
To overcome the shilly-shallying of the Portuguese negotiators, Pal-
merston passed a bill through the British Parliament authorizing the Royal
Navy to stop and search Portuguese slave-trading ships and indict their crews
for piracy before an Admiralty court. This measure was taken as a grave
affront by Portugal, while, on account of the instability of the government,
the negotiations were not concluded until 1842. London gave Portugal no
guarantee regarding the preservation of her colonies; and joint commissions