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united in itself such incongruous elements . He sold English articles to the Brazilians , or to the English , Brazilian goods : the English fleet he supplied with meat and vegetables , coals , and anv other
commodity . He dealt largely with the -villages near Bio , getting fruit from them at a cheap rate , and selling it dearly . He sent ships over to the coast of Africa sometimes , to supply an American house there with Brazilian articles , but no one knew what his ships brought back in exchange . I say no one knew , but a great many suspected .
The time of which I am writing was the very heyday of the slave trade . Nothing was heard of but " ebony , " all other merchandise was at a discount . The English fleet took prizes xiumberl @_ ss ,- . agd ' in fact the Brazilian station was just then better than the coast of Africa , because a man kept health while getting prize-money . But though the English fleet contrived to capture by dozens , yet the slave-vessels escaped by dozens also . So immense were the profits
upon all slaves landed in safety , in comparison with the costs of bringing them over , that one vessel landing its cargo compensated for the capture of five others . Slaves could be bought on the coast of Africa for £ 5 each ; on the coast of Brazil they would fetch between £ 40 and £ 50 . The expense of slave vessels , and the maintenance of the negroes during the passage , I do not know ; and Mr . Darkle could be as ignorant as I , when he pleased .
He was in his shop superintending the removal of goods from a store cellar . He was not a Ereemason by any means , but rather one of those men who never give assistance , and never ask for it . Being at present prosperous enough , he thought his prosperity would never end , especially as he did not spend all his income , but made an ample provision for the future . As far as human possibility went ,
he had every chance of making an increase in his trade yearly . He was a small , active man , who got on by pushing himself like a wedge into every crevice that seemed likely to repay splitting . Wherever he saw the smallest opening , in went his thin end , till the opening was sufficiently enlarged to admit his wdiole body . He had already screwed himself into some very snug emoluments , and was contractor to the navy , by which he realized very " pretty pickings . "
Mr . Darkle received me kindly enough ; inquired about my passage out , and made sundry other courteous speeches , after which he proceeded to business . " You see , Mr . Waltham , I don't want a clerk to stay in town , and keep accounts for me ; I have a book-keeper who does all that . What I want , is a smart , young fellow , to go down to the villages and transact my business there . I found no person here whom I
could employ in this manner . It wants a considerable amount of sharpness , which no Brazilian will employ , except on his own account . You'll never get a Brazilian to make a good bargain for any one else but himself . Then the Brazilians are not smart enough , they ' re lazy dogs , who don't suit my book at all . I should have liked an American ; but then they ' re just the opposite , and cheat rather more than I care about . It ' s not the slightest good being dishonest , Mr . Waltham ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
united in itself such incongruous elements . He sold English articles to the Brazilians , or to the English , Brazilian goods : the English fleet he supplied with meat and vegetables , coals , and anv other
commodity . He dealt largely with the -villages near Bio , getting fruit from them at a cheap rate , and selling it dearly . He sent ships over to the coast of Africa sometimes , to supply an American house there with Brazilian articles , but no one knew what his ships brought back in exchange . I say no one knew , but a great many suspected .
The time of which I am writing was the very heyday of the slave trade . Nothing was heard of but " ebony , " all other merchandise was at a discount . The English fleet took prizes xiumberl @_ ss ,- . agd ' in fact the Brazilian station was just then better than the coast of Africa , because a man kept health while getting prize-money . But though the English fleet contrived to capture by dozens , yet the slave-vessels escaped by dozens also . So immense were the profits
upon all slaves landed in safety , in comparison with the costs of bringing them over , that one vessel landing its cargo compensated for the capture of five others . Slaves could be bought on the coast of Africa for £ 5 each ; on the coast of Brazil they would fetch between £ 40 and £ 50 . The expense of slave vessels , and the maintenance of the negroes during the passage , I do not know ; and Mr . Darkle could be as ignorant as I , when he pleased .
He was in his shop superintending the removal of goods from a store cellar . He was not a Ereemason by any means , but rather one of those men who never give assistance , and never ask for it . Being at present prosperous enough , he thought his prosperity would never end , especially as he did not spend all his income , but made an ample provision for the future . As far as human possibility went ,
he had every chance of making an increase in his trade yearly . He was a small , active man , who got on by pushing himself like a wedge into every crevice that seemed likely to repay splitting . Wherever he saw the smallest opening , in went his thin end , till the opening was sufficiently enlarged to admit his wdiole body . He had already screwed himself into some very snug emoluments , and was contractor to the navy , by which he realized very " pretty pickings . "
Mr . Darkle received me kindly enough ; inquired about my passage out , and made sundry other courteous speeches , after which he proceeded to business . " You see , Mr . Waltham , I don't want a clerk to stay in town , and keep accounts for me ; I have a book-keeper who does all that . What I want , is a smart , young fellow , to go down to the villages and transact my business there . I found no person here whom I
could employ in this manner . It wants a considerable amount of sharpness , which no Brazilian will employ , except on his own account . You'll never get a Brazilian to make a good bargain for any one else but himself . Then the Brazilians are not smart enough , they ' re lazy dogs , who don't suit my book at all . I should have liked an American ; but then they ' re just the opposite , and cheat rather more than I care about . It ' s not the slightest good being dishonest , Mr . Waltham ,