It can scarcely be believed, however, that after Lord Clarendon had been at the trouble of procuring fresh cotton-seed through our minister at Washington, and had sent it out to the care of H.M.Commissioner at Loanda, probably from having fallen into the hands of a few incorrigible slave-traders, it never reached its destination.

It was most likely cast into the sea of Ambriz, and my friends at Golungo Alto were left without the means of commencing a new enterprise.
Mr.Canto mentioned that there is now much more cotton in the country than can be consumed; and if he had possession of a few hundred pounds, he would buy up all the oil and cotton at a fair price, and thereby bring about a revolution in the agriculture of the country.

These commodities are not produced in greater quantity, because the people have no market for those which now spring up almost spontaneously around them.

The above was put down in my journal when I had no idea that enlarged supplies of cotton from new sources were so much needed at home.
It is common to cut down cotton-trees as a nuisance, and cultivate beans, potatoes, and manioc sufficient only for their own consumption.
I have the impression that cotton, which is deciduous in America, is perennial here; for the plants I saw in winter were not dead, though going by the name Algodao Americana, or American cotton.

The rents paid for gardens belonging to the old convents are merely nominal, varying from one shilling to three pounds per annum.