Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

The number of Cases adjudicated under the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice was 6; all Cases of Condemnation; and the number of Slaves emancipated was 368.

We beg leave to enclose a List of Cases adjudicated under the Mixed Commissions to this date. You will perceive, Sir, that the number of Cases adjudged during the past year was 20; the number of Slaves emancipated was 2,567; that the total number of Cases adjudged since the establishment of the Mixed Commission is 82; and the total number of Slaves emancipated, up to the close of the Year 1826, is 9,326. We have the honour to be, &c.

The Right Hon. George Canning.

N. CAMPBELL.
JOSEPH REFFELL.

(Enclosure 1.)—Abstract of Proceedings under the British and Portuguese Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone, from the 1st of January, 1826 to the 1st of January, 1827.

(No. 1.)-THE Brazilian Brig Paqueta de Bahia, Bento Francisco de Carvalho, Master, arrived at Sierra Leone on the 23d of December, 1825, with 385 Slaves on board, captured in Latitude 5. 15. North, and Longitude 0.30. East, by His Majesty's Brig Swinger, acting Lieutenant J. C. Giles, Commander.

The illicit Traffic in Slaves having been clearly proved, and no Claim made, this Vessel was condemned, and her Slaves decreed to be emancipated on the 10th of January, 1826.

(No. 2.) The Brazilian Brigantine Sam Joao Segunda Rosalia, Amara Joze da Silva, Master, was captured by His Majesty's Ship, Atholl, Captain J. A. Murray, in Latitude 3. 31. North, and Longitude, 0.54. East, sailing under Brazilian Colours, with 258 Slaves on board.

appears

This Vessel arrived at Sierra Leone after an unusually protracted passage of 65 days; 72 of the Slaves having died on the passage, principally from starvation; the remaining number, 186, were landed the same day by permission of the Commissioners, and afterwards, on the Condemnation of the Vessel, emancipated by their Decree. It that this Vessel cleared from Bahia for Molembo, on a Trading-voyage for Slaves; and the Mate, Super-Cargo, and Boatswain, in their examinations before the Court, attempt to prove that the Slaves were all taken on board at Molembo, in Latitude, 5. 30. South. This statement is fully contradicted by 6 of the Slaves, who depose very clearly, that they were shipped as Lagos, situate between Badagry and Benin. The Court, therefore, condemned the Brigantine on the 21st of March, as lawful prize to His Majesty's Ship Atholl.

(No. 3.)-The Brazilian Brig Activo was captured on the 1st of February, 1826, by His Majesty's Ship Atholl, Captain James Arthur Murray, in Latitude 4. 24. South, and Longitude 9. 37. West, with 166

Slaves on board, and arrived here on the 17th of the same month with 164 living Slaves.

By her Royal Passport, a Voyage from Pernambuco to Molembo, calling at Bahia, on her return to the Port of her clearance, was authorized.

From the evidence adduced before the Court, it was clearly proved that the Slaves had been shipped at Badagry to the North of the Line in defiance of the Convention between Great Britain and Portugal of the 28th of July, 1817. And it would have been the duty of the Commissioners to have passed Sentence of Condemnation upon the Vessel and Slaves, did not the 4th Article of the Instructions for the Ships of War, interpose itself to prevent their coming to that decision, which Article states that "no Portuguese Merchantman shall, on any pretence whatever, be detained to the South of the Equator, unless chase shall have commenced to the Northward."

The Court, therefore, decreed the restoration to the Claimant of the Vessel and Slaves, with costs, damages, and expenses, the amount whereof to be referred to the Registrar.

On the 26th of May, the Registrar reported it to be his opinion, that the Claimant was entitled to £55 for costs of suit, £256 2s. 8d. for special damages and expenses, £9,983 15s. for the total loss of 166 Slaves, £654 for demurrage, and £150 for 5 per Cent. on the total amount of capital employed, making together the sum of £11,098 17s. 8d. Whereupon the Commissioners absolutely and unconditionally confirmed those sums allowed by the Registrar in his Report for costs of suit and special damages and expenses, occasioned to the Brig by detention, and confirmed the remainder conditionally, that is, only in the event of the British and Brazilian Governments agreeing and declaring the same ought to be confirmed, according to the true intent and meaning of the Convention between Great Britain and Portugal.

(No. 4.)-The Brazilian Sloop Esperanza, Joao Baptiste Lopes, Master, was detained by His Majesty's Ship Esk, William Jardine Purchas, Esq. Commander, in the River Benin, in Latitude 5. 43. North, and Longitude 5. 25. East, and arrived in this Harbour on the 3d of May, 1826.

The fact having been clearly proved that the Sloop had taken Slaves on board, whilst lying in the River Benin, and part of them having been intercepted in the attempt to land them, when the Boats of His Majesty's Ship hove in sight; the Court pronounced Sentence of Condemnation against her, and decreed the emancipation of 4 Slaves so intercepted, on the 8th of June, 1826.

(No. 5.) The Brazilian Brigantine Netuno, Joze Claudio Gomes, Master, arrived in the River Sierra Leone on the 5th of May, having been detained by His Majesty's Ship Esk, Captain W. J. Purchas, at anchor, under Brazilian Colours, in the River Benin. The Master

declared her to be bound from Benin to Pernambuco. On the appearance of the Boats of the capturing Ship, several Canoes and Boats put off from the Brigantine with the intention of landing the Slaves, one of which was intercepted, containing 20 Slaves, making, with those on board, 92; it appears that they succeeded in landing 58. On the Case being tried before the Court, no doubts could possibly be entertained of her having been illegally engaged in Slave trade. Sentence of Condemnation was, therefore, pronounced against her, and her remaining Slaves, 84 in number, decreed to be emancipated on the 8th of June, 1826.

(No. 6.) The Brazilian Brig Perpetuo Defensor was seized by His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, Commodore Bullen, on the 18th of April, off the island of Anna Bona, and arrived here on the 23rd of May, when she was put under quarantine, in consequence of having several cases of small pox on board; the Colonial Government ordered, from humane motives, that the healthy Slaves should be separated from the sick, the former to be put on board a Government Vessel, then lying unemployed in the Harbour. On the return of the Acting Governor (Mr. Macauly) from the Gambia, these Slaves were ordered by him to be landed, and given over to the Colonial Authorities. The remaining Slaves on board the Perpetuo Defensor, becoming discontented at being detained on board, whilst their companions in slavery had been suffered at large on shore, manifested such strong symptoms of insubordination, as to induce the Proctor for the Claimant to land them, having no means of controul over them, coercion having been strictly forbidden by the Acting Governor. They were received by the Colonial Authorities.

The Royal Passport states her to have cleared from Rio de Janeiro to Bahia, and from thence to Cabinda, on the Western Coast of Africa, under an obligation to enter solely such Ports where the Slave-trade is permitted to the Subjects of the Empire. In deɓance of which, proof is adduced that her Slaves were taken on board at Badagry in 6. 18. North Latitude. But as Claimant proved that the Perpetuo Defensor was taken to the South of the Equator, without the chase having commenced to the Northward, the Court admitted the Claim of the Master for costs, damages, and expenses, and referred it to the Registrar to ascertain the amount thereof.

The Registrar's amended Report was brought in on the 28th of September, when the Court confirmed unconditionally, the sum of £79 for special costs, damages, and expences; £122 10s. for provisioning the Slaves from the 29th of June to the 6th of July; and, on its being proved that the Perpetuo Defensor would be unable to proceed to sea, unless the Master could raise a further sum of £150, by the Court giving a further additional award, the Commissioners did, therefore, award, unconditionally, a further sum of £150 in part of the demurrage

allowed in the Registrar's Report; making together an unconditional award of £351 10s.

And as the Commissioners were fully convinced that the Claimant in this Case had carried on an illicit Traffick during the present Voyage, they deemed it just that it should be adjudicated on the same principles as the Case of the Brig Activo, confirming conditionally the remaining part of the Registrar's Report, if the British and Brazilian Governments should agree that it should be so confirmed.

(No. 7.)-The Brazilian Ship Sam Benedicto, Joao Sabino, Master, was detained by His Majesty's Ship Brazen, George W. Willes, Esq. Commander, on the 11th of June, 1826, in Latitude 6. 12. North, and Longitude 1. 38. East, having 25 Negroes on board. She arrived at Sierra Leone on the 10th of July following, when the Case was brought before the British and Portuguese Mixed Court. By her Imperial Passport it appears she cleared from Bahia for Molembo to carry Slaves, yet in violation thereof she sailed, according to the Master's own declaration, direct to Lagos, in 6. 12. North Latitude, to land her Cargo. It was, therefore, evident that she was destined there for a Cargo of Slaves, yet there being no Slaves on board at the time of detention, and none having been proved to have been taken on board during the Voyage in which the Ship was taken; the Captors having failed to prove that the Natives of Africa on board were Slaves, and who subsequently admitted them to be free Natives, and not detained in slavery; the Commissioners considered this a Case of Restitution, and admitted the Claim of the Master, Joao Sabino, for the Ship and Cargo, and such costs, damages, and expences, as she might have sustained by the detention, and referred it to the Registrar to ascertain the amount thereof; and finally decreed, that the sums of £22 10s. for costs of suit, and £10 for part of a cable lost by the Captors, be unconditionally paid to the Claimant by G. W. Willes, Esq., Commander of His Majesty's Ship Brazen. The Court did not allow any demurrage, as they considered that the Captor had been led into error by the Sam Benedicto having been detained to the Northward of the Line, in direct violation of her Passport.

(No. 8.) The Brazilian Brig Principe de Guiné, Manoel Joachim de Almeida, Master, was captured by Lieutenant Tucker, in command of a Tender belonging to His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, after a smart engagement, in Latitude 3. 22. North, and Longitude 4. 11. East, and sent here for Adjudication, where she arrived on the 2d of September.

Her Passport authorized a Voyage to Molembo, to return with a Cargo of Slaves, the violation of which, in being found to the North of the Equator, and the circumstance of her having taken her Slaves on board at Whydah, in 6. 12. North Latitude, being clearly proved, left no doubt as to the illegality of her Voyage. The only question was as to the validity of the capture by the Tender of the Maidstone,

without being accompanied by Commodore Bullen's declaration. But the Commissioners bearing in mind the Case of the Fabiana, wherein His Majesty's Advocate gave it as his opinion, "that the capture should not be invalidated by every departure from the Instructions," condemned the Principe de Guiné as lawful prize, and decreed the emancipation of her Slaves, on the 26th of September, 1826.

(Enclosure 2.)-Abstract of Proceedings under the British and Spanish Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone, from the 1st of January, 1826, to the 1st of January, 1827.

(No. 1.) THE Spanish Schooner Teresa, Francisco Granell, Master, was captured by His Majesty's Ship Redwing, Captain Clavering, on the 8th of October, 1825, with 248 Slaves on board, but in consequence of their crowded state, 50 were removed into the Spanish Schooner Ana, (a Prize also taken by the Redwing,) and sent to Sierra Leone.

The Teresa was upset in a Tornado on her passage up, when only 6 of the Slaves, with 8 of the Prize Crew, and 4 Spaniards, were saved, leaving 186 Slaves, 4 of the Prize Crew, and 1 Spaniard, drowned: 6 of the Slaves had died previous to this event.

This Case was brought into Court on the 17th December, when it being clearly proved that she was taken in Latitude 4. 35. North, Sentence of Condemnation was passed upon her on the 3d of January, 1826, and the surviving Slaves decreed to be emancipated.

(No. 2.) The Schooner Ana, Manoel Sierra, Master, under Spanish Colours, arrived at Sierra Leone, on the 25th November, 1825, in a wretched condition, with 130 Slaves on board, 68 having died on the Passage since capture,-50 had been taken on board from the Spanish Schooner Teresa, and 45 from the Spanish Brigantine Isabella, both Prizes to the Redwing, and the latter supposed to have been recaptured and carried into The Havannah.

The Ana was taken off the River Camaroons, by His Majesty's Ship Redwing, in Latitude 3. 50. North, Longitude 9. 2. East, and therefore condemned in the British and Spanish Courts of Mixed Commission, and her Slaves decreed to be emancipated, on the 3d of January, 1826.

y

(No. 3.)-The Spanish Brigantine Ninfa Habanera, Jozé Puiz Miro, Master, was sent into this Harbour by His Majesty's Ship Brazen, Captain G. W. Willes, with 231 Slaves on board, where she arrived on the 21st of December, 1825. Proof having been adduced that this Vessel had, during the Voyage, been engaged in carrying 50 Slaves from Accra to Popo, the Court condemned the Vessel, but as it appeared that the 231 Slaves were put on board at the instigation of the Captors, after the detention of the Vessel, the Court did not decree

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »