speak English, and they all spoke that language. They neither gave a receipt nor paid for the cotton. They came with the cotton towards the town of Opelousas.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States: I made the bargain for that bale of cotton at claimant's store in Opelousas; no price was fixed for cotton; I gave it on account. I do not recollect if that bale of cotton was marked, nor whether any of the rest of the cotton was marked. I cannot recollect how long it was from the time I sold the cotton to claimant to the time it was taken away by the Federals. Widow Malveaux's plantation is about three miles and a half from Opelousas. Widow Malveaux was at home at the time the cotton was taken away. Sosthene Malveaux was not at Wo. Malveaux's; he was at his own place. I was not living at W. Malveaux's at that time, but when the cotton was taken away I was at her house. It was the first time the Federals came here that the cotton was taken. We did not make any objection to the taking way of the cotton.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge. Do you know of any matter relative to the claim in question? If you do, state it fully.-A. I do not.

LOUIS MALVEAUX.

Deposition of BAPTISTE MALVEAUX for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 4th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge. Please state your name, your occupation, your age, your place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether and in what degree you are related to the claimant.-A. My name is Baptiste Malveaux; my occupation is that of a planter; I am fifty years old; my residence has been the past year in the parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indi rect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and I am not related in any degree to claimant.

Being interrogated by HENRY L. GARLAND, Esq., counsel for the claimant, the witness says:

In the year 1862, as near I recollect, I sold to claimant three bales of cotton; I put that cotton for claimant at Mr. Valade; the cotton was ginned at Mr. Cadet Pitre.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States: I made the bargain for my cotton at claimant's store, in the town of Opelousas; my cotton was then at my house; Mr. Cadet resided then about ten acres from my house; I think Mr. Valade resides about three miles from my house-perhaps more, perhaps less; I hauled myself that cotton to Mr. T. Valade; I do not recollect positively where I put the cotton, whether it was under the corn-house or the gin-house; I think it was under the corn-house; I do not recollect whether it was Mr. T. Valade or his son Yorick Valade who was at home, but I think it was Theodore Valade; I do not recollect what claimant paid me per pound, but he paid me at the current rate; I received no money-I owed claimant; the bargain between me and claimant was that the cotton should be delivered at Mr. T. Valade; nothing was allowed me to haul the cotton to Mr. T. Valade; 1 do not know for what reason claimant had the cotton taken there; Mr. T. Valade resides about eight miles and a half from Opelousas; Mr. T. Valade lived the farthest from Opelousas than I did.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge. Do you know of any other matter relative to the claim in question? If you do, state it fully.-A. I do not.

his BAPTISTE + MALVEAUX. mark.

Deposition of ADOLPHE MALVEAUX, for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 4th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge. Please state your name, your occupation, your age, your place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether and in what degree you are related to the claimant.-A. My name is Adolphe Malveaux; my occupation is that of a planter; I am forty-six years old; my residence the past year has been in the parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and I am not related to claimant. (This lot was paid to Perrodin.)

Being interrogated by HENRY L. GARLAND, Esq., counsel for the claimant, the witness says:

I sold to claimant in the year 1862 five bales of cotton; I delivered said cotton on Mr. T. L. Valade's plantation.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, counsel for the United States:

I made the bargain for my cotton in claimant's store, in the town of Opelousas; I do not recollect how much claimant paid me per pound for my cotton; he paid me the current price at the time; he did not pay me any money; he had a store account against me, on account of which the cotton was sold; claimant was not there when he brought the cotton to Mr. T. Valade; Mr. Yorick Valade was on the plantation; I am sure it was in the year 1862 I sold my cotton; I know it by the years; I cannot recollect exactly what year the Yankee army came here; I sold my cotton late in the fall; I raised the cotton myself; I raised it the same year I sold it; I can't tell if the cotton was marked; I put the cotton close to the gin-house.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge, Do you know of any other matter in relation to the claim in question? If you do, state it fully.-A. I do not. ADOLPHE MALVEAUX.

Deposition of SEBASTIAN MALVEAUX, for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 4th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge. Please state your name, your oecupation, your age, your place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether and in what degree you are related to the claimant ?-A. My name is Sebastian Malveaux; my occupation is that of a planter; I am fifty-five or fifty-six years old; my residence the past year has been in the parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and I am not related in any degree to claimant.

Being interrogated by HENRY L. GARLAND, Esq., counsel for claimant, witness says:

At the time that my brother, the witness, Adolphe Malveaux, sold his cotton to claimant, I sold to said claimant a lot of six bales of cotton. I delivered said cotton at the gin-house of Mr. Valade. I do not exactly know the weight of those bales of cotton; one of them weighed 600 pounds and another 500 and odd pounds.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States:

I raised that cotton. I don't recollect exactly if I raised that cotton the same year I sold it. I made the bargain with claimant at his store in Opelousas. Icannot recollect how much he agreed to pay me a pound for my cotton, it is so long ago. He did not pay me money; he may have advanced money on account. I can't recollect if the cotton was marked, it has been so long since. Claimant was not at Mr. Valade's when I delivered the cotton. It was in the bargain that I should deliver the cotton at Mr. Valade's gin. I left the cotton alongside of the gin. I carried the cotton there myself. I don't recollect the year I sold the cotton to claimant.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge. Do you know of any other matter relative to the claim in question? If you do, state it fully.-A. I do not.

his

SEBASTIAN × MALVEAUX. mark.

Deposition of ESPRIT BONNET, for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 4th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge. Please state your name, your occupation, your age, place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether you are related to the claimant.-A. My name is Esprit Bonnet; my occupation is that of a carpenter; I am forty-six years of age; my residence the past year has been in the parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and I am not related in any degree to claimant.

Being interrogated by HENRY L. GARLAND, Esq., counsel for claimant, the witness

says:

I know the claimant had a lot of cotton in 1862 and 1863 on the plantatian of Mr. E. de Caillon. I constructed the shed under which said cotton was placed; I repaired the shed upon two different occasions after it was constructed. I saw Narcisse Zeringue haul a portion of that cotton; claimant paid me for the construction of the shed, and for every time I repaired it. There was about 80 or 85 bales of cotton under that shed when I constructed it. Claimant accompanied me the first time I went to Mr. E. de Caillon to build the shed.

Cross-examination by WILLIAM FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States: There was some cotton there piled up when I first went to build the shed. I do not know where the cotton came from. I know that some of the cotton came from claim

ant's, because I was at work at the house when Narcisse Zeringue hauled some cotton from there. At the time I lived in the town of Opelousas I counted the bales of cotton there, and, as far as I can recollect now, there was about 80 or 85 bales. I counted the bales of cotton after I had done the shed; they were under the shed then; the shed was about 40 to 45 feet long, and 30 to 35 feet wide. There was 9 feet from the lower part of the roof to the ground, and about 18 feet from the top of the roof to the ground. As much as I can recollect the shed was full; there was one row of bales above the lower part of the roof. I counted the bales of cotton by rows; there was a little space in the middle between the rows. My attention was not called to the number of bales in the shed from the time I counted them until recently. The person who called my attention to the number of bales under said shed did not mention to me the number before; I recollected the number to be 80 or 85. De Caillon's house could not be seen from the shed; I think trees intervening prevented it. I built the shed in 1862, in the month of May; I recollect it because I made a memorandum of it, as well as of all kinds of work I done. I saw a portion of said cotton hauled from claimant's warehouses; the warehouses were on the street that I live on now; I don't know the name of the street; they are on the same lot on which claimant has his store. I don't know if the cotton under the shed was marked; I think they were, because bales of cotton are generally marked.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge: Do you know of any other matter in relation to the claim in question? If so, state it fully.-A. I do not.

ESPRIT BONNET.

Deposition of Theodore Valade for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 5th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge: Please state your name, your occupation, your age, your place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether and in what degree you are related to the claimant.-A. My name is Theodore Valade; my occupation is that of a planter; my age is 63 years; my residence has been the past year in the parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry; I am not related in any degree to claimant. Being interrogated by Henry L. Garland, esq., counsel for the claimant, the witness says:

I was employed by claimant as his clerk; I acted in that capacity during the years 1861 and 1862; I was intimately acquainted with the business transacted by claimant at that period; I did pretty much all the writings about his business transactions; I know that he entered in a book, either personally or by me, all his cotton transactions; I know that Joapin L. Petre sold to claimant in 1862 three bales of cotton. Claimant also bought from Casimir Rouzeau in 1862 four bales of cotton; he also bought from Charles B. Smith 25 bales in March, 1862; from Girard Prejeau, the same year, a lot of two bales of cotton; from O. L. Bourgeois, the same year, a lot of three bales; Gerasime Prejeau, the same year, 7 bales of cotton; from Onezime Olivier, two bales cotton, the same year; I know that Thos. H. Thompson, the same year, sold five bales of cotton to claimant. I know that François Coulon Devilliers, pere, sold to claimant in the year 1862 9 bales of cotton; I also know that claimant bought from F. Vautrout, in 1862, 98 bales of cotton; from Mrs. William Fisher on the 19th November, 1861, 2 bales of cotton; from Valentine D. Breaux, in 1862, I bale of cotton; from Widow Bte. Malveaux, the same year, 1862, 10 bales cotton; from Sosthene Malveaux, 4 bales of cotton in 1862. I had in charge for claimant at my plantation a lot of cotton when the Federal troops first came here in 1863; I had 17 bales; these cottons were bought from Sebastien Malveaux, Adolphe Malveaux, Joassin L. Petre, and Baptiste Malveaux; these cottons were taken away by Lieutenant Rhodes, Forty-first Massachusetts, in May, 1863. I was there present and protested against the taking said cotton. No receipt was given for said cotton nor payment made for it. The cotton was carried in the direction of Opelousas or Washington, on the road which leads from my plantation to both places. I was present when Narcisse Zeringue loaded with the cotton to be taken to Mr. de Caillon, but I did not myself go to de Caillon. I recollect that some few of the persons of whom I had spoken of having sold cotton to claimant delivered their cotton themselves at the time the cotton was sold. These persons were Charles B. Smith, Girard Prejeau, Casimir Rouzeau; I am not sure of any other. I know how many bales of cotton Narcisse Zeringue took from claimant's warehouse to be transported to Mr. de Callion; there were 81 bales. Being with claimant in 1861 and 1862, I can testify to his neutrality during the conflict between the Confederates and the United States Government; during the whole of that time, during the years 1861 and 1862, he maintained a complete neutrality between the contending Governments. I know that during the whole of the war he maintained, so far as my knowledge extends, that neutrality. I know

H. Ex. 235--34

that during the war claimant made appeal for protection to the French consul in New Orleans. I went there with him. Claimant is a Frenchman by birth. I never saw his relations in France.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States: At the time I acted as claimant's clerk I resided in the town of Opelousas; my plantation that I have spoken of is 9 miles from Opelousas; the bargain for all the cotton I testified about was made in claimant's office in Opelousas; the different lots of cotton were not at the store; they were at the planter's. I have been to identify them other cotton of claimant besides those which were at my plantation andthose sold by Smith, Prejeau, and Rouzeau.

Q. What other cotton have you so seen, from whom they were purchased, how were they marked, where did you see them, and when?-A. The 81 bales I saw in the warehouses of claimant; I cannot tell the names of the persons from whom purchased; I cannot give marks; I saw the cotton in the two warehouses when brought by the planters until it was taken away.

Q. Please state whether you can give the names of any of the planters who brought cotton to said warehouses, except Smith, Prejeau, and Rouzeau.-A. I cannot tell without having reference to the books.

Q. Were you present at any bargain made by F. Vautrot with claimant for the sale of cotton?-A. I was not present.

Q. What do you know of your own knowledge relative to the sale of any cotton by Vautrot to claimant ?-A. I do not know anything except what was told me by Vautrot; I never saw the 98 bales of Mr. Vautrout's cotton; I left claimant in October or November, 1862; after that, during the war, I lived on my plantation; claimant during the whole war lived in Opelousas.

Q. What do you mean by the word neutrality?-A. I mean by neutrality the complete abstention from participation in the political transactions of the country. I know claimant for the last twenty years, during all the time in this country; I do not know of anything more about claimant being born in France from what he told me. I am a Frenchman by birth; I never was naturalized; I never voted in this country; I never seen claimant vote; I don't believe he ever voted; I recollect that Narcisse Zeringue took away 81 bales of cotton from the warehouses, because I was there while the two wagons were loading during the two days and a half; I counted the bales myself, and I remember distinctly there were 81 bales. The cotton was taken to de Caillon by an order of the town corporation; the cotton was hauled away at the beginning of the spring of 1862. It is usual to store cotton in the town of Opelousas in warehouses. I do not know that cotton was required to be taken out of the town before that time or since. The Federal troops were then expected to come here.

Q. Did you never know claimant to give anything to fit out troops for the Confederate Army or to help them in any way?-A. Inever seen him give anything; I never heard that he gave anything.

Second general question by the parish judge: Do you know of any other matter in relation to the claim in question; if you do, state it fully?-A. I do not.

T. VALADE.

Deposition of Joseph Bloch for claimant, taken at Opelousas, La., on the 5th day of January, 1869.

First general interrogatory by the parish judge: Please state your name, your occupation, your age, your place of residence the past year; whether you have any interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and whether and in what degree you are related to the claimant ?-A. My name is Joseph Bloch; my occupation is that of a merchant; I am thirty five years old; my residence within the past year has been in Opelousas, parish of Saint Landry; I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the claim which is the subject of inquiry, and I am not related in any degree to the claimant.

Being interrogated by HENRY L. GARLAND, Esq., counsel for the claimant, the witness says:

I have been residing in Opelousas since the year 1860, with the exception of two years and a half while I resided in the city of New Orleans, but in that time I came often to Opelousas; I resided in Opelousas from 1860 to September, 1864, continuously, except about three months (June, July, and August, 1860) I was absent from Opelousas; claimant resided in the town of Opelousas during the time I did; we both resided in the same street in the town of Opelousas; I don't know of claimant's taking any part in the late conflict between the Confederate States and the United States; I know that he contested going into the Confederate army; he contested before the courts and before the Confederate military authorities; I know that claimant

was arrested and ordered to report to Alexandria; he reported there, claiming to be a French subject; getting no satisfaction there, he was ordered to report to Shreveport; he was finally discharged by the military authorities at Shreveport; I was likewise prosecuted at the same time by the same authorities; I don't know that claimant ever voted in the country; I know of his making claim for protection to the French consul during the late war.

Cross-examination by WM. FESSENDEN, Esq., counsel for the United States: Claimant claim for protection at the same time that I was absent from Opelousas, as stated above; June, July, and August, 1863; we went by the Teche through Little Bayous to Plaquemine; I am a French subject, and never was naturalized.

Q. What do you mean by saying that claimant never took any part in the conflict between the United States and the Confederate States?-A. I mean to say that he has taken no part on either side and remained neutral.

Q. Do you mean to say that he never took up arms on either side?-A. I mean to say that he never took up arms on either side; claimant was arrested and discharged after we went to New Orleans; he was arrested, as much as I can recollect, in June, 1864, and discharged about one month after; I was with him all the time; from the time he was arrested until he was discharged; I was not discharged at the same time with him; I was discharged four or five days after.

Second general interrogatory by the parish judge. Do you know of any other matter relative to the claim in question? If you do, state it fully.-A. I was present when claimant obtained a receipt from Colonel Sargeant for a lot of cotton that had been taken by the Federals in May, 1863.

Q. Do you know of your knowledge it was for cotton taken away?-A. 1 only know from what the receipt said.

(Objected to by William Fessenden, esq., attorney for the United States.)

J. BLOCH. Deposition of C. Babled for claimant, taken at New Orleans, Louisiana, on tne 3d day of March, 1870. Filed March 12, 1870.

By the COMMISSIONER:

Q. Please state your name, age, residence, and occupation; whether you are in any degree related to the claimant in this suit, or interested in the result thereof?-A. My name is C. Babled; am 34 years old; I resided in Opelousas part of 1860 and 1861; I reside now in New Orleans; my occupation is a clerk; I am not related in any degree to the claimant in this suit nor interested in the result thereof. I know Jules Perrodin and Auguste Perrodin; have known them since I was in Opelousas; I was in their employment about November, 1860, to June, 1861; they were at that time in partnership, in 1860; this partnership was dissolved some time in September or October, 1862; I know this, because I wrote the agreement of dissolution myself.

Being shown the paper which is handed to witness, he is asked if that is the agreement of dissolution to which he refers. He says it is; it is genuine; I wrote it out myself, and the signatures thereto are the genuine signatures of the parties.

(Copy of this agreement is produced and marked M2, because the original is in a bound book containing many other things. The original being in French, a literal translation will be made by the commissioner and annexed to this deposition as a part thereof.)

After the dissolution Mr. Jules Perrodin carried on the business himself. I was in Opelousas at the time I wrote out this agreement. At the time Mr. Jules Perrodin was a person whom I considered pretty well off-not of very large means. I never saw him in any military organization.

Cross-examined:

I am not an American citizen. I am a Frenchman. I lived in New Orleans before living in Opelousas. I was a clerk of the Perrodins. The business of the firm was having a country store and making advances to small planters-a sort of commission business on a small scale. I left their employment some time in May or June, 1861. I did not stay in Opelousas after that time. I came back to New Orleans. I was in Opelousas in October, 1862. I was traveling on business and passing through Opelousas at that time. I left New Orleans in July, 1861. From the time I left New Orleans, in 1861, up to the time I was in Opelousas, in October, 1862, I had not been in New Orleans. I had no regular standing business. My residence was at Alexandria. I was not more than fifteen days nor less than ten days in Opelousas in October, 1862. As I had been in their employment they called on me to write the articles of dissolution. Auguste Perrodin was there at the time. He was then in the Confederate Ariny, on furlongh.

Q. Will you undertake to swear positively that the paper written by you as a dis