The evidence given by Mariano Casa, the Boatswain of the Vessel, is the same in substance with that of the Second Captain, except in the number of slaves said to have been taken on board. The Boatswain states that only 90 Slaves were shipped at Bimbia. The Papers of the Vessel shew that she cleared from Santiago de Cuba on the 8th of June, 1825, with a general Cargo for St. Thomas', and a Crew of 25 men and boys commanded by Manoel de Sierra. The proofs of illicit Slave-trade being thus clearly established, the Court passed Sentence of Condemnation against the Schooner Ana, and decreed the Emancipation of the surviving Slaves, on the 3d day of January, 1826. GEO. RENDALL. No. 28.-George Rendall. Esq. to Mr. Sec. Canning.-(Rec. June 2.) I HAVE the honour to enclose, for your information, a Report of the Case of the Spanish Brigantine Ninfa Habanera, José Puiz y Miro, Master, brought in here for Adjudication on the 21st of December, 1825, having been detained on the 17th of November, off Accra, by His Majesty's Ship Brazen, Captain George Wicken Willes, for having carried 50 Slaves from Accra to Popoe: 231 Slaves were on shore at Popoe at the time of seizure, which the Master acknowledged to be the Cargo belonging to the said Brigantine. The Cook belonging to the Vessel corroborated the evidence of the Master. It being clearly proved that 50 Slaves had been shipped on board the Ninfa Habanera during the present voyage, the Court felt no hesitation in passing Sentence of Condemnation of the Vessel, and gave it as their opinion, that most of the Slaves that were brought from Popoe to this Colony, did compose the Cargo belonging to that Vessel, but as they were not on board at the time of capture, the Court could not decree their Emancipation. I have, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. GEO. RENDALL. (Enclosure.)-Report of the Case of the Spanish Brigantine Ninfa Habanera, Jozé Puiz y Miro, Master. THIS Vessel arrived in the Harbour of Freetown on the 21st of December, 1825, with 228 Slaves on board, consisting of 103 men, 70 women, 35 boys, and 20 girls. On the same day the Ship's Papers, duly authenticated by Lieutenant Walker, of His Majesty's Ship Brazen, together with the Declaration of the Captor, Captain G. W. Willes, were filed in the Registry of the Court. The usual Monition was prayed and issued on the 22d of December, and returned into Court on the 30th, certified by the Marshal as having been duly served. The Declaration of Captain George Wicken Willes, commanding His Majesty's Ship Brazen, states, that he detained the Spanish Brigantine Ninfa Habanera, of The Havannah, off Accra, on the 17th of November, 1825, for having had Slaves on board for the purpose of illicit Traffick during her present voyage; and further, that, on the 22d of November, he obtained from Little Popoe 231 Slaves, being the cargo of the said Vessel, acknowledged as such by the Master, Jozé Puiz y Miro, as well as the Caboceer and principal People of Popoe. The Master, Jozé Puiz y Miro, in answer to the Standing Interrogatories, deposed, that the Owner, Emecildo Laureyro, who lives in The Havannah, appointed him to the command of the Vessel on the 31st of May last. She has been called the Ninfa Habanera for the two last voyages, but was formerly called the Segunda Ligera. She is 150 tons burthen, had a Crew of 46, Officers and Mariners; sailed under Spanish Colours; was seized for having carried 50 Slaves from Accra to Popoe. The present voyage commenced at The Havannah, and was to have ended there; it was her last clearing Port; anchored at Quittah, Popoe, and Accra; at the first Place, to ascertain her Longitude, at the two last, to trade for Slaves; was captured off Accra on the 17th of November, 1825; was armed with 1 twelve-pounder, on a pivot, and 5 carronades, also some muskets, cutlasses, powder and shot. The Slaves were put on board the Schooner by the Captain of the Man-of-war. Fifty Slaves were taken on board from the time they commenced trading at Accra from the shore, and landed at Popoe; 21 men, 20 women, and 9 children. In answer to Special Interrogatories, put by the permission of the Court, he stated, that most of the Slaves put on board at Little Popoe were the same that he purchased for the Brigantine taken; but some of the healthy ones were exchanged by the Caboceer of Popoe, with whom they were in charge, for sickly ones; they were all confined in one house, the men in irons, the women and children were not; they were in the actual possession of the second Pilot of the Brigantine; believes the Caboceer sent them on board, but cannot be positive; the son of the Caboceer of Popoe, and two other People of that Place, were on board at the time of capture; they were landed at Little Popoe. He purchased 50 Slaves at Accra from a Caboceer named Ancrah. He lives nearer the Dutch Fort than the English; the Brigantine lay equally distant from the Danish and the Dutch Forts, out of gun-shot of the English Fort; the 50 Slaves were shipped in Ancrah's Canoes; did not purchase any Slaves from Mr. Hansen; made the bargain with Ancrah for the 50 Slaves, who distributed the money among his friends; believes one is named Quarty Cudjoe, and knows that Ay, the brother of Ancrah, is another; the latter is Mr. Hansen's head-man; part of the 50 Slaves were supplied by him; does not know if they were on Mr. Hansen's account; Ay was with Ancrah daily; was there when the agreement was made for the 50 Slaves; went once to Mr. Hansen's House to pur chase a barrel of tar, and another time with a Spanish Captain to purchase a piece of silk. Mr. Hansen did not recommend Ancrah to him, nor did he ever speak about Slaves; does not know if Mr. Hansen authorized the sale of the Slaves, or whether the purchase was by his order, or on his account; Mr. Hansen did not send him to Ancrah, nor does he know if the Slaves were furnished by Mr. Hansen's orders. Luiz de Seppe, the Cook belonging to this Vessel, was also examined upon the Standing Interrogatories, and corroborated the evidence of the Master. The Vessel's Papers shew that she was fitted out at The Havannah, from whence she cleared for Princes Island on the 14th of June, 1825, with a general Cargo of dry goods, rum, tobacco, &c. The fact of 50 Slaves having been shipped on board the Ninfa Habanera at Accra, during the present voyage, and afterwards landed at Popoe, being clearly proved, the Court felt no hesitation, on the 3d of January, 1826, in pronouncing Sentence of Condemnation against the Vessel, as having been illegally engaged in the Slave-trade at the time of Capture; but as it was proved that no Slaves were actually on board the Ninfa Habanera when detained by His Majesty's Ship Brazen, and as no satisfactory evidence was given of the means by which the 231 Slaves shipped at Popoe were obtained by the Captors, the Court could not decree their Emancipation; at the same time expressing its opinion, that most of the Slaves brought to this Colony, in the said Brigantine Ninfa Habanera, did compose the Cargo belonging to that Vessel. GEO. RENDALL. No. 29.-His Majesty's Comm". to Mr. Sec". Canning.—(Rec. June 2. ) The Adjudication of the Iberia took place on the 21st instant, and as the Traffick in Slaves is by Treaty entirely prohibited to the Subjects of His Catholick Majesty, and this Vessel having been actually found with 422 Slaves on board at the time of capture, no difficulty could arise regarding the decision, and Sentence of Condemnation was, therefore, pronounced against her. We have, &c. The Right Hon. Geo Canning. J. T. WILLIAMS. (Enclosure.)--Report of the Case of the Spanish Schooner Iberia, Andres Insua, Master. THIS Vessel was captured by His Majesty's Ship Brazen, Captain G. W. Willes, on the 7th day of December, 1825, in Latitude 4. 25, N. and Longitude 3. 43. West, having, as he states in his Declaration, 325 Slaves on board. She arrived in this Harbour the 22d January, 1826, and was immediately visited by the Surgeon of the Court, who recommended, that as the Slaves on board were in a very crowded state, and many suffering from dysentery, as well as 15 cases of small-pox, and also many emaciated and debilitated, that those in a healthy state should be allowed to be landed instantly, and those suffering from small-pox, dysentery, &c. be kept on board, and the Vessel placed in quarantine, till such time as the infection ceased. A Petition was immediately made to the Court to land the healthy Slaves, which was granted, and the Vessel placed in quarantine for some days, owing to which the Papers in this Case were not filed until the 28th January; which having been done, a Monition was prayed for and granted on the 31st, citing the Parties interested in the Case, to appear and shew cause why she should not be condemned as lawful Prize. This Vessel, by the Papers found on board, of which there were only four, viz. Passport, List of Crew, Countersign, and Bill of Sale, declare her to have cleared out from Havannah on the 16th July, 1825, for the Island of Princes on the Coast of Africa, for legitimate Commerce, and not to trade for Slaves; and yet, on the 6th of October following, she is boarded by the Boats of His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, while lying at anchor at Lagos, as appears by the endorsement of the Boarding Officer on the back of her Papers. It is necessary to remark that, as no Log, or any other Papers or Writings than those above stated, were found on board of her, there can be no doubt but that they were destroyed during the chase of the said Vessel, which occupied 50 hours, yet the Master declares, in his Examination; that no Papers, Letters, Writings or other Documents, which were on board the Vessel, when she took her departure from the last clearing Port, and before capture, were burnt, torn, thrown overboard, destroyed, cancelled, or concealed. He further declares, that the present voyage began at The Havannah, and when his Cargo was completed, it was to have ended there.-Havannah was the last clearing Port previous to Capture. The Schooner anchored at Accra and Lagos, during the voyage in which she was taken; she anchored at Accra to purchase provisions, and at Lagos to trade, half of the Cargo having been damaged from the length of time it had been on board; he was obliged to purchase Slaves, as he could not wait any longer to get palm-oil and ivory, and those Slaves he took on board to sell along the Coast from Lagos to Accra, (he would have passed them up by land, but a war between the King of Lagos and the King of Badaggery prevented his doing so,) and with the proceeds of them he intended to purchase palm-oil, ivory, and other produce; he further declares, that 422 Slaves were taken on board altogether, from the time the trading for them commenced to the completing of the Cargo, and that he is the sole Owner of them, and of the Vessel, which last fact is corroborated by the Bill of Sale found on board, and the former by Pedro Salvo, Carpenter of the said Schooner, who, in every other material point, corroborates the Master's Declaration. This Case presented no difficulty, the Treaty being plain and explicit, the Slave-trade to Spanish Vessels being totally prohibited.— The Court did not hesitate in pronouncing the Condemnation of the said Schooner, and that 422 Slaves were on board at the time of capture, 417 of whom were decreed to be emancipated, 5 having died before Adjudication. Sierra Leone, March 25, 1826. J. T. WILLIAMS. No. 30.-D. M. Hamilton, Esq. to Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq.— SIR, (Received October 16.) Sierra Leone, August 15, 1826. In pursuance of the 75th Clause of the Act, passed in the 5th Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled " An Act to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to the Abolition of the Slave-trade ;” and, in obedience to the Instructions received from Mr. Secretary Canning relative to the same, I beg leave to enclose, in duplicate, a List or Return of all Spanish Vessels which have been Adjudicated in the British and Spanish Court of Mixed Commission established at this Place, from the 1st day of January to the 30th day of June, 1826, both days inclusive. I have the honour to be, &c. J. Planta, Jun. Esq. D. M. HAMILTON. (Enclosure.)—Return of Spanish Vessels Adjudicated by the British and Spani Court of Mixed Commission, established at Sierra Leone, from the 1st day of J nuary to the 1st day of July, 1826. |