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embarkation; arrived before this Place, you will hoist your Flag of Provence at your mizen for a signal, and wait until the Pilot comes on board, who will bring you a Letter from Monsieur Dutocq, by which you will be instructed how to conduct yourself.

"Having disembarked, you will be pleased to remain near your Cargo, and send back the Vessel to us with the Mate, with enough funds, if possible, to pay off the Vessel; you will find our Letters at Cuba; we therefore wish you a fortunate Voyage. We remain, &c."

In consequence of the illness of His Majesty's Commissary Judge, the Case did not come before the Court for adjudication until the 16th of November, when, from his continued and serious indisposition, His Majesty's Acting Arbitrator sat, with the Judge of His Majesty the King of The Netherlands, to hear and decide on the Case as it stood before the Court. The Proctor for the Captor, after pointing out the contradictions between the Answers of the Mate (Hurel) to the Standing and Special Interrogatories, and the statement set forth in his Claim, and accompanying Affidavit, and more particularly with respect to his knowledge of the Owners of the Vessel, whom, in the former, he swears he does not know; but, in the latter, deposes to be Messrs. Pardo and Pardo, of St. Thomas, and this even in contradiction of the Dutch Papers under which she sailed, and which shew the Master, Lieutaud, to be also the Owner; and again, that he never knew the Vessel by any other name than De Snelheid, nor that she was furnished by any other than Dutch Papers, although by the French Papers with which she sailed from Guadaloupe, and in which this man's name is.entered as Second Officer or Mate, it appears that she was, during the present Voyage, called Entreprise; then moved the Court to pronounce Sentence of Condemnation of the Vessel and Cargo, which, from the Papers found on board her, and the proofs filed in the Case, there could be no doubt, had been engaged in the Slave-traffick, contrary to the existing Treaties between Great Britain and The Netherlands. He further urged, that, although the Slaves on board her had been shipped since the Seizure by the Atalanta, and without any agency on the part of the original Crew; still, that, as it appeared they were partly purchased by the rum belonging to the Cargo of De Snelheid, that they should be included in the Sentence of Condemnation. The Proctor for the Claimant made some observations; but, as he had filed nothing in support of the Claim, this was not material to the Case, and the Judges, therefore, proceeded, after severely animadverting on the perjury of the Mate (Hurel), to give Judgment to the following

effect:

That, from the evident illegal object of the whole transaction, exemplified in the two sets of Papers found on board, and distinctly shewn in the French Letter found among them, and which, although evidently

written to deceive the vigilance of any legal Examination, and consequently without name, date or address, they could only consider as Instructions to the Master, Lieutaud, in the disposal of the Slaves this Vessel was intended for; the circumstance, also, of the Vessel being on these shores at the greatest Slave Marts on the Windward Coast, and the improbability of the story set up by the Claimant, that it was only to procure fresh provisions and water; together with the absence of the Master on shore, further pointed out the true object of the Voyage, and which, but for the Capture by the Atalanta, would, no doubt, have been realized; the equipment of the Vessel, moreover, at the time of Seizure, as sworn to by Sebastian Munof, and corroborated by the Report of the Commissioners of Inspection and Survey, set aside any doubt which might exist on the minds of the Judges; and they, therefore, condemned the Vessel, her tackle, apparel, and furniture, under the further Additional Article to the Treaty of the 4th of May, 1818, between Great Britain and The Netherlands, as good and lawful Prize to His Majesty's Ship-of-War Brazen, G. W. Willes, Esq. Commander. With respect to the Slaves on board, shipped since the Seizure by the Atalanta in the River Nazareth; and also the gold and dollars mentioned in the Declaration of the Captor, "which he has reason to suppose were plundered from an American Schooner, called the Cassandra, on the Windward Coast," being also a subsequent transaction; they are, however, of a different opinon; and, as the Case of this Vessel is considered prior to her Seizure by the Atalanta, cognizance being only taken of the Voyage while she sailed under the command of the Master, Lieutaud, and the original Crew, the Judges cannot include them in this Sentence, which would otherwise have the effect of an interference in the acts of the Spaniards, who forcibly seized, and since piratically employed, this Vessel, and with which this Court can have nothing whatever to do. JOS. REFFELL.

No. 80.-His Majesty's Commissioners to Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq. (Received 9th March.)

SIR,

Sierra Leone, 15th January, 1827. IN pursuance of the 75th Clause of the Act, passed in the 5th Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, entitled, " An Act to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to the Abolition of the Slave-trade," and in conformity with the Instructions received from Mr. Secretary Canning, we beg leave to enclose, in Duplicate, a Return of all the Cases of Netherland Vessels which have been adjudicated in the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice established here, from the 1st day of July, 1826, to the 1st day of January, 1827. We have, &c. N. CAMPBELL.

Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq.

JOS. REFFELL.

(Enclosure.)-Return of Netherland Vessels, adjudicated by the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice established at Sierra Leone, from the 1st day of July, 1826, to the 1st day of January, 1827.

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La For May 15,1826 Schooner G. W. Willes, July 17,1826 Condemned for illicit-The Schooner sold and 245 H. M. S. Brazen. Slaves.

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ly trading in Slaves.

by Publick Auction, and one moiety of the Proceeds thereof paid into the Military Chest; one moiety paid to The Netherland Judge.

G. W. Willes, Nov. 16, 1826 Condemned for illicit-The Brigantine sold

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tine and H. M. S. Brazen.
23Slaves

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No.81.-His Majesty's Comm". to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Rec. Apr. 14.)

SIR,

Sierra Leone, 19th February, 1827.

We had the honour to receive your Despatch of the 5th of December, 1826, acquainting us, for our information, and that of the other Gentlemen composing the Mixed Board of Commission, that the Instructions referred to in the Treaty between Great Britain and The Netherlands, for the Suppression of the Slave-trade, have been issued to certain of His Majesty's Ships, and that those Instructions which had been issued to His Majesty's Ships Hussar, Dartmouth, Dispatch, Ferret, and Swinger, have been recalled and cancelled.

We have, &c.

The Right Hon. George Canning.

N. CAMPBELL.
JOS. REFFELL.

No. 82.—Sir Neil Campbell to Mr. Secretary Canning.—(Rec. June 7.)
SIR,
Sierra Leone, 31st March, 1827.

I HAVE the honour to forward herewith, the Report of the Case of the Brig Lynx, Peter Eugene Terrasse, Master, which Vessel was detained, on the 9th of January, 1827, in Latitude 2. 20. North, and Longitude 6. East, sailing under Netherland Colours, with 265 Slaves on board, 14 of whom died on the Passage to this Harbour, where the

Vessel arrived on the 8th of February, 1827, and was condemned in the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice, as Prize to His Majesty's Ship Esk, W. J. Purchas, Esq. Commander, on the 21st of February, 1827, and the surviving Slaves, 251 in number, emancipated.

The circumstances under which this Vessel, evidently French property, obtained Netherland Papers, and the Master a Certificate of Naturalization, are similar to the Case of the Vogel, to which your attention was drawn by the late Mr. Williams, in his Despatch, marked Netherlands, dated 4th April, 1826, with the exception that, in this instance, the Master swears, that he has never been at St. Eustatius since he was a Boy, but that himself and the Vessel remained at St. Thomas, to which Port the Papers, and Certificate of Naturalization, were sent from St. Eustatius, and which he further declares upon oath, is a common practice of obtaining them. I have, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning.

N. CAMPBELL.

(Enclosure.)-Report of the Case of The Netherland Brig Lynx, Peter Eugene Terrasse, Master.

THIS Vessel was detained, on the 9th of January, 1827, in or about Latitude 2. 20. North, and Longitude 6. East, by His Majesty's Ship Esk, W. J. Purchas, Esq. Commander, who states in his Declaration, "that she was sailing under Netherland Colours, and commanded by P. Eugene Terrasse, who declared her to be bound to Martinique from the First River, (from Cape Formoso) with 265 Slaves, said to have been taken on board between the 3d and 4th of January, 1827," 14 of whom died on the Passage here, where the Vessel arrived on the 6th of February.

On the following day, the Papers of the Vessel were brought into Court by Lieutenant Arthur Kellet, and a Petition received from the Captor's Proctor for leave to file them, and that the usual Monition might issue; this being granted, the same went forth, on the 8th of February, returnable on the 17th of the same month.

From the Evidence before the Court, it appeared that the Vessel, which was owned by Mr. Baronette, at Martinique, was taken possession of by the Master in August, 1826, from which Colony she must have gone to the Danish Island of St. Thomas, as, on the 4th of September, she takes her departure from that Port, furnished with Dutch Papers from St. Eustatius, dated in August, and sailed direct for the River Bras, near Cape Formoso, where 270 Slaves were taken on board, 5 of whom died previous to Capture.

No Claim was made in this Case.

The Court met for Adjudication on the 21st of February, and it being clearly a Case of Condemnation under the Treaty between

Great Britain and The Netherlands, decreed accordingly, and the Emancipation of the surviving 251 Slaves, who had already been landed by permission of the Court. The Court further declared 265 Slaves to have been on board at the time of Capture by His Majesty's said Ship Esk, W. J. Purchas, Esq. Commander.

N. CAMPBELL.

No. 83.-His Majesty's Comm. to John Backhouse, Esq.-(Rec. Sept. 18.) SIR, Sierra Leone, 5th July, 1827. In pursuance of the 75th Clause of the Act, passed in the 5th Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, entitled, "An Act to amend and consolidate the Laws relating to the Abolition of the Slave-trade;" we beg leave to enclose, in Duplicate, a Return of all the Cases of Netherland Vessels adjudicated in the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice, established here, from the 1st day of January to the 1st day of July, 1827. We have, &c.

John Backhouse, Esq.

H. LUMLEY.
WM. SMITH.

(Enclosure.)—Return of Netherland Vessels adjudicated by the British and Netherland Mixed Court of Justice, established at Sierra Leone, from the 1st day of January, 1827, to the 1st day of July, 1827.

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N. B. The Proceeds of the Sale of the Brigantine De Snelheid reported in the last Return a being in the hands of the Commissioners of Appraisement and Sale, have since been received, and one moiety of the Proceeds thereof paid into the Military Chest, and the other moiety to de Judge of His Netherland Majesty. JOS. REFFELL, Registrar.

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