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COMMUNICATIONS received at the Colonial Office from the Governor of Sierra Leone, on the subject of the SlaveTrade.-1819, 1820.

No.

LIST OF PAPERS.

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1. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 25th February, 1819. 915 2. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 22nd June, 3. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 24th August, 4. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 6th September, 5. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 17th February, 1820. 6. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 6th March, 7. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 8th March, 8. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 27th May, 9. Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst....Sierra Leone, 13th June,

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No. 1.-Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst.-Sierra Leone,

MY LORD,

25th February, 1819.

[See State Papers, Vol. 1821, 1822, Page 225.]

No. 2.-Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst.

Sierra Leone, 22nd June, 1819. I HAD the honour of receiving, on the 16th instant, your Letter of the 16th of April, transmitting Copies of the Acts of the 58th of the King, and Treaties with Spain and Portugal; and I have to inform your Lordship of the arrival in this Harbour, on the 7th instant, of Messrs. Thomas Gregory, and his Nephew, and 2 Spanish Commissioner 3, Messrs. Francisco Lefer and Joseph Campo. These Gentlemen having communicated to me their Instructions, on the 8th, they were duly sworn into Office on the 9th; and I humbly trust that I anticipated, by the marks of consideration I paid to their public characters, and also to them individually, the receipt of your Instructions.

It afforded me very great satisfaction to intimate to Chief Justice Fitzgerald, and to King's Advocate Hamilton, the very flattering manner in which your Lordship has been pleased to mention their respective Appointments; and I am most fully confident that they will continue to prove themselves deserving of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent's confidence.

No time was lost in securing as convenient a building as the Colony could afford, for an office to the Commission, although I regret to state, it could not be obtained but at the rate of £300. per Annum. I

shall duly transmit, by an early opportunity, a plan and estimate for such a Residence as I conceive would be necessary for the Commission. I have the honour to be, &c.

Earl Bathurst, K. G.

C. MAC CARTHY.

No. 3.-Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst.

(Extract.) Sierra Leone, 24th August, 1819. I HAVE the honour to inform your Lordship, that Captain Kelly, commanding His Majesty's Sloop Pheasant, returned here on the 17th instant, and a Portuguese Schooner of 11 tons, taken in the Bight of Biafra, the property of Don Joze Fereira Gomez, Governor of the Portuguese Island of Princes. When the Schooner was taken, she had 71 Slaves on board; and, owing to the extreme care and attention of the Captain and Officers of the Pheasant, only lost 1 on her passage. I enclose herewith an Extract of the Declaration of Captain Kelly, as to the state in which he found the Schooner. As the Portuguese Commissioners have not yet arrived, we had it not in our power to adopt any other measures, but to take the usual depositions, and land the unfortunate Africans. I have sent the whole of them to the Negro Town of Bathurst. Captain Strong, commanding the Morgiana, arrived on the 10th with a Schooner of 50 tons, under Spanish Colours, taken near Little Bassa, having only 1 Slave on board. The Master was on shore, and refused coming here. One or two days before, a large Schooner, in attempting to get inside of a ledge of rocks near Grand Bassa, to avoid being taken by the Morgiana, got into the surf and was lost. Captain Strong saw the masts washed over-board, and many unfortunate Slaves running to the woods; there is every reason to believe that many must have lost their lives in the hold, where they are generally kept in irons. The Schooner showed no colours; but, from the circumstance of the Officer who was sent with Boats to attempt to intercept some Canoes loaded with Slaves, prior to the loss of the Schooner, hearing distinctly the Master of her giving the word, fire," which was actually carried into effect, on the Boats of the Morgiana, (without any loss, however,) there is reason to believe that she was either an American or English. Captain Strong, whose cruise did not extend farther than Accra, met 8 Slave Vessels ready to trade, but as they had no Slaves on board, he did not interrupt them. Earl Bathurst, K. G. C. MAC CARTHY.

(Extract.)

(Inclosure.)-Declaration of Captain Kelly.

I Do further declare, that the state in which these unfortunate Creatures were found, is shocking to every principle of humanity; 17 Men shackled together in pairs by the legs, and 20 Boys, were on the

hatches in the main hold, a space measuring 18 feet in length, 7 feet 8 inches main breadth, and 1 foot 8 inches in height, and under them the yams for their support. One of these unfortunate Creatures was in the last stage of dysentery, whose natural evacuations ran involuntarily from him amongst those yams, creating an effluvia too shocking for description. On their being released from irons, their appearance was most distressing; scarcely any of them could stand on their legs from cramp and evident starvation. The space allowed for the Females, 34 in number, was even more contracted than that for the Men, measuring only 9 feet 4 inches in length, 4 feet 8 inches main breadth, and 2 feet 7 inches in height; but not being confined in irons, and perhaps allowed during the day to come on deck, they did not present so distressing an appearance as the former. B. M. KELLY.

MY LORD,

No. 4.-Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst.

Sierra Leone, 6th September, 1819. I HAD the honour of receiving, on the 4th instant, by His Majesty's Gun-brig Snapper, your Lordship's Letter of the 29th of July, signifying to me the commands of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, that I should take immediate steps for conveying the French Schooner Sylph, if within the limits of my government, to the nearest French Port; and I have to state, in answer, that Captain Hunn, on being informed that no Instructions had been received here as to the trial of French Vessels trading for Slaves, deemed himself authorized to land here the greatest proportion of the Crew of that Vessel, who solicited to be permitted to avail themselves of such opportunities as might offer, to return to Guadaloupe or the West Indies; and took under his charge the Sylph, with the Master, and, I believe, a few Sailors. The Officers and Men landed here have long since returned to the West Indies. No proceedings were taken in the Court of Admiralty; the Slaves, only, were disposed of in the manner stated in my Letter of the 25th of February. I have the honour to be, &c.

Earl Bathurst, K. G.

C. MAC CARTHY.

No. 5.-Governor Mac Carthy to Earl Bathurst.

MY LORD, Sierra Leone, 17th February, 1820. I BEG leave to inform your Lordship, that Captain Leeke, of His Majesty's Sloop Myrmidon, arrived in these Roads on the 8th instant, from a cruize to the Gallinas, and brought with him 5 Vessels, taken in or near that place, viz. a Privateer or Pirate, under the Venezuelan Flag, with 2 Spanish Slave Vessels, plundered by the Pirate; a Portuguese Vessel, with 1 Slave; and a Schooner under French Colours, with 104 Slaves. I received at the same time a Letter from Captain Sandilands, commanding His Majesty's Sloop Morgiana, who had taken

the latter Vessel. I have the honour to transmit herewith enclosed, Copies of the Letter alluded to, and of the 2 Documents to which it refers, proving that these Slaves were procured and sold to the Master of the French Vessel, by a Man of the name of Kearney, who has resided in this Colony since the evacuation of Senegal, and carried on his trade under the British Flag.

I also enclose Copies of a Letter addressed to me by Capt. Leeke, and my Answer to the same; and lastly, the Copy of a Letter written to me by the Mate of the French Schooner (the Master having remained at the Gallinas) protesting against the detention of his Vessel.

Commodore Sir George Collier appearing to concur in opinion with Captain Leeke, it is at present proposed, though not finally decided, that the Slaves be landed here, and the Vessel sent with all the necessary proofs to Senegal.

I humbly trust that, under all the circumstances of the case, your Lordship will approve of the measure.

I have further to observe, that by information I obtained 10 days ago, from one of the principal Inhabitants of the Colony, lately returned from the Rio Nunez, there are now 2 Vessels trading for Slaves under the French Flag, in that River: that several have been employed in the same traffic, in the Rio Pongas: that it is well known in the Gambia, that several small Craft from Goree are continually employed in that illegal manner, between Cape de Verd, Bissagos, and Cacheu, and as none of His Most Christian Majesty's Men-of-war are either stationed or cruizing in these Latitudes, the French Slave-trade is increasing and must increase.

For further information on that subject I beg leave to refer to Capt. Strong, lately promoted to the rank of Post, from the command of the Morgiana, who returns to England, and who was particularly zealous and successful during the time he served on this Coast. I have the honour to be, &c.

Earl Bathurst, K. G.

SIR,

C. MAC CARTHY.

(Inclosure 1.)-Captain Sandilands to Governor Mac Carthy. H.M. S. Morgiana, off the Gallinas, 25th Jan. 1820. BEING informed that a Person of the name of J. O. Kearney, resident at the Gallinas, is in the habit of visiting Sierra Leone, I have the honour of transmitting to your Excellency, the Copy of a Contract entered into by him and others, with the Captain of the French Schooner La Maric, detained for adjudication by His Majesty's Sloop Morgiana; also a Letter of Iustructions issued by him to the said Captain, which will, I have no doubt, clearly point out to your Excellency the interest he has in the Vessel, and the active and direct part he has taken in

procuring and putting her Slaves on board, thereby subjecting himself to all the penalties of the Acts of Parliament prohibiting His Majesty's Subjects being engaged in the Slave-trade.

I have the honour to be, &c.

Governor Mac Carthy.

ALEX. A. SANDILANDS.

(Sub-Inclosures.)—Contract between Mr. J. O. Kearney and the Captain of La Marie, and Instructions from Mr. Kearney to Captain Guiot. (See page 811.)

SIR,

(Inclosure 2.)—Captain Leeke to Governor Mac Carthy.

H.M.S. Myrmidon, Sierra Leone, 13th Feb. 1820. HAVING arrived in this River with several Vessels detained by me, and having communicated with Sir George Collier, upon the subject of the motives which induced me to examine, and ultimately detain, the Schooner La Marie, under French Colours, with a cargo of Slaves shipped by Mr. Kearney, a British Subject, at the Gallinas, I have, in conformity to his opinion, to request your Excellency will assist me with the opinion of His Majesty's Law Officers, upon the propriety of landing the Slaves immediately, in order to guard against disease and contagion, several of them being very ill.

In order to enable your Excellency to form a proper opinion of the Case, I beg leave to submit to you the following facts, observing, that in the Case of the Sylph, French Schooner, captured by His Majesty's Sloop Redwing, His Majesty's Government has directed the Vessel and stores to be sent for adjudication to the nearest French Port, together with such proofs as can be produced of her having violated the Laws of her Country, in order to her being tried for the same, thereby implying the illegality of the proceedings of the French Master of the Sylph, a line of conduct I understand intended to be pursued by the Commodore.

The Schooner La Marie being at anchor off the River Gallinas, in the midst of 6 Spanish Vessels, fitted for the traffic in Slaves, naturally gave cause for suspicion that she was intended for the same purpose; and as I had been twice before deceived by Spanish and other Vessels making use of the French Flag to evade their being searched, I was induced in consequence to give orders that she should be boarded, and upon examination she was found to have a cargo of 104 Slaves on board; and her Documents clearly proving that they were the property of a British Subject, J. O. Kearney, now residing at the Gallinas, as I have before stated, was the reason for my having deemed it necessary to detain her.

Governor Mac Carthy.

I have the honour to be, &c.

HENRY S. LEEKE.

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