cessary steps for the apprehension of the Individuals composing the Crew of the Brigantine Magico, which arrived on these Coasts with a Cargo of African Negroes. I have likewise transmitted to the Commandant of the Naval Forces, on this Station, a Copy of the Documents which you forwarded to me in your Official Letter of the 3d instant, from the consideration, that to the Naval Department belongs the cognizance of the crimes committed on board the aforesaid Brigantine. And finally, I have transmitted likewise a certified Copy of the Proceedings to his Excellency the Minister of State, that all that has occurred with respect to the said Vessel may reach the knowledge of the King, my Master, in order that His Majesty may be pleased to resolve what may be His royal pleasure. All which I state to you, in reply to your Letter above referred to. God preserve you many Years. His Excellency the Intendant, and the FRANO. DION. VIVES. other Members of the Mixed Commission. No. 66.-His Majesty's Comm". to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Rec. May 19.) On the 9th instant, His Majesty's Schooner Speedwell, Lieutenant James C. Bennett, Commander, arrived here with a Cargo of Negroes belonging to the Spanish Brigantine Orestes; which Vessel had run aground near the Grass-cut-Keys, on the Bahama Bank, where she was found by the Speedwell, on the 5th instant, the Negroes being still on board in a very wretched state, from want of water and provisions, but the whole of the Crew having landed on one of the Keys. Finding it impossible to get the Orestes off, Lieutenant Bennett took the Negroes on board his own Vessel, together with the Master, the Mate and a Passenger, not having room for any more of the Crew. The Master died shortly after he was taken on board the Speedwell. The Mixed Commission, having received the Affidavit of Lieutenant Bennett, and the Depositions of the Mate and Passenger of the Orestes, pronounced a Decree, on the 15th instant, emancipating the Slaves and condemning the Vessel, should she, or any part of her, ever be saved. The Brigantine Orestes, Don Joze Ramon Mutio, Master, sailed from this Port on the 20th of July, 1825, for the Coast of Africa, where she arrived in the month of September, and remained till the 10th of January, on which day she received on board 284 or 285 Negroes, and immediately set sail on her return to this Island. In the last days of February, she was chased by 2 British Schooners, from which, however, she escaped, but shortly after ran aground near Grasscut-Keys. After 2 days, the Crew made a raft, all the Boats, it appears, having been lost, and proceeded to one of the Keys, leaving the Negroes on board: they had been 3 days in this situation when the Speedwell appeared, and took possession of the Orestes. We have the honour to enclose an Abstract of the Evidence, and a Translation of the Decree of the Court. Of the original number of Negroes received on board on the Coast of Africa, 22, according to one Witness, and 25, according to the other, died on the passage, previously to the day on which the Orestes ran aground; but neither of them was able to state how many were alive when she was taken possession of by the Speedwell, both agreeing that several had been drowned in consequence of the great quantity of water which had entered the hold after the Vessel had struck. According to Lieutenant Bennett's statement, many of the unfortunate Negroes must have died for want of proper provisions and of water, without which they had been for some days. He states, that there were 238 on board, besides several dead bodies, when he first visited the Orestes, of which number, 4 were drowned in the surf in attempting to get from the wreck into one of the Boats; 2 died on a Key on which they had been landed, previously to their being conveyed on board the Speedwell, which lay at a considerable distance; 10 of those who had been alive on the evening of the capture, were found dead on board the Orestes on the following morning; 10 died on board the Speedwell, and 212 were handed over to the Person appointed by the Captain-General to receive them. Certificates of the deaths were presented to the Mixed Commission by Lieutenant Bennett. In the 3 last Cases that have been decided by the Court, M. Pinillos has acted as Spanish Commissary Judge, and we have great satisfaction in stating, that, throughout the whole of the proceedings, he has mani. fested the same conciliatory disposition, and the same desire to act up to the spirit of the Treaty, which had, in all the previous Cases, as has been reported to you, uniformly marked the conduct of the Spanish Members of this Mixed Commission. By a Memorandum, endorsed on the Papers of the Orestes, it appears that she had been visited by one of His Majesty's Cruizers on the Coast of Africa. Similar Memorandums have been found upon the Papers of other Vessels condemned by the Mixed Commission; and we have reason to believe that many, perhaps the greater number, of the Slave Vessels that land their Cargoes on the Coasts of this Island, have been boarded by Boats belonging to British Ships of War on the Coast of Africa, but were not detained, as they had not Negroes actually on board at the time, although there could be no doubt that their sole object in being there was to engage in the Slave-trade. It is the practice of those Vessels to wait till their Cargoes are ready, and then ship them at once, and set sail immediately. The Mate of the Orestes stated, that her whole Cargo, amounting to 285, was shipped in 5 hours. It is obvious, therefore, that the greatest benefit would result from the adoption, by His Catholick Majesty, of an Article similar to the Additional Article of the 25th January, 1823, to the Slave-trade Treaty between His Majesty and the King of The Netherlands: by which the Cruizers are authorized to detain, and the Mixed Commission to condemn, Vessels found under precisely the same circumstances, as the Spanish Vessels here referred to, which have so often been enabled to elude the vigilance of His Majesty's Vessels of War. We have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. H. T. KILBEE. W. S. MACLEAY. (Enclosure 1.)—Abstract of the Evidence in the Case of the Brigantine Orestes. LIEUT. BENNETT stated, in his Affidavit, and in his Declaration of the state of the Prize at the time of the capture, that he found the Brigantine Orestes, on the 5th of March, aground in Latitude 23. 40. North, and Longitude 77. 20. West, off the Grass-Cut-Keys, on the Great Bahama Bank, with 238 Negroes on board, the Crew having landed on one of the Keys; that the Negroes were in a very exhausted state, having been left several days without water, and that many had died; that the Master, who, with the rest of the Crew, was on one of the Keys, delivered up to him 6 Papers, which were produced, and proved to be the regular Ship's Papers issued at this Port of Havannah in the month of July, 1825; that, finding it impossible to get the Orestes off the Reef, he took the Negroes out and put them on board the Schooner under his command, together with the Master of the Orestes, Don Joze Ramon Mutio, (who died shortly after), the Mate and a Passenger; and, that the very crowded state of his Schooner precluding the possibility of receiving on board the remainder of the Crew, (30 Individuals,) he left them on the Key on which he found them, supplying them with a sufficient quantity of provisions and water. Charles Pourrailly deposed, that he was a Native of France, and engaged in Commerce; that he knew the Brigantine Orestes, having sailed in her as a Passenger; that the Captain was D. Joze Ramon Mutio, who died lately, but that he is not aware who the Owner was; that, on the 9th of January last, he sailed in her from Ayudo, on the Coast of Africa, without any other extraordinary occurrence happening, except that of having been chased by 2 English Schooners, until the 28th of February, when the Orestes grounded near Grass-Keys, being then out of sight of the Schooners; that they remained in this situation 2 days, at the expiration of which they formed a Raft, on which all the white People on board were conveyed to one of the Keys, the Negroes being left in the Vessel; that 3 days after, an English Schooner of War appeared in sight, the Commander of which came in his Boat to where the Crew was, and, having learnt what had happened, and, having received from the Master, Mutio, certain Papers, transferred the Negroes on board his Schooner, together with the said Master, the Mate, and the Deponent, and brought them into this Port of Havannah, the Master having died the day after the capture; that 284 Negroes were taken on board on the Coast of Africa, of which number, 22 died previous to the Vessel grounding; but that he could not say how many there were at the time of the capture, several having been drowned in the hold, in consequence of the great quantity of water which entered after that misfortune; that the Orestes had no other Cargo but the Negroes; that the Papers which were given up by the Master were the regular Ship's Papers, and, upon their being shewn to the Witness, he immediately recognized them. Salvador Estolt deposed, that he was a Native of Catalonia, that he was Mate of the Brigantine Orestes, of which the late D. Joze Ramon Mutio was Master, and D. Ventura Zagonera, Owner, as this Deponent infers from his being the Person who dispatched her in this Port; that he entered on board the said Vessel as Second Mate, on the 16th of July 1825, and that, on the 20th of the same Month, she set sail from this Port of Havannah for the Coast of Africa, where they arrived without accident towards the close of September; that they remained in the Road of Ayudo until the 10th of January last, on which day 285 Slaves were embarked on board the Orestes, with which they immediately set sail for this Island; that no accident happened during the Voyage until the 28th of February, when, after having been chased for 2 days by 2 English Schooners, from which they had escaped, the Vessel grounded near Grass Keys, on the Bahama Bank; that they remained there without leaving her for 2 days, at the end of which they made a Raft, on which the whole Crew proceeded to a neighbouring Key, leaving the Cargo of Negroes on board; that, 3 days after, an English Schooner of War appeared in sight, the Commander of which came to the Key on which they were, in his Boat, and, having been informed of what had happened, he transferred the Cargo of Negroes, the Captain of the Orestes, D. Joze Ramon Mutio, a passenger, Don Carlos, whose Surname he does not know, and this Deponent, on board his Schooner, and set sail for the Port of Havannah, the said Mutio having died 1 or 2 days after the capture; that during the Voyage, up to the day on which the Vessel ran aground, 25 Negroes had died, and that Deponent heard that several others had been drowned in the hold, the number of which he did not learn, and that consequently he could not say exactly how many there were at the time of the capture; that the Orestes had no other Cargo but the Negroes; that she had not been brought into this Port, because it was impossible to get her off from the place where she was aground; that the Ship's Papers were delivered up to the English Commander; and those pre sented to the Court by the latter having been shewn to him, he immediately recognized them, and said that they belonged to the Orestes. (Enclosure 2.)—Sentence of the Mixed Commission in the Case of the Brigantine Orestes.-(Translation.) THE merits of this Cause having been taken into consideration, it is declared to be a good and lawful Prize, that made by the English Schooner of War Speedwell, commanded by James C. Bennett, Esq. Lieutenant of the Royal Navy of His Britannick Majesty, of the Spanish Brigantine named the Orestes, with a Cargo of 238 African Negroes, according to the Certificate of the Captor, relative to the state of the Vessel at the time of the capture; respecting which number the two Individuals belonging to the Crew of the Orestes, who have been examined, have not been able to afford any information, as they say that they do not know how many were drowned in the hold, in conse. quence of the great quantity of water which entered when aground, as she was upon Grass-Cut-Keys, on the Bahama Bank, where the said Vessel was abandoned, it having been found impossible to get her off and set her afloat. The Negroes are consequently declared to be free from all slavery and captivity, to the number of 212, to which the Cargo has been reduced, and which are already disembarked by order of his Excellency the Captain-General, under the charge of Don Felipe Rodriguez, and are placed in one of the Barracones outside the walls of this City, 26 having died subsequently to the capture, as appears by the Report made by the aforesaid Captor to the Mixed Commission, and annexed to the other Documents belonging to this Cause. Let the proper Certificate of Emancipation be given to them by the Deputy Secretary, who is named for that purpose; and with respect to the said Brigantine Orestes, which remained aground on the Key where she was found, it is declared from this moment, that if she or any part of her be saved, the same is subject and liable to confiscation, in order that, being sold at publick auction, the proceeds may be applied to the benefit of the two Governments, observing, in that case, the necessary formalities for this purpose; and let a Certified Copy of this Sentence, with a proper Official Letter, be addressed to His Excellency the Captain-General, in order that he may be apprized of the same, which is likewise to be notified to the Captor. Havannah, March 15, 1826. CLAUDIO M. DE PINILLOS. R. GONZALES, Deputy Secretary. No. 67.-His Majesty's Comm". to Mr. Sec". Canning-(Rec. May 21.) M |