Images de page
PDF
ePub

by the Mixed Commission to the Captain-General, on the subject of the 36 Negroes left in Santiago de Cuba, and of the Answer returned by His Excellency, in which he undertakes to secure their freedom as decreed by the Mixed Commission.

It appears, by Memorandums endorsed on the Papers of this Slave-vessel, that she was visited by the Boats of His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, at the Mouth of the Calabar, on the 30th of June last. I have the honour to be, &c.

The Right Hon. George Canning.

W. S. MACLEAY.

(Enclosure 1.)-Receipt of the Governor of Santiago de Cuba, for 36

Negroes.

RECEIVED by me, Don Isidore Barradas, Governor of Santiago de Cuba, at the earnest request of Charles John Austen, Esq. Captain of His Majesty's Ship Aurora, the under-mentioned Slaves, belonging to the Brigantine Schooner Nuevo Campeador, captured by that Ship, and brought into the Port of Santiago de Cuba in consequence of the very sickly state of the Slaves on board the said Schooner, which renders it absolutely necessary they should be landed, for the preservation of the health of the remainder of the Slaves on their passage to The Havannah, to which Place she is bound for adjudication, as also that these unfortunate and wretched Beings may receive the benefits of the Rites of the Church.

Men 23, women 6, boys 6, girl 1,—Total 36. On board His Majesty's Ship Aurora,

September 4, 1826.

ISIDORE BARRADAS.

(Enclosure 2.)—Captain Austen to the Mixed Commission.

HONOURABLE Gentlemen,

His Britannick Majesty's Ship Aurora,

Havannah, September 20, 1826.

I BEG leave to acquaint you with my arrival at this Port in His Majesty's Ship under my command, with the Nuevo Campeador, Spanish Brigantine, detained off St. Jago de Cuba, having at that time on board 263 Slaves from the Coast of Africa; for the further particulars of which I beg leave to refer you to the Documents which I have delivered to the British Commissioner, consisting of my Affidavits and other Papers, all of which are endorsed by me.

I beg leave to add, that Juan Botel, the Master of this Slave-vessel, having represented to me by Letter (whilst we were lying in Santiago de Cuba for the purpose of landing the sick Negroes, which, after a long Correspondence with the Governor of that Place, I was enabled to do), that his Wife was dangerously ill, and earnestly entreated me to allow him to go. on Shore to see her, I was induced on the score of

humanity to allow him to do so, and have never seen him since, though I waited some hours in the Port for that purpose.

I have the honour to be, &c.

The Members of the Mixed Commission.

C. J. AUSTEN.

(Enclosure 3.)-Declarations of the Captor.

I, CHARLES JOHN AUSTEN, Captain of His Majesty's Ship Aurora, hereby declare, that, on the 29th day of August 1826, being in or about Latitude 19. 46. North, Longitude 75. 56. West, I detained the Brigantine Schooner Nuevo Campeador, sailing under Spanish Colours, but at the time of capture having Dutch Colours hoisted, armed with 1 8-pounder, 24 muskets, 4 pistols, commanded by Juan Botel, who declared her to be bound from the coast of Africa to St. Jago de Cuba, with a Crew consisting of 21 men, whose names, as declared by them respectively, are inserted in a list at foot hereof, and having on board 263 Slaves, remaining from 300, said to have been taken on board at Old Calabar, on the coast of Africa, 37 having died on the passage to St. Jago de Cuba: they are enumerated as follows, viz:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

I do further declare, that the said Schooner appeared to be seaworthy, and was supplied with a sufficient stock of water and provisions for the support of the Negroes and Crew for their destined Voyage to Saint Jago de Cuba, but completely inadequate for their sustenance from this Place to The Havannah.

I do further declare, that the state and condition of the health of the Slaves has been represented by the Surgeon to me to be so generally bad, as, in his opinion, absolutely to require their being landed so soon as it may be practicable to do so.

Witnesses,

CHARLES JOHN AUSTEN. J. V. D. LARCOм, Senior Lieut. of His Majesty's Ship Aurora. H. STOPFORD NIXON, 2d Lieut. of His Majesty's Ship Aurora. JAMES Osborne, Surgeon of His Majesty's Ship Aurora. [Here follows the List of the Crew of the Schooner El Nuevo Campeador.]

I, CHARLES JOHN AUSTEN, Captain of His Britannick Majesty's Ship Aurora, do further declare, that the Surgeon, finding the state and condition of the health of the Slaves so generally bad, as, in his opinion, absolutely to require their being landed so soon as it may be practicable to do so; and I further considering, that the time which must elapse before they could have reached The Havannah, to which

Place it is my intention to carry the Schooner 10r adjudication, would in all human probability be attended with very fatal consequences to the lives of a large proportion of the Negroes; I did, therefore, on the 4th day of September, 1826, disembark the following 36 Slaves at Santiago de Cuba, where they now remain.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Witnesses,

CHARLES JOHN AUSTEN.

J. V. D. LARCOM, Senior Lieut. of His Majesty's Ship Aurora.
JAMES Osborne, Surgeon of His Majesty's Ship Aurora.

(Enclosure 4.)-Abstract of Evidence.

HENRY SCHOTSZ, a Protestant, deposed, that he is a Native of Hamburgh, aged 32 Years, unmarried, and by profession a Seaman; that he served lately as Mate on board the Brigantine Schooner El Nuevo Campeador; that he arrived in this Port of The Havannah in the said Brigantine, which has been captured and carried in here by the English Frigate Aurora, on account of there having been found on board a Cargo of Bozal Negroes, proceeding from the Coast of Africa, and destined for the Province of Cuba; that this Vessel sailed from Cuba on the 30th May of this Year, the Deponent believing at the time, according to the Declaration of the Master, that she was bound for the Portuguese Island Del Principe; but that instead of this the Vessel proceeded straight to the River of Calabar, on the said Coast, where the said Master commenced a Traffick of Slaves, and obtained about 300, with whom he set sail for the said Province of Santiago de Cuba, near which Port the Schooner was captured; that the Master and Owner of the Schooner was Don Juan Botel, a Spaniard by birth, who was on board at the time the Vessel was captured by the English Frigate; that the Deponent is ignorant where the said Botel now is, because the Crew when taken were separated, the said Captain Botel being taken on board the Frigate, and this Deponent remaining on board the Schooner to take care of the Negroes; that he, this Deponent, can, however, state that, according to what he heard, the said Juan Botel remains on shore at Cuba; that there were 263 Negroes on board at the time of the capture, the others having died on the passage from Africa to Cuba, and that of these 263, there were 36 left at Cuba in the care of the Government.

FRANCISCO FRASQUET, a Catholick, deposed, that he is a Native of Barcelona, aged 23 Years, unmarried, and by profession a Sailor; that he was lately in this capacity serving on board the Brigantine Schooner

Nuevo Campeador, Captain Don Juan Botel; that he has arrived here, in consequence of the capture of the said Schooner, with a Cargo of Bozal Negroes on board, made by His Britannick Majesty's Frigate Aurora, close off Santiago de Cuba; that the said Cargo of Negroes was taken on board at Calabar, on the Coast of Africa, where 300 or 306 were embarked; that the Deponent knows not how many of them were in existence at the moment of the capture, because many had died on the passage, and the Deponent was not present when they were numbered; that some of the captured Negroes remained at Cuba, sick, but how many he knows not; that the said Schooner was fitted out and equipped for the voyage to Calabar, in the aforesaid City of Santiago de Cuba, to which Port she was proceeding at the moment of capture; that Captain Don Juan Botel, according to what this Deponent has heard, remained at Cuba, the Captain of the Frigate having given him leave to go on shore to visit his wife, who was sick, and that he knows nothing of him since that time; that the Deponent, on leaving Cuba for the Coast of Africa, was a common Sailor, but that the Boatswain, Pablo George, being taken so ill that it was found necessary to leave him in Africa, the Deponent then succeeded to his place, and was performing the duties of it at the time of the capture; that D. José Chamorro, who is inscribed on the List of the Crew as next in command to the Master and Mate, remains likewise in Cuba, unwell, but that the Deponent knows not how he got on shore.

LORENZO CITTERICH, a Catholick, deposed, that he is a Native of Venice, aged 34 Years, unmarried, and by trade a Sailor; that he came to the Havannah in the English Frigate Aurora, which lately arrived in this Port, in consequence of having captured the Brigantine Schooner El Nuevo Campeador, in which this Deponent was a Sailor; that the said Schooner was captured close off the Morro of Santiago de Cuba, on account of there having been found on board a Cargo of Bozal Negroes; that the Vessel was then proceeding from Old Calabar, on the Coast of Africa, where she had taken on board 300 or 306 Negroes, of whom 36 or 37 may perhaps have died previously to the capture; that Don Juan Botel was the Owner, Captain, and Master of the said Schooner, and the Mate was Henrique Schotsz, who is now in prison with the Deponent; that the said Vessel was fitted out for the Voyage to Africa, in Santiago de Cuba; that the Master, Don Juan Botel, remained in Cuba, although this Deponent does not positively know the cause of his having been allowed to land, any further than that he heard it was on account of sickness; that D. José Chamorro, who was one of the Crew captured on board the Schooner, remained also at Cuba, but the Deponent knows not how he contrived to get on shore, because the said Chamorro remained on board the Schooner, and the Deponent was taken on board the Frigate; that Estevan Rodriquez, who is inscribed in the List of the Crew as Cook of the Schooner,

was never employed in that capacity, the Deponent being the only Cook, from the moment of leaving the Port of Santiago de Cuba; that the said Rodriquez remains in Cuba, but how or why this Deponent knows not, and that Pablo George, the Boatswain, remained at Calabar sick.

LOUIS ROLLE, a man of Colour, and a Catholick, deposed, that he is a Native of Martinique, aged 26 Years, and by trade a Carpenter; that on Wednesday last he arrived in this Port on board the Brigantine Schooner El Nuevo Campeador, captured by the English Frigate Aurora, opposite to the Morro of Santiago de Cuba; that the cause of the said capture was a Cargo of Bozal Negroes having been found on board; that the Vessel at the time was proceeding from Calabar on the Coast of Africa, which Place she left with 300 or more Negroes, of whom 260 or more were in existence at the period of her detention, the others having died on the passage; that this Deponent was Carpenter on board the Schooner; that the Master of the Vessel was Juan Botel, and that the Deponent is ignorant of there being any other Owner; that the said Botel and José Chamorro remained at Cuba, the former because his wife was sick, and the other he knows not on what account; and, finally, that Pablo George was left sick at Calabar.

(Enclosure 5.)-Sentence.-(Translation.)

Havannah, September 27, 1826. HAVING taken into consideration the Judicial Proceedings consequent upon the detention of the Spanish Merchant Schooner Nuevo Campeador, Don Juan Botel, Captain, Master, and Owner, with a Cargo of 263 Negroes on board at the time of her detention, which was effected in the immediate vicinity of the Port of Santiago de Cuba, by the English Frigate Aurora, commanded by Captain Charles John Austen; and having found, according to these proceedings, that, although the Declaration of the aforesaid Don Juan Botel is wanting, owing to this Person's escape in the City of Santiago, it is nevertheless most completely proved by the Declarations of the several Witnesses examined, and by the Papers of the Vessel, that the said Schooner having sailed from the aforesaid Port, in the Month of April in the present Year, with Papers and Cargo, as if for the Portuguese Island El Principe, proceeded straight to Old Calabar, on the Coast of Africa, where she took on board 300 or 306 Slaves, of whom so many died on her passage to Cuba as to reduce the number to 263, of which last number, according to the Evidence of the Captor and the Receipt of the Governor of the City of Santiago de Cuba, produced by the said Captor, 36 were left in the said City, on account of their extreme sickness, and 10, as appears by the Captor's Certificate, subsequently died : We do now, with due regard to the merits of the Cause, and according to the usual brief and summary mode of proceeding which has been

« PrécédentContinuer »