the said Master, was sick, without necessary provision, and did therefore come on shore as soon as possible after the arrival of the said Vessel in this Harbour, and more especially to be ready at all times to communicate with his Proctor relative to prosecuting the Claim for the said Vessel, and that he, the said Master, never had any command nor controul over the said Vessel, or the Slaves on board, and that he was always obliged to conform to the Orders and Regulations of the PrizeMaster, until he came on shore; and the said Furtunado further says, that to his own personal knowledge the Master, nor any one of the Crew of the said Brig, had not any controul over the said Vessel and the Slaves on board after her arrival in this Port, nor since capture; and that this Deponent and another man alone continued always on board, the lad before-mentioned having quitted the Vessel soon after her arrival here, and the other man, an African, when the Slaves got on shore. And Deponents further say, that the means to controul the said Slaves were never in their possession or power, by reason of the Crew aforesaid having been taken away by the capturing Vessel, and retained as part of her Crew. JOZE PINTO DE ARAUJO. Sworn before me, this 10th day of June, 1826. WM. SMITH, Registrar. Petition of the Proctor, on behalf of the Claimant of the Brig Activo. Sheweth, THAT in proof that the escape of the Slaves from the said Brig Activo, and in proof that no means were in the power of him, the said Master, by his Crew, to prevent the same, your Petitioner most humbly prays that the annexed Affidavit may be filed and receive the consideration of your Honourable Court. And your Petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray. June 10th, 1826. W. H. SAVAGE. (K.)—Decree of the Commissioners. THIS day, in pursuance of the directions of the Court of the 8th day of the Month of June last, "that the proof of the circumstance of the escape of the 163 Slaves from the said Brig Activo should be more particularly detailed, and brought before it, together with all Correspondence and Communications that had taken place between the Proctors in the Cause, and His Majesty's Colonial Authorities, on the subject of the said Slaves, supported by Affidavits," the following Documents relative to the same were brought in and filed in the Registry of the said Court, and were this day read,-to wit: 1st. The Affidavit of John Dean Lake, the Proctor for the Captor, sworn, June 12, 1826. 2d. The Affidavit of William Henry Savage, the Proctor for the Claimant, sworn June 12, 1826. 3d.-Letter from John Dean Lake to William Henry Savage, dated April 29, 1826. 4th.-Letter from William Henry Savage to John Dean Lake, dated same day. 5th.-Letter from John Dean Lake to William Henry Savage, dated same day. 6th.-Letter from William Henry Savage to John Dean Lake, dated same day. 7th.-Letter from K. Macaulay, Acting Governor, to William Henry Savage, dated same day. 8th.-Affidavit of Thomas Cole, Acting Collector, sworn June 13, 1826. The following Documents, relative to the same subject, were also this day read, viz. :— 1st. The Letter of Mr. Thomas Cole, Acting Collector, to the Registrar of this Court, dated May 2, 1826. 2d-Affidavit of George Springle, sworn May 4, 1826. 3d.-Affidavit of Robert Lee, sworn May 4, 1826. 4th.-Petition and Affidavit of Jozé Pinto de Araujo, the Master, sworn May 9, 1826, enclosing Duplicate of Letter aforesaid, from John Dean Lake to W. H. Savage, of the 29th of April, 1826. The Report of the Registrar being also read, the said Commissioners confirmed so much of the same, as the Registrar therein stated his opinion the Claimant was entitled to, for Costs of Suit and Special Damages and Expences occasioned to the said Brig by detention, and in pursuance thereof, the said Commissioners did award and decree that James Arthur Murray, Esquire, the Captor in this Case, do pay to the said Jozé Pinto de Araujo, the Claimant, or to his lawful Attorney or Attornies, for his use, absolutely and unconditionally, the sum of £256. 2s. 8d. Sterling Money of Great Britain, for the said Costs of Suit, and for Special Damages and Expences occasioned to the said Brig by her detention. And, notwithstanding it appeared to the Commissioners by the Affidavits, and other Documents this day read, that the loss of the Slaves might, in some measure, have been caused by the neglect of the Captor or his Agent, who had the charge and possession of them, and also of the said Brig, in consequence of his not furnishing them with food on the 29th day of April last, yet the Commissioners could not believe or conclude this to have been either the principal or the sole cause of the said Slaves leaving the Vessel and coming on shore; and, although the Commissioners would not attempt to justify the mode in which the Claimant had been deprived of his Slaves, nor the conduct of the Captor or his Agent, in not taking proper precaution to prevent those Slaves leaving the Vessel, nevertheless, they conceived themselves bound to declare their opinion, that the absolute and unconditional confirming the whole of the Registrar's Report, would be contrary to the principles of equity, and would, in point of fact, be rewarding the Claimant, not only for a breach of the Convention between Great Britain and Portugal for the prevention of the illicit Slave-trade, but for a breach of the Laws of his own Country. The Commissioners, at the same time that they considered the llegal conduct of the Captor in making this seizure to the South of the Equator, in direct opposition to his Instructions, could not lose sight of conduct much more illegal on the part of the Claimant, in carrying on the Slave-trade to the North of the Equator, contrary to the Licence granted him in his Passport by the Authorities of the Brazilian Government, and in defiance of the Convention aforesaid, and of the Laws of Portugal and Brazil. The Commissioners, having further considered that, by the Convention aforesaid, there is no Appeal from their Judgment in this Case, and having also considered it to be most desirable that some additional Measures should be adopted by the British and Brazilian Governments, for the prevention of such glaring violations of the Convention as the present, have, therefore, in the hope that this Case may particularly call forth the attention of both Governments, only conditionally confirmed the remaining part of the Registrar's Report; and, therefore, the said Commissioners did further award and decree that the said James Arthur Murray, Esq. the Captor in this Case, do pay to the said Jozé Pinto de Araujo, the Claimant, or his lawful Attorney or Attornies, for his use, the sum of £654. Sterling Money of Great Britain, for the demurrage of the said Brig, provided the British and Brazilian Governments agree and declare that the said sum ought to be so paid, according to the true intent and meaning of the said Convention between Great Britain and Portugal for the prevention of illicit Slave-trade, but not otherwise. And the said Commissioners did further award and decree, that the said James Arthur Murray, Esq. do pay to the said Jozé Pinto de Araujo, or his lawful Attorney or Attornies, for his use, the further sum of £9,983. 15s. Sterling Money of Great Britain, for the total loss of 163 Slaves, provided, as before, that the British and Brazilian Governments agree and declare, that the said sum ought to be so paid, according to the true intent and meaning of the Convention aforesaid, but not otherwise. And the said Commissioners did further award and decree, that the said James Arthur Murray, Esq. do pay to the said Jozé Pinto de Araujo, or his lawful Attorney or Attornies, for his use, the further sum of £150. Sterling Money of Great Britain, being for interest on the estimated Capital employed in the purchase and maintenance of her Cargo, as before provided,, that the British and Brazilian Govern- July 1, 1826. SIR, No. 44.-D. M. Hamilton, Esq. to J. Planta, Jun. Esq.-(Rec. Oct. 16.) D. M. HAMILTON. (Enclosure.)-Return of Portuguese Vessels Adjudicated by the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission established at Sierra Leone, from the 1st day of January to the 1st day of July, 1826. No. 45.-D. M. Hamilton, Esq. to Mr. See, Canning.-(Rec, Nov. 14.) SIR, Sierra Leone, September 20, 1826. I BEG leave to enclose Copy of a Letter to me from Mr. Smith, the Registrar of the Courts of Mixed Commission, pointing out an error, in favour of the British Government, in his Report of Costs and Damages in the Case of the Brig Activo, reported to you by His Majesty's late Commissary Judge and myself, under date the 10th of June last, a Supplement to which Report was subsequently transmitted by me, under date of the 25th of July following. I most respectfully beg to assure you, Sir, that not only the Registrar, but the British Commissioners, labour under the greatest difficulties in procuring data whereon to found their Judgment of the amount of Costs and Damages that ought to be awarded in Cases of the Restitution of Portuguese and Brazilian Vessels. 1 should not be doing justice to my feelings, were I not to state to you the steady and unremitting support I have experienced from Mr. Smith, the Registrar, in the performance of the duties of the Mixed Commissions, since the death of my Friend and Colleague, Mr. Williams, and I beg most respectfully to recommend him as a most zealous and active Officer. The error mentioned in his Letter, so far as it applies to the Perpetuo Defensor, can be easily altered, that Case not being yet finally settled. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. SIR, D. M. HAMILTON. (Enclosure.)-William Smith, Esq. to D. M. Hamilton, Esq. Sierra Leone, September 13, 1826. IN the recent Case of the Brazilian Brig Activo, which was restored to the Claimant by Decree of the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, on the 9th May, 1826, the Court referred the consideration of the Costs, Damages, and Expences occasioned to the said Brig by detention, to the Registrar, and that he should report the amount thereof. On the 26th of the same Month, I made the Report accordingly, after having taken every possible means in my power to ascertain the correctness of the different Charges, before I submitted them to the Court for its Award thereon. On referring to the said Report, I find that 14,000 reis, or 17 Spanish dollars, calculating the latter to be worth 800 reis, is the amount I have allowed, as being the sum payable for duties, charges, and commission, collectively, on the importation and sale of each Slave into Brazil. At the time I made that Report, I conscientiously believed, from the best information I could obtain, that that sum was the full amount paid, and it was not until a few days since, on perusing the Correspondence with Foreign Powers, relating to the Slave-trade, 1825, 1826, |