NORTH AMERICA AND WEST INDIA STATION. Sir, No. 102. Vice-Admiral Sir J. Hope to the Secretary to the Admiralty. "Duncan," at Trinidad, March 10, 1865. IN reference to the following remark in Mr. Dunlop's letter of the 30th of January last, inclosed in your letter of the 7th ultimo-"I beg leave to mention that the Indus' is believed to have been directly or indirectly engaged in slavetrading at the very time she touched at St. Thomas. It seems a pity that she was not detained by the 'Cordelia.' At such places as St. Thomas it is often in the Consul's power to arrest a suspected ship for such a length of time as would involve great injury to her owners"-you will be pleased to acquaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that the "Cordelia" was detached to St. Thomas at the request of the Consul, for the express purpose of affording that officer whatever assistance might prove requisite in the case; and that, after due investigation, no sufficient ground appearing for the detention of the vessel, she was necessarily handed over to the consignees. 2. A copy of the Consul's letter, and an extract from the Senior Officer's report of proceedings, are forwarded herewith, and should further information be required, Commander Scott, in command of the "Cordelia" at the time, being now in England, will be able to afford it. I have, &c. I HAVE the honour to inform you that the British barque "Indus" (late American under same name) arrived here on the 10th instant from Cadiz, and was reported to the Custom-house and to me in ballast. After arrival, three of her crew were discharged and four deserted. Subsequently she discharged 120 odd water-casks, some rice, beans, bread, beef, &c., which it is said were taken on board at Cadiz, but of this there is no proof. The water-casks are represented as fitted for ballast, but I do not find that the ship has taken any ballast here since their discharge. The nature of the goods landed being such as are frequently found on board ships engaged in the Slave Trade, public attention has been drawn to the case as a suspicious one, and I have requested the authorities here to have it investigated; this may lead to the vessel being freed from suspicion, but, if not, she must proceed from this to a British port, and I therefore request that you will send one of Her Majesty's ships of war here at once to convoy her, or give such other assistance as the case may require. I may mention that the "Indus" cleared from Cadiz for Bermuda, and there is nothing in the ship's log-book to account for her not going to that port in place of coming here. I HAVE received a letter from Commander Scott informing me that he arrived at St. Thomas on the 12th, and after communicating with the Consul, and a due examination into the case of the barque " Indus," including a personal inspection of the ship's log-book and chart, came to the conclusion that there were no sufficient proofs to warrant the detention of the said barque, and she was therefore handed over to the consignees. No. 103. Vice-Admiral Sir J. Hope to the Secretary to the Admiralty. Sir, I HEREWITH forward, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of "Duncan," at Jamaica, May 8, 1865. the Admiralty, copy of a correspondence received from Captain Wake of the "Bulldog," relative to a screw-steamer calling herself the "Margarita Quintero," but suspected of being the notorious slaver the "Ciceron," in order that the information therein contained may be forwarded to the coast of Africa, should their Lordships see fit. I have, &c. (Signed) J. HOPE. Inclosure 1 in No. 103. Captain Wake to the Senior Officer, Coast of Cuba. "Bulldog," Sacrificios, Vera Cruz, March 21, 1865. Sir, copy She professed to be bound from Vera Cruz to New York, viâ Havana, and had shipped at Tampico a small assorted cargo, chiefly goat skins, and a trifling amount of specie. I inclose, for your information, the letter addressed by Her Majesty's Acting Consul at this port to me, with reference to the said ship, and of my reply thereto; and I have also to inform you that from information subsequently received, there is no doubt that this of a vessel is no other than the notorious screw slaver "Ciceron;" that there is every reason to believe that she made her way to Tampico (knowing that there would be no British man-of-war at that port) for the purpose of effecting a change of nationality, thereby receiving, as it were, a certificate of honesty, without which it would have been dangerous for so well-known a ship to approach the neighbourhood of Her Majesty's cruizers. Having heard of the inquiries I was making about the ship, her consignees, who did not deny her former bad character, took the alarm, and refused to allow her to sail until they had received from the shippers of the cargo at Tampico a written consent to her braving the dangers of capture, to which she was exposed by her ill fame. meanwhile, the Mexican Government, at the instance of Her Majesty's Minister at Mexico, ordered an inquiry to be made into the case by the Governor of Vera Cruz, which course has ended in nothing; and as I presume that In the the owners of the cargo at Tampico will consider the legality of the change of nationality and the perfect regularity of all her papers to be sufficient guarantee against the detention of the ship by Her Majesty's cruizers while their property is on board, the ship will probably shortly be allowed to sail on her voyage. It seems not unlikely that she will transfer her trifling cargo, at Havana, to another vessel bound to New York, or else proceed to New York, and thence once more to the coast of Africa. I have therefore thought it my duty to call your attention to the matter, that you may take such steps as may seem to you feasible and advisable for the frustration of the nefarious purpose which there can be little doubt she entertains, supposing my to be correct, of which I feel pretty sure. information I have, &c. (Signed) CHARLES WAKE. Sir, Inclosure 2 in No. 103. Vera Cruz, March 8, 1865. I HAVE the honour to inform you that some two days ago a screw-steamer, called the " entered this port, and from verbal information I have received, this steamer arrived at Tampico under Spanish colours, and there assumed the Mexican flag, preparatory to leaving that place for this port; and further, that she has hitherto been employed in the Slave Trade, but to enable her to enter Havana she has received cargo in Tampico for New York, viâ Havana, and been placed as before stated under a "flag." I call your attention to these reports, as I have been given to understand that she is still destined for SlaveTraffic, the vessel having already made several successful trips from the coast of Africa to the Island of Cuba, and owing to her speed has hitherto escaped capture. I have, &c. (Signed) FREDK. LEDWARD. Inclosure 3 in No. 103. Captain Wake to Acting Consul Ledward. Sir, "Bulldog," Sacrificios, Vera Cruz, March 11, 1865. AS there is some reason to believe that the screw steamer "Margarita Quintero," now in this port, has been recently engaged in the Slave Trade, and is one of those vessels that have hitherto evaded all the efforts of the British cruizers to capture them, and as the Mexican law declaring Slave Trade piracy, dated 8th August, 1851, provides for the detention of ships, foreign or Mexican, that are suspected of being or having been engaged in the Slave Trade, I have to request that you will move the Mexican authorities to make inquiry into the antecedents of this ship before she assumed a Mexican nationality, and to detain her until the same can be done. I have been informed that on her change of flag at Tampico, she retained the Spanish captain, supercargo, and crew that brought her into that port, and I therefore also submit that the change of nationality that has been effected at Tampico, though admissible for the ends of legitimate commerce, ought not to be allowed, where the effect of the transaction (unintentional on the part of the purchasers) is to protect the owners, captains, supercargo, and crew of a notorious slaver from the consequences of their crime. I have, &c. CHARLES WAKE, (Signed) CORRESPONDENCE WITH BRITISH MINISTERS AND AGENTS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND WITH FOREIGN MINISTERS IN ENGLAND, RELATING TO THE SLAVE TRADE. From January 1 to December 31, 1865. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. LONDON: PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS. |