cuted, or if it was, the United States have not been advised of the result.

66

...

1

In May, the Attorney General caused Locke to be arrested for the offence committed by his personation of the master of the Hanover, and, upon a preliminary examination of the charge before a police magistrate, about the 26th of July, it appeared that the business at the customs at Long Cay was transacted principally by Mr. Richard Farrington, who was the agent or consignee, and who, when examined and confronted by the defendant, could not swear to his being the person who repre"sented himself as the master of the schooner... but believed him to be the person." 1." The police justice, in reporting upon the case, at the request of the Colonial Secretary, on the 10th of March, 1864, says, Farrington "would "not swear to the identity. After this the aceused was let to bail, in the sum of £100, for his appearance at court for trial. He was tried in the following May at Nassau, but acquitted, as the evidence was not sufficient to satisfy a jury, selected from that locality, of his identity. An examination of the testimony, however, as it is found reported in the British Appendix, Counter-Case, vol. V, pp. 188 et seq., will, we think, hardly satisfy the minds of the Arbitrators that "the "authorities and others at Long Cay were ignorant that "the Hanover was a prize to the Retribution." It may, however, show why it was that the enquiry suggested by Mr. Seward, had not been prosecuted.

On the 19th of February, the American brig Emily

1 Brit. App., C.-Case, vol. V, p. 175.

2 Ibid, p. 177.

3 Ibid.

Ibid., p. 188.

Fisher, on a voyage from Guantonomo, Cuba, to New York, while near Castle Island, one of the Bahamas, and in British waters, was boarded by the British wrecking schooner, Emily Adderley. What then occurred is told in the affidavit of the master of the brig, as follows:

"That having questioned the captain of the said vessel [Emily Adderley] closely, he was told that there were no privateers, or steamers, in the passage; that soon afterward the schooner hauled down the British flag and then hoisted it again; that at the same time he saw a schooner coming out from under the land, but was told that she was a wrecking scooner; that soon after this said schooner came under the lee of the brig and sent a shot across her bows, at the same time running up the rebel flag; that she then sent a boat with eight men well armed on board, and ordered him on board the schooner with all his papers; that on arriving on board, the captain, after examining his papers, told him that he was a prize to the confederate schooner Retribution, and ordered him and his crew to be put into irons, which was done; that at noon the irons were removed from himself and the first officer, and they were allowed the privilege of the cabin; that all this time the brig was working up under the land, where five British wrecking schooners were anchored; that the privateer anchored about one and one-half miles from the shore, when, at about 3 p. m., a wrecker's boat came alongside; that after some conversation with the crew in a loud voice, the captain of the privateer told them in an undertone to have two vessels alongside the brig that night; that at about 5 p.m. they ran the brig on shore, and ten or twelve wreckers' boats went alongside of her; that at 6 p.m. Mr. Grey, the officer in charge of the brig, came on board the privateer, and the deponent was then told he could have his boat to go on board the brig and take what personal property Mr. Price might see fit to give him; that he found two wrecking schooners alongside and about one hundred men on board the brig; that having taken the personal

effects into the boat he landed on Acklin's Island, made a tent and passed the night; that the next day the wreckers were still alongside; that he went on board the brig, she being then afloat, and made a claim on the wreckers for the brig and cargo. He was told he could not have her, and that if the anchor was lifted the privateer would sink her; that he then protested against removing any more of the cargo, as the brig was afloat and was in British waters, but the protest was disregarded; that the next day the wreckers had an interview with the captain of the privateer, and at 1 p.m. sent him word that they were going to a port of entry and that the deponent and his crew could go with. them; that at 2 p.m. the privateer, the brig, and all the wreckers started for Long Cay, and arrived there about 8 p.m. the same day; that the wrecker, on board which were deponent and his crews, was anchored under the guns of the privateer, which kept a guard all night, while Mr. Grey and Mr. Price, two officers, went over to town; that on Monday, 23d, the deponent went also to town, and after making inquiry, found that the captain of the privateer would not allow him to go on board the brig; and that the deponent was told by the authorities that though the law would not allow the privateer to touch the brig, if he wished to do so they had no means of preventing him; that the deponent was not able to obtain possession of the brig until after he had bargained with the wreckers to pay them 50 per cent. on the cargo, and 33 per cent. on the vessel, when, after making affidavit of his being the master, he was placed in possession by the collector and went on board; that he found the hull, spars, and rigging in good order, but everything movable, on and under deck, stolen; that on the next day, 24th, he commenced receiving sugar from the wreckers, and on the 25th found on board 83 hogsheads, 5 tierçes, and 4 barrels, the balance of cargo having been taken ashore by the wreckers; that the wreckers stove hogsheads and barrels, and passed the sugar into their boats, and landed it on the beach; that the captain of the privateer told him, the deponent, that he had given the cargo to the wreckers, as he wanted the brig; that he was

going to put his guns on board of her, and destroy his schooner; that he further told the deponent that the wreckers were to pay him something handsome, and that the deponent believes they did so; that deponent was obliged to accept the wreckers' terms at the port of entry, because the brig lay under the guns of the privateer, and the authorities declared their inability to protect him. And the deponent further says, that the capture of his vessel and the destruction of her cargo were brought about by and with the connivance and assistance of the captains and crews of the British wrecking schooners, and within the juridiction of the British Government, where he was entitled to protection, but could not obtain it until he had submitted to the terms of the wreckers, all of whom were British subjects, through whose connivance the vessel had been stranded and the cargo destroyed."1

After this (the 19th of February), and before the 8th of March, the Retribution entered the port of Nassau as an insurgent vessel of war. The "special leave" called for by the regulations of the British Government, under date of January 31st, 1862, seems never to have been asked for or granted. Her commander was not even called upon for his commission. All that occurred upon her arrival is thus stated by the pilot: "She · had a small gun on deck. The captain told me he "was from Long Cay. I asked the captain where he was from. He answered, Long Cay.' I saw from the look of the vessel and the appearance of the crew, "their clothing, that she was likely to be an ara ed vessel. I then asked him if she was a vessel of war. "I begged him to excuse my being so particular, as I

Am. App., Vol. VI, p. 738.

Brit. App., C.-Case, vol. V, p. 196.

$ Ante. p. 296.

66

was instructed to do so, to put such questions. He told "me she was an armed vessel."1

On the 3rd of March, which was eight days before the complaint was made to the Governor on account of the capture of the Hanover, and two weeks after the transactions with the Emily Fisher, in which the "wrecking schooner Emily Adderley" took so prominent a part, Henry Adderley and Co. sold, or pretended to sell, the Retribution, in the port of Nassau, at public sale to C. R. Perpall and Co., for £250. On the 26th of the same month, Perpall and Co. sold her for the same amount to Thomas Stead, and he, on the 10th of April, obtained for her a register as a British ship. Previous to her sale she was condemned by a board of survey,' Perpall, the ostensible purchaser, being one of the board.*

THE TALLAHASSEE.

It will be remembered by the Arbitrators that, when presenting for their consideration the facts connected with the claim of the United States for acts committed by the Shenandoah, we had occasion to call their attention to a letter written by the insurgent Secretary of the Navy to a Mr. Charles Green, bearing date as early as the 1st July, 1861, in which, referring to the purchase of vessels

1 Brit. App., C.-Case, vo'. V, p. 190.

2 Ibid, p. 193.

3 Ibi4, p. 196.

Ibid., p. 191.