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You are to proceed in the first instance to Sierra Leone, where you, are to communicate with the Governor, and to confer with him as to the best mode of effecting the objects you have in view.

You will assign such Stations and give such Instructions to the Vessels under your Orders as you may judge most proper, with a view to the effectual fulfilment of those objects; and for which purpose several Bays and Creeks, particularly in the Bights of Beniu and Biafra, must be diligently watched and frequently examined, to ensure, as far as practicable, by the force under your orders, the seizure of such Vessels as may be liable thereto, under the several Acts and Treaties for putting a stop to the trading in Slaves.

We herewith transmit to you Copies or Abstracts of the several Acts of Parliament, relating to British Subjects engaged in Traffick in Slaves, by which you are to be governed with regard to such British Subjects as you may discover to be engaged in the said traffick, and to use every means in your power to carry into full effect the said Acts. With regard to Vessels belonging to the Subjects of the Kings of Spain, Portugal, and The Netherlands, we transmit to you herewith the following Documents, viz.

Copies of the Treaties or Conventions concluded between His Majesty and those Sovereigus, for the prevention of an illicit traffick in Slaves by their respective Subjects.

Acts of Parliament which have been passed to give effect to those Treaties:

And Instructions signed by us, authorizing you, in conformity with the Treaties, to search Vessels bearing the Flags of the said Nations respectively.

You are to be strictly governed by these Documents in your conduct towards the Vessels in question; and you will take care that the Commanders of the Vessels under your Orders also strictly attend to the same.

You will observe in the Treaty with Spain, that the period for which that Nation reserved to herself the right of trading in Slaves to the South of the Equator is now expired; and consequently all Spanish Ships which shall in future be found trafficking in Slaves in any part of the Coasts of Africa, whether North or South of the Equator, will be liable to be dealt with for condemnation, as directed by the said Treaty.

And you are to understand, that any Ships of the three beforementioned Nations, which may be captured for illicit trafficking in Slaves, are to be sent for adjudication to the following Places, as may be most convenient according to the situation in which the Capture may be made, viz. Ships of any of the three Nations to Sierra Leone ; or Portuguese Ships to Rio de Janeiro; Spanish Ships to The Havannah; and Dutch Ships to Surinam; Courts having been established at those

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Places for the trial of offences of the above description, committed by Vessels of those Nations respectively, as above detailed.

Vessels under English Colours may be sent to and tried at either of the Places enumerated.

We send you herewith a Copy of a Letter addressed by our Secretary, on the 24th of May last, to Commodore Sir George Collier, with Copies of the 2 Letters therein referred to, respecting a co-operation between His Majesty's Vessels employed in the suppression of the Slave-trade, and such Ships of The United States of America as may be placed on the Coast of Africa for the same purpose; and we require and direct you to observe the Instructions contained in our Secretary's Letter accordingly.

The Ships under your command are to continue in the execution of the duties thus pointed out, so long as the weather shall not affect the health of their Crews, so as to make it necessary, in the opinion of the Commanders, to change the climate; when, after completing their water, and getting such refreshments as they can procure at Cape Coast Castle, Princes Island, St. Thomas's Island, or Fernando Po, (according to the situation of the Vessel) they are to proceed to Ascension to recruit and refresh the People; and after having so done, they are to return to such part of the Coast as may, at that period, be supposed to be free from the rains; always preferring to return to the Station assigned to them, if supposed to be equally open with regard to the state of the weather there.

The Earl Bathurst having stated to us, that it is necessary to the Publick Service, that the Governor of Sierra Leone should, as early as possible, visit the Forts on the Gold Coast, in order to arrange their future establishment; and that it is desirable that he should be accompanied in this visit by the Naval Officer commanding on the Station you are, therefore, to receive the said Governor on board the Iphigenia, whenever he may desire, for such purpose, and convey him to the several Forts along the Gold Coast; and when he shall have executed the Instructions he has received respecting them, you are to convey him back to Sierra Leone.

You will take every opportunity of transmitting to our Secretary, for our information, reports of your proceedings, and of those of the Vessels under your Orders; together with such observations as you may deem it advantageous for us to be made acquainted with, in regard to the Station entrusted to your charge, and particularly as to the progress made towards the entire suppression of the Slave-trade.

When the rains have regularly set in on the Coast of Africa, you are to proceed in the Iphigenia to Ascension, to refresh your Crew, &c.

After which you will proceed to Trinidad and Jamaica, for the purpose of receiving at those Places such refreshment and supplies as the

Ship and Crew may stand in need of, &c.; and from Jamaica you are to make the best of your way to Spithead.

On your arrival at Spithead, you are to report the same, and your proceedings to our Secretary for our information.

Previously to your leaving the African Coast, you will take care to give the necessary Instructions to the Officer next in Command to you, for the guidance of the Squadron during your absence.

Commodore Sir Robert Mends, Senior Officer of His

Majesty's Ships and Vessels employed on the Coast of Africa.

No. 3.-John Barrow, Esq. to Captain Phillips.

SIR, Admiralty Office, 15th March, 1822. IN reference to the Order of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, directing you to proceed to the African Station, I am commanded by their Lordships to transmit to you Copies of the Treaties which have been entered into with Spain, Portugal, and The Netherlands, for the prevention of an illicit traffick in Slaves, with Copies of 3 Acts of Parliament relating to them, and Instructions signed by their Lordships authorizing you to search Vessels bearing those Flags; in doing which, as well as in the whole of your conduct towards such Vessels, you are to be strictly governed by the said Treaties, and the Instructions attached to them.

I also transmit to you herewith, Abstracts or Copies of the Acts of Parliament prohibiting the traffick in Slaves by His Majesty's Subjects. I am, &c.

Captain Phillips, H. M. S. Bann.

JOHN BARROW.

No. 4.-Instructions issued to the Commanders of all such of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels as have been ordered, from the 6th of February, 1821, to the 21st March, 1822, to proceed to either of the following Stations: viz. Jamaica, Leeward Islands, South America, Cape of Good Hope, and East Indies.

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In reference to the Order of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, directing you to proceed to the Station, I am commanded by their Lordships to transmit to you Copies of the Treaties which have been entered into with Spain and Portugal, for the prevention of an illicit traffick in Slaves, with Copies of 2 Acts of Parliament relating to them, and Instructions signed by their Lordships authorizing you to search Vessels bearing those Flags; in doing which, as well as in the whole of your conduct towards such Vessels, you are to be strictly governed by the said Treaties, and the Instructions attached to them.

You will likewise receive herewith, Abstracts or Copies of the Acts of Parliament prohibiting the traffick in Slaves by His Majesty's Subjects.

The Commanders of H. M.'s S. Jamaica, Leeward Islands, &c.

The foregoing Letter, with the Documents therein referred to, have been issued between the 6th of February, 1821, and the 21st March, 1822, to the Commanders of the following Ships and Vessels of His

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DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE, RELATIVE TO THE CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH SHIP SYLPHE, BY HIS MAJESTY'S SLOOP REDWING. 1819, 1820.

LIST OF PAPERS.

No.

1. Commodore Sir George R. Collier to J. W. Croker, Esq.

1819. Page

5th June

225

8th June

226

227

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Sierra Leone,... 22d Feb. 224 2. Henry Goulburn, Esq. to J. W. Croker, Esq. Downing Street, 3. John Barrow, Esq to William Hamilton, Esq. Admiralty Office, 4. Viscount Castlereagh to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty Foreign Office,.. 12th July 5. John Barrow, Esq. to William Hamilton, Esq. Admiralty Office, 17th July 6. Rear Admiral Piampin to J. W. Croker, Esq. St. Helena Roads, 2d Oct.,

1820.

6th Jan.

7. John Barrow, Esq. to William Hamilton, Esq. Admiralty Office,
8. Joseph Planta, jun. Esq. to John Barrow, Esq. Foreign Office,.. 11th Jan.
9. J. W. Croker, Esq. to Joseph Planta, jun. Esq. Admiralty Office, 14th Jan.
10. Commodore Sir George R. Collier to J. W.

Croker, Esq.

230

230

234

235

....

Sierra Leone,... 24th Jan.
Navy Office, 25th Feb.
Admiralty Office, 26th Feb.

235

235

...

236

....

11. The Navy Board to J. W. Croker, Esq. 12. John Barrow, Esq. to the Navy Board 13. John Barrow, Esq. to William Hamilton, Esq. Admiralty Office, 26th Feb. 14. Rear Admiral Plampin to J. W. Croker, Esq. St. Helena Roads, 1st Mar. 15. John Barrow, Esq. to Joseph Planta, jun. Esq. Admiralty Office, 9th May 237

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No. 1-Commodore Sir George R. Collier to J. W. Croker, Esq. (Extract.) H. M S. Tartar, Sierra Leone, 22d February, 1819. DURING my absence, the only Vessel of War which had arrived was His Majesty's Sloop Redwing, Captain Hunn: she came in for the purpose of landing the Slaves taken on board a Schooner, North of the Line, and of obtaining the Condemnation of the Vessel; but, under

existing circumstances, the Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court of this Colony did not feel himself authorized to take cognizance of the circumstance, and Captain Hunn sailed with the Schooner in company, after landing the Slaves (300) four days previous to my arrival. J. W. Croker, Esq.

SIR,

GEORGE R. COLLIER.

No. 2.-Henry Goulburn, Esq. to J. W. Croker, Esq.

Downing Street, 5th June, 1819. I AM directed by Lord Bathurst to transmit to you, for the information and consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the Copy of a Letter from Governor M'Carthy, with its Inclosure, relative to the Capture, by His Majesty's Sloop Redwing, of a French Schooner, named the Sylphe, with a Cargo of 368 Slaves, bound for Guadaloupe. I am, &c.

J. W. Croker, Esq.

HENRY GOULBURN.

(Inclosure 1.)-Governor M'Carthy to Earl Bathurst.

MY LORD,

Government-House, Sierra Leone, 25th Feb. 1819. I HAVE the honour to report to your Lordship, that Captain Hunn, of the Royal Navy, commanding His Majesty's Sloop Redwing, having fallen in with a French Schooner, the Sylphe, near Cape de Verd Islands, deemed himself authorized to detain her and bring her here for trial. I herewith inclose a Copy of his Letter to me, and beg leave to acquaint you, that under the particular circumstances of the case, I deemed it my duty to comply with Captain Hunn's application, and the unfortunate Beings were accordingly landed, and placed in the Negro captured Towns in the interior of the Country. Captain Hunn sailed for St. Helena on the 14th instant.

I avail myself of the present opportunity to solicit your Lordship's instructions on the subject. It has been reported here that a Commission, under the late Treaty, had been formed at home, but that the malicious and unfounded reports so industriously circulated in England, as to the insalubrity of this climate, had prevented the Person appointed to sail for Africa: should that be the case, I beg leave to submit to your Lordship's consideration the propriety of nominating to that Commission, either the present Chief Justice, or the acting King's Advocate, or any of the Civil Officers on the Establishment. On a reference to the Treaty, I am led to suppose that your Lordship will concur in my opinion, that it is scarcely possible for any Officer who may be appointed to such an office to commit an error, the Regulations are so very clear and pointed. A small addition to the Salary of any of the Officers now on the Coast would be adequate to this increased duty, and save public expenditure.

I cannot but add, that it is highly expedient to the welfare of Africa that something should be done soon, for the traffick in Slaves

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