Chapter XV: Part 15

For the purposes of trade and useful communication of every kind with
the interior of Africa, the Settlement in the Gambia seems to possess
advantages far beyond those of any other British Settlement on the
Coast of Africa. It has that which in all countries, but more
especially in Africa, where no means of land carriage exist, save the
backs of slaves, is of the highest value, the command of a noble
river, navigable for vessels of considerable tonnage for several
hundred miles into the interior; and it would appear as if a little
fiscal encouragement to its products and those of its
vicinity,--together with the employment of Steamers, which we would
earnestly recommend, both for the suppression of the Slave Trade at
the mouths of the neighbouring Rivers and for keeping up
communication, both commercial and official, with the Settlement of
Macarthy’s Island, (which is itself nearly 200 miles up the river) and
with the countries still higher up,--would draw out untold resources
for a useful and honourable commerce, and even restore to us some
portion of the gum trade which we have lately lost.

As in the case of the Gold Coast, we recommend the entire separation
of this Government from that of Sierra Leone. The dependence, which
has hitherto existed, has been the cause of great inconvenience, and
seems to possess no advantage. The Laws of the Settlement have been
enacted by those who are little acquainted with its concerns. Their
Gaol has depended for clearance on the uncertain arrival of a Chief
Justice from a distance of 500 miles, and by a voyage of above 20
days; and in the case of the death of one Chief Justice, two years
elapsed before a criminal, confined under a charge of murder could be
brought to trial, and then, owing to the delay, the witnesses had
returned to Europe, and no evidence could be found. Even if a regular
Steam Communication were established, though the amount of the evil
would undoubtedly be thus diminished, yet still the uncertainty of
life in such a climate should not be forgotten; and we would recommend
the appointment of a distinct Judicial Officer in each Settlement, who
should have authority to act in case of vacancy in either.

The Governor should have the assistance of a Council; but under the
circumstances of the Settlement, we recommend that he should have full
power to act on his own responsibility, and even contrary to their
advice; every Member of the Council, including the Governor, in such
cases, as in India, recording the reasons of his opinion for the
information of the Government at home.

We would earnestly recommend to consideration the propriety of
reestablishing the former British Settlement on the Island of Bulama.
Its climate is certainly unhealthy; but we are not aware that it is
more so than that of Sierra Leone or of some other places on the
Coast. It might be principally, if not entirely occupied, by British
subjects of Negro race; and its position, both for checking the Slave
Trade of Bissao and its neighbourhood, and for drawing out the
legitimate resources of several noble rivers, would be invaluable.

We would also suggest the erection of small Blockhouses, whether up
the Gambia itself, or along the Coast, as at Cestos and the Gallinas,
on points where British commerce is superseding the Slave Trade, as
they would protect the lawful trade, and prevent the re-appearance of
the Slave Trade where it has been extinguished, or is dying away.

SIERRA LEONE.

In regard to the machinery by which this Colony is governed, Your
Committee have no specific recommendation to offer.

In the course of their investigations, questions have arisen connected
with its past management and administration, more especially on the
subject of the party spirit of a peculiar nature, which is alleged to
have acted injuriously in regard to it both on the Colonial Office at
home and on the internal transactions of the Colony itself; questions
mixed up with topics of a personal nature, and which, in spite of the
facilities for a full investigation which were offered by the Colonial
Office, Your Committee would have found it impossible, within their
limited time, even if it had been their proper province, to follow
out. On these points, therefore, not having the means either of
forming themselves a satisfactory opinion, or furnishing The House
with the means of forming one, they have thought it due, not less to
the questions themselves than to the individuals concerned, not to
report the Evidence; and they are the more induced to pursue this
course, in that they are thus not prejudging any inquiry into this
subject, if in a future Session it should be the pleasure of The House
to engage in it.

In regard to the future, much will depend on the decision which shall
be come to as to several points which have been under our
consideration; such as the continuance at Sierra Leone of the Courts
for Adjudication of Prizes taken in the Slave Trade, the disposal of
the rescued Slaves, and the question of Emigration from Africa
generally.

Now it is hardly necessary to remind the House of The Resolution come
to by a Committee which sat upon this subject in 1830, which
distinctly condemned the location of the Mixed Commission Court at
Sierra Leone as highly inconvenient for the purpose, on the ground of
its situation, not only at so great a distance as 800 or 1,000 miles
from the places where the Slaves to be adjudicated were then
principally captured, but also so far to windward, that captured ships
were sometimes eight or nine weeks, and on an average upwards of five
weeks, on their passage from the place of capture to Sierra Leone,
occasioning a loss of the captured Slaves amounting to from one-sixth
to half of the whole number, whilst the survivors were generally
landed in a miserable state of weakness and disease. Such undoubtedly
was the case then, and had been the case then for many years, and has
been still the case, though in a somewhat less degree, since the
Report of that Committee. We regret that means should not have been
taken earlier to remedy this crying evil. As the Slave Trade however
now exists, that evil is no doubt much diminished. By the provision
introduced into our more recent Slave Trade Treaties, the Cruizers of
the contracting parties are authorised to seize Vessels merely on the
evidence of their equipment, without making it necessary to wait till
Slaves are actually on board, and thus a much smaller number of Slaves
is brought for adjudication and exposed to this kind of middle
passage. Moreover the exertions and improved quality and system of our
Cruizers, the depressed condition of the sugar-planters of Cuba and
Brazil, the extension of legitimate traffic, and other causes, have
succeeded in diminishing altogether the amount of Slave Trade; and the
scene of its greatest activity, North of the Line, lies now within a
moderate distance of Sierra Leone, or to the windward of it. The
reasons, therefore, for removing the Courts of Adjudication from that
Colony are not what they were. If, however, one place of adjudication
only is still to be assigned, and only one place of release, to the
wretched victims of the Slave Dealer, we believe that Ascension, or
one of the Portuguese Islands, would on the whole be best adapted for
that purpose, as being more convenient than Sierra Leone to the Bights
of Benin and Biafra, and to the Portuguese Settlements South of the
Line, now the principal seats of the existing Slave Trade, and (owing
to the set of winds and currents in that direction) as being easy of
access even from the farthest extremities of the Windward Coast, where
any Slave Trade is carried on. We are aware, however, that these are
arrangements which can only be made in conjunction with Foreign
Powers, and that they involve many considerations which have not been
fully before us. They are, however, of high importance to the
interests of humanity, and we cannot do less than invite the best
attention of Her Majesty’s Government to the subject.

The next point we have alluded to, that of the place and manner of
locating the Africans who are liberated from the captured Slave Ships,
is so closely connected with the question of Emigration from Africa
generally, that this seems to be the proper opportunity for discussing
that important subject. Before, however, they go further, Your
Committee desire to say a few words as to the point of view from which
they have felt it their special duty to look at it. On another
Committee has been devolved the charge of examining it in its bearings
on the prosperity of the West Indies: we consider it our peculiar duty
to look at it as affecting the interests of Africa only, whether of
its Natives generally, or specially of those who come into our hands
and under our protection in the course of our attempts to put down the
Slave Trade. Now, the investigation alluded to as devolved upon
another Committee of Your honourable House, is no doubt one of the
highest importance, even to the interests of the African himself;
inasmuch as we have it on the highest authority, that the diminished
supply of Sugar from our West India Colonies, consequent on
Emancipation, gave an extraordinary stimulus to the Slave Trade for
the supply of Cuba and Brazil; and the best aid for its
discouragement, and the best chance for its total extinction, would
undoubtedly be the diminution of inducement to carry it on, which
would arise from the production of Sugar by Free Labour in the British
Colonies on lower terms. But, as more immediately within our province,
we have thought it our duty to confine our inquiries upon this subject
to three points: 1st. Whether, indeed, there are any considerable
materials for a free Emigration from Africa to the West Indies; 2dly.
Whether it would be desirable for the African to make the change; and,
3rdly. Whether it could be carried on, and how, without reasonable
apprehension, or even a possibility of creating or encouraging a new
Slave Trade.

Now, as to the first point, we may briefly say, that on the Gold Coast
few materials for a perfectly free Emigration, or for Emigration of
any kind, appear to exist. The devastations of the Slave Trade, and of
the wars connected with it, though it has now ceased there entirely
for nine or ten years, are yet too recent to allow of the existence of
any very crowded Population, or any adventurous habits; and all, save
the Chiefs and a few dwellers on the coasts, who have engaged in the
various pursuits of commerce under the protection of the British, the
Dutch, and Danish settlements, are Slaves, though their Slavery, like
that of Africa generally, is not, as to labour, of a very grievous
kind. As we proceed up the Coast, we fall in, between Cape Palmas and
Cape Mount, with a very singular race of men, consisting of many small
tribes, known commonly by the collective name of Kroomen, scattered
along a considerable range of shore; much given, though not
exclusively, to maritime pursuits; forming part of the crew of every
English man-of-war and merchantman on the coast; known by a
distinctive external mark, and neither taken as Slaves themselves, nor
making Slaves of others. Their numbers are uncertain, but are
undoubtedly considerable, and seem to be increasing, and their
confidence in the English character is ascertained. But it seems
doubtful whether permission for large numbers to leave their shores
could be obtained without some present to their Chiefs; and their
attachment to their own country, and their present habits of migrating
only for a period, and without their families, make it also doubtful
whether they would ever become permanent settlers elsewhere, or indeed
remain away from home for a longer period than two or three years.
Upon this point we would refer, in addition to other Evidence, to that
which was given before us by two or three of these men themselves.

Passing by Sierra Leone for the moment, we come to the British
Settlement of the Gambia, and here we find about 1,500 Liberated
Africans, whom the British Government has removed thither from Sierra
Leone, from whom of course not much emigration could be expected,
though some, for they have little employment there. But we find there
a periodical Migration from a considerable distance up the River in
two tribes of Serawoolies and Tilliebunkas, who come in numbers to do
all the severe labour of the Settlement, and having saved their
earnings return to their homes, apparently free to come and go without
restraint or obligation of any kind. Their case may be considered as
somewhat resembling that of the Kroomen, and as offering materials for
a temporary Emigration in the first instance, though possibly
hereafter, on further experience, for one of a more permanent
character. We now return to Sierra Leone, and here we find the
Liberated Africans and their descendants, in number from 40,000 to
50,000, a body of Kroomen, in numbers which are variously stated from
1,000 to 5,000, who, like the Serawoolies in the Gambia, do all the
hard labour of the Colony, and between 1,000 and 2,000 of a mixed
population, who, like the Kroomen, have come into the Colony of their
own accord. We have also to deal here with those who may hereafter be
the subjects of adjudication on their release from Slave Ships, or who
may hereafter come into the Colony, if it should be permitted, for the
purpose of Emigration. These are the materials for Emigration to the
West Indies which have presented themselves, and progressively, if it
were permitted, encouraged, and successful, they would probably prove
to be considerable.

The next question is, whether it would be a desirable change for these
people to be in the West Indies rather than in Africa. Now for this
object we desired that statements might be prepared for us, founded
principally on Official Documents, acquainting us with the state of
things, the condition of society, the temporal, the moral and
religious advantages which would be enjoyed in three of our principal
Colonies, to which we beg to refer in our Appendix, but from which we
insert here a few Extracts, as sufficient for the present occasion.

JAMAICA.

“Of the actual condition of the labouring population of Jamaica, and
consequently the condition which would be accessible to the African
immigrants, Sir C. Metcalfe gives the following description, in his
dispatch to Lord Stanley of the 1st November, 1841:

“With respect to the labouring population, formerly slaves, but now
perfectly free, and more independent than the same class in other
free countries, I venture to say, that in no country in the world can
the labouring population be more abundantly provided with the
necessaries and comforts of life, more at their ease, or more secure
from oppression than in Jamaica; and I may add, that ministers of the
Gospel for their religious instruction, and schools for the education
of their children, are established in all parts of the island, with a
tendency to constant increase, although the present reduction of the
Mico schools is a temporary drawback.”

“Of the means afforded for the religious and moral instruction of the
population of Jamaica, Sir C. Metcalfe, in this dispatch, makes the
following statement:

“I turn from the cheerless prospects of proprietors to a more pleasing
feature in the present order of things. The thriving condition of the
peasantry is very striking and gratifying. I do not suppose that any
peasantry in the world have so many comforts, or so much independence
and enjoyment. Their behaviour is peaceable, and in some respects
admirable. They are fond of attending Divine service, and are to be
seen on the Lord’s day thronging to their respective churches and
chapels, dressed in good clothes, and many of them riding on
horseback. They send their children to school and pay for their
schooling. They subscribe for the erection of churches and chapels;
and in the Baptist communities they not only provide the whole expense
of the religious establishment, but by the amount of their
contributions afford to their ministers a very respectable support.
Marriage is general among the people. Their morals are, I understand,
much improved, and their sobriety is remarkable.

“For these very gratifying circumstances we are indebted to the
Ministers of Religion in the Island of all denominations. Church of
England, Church of Scotland, Moravians, Wesleyans, Baptists, Bishop,
Clergy, and Missionaries, all exert themselves, and vie with each
other in amicable rivalry to do good to their fellow-creatures. The
number of Churches, Chapels, and Schools built and being built in
every part of the Island, affords a most pleasing and encouraging
sight. In this respect the prospects of the Island are very cheering,
and the liberal support afforded to useful Institutions, and the
encouragement given to Religious Teachers, without any bigoted
exclusions, are creditable to the Island Legislature, and every part
of the Community.”

The Reports of the Magistrates[6], which will be found in the
Parliamentary Paper 1842, concur in representing the great efforts
which are made in promoting Religious Instruction.

[6] Statement given in by W. Burge, Esq., Agent for Jamaica.

“The annual charge defrayed by the Colony of Jamaica, for the support
of the Ministers and Schools of the Church of England, was, in 1836,
53,260_l._ 14_s._ 5_d._ currency, or 31,956_l._ 8_s._ 8_d._ sterling
money, as will appear by a Paper laid before Parliament in 1837, and
which will be found referred to in Evidence before the Committee of
The House on the West India Colonies. Since the Year 1836 an increase
has been made; and in the Years 1839 and 1840, an addition of
14,000_l._ sterling per annum was made to the charge. The total
annual charge, therefore, defrayed by the Colony for that part of the
Ecclesiastical and School Establishment, connected with the Church of
England, exceeds 45,000_l._ sterling money. But this Establishment is
still further extended by occasional Grants by the Assembly of
Jamaica, by Parliamentary Grants, and by certain Religious Societies
in England, and by individuals there and in Jamaica. In addition to
this Establishment, very extensive means of Religious Instruction are
afforded by the Presbyterian, Moravian, Wesleyan, and Baptist
Missions, established in Jamaica, and those schools and places of
worship are thickly spread over the Colony, and large contributions
for supporting and extending these Schools are derived from
Parliamentary Grants, from Grants by the Assembly of Jamaica, by
charitable institutions, and by private individuals here and at
Jamaica.”

BRITISH GUIANA.

“If I were not convinced that the unhappy Africans are benefited by
the transfer to this colony, I should not so urgently press the
continuance of the countenance of Her Majesty’s Government to that
effect. I have, in my residence on this coast, seen that the Africans
from Sierra Leone are far from being in the civilised state I should
have anticipated; that their condition must, therefore, here be
improved; how much more so then must the pure savage be raised by
being brought amongst his own colour, who are in a high progressive
state of civilisation[7].”

[7] Extract from the Dispatch of Governor Light to Secretary of State,
dated 21 Sept. 1841, Parl. Paper, 1842, p. 85.

“Religious instruction administered at 57 places of public worship.
Each parish has at least two parochial schools under the
superintendence of the minister. Each missionary has a school attached
to his domicile, and nearly all the principal plantations in the
colony, if at a distance from the schools, maintain a school for the
instruction of their labourers’ children, free of expense.

“An annual grant has been made by the colony in aid of the education
of children of the labouring population in the rural districts,
amounting to 13,333 dollars.”

“The average rate of wages for agricultural labourers is about 5-12ths
of a dollar per task; a day’s task is understood to be seven hours,
but is generally performed in four or five hours by an industrious
man; any extra time or labour is paid for additional.”

“House-room, garden ground, medicine, and medical attendance, have
hitherto been granted free; all other requisites are provided by the
labourers themselves[8].”

[8] Parl. Paper, 1842, p. 120. Extract from Report of Committee on
Emigration.

TRINIDAD.

“By Mr. Latrobe’s Report in 1839, it appears there were 35 Day and
Evening Schools, and 14 Sunday, of all denominations; whereas, by the
Return of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the
Established Church alone has now 28 Schools, and it is calculated that
the present number in all is not less than from 50 to 60. As regards
Churches and Chapels, there are no less than 18 connected with the
Established Church, 11 Roman-catholic, 4 Wesleyan, and 1 Presbyterian,
together 34, for a population of from 50,000 to 60,000 souls; this
would give a School for every 1,000 souls, and a Church for every
2,000.

“In the Colonial Estimate for this year, there is a provision of
1,660_l._ for the Established Church, and for the Roman-catholic
3,236_l._, as fixed expenditure, besides 5,865_l._ towards building
Churches, and 1,937_l._ towards Education.”

“The soil of Trinidad is a rich marl that requires no manuring
whatever, and of such soil there are fully one million of acres in
brushwood and forest. Were there only a sufficiency of labour every
British market might be amply supplied with Sugar from this one
Island; hence, Foreign Sugars would be excluded, and the Slave Trade,
as it refers to Great Britain at least, would be practically
discouraged.

“In Trinidad too, Christian Ministers can live and labour with far
less risk of health and loss of time. Government is also extremely
willing to give half the amount required for the erection of Chapels,
School-houses, Teachers’ Salaries, &c. in any part of the Island where
we may have even a small Society of Emigrants.

“It is therefore my deliberate conviction that the people would gain
an accession to their religious privileges by quitting any part of
Western Africa for the Island of Trinidad.

“But again I think that the worldly circumstances of the Emigrants
would be considerably advanced. The labourers may very easily earn
half a dollar per day on their arrival here, and in a couple of weeks,
that is, as soon as they fully understand the nature of the work, the
able-bodied may make a dollar. A house and garden are given to every
labourer. On these particulars Mr. David and the labourers who have
returned with him will be able to satisfy you[9].”

[9] Extract from Letter addressed by Rev. J. Blackwell, Wesleyan
Minister in Trinidad, to Wesleyan Ministers at Sierra Leone.

Now after looking at such a picture, drawn from the most unsuspected
sources, we cannot doubt that, whether for the homeless Negro just
rescued from the hold of a Slave Ship, or for the ignorant and
uncivilised African who comes down to our Settlements to pick up a
small pittance by the hardest labour, and to return with it to his
barbarous home, it would be of the highest advantage, it would be the
greatest blessing, to make such an exchange. But how is it with the
Liberated African of Sierra Leone, who has been enjoying perhaps for
years the fostering care of the British Government? Now to that
Government, beyond his rescue from the Slave Ship, and emancipation
from future Slavery, and a temporary sustenance, and his being placed
within the reach of Missionary efforts, to which it has not
contributed, the Liberated African cannot fairly be said to owe much.
To the invaluable exertions of the Church Missionary Society more
especially, and also to a considerable extent, as in all our African
Settlements, to the Wesleyan body, the highest praise is due. The
former expend nearly 7,000_l._, the latter nearly 2,000_l._ annually
upon the Religious Instruction of the Colony. By their efforts nearly
one-fifth of the whole population, a most unusually high proportion in
any country, are at school, and the effects are visible in
considerable intellectual, moral, and religious improvement,--very
considerable under the peculiar circumstances of such a Colony. But a
few ill-supported Schools and one Chaplain is all that has been
contributed by the Government to the religious and moral improvement
of those of whom she has undertaken the protection, and their social
improvement has been unattempted. No Model Farm has been established,
no instruction in Agriculture has been afforded. The rate of wages,
when any are earned, which is chiefly by a few in the neighbourhood of
the towns, is 4_d._ to 7_d._ a day, and with this and a little
cultivation a sufficient subsistence, though nothing more, is gained.
The extent of good soil is limited; the inhabitants wander out of the
Colony for the subsistence which they cannot find within it. There is
little industry, there are small facilities for trade, as the Colony
itself produces little to export save a little arrow-root and ginger,
and the River which it commands is only navigable for 30 or 40 miles
to any useful purpose, and supplies no article but timber and camwood.
With such a climate, therefore, and thus circumstanced, the Colony can
never invite the residence of planters or of merchants of considerable
capital, or become a favourite with officers, either civil or
military, of a higher order. What elements of prosperity, therefore,
can it have? The Government has not done much, but under any
circumstances the Colony must be an artificial creation. The
Government ought to have established a Model Farm, or in some way
communicated agricultural knowledge; and we would recommend that it
should be attempted even now. But, after all, what is that to the
magnificent Model Farms which would surround the African in the West
Indies?

We need hardly add more to prove that it would be well for the
African, in every point of view, to find himself a Free Labourer in
the free British West India Colonies, enjoying there, as he would,
higher advantages of every kind, than have fallen to the lot of the
Negro race in any other portion of the globe.

We pass the question, though not absolutely to be lost sight of, that,
in Sierra Leone, the newly liberated African is a burden to the
British Government as well as to himself; and that, in the West
Indies, not only would his own condition be improved, but he would
become a source of wealth and prosperity to the Empire. But we must
not omit the advantage to Africa, of the probable return to her soil
of many of her own sons, enriched with civil and religious knowledge,
and bringing back with them wealth, and the means of wealth and
civilisation; “that reflux of the West upon the East, in moderate
numbers, and managed with caution,” in the words of Sir John Jeremie,
“to which we must look for the civilisation of the East.”

But Your Committee had next to consider, whether, in achieving this
object, any danger existed of creating a real, or plausible suspicion
of a real, Slave Trade under another name.--Under proper regulations,
they think there is not. A free passage may be offered to the African
already settled within the colony, and to the Free Settler or other
Native, who shall have remained long enough in the Colony to give the
authorities sufficient time to ascertain the circumstances under which
he came, and to assure themselves that they were entirely free from
all suspicion of fraud or force. To such as thus leave their homes, a
free passage back at the end of a certain period, say three or four
years, might be promised, with full permission to them to return at
any time at their own expense. To the homeless African, newly
liberated, the option should be given of settling at once in the West
Indies, if he please, with permission to return hereafter at his own
cost, or of removing from Sierra Leone, or of remaining in it on the
first adjudication, if he undertake for his own maintenance, or can
find friends or relations who will undertake it for him.

With regard to the Kroomen, however desirable they may be as
labourers, and however advantageous the object may be to themselves,
we are not prepared in the first instance to recommend other
facilities for emigration than those which we have suggested to be
offered to other Natives who might desire to make use of a British
Settlement as a point of departure[10]. If they should desire, as it
appears that it is not improbable they may, to make a Migration across
the Atlantic, with their habits they will find no difficulty in making
their way, for the purpose, to Sierra Leone, where some hundreds or
even thousands of their brethren habitually reside, some of whom have
already emigrated to Guiana, and seem to be as active in the field, as
we have long found them to be on the sea, and to be well pleased with
the experiment.

[10] On this point, however, we beg to refer to the important evidence of Capt. Denman, who thinks that on account of the peculiar character of the Kroomen, emigration, with common precaution, might be conducted from their coast without risk of abuse. _See_ Q. 6995, _et preced._

If it should hereafter be thought desirable to form any Settlement on
the Kroo Coast, however small, it might facilitate arrangements
similar to those which we have recommended for the other Settlements.
Or they might possibly hereafter be embarked from the Coast itself
under the superintendence of a man-of-war. (_See_ Capt. Denman.)

The same door might be opened, under the same precautions, from the
Gambia; but with regard to the Gold Coast, the supply of labour there
not appearing to be more than necessary for the wants of the country,
we would not recommend any peculiar facilities to be afforded.

The expense of the Emigration would of course be defrayed by the
Colony to which each successive band of Emigrants was directed.

All this of course cannot be secured from abuse without the strictest
superintendence of some Government authority; which we believe,
dealing as it would do only with British Settlements, would be
substantially effective. But we would earnestly recommend, that it
should rather be undertaken altogether by the Government itself. In
that way only can perfect security be given and felt against the
abuses which might arise from the competition of the Agents of rival
Colonies; in that way only can perfect confidence be given, whether to
the African himself, or to the public opinion of England and the
civilised world, that nothing shall be done which shall even bring
suspicion upon a reputation, of which we are justly jealous, of which
we can still be proud, and which it is of the highest importance that
we should sustain. But under these sanctions, whether we look to the
effect of the prosperity of our Free Colonies in discouraging the
Slave Trade, or to the advantage of placing the African in that
position where he will be most likely to raise himself in the moral
and social scale, and to react beneficially upon the destinies of his
Mother Country[11], Your Committee cannot but strongly urge upon
Parliament not only not to prohibit the Emigration of Free Blacks from
our African Settlements to our West India Colonies, but to encourage
and promote it by the authority of Government, under the sanctions and
regulations above suggested, or such other as further consideration
may supply.

[11] To prove that this expectation is not altogether even now unsupported by facts, we beg to quote a passage from a letter in the Appendix, from Messrs. Anderson & Co.: “Demerara, 30 April, 1842. The Superior is off to day for Sierra Leone; 68 people have gone in her, including children, and with the exception of three or four, who are old soldiers, the whole of them are people who came seven or eight years ago from the Bahamas, (liberated Africans?) and they return to their native country with a good deal of money; three of them have not less than 5,000 dollars each.”

As we have said before, the way in which this question is disposed of
will affect materially other questions connected with the internal
administration of the Colony.

If Emigration should go on to any great extent from the settled
Population of Sierra Leone, which we believe it might without in any
way injuring the condition of the Colony, but rather the reverse, (for
the rate of Wages would probably rise, and it appears that it is not
the successful and thriving who are inclined to go), it will probably
be possible to dispense with some of the Establishment which is now
requisite for watching over the interests of the Liberated Africans.
If, on adjudication, they are mostly located in the West Indies, the
much-discussed question of the best means of disposing of them, of the
necessity of maintaining them, as now, for six months, or the
expediency of leaving them at once to their own resources and the
charity of their countrymen; the question of the best means of
disposing of the Children, and the ever-new devices of successive
Governors for escaping from the inevitable evils of apprenticing them
to persons on whose character no dependence can be placed, will be got
rid of; and the British Government will be relieved from the necessity
of attempting to overcome the obstacles which nature seems herself to
have interposed at Sierra Leone, in the way of ensuring a prosperous
condition to the objects of its humane care.

We now come to the question which has of late excited so much interest and feeling, that of the facilities which British Commerce is charged with having furnished to the Slave Trade, and to the extent and nature of the connexion which exists between them; a question which must be considered dispassionately and soberly, rather with a view to what is best for the object upon the whole, and to what is practicable, than to what might at first appear to be desirable, and what might be perhaps a partial good, producing possibly, in other ways, a greater evil. _Now, in the first place, it is fair to state that we have no evidence, or reason to believe, that any British Merchant concerned in the trade with the West Coast of Africa, either owns or equips any vessel engaged in the Slave Trade, or has any share in the risks or profits of any Slave Trade venture. The charge is this, and it must be admitted, that whether by selling condemned Slave Vessels back to Slave Dealers, which is the rarer case, or, which is the more common, by selling to Slave Dealers lawful goods, which are afterwards employed in barter for Slaves (whether circuitously by sale to Merchants in Cuba and Brazil, or directly on the Coast of Africa), the British Merchant and Manufacturer does, in common with the Merchants of other nations, furnish very considerable facilities for the Slave Trade._

It must further be admitted, that owing to the equipment article in our recent Treaties, which has prevented the actual Slaver from hovering on the Coast in safety, a large portion of the goods necessary for the Slave Trade is driven into Vessels innocent in their apparent character, but subserving the purposes of the Slaver; and that, in consequence, a somewhat larger portion of this kind of traffic may possibly now pass directly from the English or other Merchant to the Coast of Africa, than heretofore, when those supplies went round by Cuba and Brazil in the Slavers themselves, without risk of capture.

Now an opinion has prevailed, and that in very influential quarters, and it runs through Dr. Madden’s Report, that at least such direct dealing is illegal, and punishable under the Statute of the 5 Geo. IV, c. 5; and if not so already, the same parties would urge on Parliament to make it so by new enactment; and some even would extend it to all connexion, however indirect, in which a guilty knowledge of the destination of the goods or of the Vessel could be presumed. Now this view of the Act is not unnatural, owing to the general and comprehensive nature of its language, and to the desire which must naturally exist to understand it in as comprehensive a sense as possible for the obstruction of so odious and detestable a traffic as the Slave Trade. But looking closely at the language of the Act itself, and to the interpretation put upon it by the Law Officers of the Crown, as alluded to by the Under Secretary of the Colonies, in his letter to Dr. Madden, April 1842, and to the opinion of the Attorney General in the case inserted in the Evidence, _we cannot affirm it to be illegal now_, and we shall presently state to The House why, however reluctantly we may come to the conclusion, _we are not prepared to recommend that it should be made so_.

Now in the first place, it is difficult to consider or to make that illegal, which is and has been done at Sierra Leone for years, by a Court of Judicature, (in doing so, acting under Treaties and under the sanction of an Act of Parliament, namely,) selling publicly, and to the highest bidder, Prize Vessels and Prize Goods condemned for Slave Dealing, indiscriminately, and without precaution or restriction, to persons of all descriptions, including Slave Dealers themselves, and which, in regard to vessels at least, had been practised in that Colony by persons of high character and station unreproved. But if it should be made illegal hereafter to sell a Vessel to a party concerned in the traffic in Slaves, the next question, and one that a Legislative body must consider, is, in what manner shall such a prohibition be enforced? A bond that the Vessel shall not be disposed of to a Slave Dealer has been proposed; but how shall the Vessel be prevented from passing very shortly from hand to hand till it reaches an unlawful owner? and is it not unwise for the Law to attempt that which it has so little means of effectually enforcing? There seems no remedy for this, which at Sierra Leone, in the heart of the Slave Trade, and where the Vessel is often sold for half its value, is an evil substantially as well as in feeling, but that of extending the provisions of those Treaties which direct that a Slave Vessel shall be broken up, not sold, and altering our own Municipal Law to the same effect.

But in regard to goods and merchandise, should the Committee advise The House to make such dealing illegal? Now all the witnesses, even those who advocate this view most strongly, admit that legitimate trade, by which is meant the exchange of merchandise for produce, is most beneficial to Africa, and co-operates materially with the cruizer in his operations, whether directly by the assistance and information with which the British trader supplies him, or indirectly by diminishing the necessity of a trade in Slaves, as the means of procuring European or other goods; they admit that nothing therefore would be more injurious to the interests of Africa, than to interfere materially with the operations of lawful commerce. It appears, moreover, that in every place on the Coast North of the Line, (to which limits our inquiries have mainly been confined,) with the exception of perhaps two or three points, a lawful trade of more or less extent is or has been carried on contemporaneously with, and often, nay generally, by the same persons as, the Slave Trade: they have told us that the same goods, such as cottons, rum, tobacco, guns and gunpowder, are employed in both trades; and that, although those employed in the Slave Trade are often of an inferior description, yet that quality alone will not furnish the means of distinguishing between one and the other, and that, practically, there are no means of making such a distinction; they have told us that any restriction on traffic which they would recommend, must therefore be confined to places or persons _solely_ or _principally_ concerned in the Slave Trade, and that the law should not attempt to interfere with any other. The question still remains, how this is to be carried out?

With regard to those places, where the Slave Trade has been extinguished, no difficulty will arise; but with regard to those places, not few in number nor of slight importance, where, as in Bissao now, and as it has been and may be again, in the Brass and Bonny Rivers, the most important marts for lawful trade upon the Coast of Africa, a trade in produce and slaves is carried on together and by the same persons; or where, as in Whydah and Popo, a trade in produce has been gradually growing up and gaining upon the Slave Trade in proportion as the enterprise of the British merchant pushes on the one and the vigilance of the British cruizer checks and cripples the other, how should the Legislature deal with them? Shall they be lawful or unlawful ports or persons? What is to legalise the traffic in such cases? What proportion, or what positive amount, of lawful traffic? But, indeed, how is the lawful traffic to spring up at all under such circumstances of exclusion?

Some witnesses have argued, that this question of degree need not be
defined but may be left to be solved by the practical sense of a jury.
By what jury? In England or at Sierra Leone? Under what uncertainties
and obstructions would the most scrupulous trader deal with the Coast
of Africa, if, for the misinterpretation of such instructions, as the
nature of such a case will admit, by a supercargo, his vessel and
goods are liable to be brought some hundreds or thousands of miles out
of their course, to have the question decided by a jury, whether some
person or some factory dealt with was _principally_ or not engaged in
the Slave Trade, it being unlawful if _principally_, lawful if
_partially_, in some unknown and varying proportion, so engaged.

The question for the Legislature to consider is, whether it is worth
while to do all this, to infuse so much risk and uncertainty into a
trade which it wishes to encourage, which it looks to as one of the
main instruments for the civilisation of Africa, for the sake of
interfering with so small a proportion of the facilities which
commerce, permitted at all with Africa, under her present
circumstances, must of necessity afford more or less to the Trade in
Slaves. For unless all other countries can be persuaded to take the
same view, it must indeed be a small proportion, and little indeed
will have been done towards the object; an obstruction will merely
have been raised for such length of time as may be required for
conveying the same goods from England or from foreign countries
through other channels. It would be merely a transfer, and a transfer
to parties less friendly to the object, and less under control. We
have had ample evidence, that foreign vessels already carry on this
trade to a considerable extent; nor is there any right by existing
treaty with foreign nations, nor can it be expected, that we should
obtain it, to interrupt foreign vessels engaged in such a traffic.
But indeed, how would it be carried out? The right of search, in any
shape, is one, as we know by experience, that requires the greatest
delicacy in carrying out with the ships of friendly nations. But what
kind of search must that be, which would seek to ascertain, on board
of an apparently innocent vessel, innocent in her build and in her
equipment, and freighted with innocent goods, whether the destination
of such goods was not made unlawful by some document hidden in the
most obscure recesses of the vessel? How prolonged, how minute,
consequently how irritating at all times, how vexatious, if
unsuccessful; how likely to be unsuccessful, if not guided by more
obvious indications; how likely consequently to lead to disputes and
collisions among nations, most injurious, if not fatal to that
harmonious co-operation for the common object which is so absolutely
essential to success. It must not be lost sight of how large a share
of these evils must be inflicted on those who are engaged in our own
lawful commerce, if such a search be applied to them.

Now if we were bound by a rigid principle to do this, these arguments
must be rejected, as not affecting a case of conscience; but in this
case we are not trying the value of a rigid principle. The principle
would be intelligible which dictated the absolute interdiction of all
commerce with every place from which a single Slave was exported; or,
further still, with every place from which a Slave Trade was carried
on, such as Cuba and Brazil; or if it dictated a prohibition to send
goods where there was a probability that they might be exchanged for
Slaves. But this arbitrary and uncertain limitation, so little capable
of being referred to strict principle, and yet so injurious to lawful
commerce, can only rest on the ground of its expediency, of its
tendency to attain or promote the object; must submit to be tried by
that test, and so tried will be found wanting. It is no doubt galling
to a zealous and gallant officer, engaged in the service of his
country and humanity in watching anxiously a well-known slaver’s
haunt, to see foreign vessels, still more vessels bearing his own
country’s flag, passing inwards and supplying those goods, though
innocent in themselves, which are the medium of an atrocious traffic;
it is not surprising that under such circumstances that feeling should
have arisen which appears in Dr. Madden’s Report, and in the Evidence
of several, especially the naval, Witnesses. It is a feeling natural
and honourable in itself; and we hope that the English merchant,
animated as he is by the same feelings of horror for the Slave Trade,
will endeavour to extend the influence of those feelings through the
whole circle of his transactions. But we cannot recommend that a
provision so difficult to be carried out, so vexatious and yet so
ineffectual for its object, should be made the subject of Legislation.

Happily in this great work we need not despair. The measures lately
adopted have done much. The evidence of all the Naval Officers as well
as Commanders of Merchant Ships, concurs in stating, that North of the
Line, over a coast of many thousand miles, the Slave Trade, with the
exception of a few points in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone and the
Gambia, is virtually extinct. And the continuance of these measures,
well guarded and considered in all their details, as well as extended,
together with such as we have recommended in different parts of our
Report, give fair ground for hoping for ultimate success. Under this
head we would venture to recommend that none but the swiftest vessels
should be employed; that some of the best Prizes should be converted
to the purposes of the service; that Steamers should be engaged in
watching the intricacies of Islands, and the mouths of Rivers; that
the system of paying by Head-money, so unjust to gallant men[12], or,
perhaps, by Bounty at all, should be reconsidered, and possibly
replaced by higher pay and the prospect of promotion. Encouragement
and ample protection, at the same time, should be given to lawful
trade in every shape[13]; and the Settlements which we hold, or which
we may form, upon the coast, should be kept open indifferently to all
nations as to ourselves, that they may see, and be compelled to
acknowledge, that in all we are attempting for Africa, we are only
endeavouring to provide a feast of which all may equally partake; and
seeking, as the reward of our exertions, no advantage to ourselves
save that which may fairly fall to our lot from a proportionate share
of a more abundant table, spread out for the common benefit of all.

[12] As an instance of the injustice of this system, we beg to refer to a case cited by Captain Denman (Q. 7099), in which it appears that the capture of two vessels, of the aggregate capacity of 80 tons, which would have held 700 slaves, was remunerated with no more than 576_l._, because they were empty; while that of a single vessel, of little more than half that tonnage, brought in 1,654_l._, because she was full. Thus the least laborious and dangerous, as well as the least effective service, receives the highest reward.

[13] Perhaps one or two vessels might have this specific duty assigned to them, apart from the general operations of the Cruizers connected with the Slave Trade.

IN THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
REGINA _v._ ZULUETA.

_Counsel for the Prosecution._

MR. SERJEANT BOMPAS.
MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD.
MR. PAYNE.

_Counsel for the Defence._

MR. FITZ-ROY KELLY.
MR. CLARKSON.
MR. BODKIN.

_Attorney for the Prosecution._

SIR GEORGE STEPHEN.

_Attornies for the Defence._

E. J. & H. S. LAWFORD.

PROCEEDINGS
INSTITUTED AGAINST
PEDRO DE ZULUETA, JUN., ESQ.

From the moment I left the Committee of the House of Commons, on the 23d of July, 1842, I never again heard of this matter until Wednesday the 23d of August, 1843.

On that day, between two and three o’clock in the afternoon, I was sitting at my desk in the private room of Zulueta & Co.’s office, 22, Moorgate Street, in the City of London, when a clerk came into the room to announce that a gentleman of the name of _Scoble_ wished to see me. “Do you know him? He says that he is not known to you.” Upon this I went out into the clerks’ office and found the individual, thus calling himself, standing outside the counter. I asked him his business, and he replied that _he did not call upon his own business_. He asked me, in a pointed and distinct manner, if my name was Pedro de Zulueta, which of course I instantly acknowledged. “_I do not call on my own business, but to introduce a person who wishes to speak with you. Shall he see you here, or at your house?_” “I should like to know first who he is; what is his name?” “_You do not know him, his name is Brown._” “I do not recollect any person of that name,” I replied. “_He is below, if you like to see him._” The first impression on my mind was that the whole was some ridiculous mystery about some great trifle, and I thought I could not dispose of it better or more quickly than by seeing the man, so suiting the action to the word, I said, “I will go and see who he is,” and opened the door which leads from the office into the landing-place at the top of the stairs. No sooner was I outside the door than the individual, calling himself _Scoble_, addressed me in a tone different from the insinuating manner in which he had done before--not rude, but solemn--“The fact is, Sir, that a true bill has been found by the Grand Jury against you for felony, and there is an officer below to take you into custody. I did not like to state this before the clerks.”

The first impression I received at hearing these words I cannot give any account of, but it certainly struck me as the whole thing being a trick. “What do you say, Sir?” I asked; and the assertion was repeated, adding that the charge was slave trading. Then I was still more confirmed that there was some trick in the case. I asked the policeman, who was within the house and apparently in the act of ascending the stairs, to be called up, which Mr. Scoble did, and both were shown by me into the private through the public office. My father was sitting in the next room, and when I tried to make him understand the case, seeing the policeman and Mr. Scoble, he received the same impression of the whole being a trick, which raised his indignation at the audacity, and made him address Mr. Scoble very angrily. Mr. Scoble was evidently anxious to leave the room; and the policeman, to whom he gave strict directions about what was to be done with me, having assured me that the thing was in earnest, that I must go with him, I opened the private door for Mr. Scoble, who left the office repeating his injunctions to the officer, that I must be taken directly to the station-house, where Sir George Stephen would immediately go.

We had never before heard Sir George Stephen’s name, and my father thought he might be a magistrate. He tried to ascertain from the policeman by whose authority he was acting, but we could not obtain from him any thing that we could understand. He waited until Mr. John Lawford, of the firm of Messrs. Lawford, of Drapers Hall, our solicitors, arrived, and then we proceeded to the Garlick Hill Police Station-house. There Sir George Stephen appeared: he did not know me, and asked which was Pedro de Zulueta. When my name was mentioned, I answered to it, and then he preferred the charge as will be found in the succeeding page.