6895. Mr. Milnes.] Would you have had a right to seize that ship under those circumstances simply from the fact of her having a foreign supercargo?—Not upon that fact, but upon the fact of her carrying goods from one slave dealer to another slave dealer to buy slaves with.
6896. How do you know that it was to buy slaves with?—From the fact of their being both engaged in the slave trade.
6897. Was Mr. Canôt at that time avowedly engaged in the slave trade?—Mr. Canôt had, a very few days before the arrival of the Echo, given up all his slaves and abandoned the slave trade. It was a mere accidental circumstance their finding that Mr. Canôt was not then carrying on the slave trade.
6898. Chairman.] They were consigned to him under the expectation that he was a slave dealer?—At the time the consignment took place he was a slave dealer, and no one at that time could have contemplated so sudden a change on his part.
6899. Mr. Milnes.] But at the time the Echo was there, Mr. Canôt was not engaged in the slave trade, and was under British protection?—Mr. Canôt had, a few days before, given up his slaves and abandoned the slave trade.
6900. But the parties who chartered the Echo could not have been aware of that fact?—They could not possibly have been aware of that fact.
6901. Sir T. D. Acland.] Mr. Canôt was known to be concerned in the slave trade at the time the consignment was made?—Perfectly.
6902. Mr. Forster.] You do not think that Mr. Canôt in abandoning the slave trade, was at all influenced by the prospective arrival of this vessel, with a view to possessing himself of the cargo?—I do not see how he could have been influenced by that; because, under the circumstances, I could not have seized her, whether he had been carrying on the slave trade or not. On the other hand, although he had turned from the slave trade, yet, had I found any equipment upon her, I should have seized her. It made no difference whatever.
6903. Did he immediately avail himself of the services of the British squadron to remove the goods from New Cestos, the place to which they were consigned, to Monrovia?—It would be necessary to explain what had taken place at New Cestos with reference to Mr. Canôt, to understand what took place with respect to those goods. Mr. Canôt, on the 8th of December, voluntarily delivered his slaves to Lieutenant Seagram, commanding H. M. S. Termagant, stationed by me to blockade the place. Lieutenant Seagram then sailed, to land those slaves at Sierra Leone, carrying with him reports upon the subject for my information. I met at New Cestos his boats, and not having received any information from him, but only from the officer in charge of the boats, verbally, I left an order for him to the following effect: that if he was persuaded of Mr. Canôt’s integrity of purpose, and provided the slave trade was at an end, he was to afford him convenience and protection, and to assist him in establishing a factory for Redman & Co. at Cape Mount. After my departure, the goods consigned to Mr. Canôt were, I believe, landed at his factory, the supercargo being on board, and ready to object if there was any thing improper about it; and they were subsequently, according to the orders I had left, protected by Lieutenant Seagram, when embarked from the beach, the natives showing every disposition to resist the departure of Mr. Canôt.
6904. Mr. Milnes.] Did you hear any thing at Sierra Leone about a buoy, in which the papers of the Echo were said to have been concealed?—I saw a buoy at the registrar’s office, at the Vice-Admiralty Court, which was hollowed out with a scuttle, and I was told that the papers had been concealed in this buoy. I should state, that on searching the Echo, there was no search for papers, because papers under the treaty with Hamburgh would not have been sufficient to condemn her. Equipments were what I searched for.