I did not ask you what you did not see; it is the very thing I have been objecting to a hundred times over: I ask you what you did see. You have said two or three times that you were three years upon this coast; to what extent of coast did your cruizing extend?—From December, 1838, until April or May, 1841. The Gallinas was within my station in the first instance. I had charge of the station under Admiral Palmer. Then there was another officer appointed.
I do not wish to go into the whole history of your service; but have the goodness to confine yourself to the question: over what extent of coast did the whole performance of your duties extend?—It depended upon the nature of the orders I received.
Was it altogether 1,000 miles of coast or 500 miles, from 1837, when you began, till 1841? Was the whole extent of coast, over which at various periods your service extended, 1,000 miles?—From October, 1837, till December, 1838, I was on the coast at different periods from Sierra Leone as far as Madagascar: but from December, 1838, until I left the coast of Africa in June, 1841, I was confined to the coast between Cape Palmas, Portendique, and the Cape de Verd Islands: from December, 1838, till June, 1841—
What extent of coast is that?—
Mr. Justice Maule. How many degrees of latitude is it?
—It is about 1,000 miles I should say.
Mr. Kelly. During that period you acquired some experience, I presume, in the nature of the British commerce carried on upon the coast of Africa: let me ask you, whether the sort of articles of British commerce, exported to Africa during that period, were not gunpowder, muskets, tobacco, brandy, and cotton goods?—Oh, yes.
And iron articles?—I do not think it is possible to distinguish the articles intended for the slave trade, from the articles intended for legal commerce.
Mr. Justice Maule. The articles sent in both instances are welcome to the African consumers?—Yes; I am speaking of the West Coast of Africa; I cannot speak to other parts of the coast; I do not think it is possible to distinguish them.
What people want in Africa is determined by that which they receive, and whether they pay for it in coin or in produce only, the same thing would be welcome?—Yes.