Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period / Illustrative Documents

by Unknown

5. Who by name was the master of the vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long have you known the said master? who first appointed him to be master of the said schooner, and when did he take possession thereof, and who by name delivered the same to him? where is the said master's fixed place of habitation with his wife and family, and how long has he lived there? what countryman[2] is he by birth, and to what Prince or State subject?

6. What number of mariners belonged to the said schooner at the time she was taken and seized? what countrymen are they, and where did they all come on board? whether had you, or any of the officers or company, or mariners, belonging to the said schooner or vessel, any part, share, or interest in the said schooner concerning which you are now examined, and what in particular, and the value thereof, at the time the said schooner was so taken, or the said goods seised?

7. Whether did you belong to the schooner or vessel concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how long had you known her? when and where did you first see her? of what burthen was she? how many guns did she carry? and how many or what number of men did belong to, or were on board the said schooner at the time she was taken, or at the beginning of the engagement before she was taken? and of what country building was she? what was her name, and how long had she been so called? whether do you know of any other name she was called by? and what were such names, as you know or have heard?

8. To what ports and places was the said schooner or vessel concerning which you are now examined bound, the voyage wherein she was taken and seized? to and from what ports or places did she sail the said voyage before she was taken and seized? where did the voyage begin, and where was the voyage to have ended? what sort of lading did she carry at the time of her first setting out on the said voyage, and what particular sort of lading and goods had she on board at the time she was taken and seized, proceeding upon a lawful trade? had she at that time any, and what prohibited goods on board her?

9. Who were the owners of the said schooner and vessel and goods concerning which you are now examined, at the time she was taken and seized? how do you know they were the owners of the said schooner and goods at that time? of what nation are they by birth, and where do they live with their wives and families? and to what Prince or State are they subjects?

10. Was there any bill of sale made to the owners of the said schooner? in what month or year, and where and before what witnesses was the same made, and when did you last see it, and what is become thereof?

11. In what port or place was the lading, which was on board the schooner at the time she was taken and seized, first put on board the said schooner? in what month and year was the lading so put on board? what were the several qualities and quantities, and particulars thereof? whether were the same laden and put on board the said schooner in one port, or at one time, or in several ports and places, and how many by name, and at how many several times, and what particulars and what quantity at each port? who by name were the several laders or owners thereof, and what countrymen are they? where were the said goods to be delivered, and for whose account, and to whom by name did they then really belong?

12. How many bills of lading were signed for the goods seized on board the said schooner? whether were the same colourable, and whether were any bills of lading signed, which were of a different tenor with those which were on board the said schooner at the time she was seized and taken? and what were the contents of such other bills of lading, and what are become thereof?

13. What bills of lading, invoices, letters, or any instruments in writing, or papers, have you to prove your own property, or the property of any other person, and of whom in the schooner and goods, concerning which you are now examined? produce the same, and set forth the particular times when, and how, and in what manner, and upon what account, and for what consideration you became possessed thereof?

14. In what particular port or place, and in what degree of latitude[3] were or was the schooner, concerning which you are now examined, taken and seized? at what time, and upon what day of the month, and in what year, was or were the said schooner so taken and seized?