Trial of Pedro de Zulueta, jun., on a Charge of Slave Trading, under 5 Geo. IV, cap. 113, on Friday the 27th, Saturday the 28th, and Monday the 30th of October, 1843, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London / A Full Report from the Short-hand Notes of W. B. Gurney, Esq.

The SELECT COMMITTEE appointed to Inquire into the State of the British Possessions on the West Coast of Africa, more especially with reference to their present Relations with the neighbouring Native Tribes, and who were empowered to Report their Observations, together with the Minutes of Evidence taken before them, to The House;——Have considered the Matters to them referred, and have agreed to the following REPORT:

YOUR COMMITTEE, previous to reporting the result of their Inquiries into the subject which has been submitted to them by Your Honourable House, think it desirable to state the circumstances which led to their appointment. In the course of the Year 1839 information was communicated to the Marquis of Normanby, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, that a Spanish Slaver, the Dos Amigos, had, a short time previous to seizure, been allowed to trade freely at Cape Coast, a British Settlement on the Gold Coast, and had been supplied there by a British Merchant, a Magistrate, with some of the Goods, not Equipments, requisite for carrying on her unlawful Traffic. This information led to further inquiry, in the course of which it appeared that such practices were not unusual, and that Captain Maclean, the Governor, appointed by the Committee of Merchants in London, on whom the charge of the Settlements of the Gold Coast had been devolved by Parliament, in the Year 1828, did not consider himself entitled to interfere with the Traffic of any Vessel of a friendly Nation, whatever her purpose, coming to purchase Goods, in themselves lawful, within the waters of a British Settlement. In consequence of this information, Lord John Russell, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, concurring with his predecessor, gave strong Instructions for the discontinuance of this practice, and for the punishment of it as illegal, expressed his opinion that it was desirable the Government of these Settlements should be resumed by the Crown, and instructed Dr. Madden, a gentleman who had formerly been employed as a Stipendiary Magistrate in the West Indies, and subsequently in the Mixed Commission at Havana, to proceed as Commissioner to the Gold Coast, and the other British Settlements on the West Coast of Africa, for the purpose of investigating these and other matters connected with the administration and condition of these Settlements. He was at the same time instructed to inquire into, and report upon, the Prospects of Emigration from Sierra Leone to the British West India Colonies.

The Reports which were the result of this gentleman’s inquiries, involving materially the interests of Humanity and of Commerce, and impeaching gravely the character of individuals engaged in the British Trade with Africa, in a manner which seemed to call for further investigation before any conclusion could be fairly come to upon the questions at issue, have been laid before Your Committee, have in fact formed the basis of their proceedings, and are published with this Report; but in publishing them, Your Committee beg to state, that while they do full justice to the value of much of the information contained in them, and to the zeal and diligence of Dr. Madden, they do not concur in all his conclusions, or intend to warrant the accuracy of his statements. His inquiries were conducted over a vast surface of Coast in a short period, and under circumstances of considerable interruption from health disordered by the climate, and in many instances he apparently found himself compelled to take his information from third parties, the accuracy of whose statements and the correctness of whose opinions he had not the opportunity of testing.

In many of his recommendations they concur; on some, and those of no slight importance, they have come to an opposite opinion; but thinking it would be more convenient that they should give their own conclusions upon the whole subject submitted to them in a consecutive form, rather than in the shape of a commentary upon his Reports, they beg to submit the following statement and recommendations to The House, as the conclusions at which they have themselves arrived.

In the first place, then, we recommend that the Government of the British Forts upon the Gold Coast be resumed by the Crown, and that all dependance on the Government of Sierra Leone should cease.

We fully admit the merits of that Administration, whether we look to the Officer employed, Captain Maclean, or to the Committee under whom he has acted, which, with the miserable pittance of between 3,500l. and 4,000l. a year, has exercised, from the four ill-provided Forts of Dixcove, Cape Coast, Annamaboe, and British Accra, manned by a few ill-paid black soldiers, a very wholesome influence over a Coast not much less than 150 miles in extent, and to a considerable distance inland; preventing within that range external Slave Trade, maintaining Peace and Security, and exercising a useful though irregular Jurisdiction, among the neighbouring Tribes, and much mitigating and in some cases extinguishing some of the most atrocious practices which had prevailed among them unchecked before. We would give full weight to the doubts which Captain Maclean entertained as to his authority, until specifically so instructed, to prevent vessels, suspected of being intended for the Slave Trade, but not having Slaves on board, from trafficking in lawful goods within his jurisdiction; and we do not infer from that circumstance, that the Government of these Forts had any partiality for an abominable Traffic, which, on the contrary, they have done much to check; but we think it desirable, for the sake of enlarging the sphere of usefulness of these Settlements, and of giving greater confidence in the character and impartiality of their Government, that it should be rendered completely independent of all connexion with Commerce, by a direct emanation of authority from the Crown, and that it should be placed, with increased resources, in direct and immediate communication with the general Government of the Empire.

We recommend, further, the reoccupation of several of the Forts, such as Apollonia, Winnebah, and Whydah, abandoned in 1828, when the Government was handed over to the Committee of Merchants, and the reconstruction of others, on however small a scale, on other similar points. In some cases the climate will be found to be not worse, in others better, than on other parts of the coast of Africa; but this evil may be very much mitigated, if not entirely removed, by the employment of such Europeans only as are already inured to a tropical climate, and of British Subjects of African descent, who, we believe, may now be found, either within our African Settlements or our West India Colonies, fitted for almost every branch and grade of service[4]; and we look upon such Establishments as of high importance, not for the extension of Territory, but of that control over the Slave Trade, and wholesome moral influence over the neighbouring Chiefs, which we have described as having been exercised by the existing Forts, and which is much needed at those places to which we have particularly alluded, as well as others.

The Judicial Authority at present existing in the Forts is not altogether in a satisfactory condition; it resides in the Governor and Council, who act as Magistrates, and whose instructions limit them to the administration of British Law, and that, as far as the Natives are concerned, strictly and exclusively within the Forts themselves; but practically, and necessarily, and usefully, these directions having been disregarded, a kind of irregular jurisdiction has grown up, extending itself far beyond the limits of the Forts by the voluntary submission of the Natives themselves, whether Chiefs or Traders, to British Equity; and its decisions, owing to the moral influence, partly of our acknowledged power, and partly of the respect which has been inspired by the fairness with which it has been exercised by Captain Maclean and the Magistrates at the other Forts, have generally, we might almost say, uniformly, been carried into effect without the interposition of force. The value of this interposition of an enlightened, though irregular, authority, (which has extended, in some cases and with advantage to humanity, even to an interference in capital cases,) is borne witness to, not only by parties connected with the Government of the Settlements, who might be suspected of a bias in its favour, but also by the Wesleyan Missionaries, and even by Dr. Madden, who, objecting to its undefined extent, and to the manner in which, in some respects, it has been carried out, yet still bears high testimony to its practical value, to its acknowledged equity, and to its superiority over the barbarous customs which it tends to supersede. Even the duration of imprisonment, of which he complains, has been usually adjudged to offences which would have incurred a severer penalty in most civilised countries, and would certainly, if left to the arbitrary decision of native chiefs, or to the “wild justice” of private revenge, have been punished by death, and that frequently of the most cruel kind. Still, however, it is desirable that this jurisdiction should be better defined and understood, and that a Judicial Officer should be placed at the disposal of the Governor, to assist, or supersede, partially or entirely, his judicial functions, and those now exercised by the Council and the several Commandants in their magisterial capacity; but we would recommend, that while he follows in his decisions the general principles, he be not restricted to the technicalities of British Law, and that altogether he should be allowed a large discretion.

It is to be remembered that our compulsory authority is strictly limited, both by our title and by the instructions of the Colonial Office to the British Forts, within which no one but the Governor, his Suite, and the Garrison reside; and that the Magistrates are strictly prohibited from exercising jurisdiction even over the Natives and Districts immediately under the influence and protection of the Forts. All jurisdiction over the Natives beyond that point must, therefore, be considered as optional, and should be made the subject of distinct agreement, as to its nature and limits, with the Native Chiefs, and it should be accommodated to the condition of the several Tribes, and to the completeness of the control over them, which by vicinage or otherwise we are enabled to exercise. Their relation to the English Crown should be, not the allegiance of subjects, to which we have no right to pretend, and which it would entail an inconvenient responsibility to possess, but the deference of weaker powers to a stronger and more enlightened neighbour, whose protection and counsel they seek, and to whom they are bound by certain definite obligations.

These obligations should be varied and extended from time to time, and should always at least include (as many of the Treaties now in existence on that Coast already do) the abolition of the external Slave Trade, the prohibition of human sacrifices, and other barbarous customs, such as kidnapping, under the name of “panyarring,” and should keep in view the gradual introduction of further improvements, as the people become more fitted to admit them.

In this arrangement we should find the solution of our difficulty in regard to Domestic Slavery, and a modification of it under the name of “pawns,” which has prevailed within these settlements, not actually within the Forts, but within their influence, and even in the hands of British subjects. To them indeed they have been already prohibited; but although the system of pawns, which is properly an engagement of service voluntarily entered into for debt, and terminable at any time by the payment of the debt, is one which “does not seem abstractedly unjust or unreasonable[5],” yet as liable to much abuse, and much resembling slavery, it should be the object of our policy to get rid of it, even among the Natives; and in the places more immediately within the influence of British authority, we believe there will be no difficulty in limiting it at once, both in extent and duration, and probably, ere long, in abolishing it, by arrangements such as we have above suggested. Some caution, however, must be exercised in this matter on account of the close intermixture of Dutch and Danish with the British settlements, though perhaps it might be possible to induce them to co-operate in such arrangements as might be thought desirable for the improvement of the neighbouring Tribes; and great facility and advantage would certainly arise from such co-operation, if it could be secured.

With regard to the judicial arrangements, a plan has been suggested by which a Supreme Judicial Officer might be placed at Ascension, at Fernando Po, where no authority of any kind exists, and one is much needed, or at some other Island off the Coast, visiting, with the aid of a steamer, the various Settlements on the Gold Coast periodically, as well as the Trading Stations in the Bights of Benin and Biafra, and exercising in the latter a very wholesome influence in the adjustment of disputes with the Natives, which, for want of such interposition, occasionally lead to consequences injurious to the British character and to the interests of Commerce. But Your Committee are aware that difficulties might arise in carrying out this suggestion, more especially on account of the necessity for prompt decision in most cases in which the Natives are concerned; and therefore are not prepared at present to do more than call attention to the suggestion.

We would here acknowledge the great services rendered to religion and civilisation on this Coast by the Wesleyan body; they have even established a friendly communication with the barbarous court of Ashantee, which promises results important in every way; and, indeed, little in the way of religious instruction would have been done without them. But we should recommend that further provision should be made for these objects, by the appointment of a Colonial Chaplain, and by encouragement to schools of a higher class than any which are found there at present; to which, among others, the neighbouring Chiefs should be invited to send their sons to receive an education which might fit them to be of benefit to their own people directly, if they returned to their families, or indirectly, if they remained, by entering into connection with British interests. Some officer also should be appointed, whose duty should be to take care of the effects of intestate persons, to verify the character of vessels entering the ports, and to attend generally to the fiscal regulations of the Settlements.

We beg also to call attention to the suggestion, that we should endeavour to secure the co-operation of our Dutch and Danish neighbours, in licensing the canoes which ply along that coast, as they seem to afford considerable facilities to such Slave Trade as still exists along the Leeward Coast.

The Military also should be somewhat increased in number; and their condition, as recommended by Dr. Madden, should be improved.

A scheme for an establishment such as we have been proposing, will be found in the evidence of Mr. Hutton, one of the Council of the Committee of African Merchants, who now govern these settlements. To the details we do not pretend to give our sanction; but we beg to call attention to it, as showing that all the objects which we have been recommending may be attained at an expense far short of that which was incurred for these settlements when they protected instead of, as now, controlling the Slave Trade, or even when they were last under the direct management of the Crown. Indeed in itself it is of but trifling amount when compared with the objects to be attained, and we are confident that the increased expense will be well repaid, both directly by the diminished necessity for naval force upon the Leeward Station, and indirectly by the increase of commerce, which will be the certain consequence of extended influence over very important nations, including the kingdoms of Dahomey and Ashantee, of an improving population, and of the continued and still more complete suppression of the Slave Trade on that Coast, once infamous as the principal scene of its operations.

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.

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.