and Brazilian Judges, it shall have appeared to both of them that the case is incontestably one of equipment for Slave Trade; because if the determination of M. Niteroi against the condemnation of such vessels were admitted by you so far as to make such cases points for arbitration, the principle recognized by both Governments upon this head, that such cases do come within the meaning of the Convention would be done away with; and the ends of the parties to the Convention would thus be defeated. Her Majesty's Commissioners. I am, &c No. 35.-The Earl of Aberdeen to Her Majesty's Commissioners. GENTLEMEN, Foreign Office, December 14, 1843. I HEREWITH transmit to you a copy of a letter which I have received from M. de Lisboa, the Brazilian Minister at this Court, announcing the appointment of M. Manoel de Oliveira Santos, to be Commissioner of Arbitration to the Mixed British and Brazilian Commission, of which you are members, at Sierra Leone. You will receive this gentleman as your colleague, and introduce him to the proper authorities at Sierra Leone in that character; and treat him with cordiality and confidence in the execution of your joint duties, and show to him every suitable attention and respect. Her Majesty's Commissioners. I am, &c. ABERDEEN. No. 38.-Her Majesty's Commissioners to the Earl of Aberdeen. (Received December 30.) MY LORD, Sierra Leone, November 10, 1843. On the 3rd instant, we had the honour to receive your Lordship's despatch dated the 11th September last. After its perusal, we deemed it our duty to forward an extract from it to our colleague the Brazilian Commissary Judge; who, in acknowledging its receipt, requested that the British Commissioners would favour him with a meeting at the Mixed Cominission Office. This meeting took place yesterday morning; when, after an explanation of some sentences in the extract, Mr. Niteroi informed us that he was no longer our colleague, because he then and there resigned his office as Brazilian Judge. Mr. Registrar Bidwell was present, and made a minute of the proceedings. The British Commissioner of Arbitration immediately assumed the post of acting Brazilian Judge, and signed the several petitions which had been delayed in the British and Brazilian Court. Mr. Niteroi informed us that he would forward a protest to us, but it has not yet been received. We have, &c. The Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. G. MACDONALD. SIERRA LEONE. (Chile.) No. 43.-The Earl of Aberdeen to Her Majesty's Commissioners. GENTLEMEN, Foreign Office, October 13, 1843. WITH reference to my despatch of April 30, 1843, transmitting to you copies of the Treaty between Her Majesty and the Republic of Chile, for the Abolition of the Traffic in Slaves, signed at Santiago on the 19th January, 1839; and of the Additional and Explanatory Convention thereto, signed at the same place on the 7th August, 1841; I now transmit to you, for your information, 6 copies of an Act of Parliament, passed during the last session, for carrying that Treaty and Additional Article into effect. Her Majesty's Government have decided that the colony of Sierra Leone is to be the station of the Mixed Court to be established in a British possession under the provisions of the Treaty. I herewith transmit to you a Commission, bearing date the 22nd ultimo, by which Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint Michael Linning Melville, Esq. to be Her Majesty's Judge; and James Hook, Esq. to be Her Majesty's Arbitrator; and Charles Brooke Bidwell, Esq. to be Her Majesty's Secretary or Registrar, under and pursuant to the said Treaty and Act of Parliament. You will, on receipt of this despatch, take the oaths prescribed by the Ist Article of Annex B to the Treaty to be taken by you; and administer to the Registrar the oath to be taken by him. Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Valparaiso has been instructed to state to the Chilean Government, that if they should think proper to appoint a Judge and an Arbitrator to reside at Sierra Leone on the part of Chile, arrangements will be made for their reception. I shall lose no time in acquainting you with the determination of the Chilean Government on this subject, as soon as I shall have been informed thereof. Her Majesty's Government are not yet aware whether it is the intention of the Government of Chile that a Mixed Court should be established in their territory; and Her Majesty's cruizers have accordingly received instructions to carry, for the present, to Sierra Leone, for adjudication by the Mixed Court established in virtue of the inclosed Commission, any Chilean vessel which may be captured under the provisions of the Treaty and Additional Convention above mentioned. You will observe by Additional Article II to the Treaty in question, that it is agreed that so long as no Judge or Arbitrator shall have been nominated on the part of the Republic of Chile, Her Majesty's Government is to bear the entire expense of the Mixed Courts. No portion, therefore, of the incidental expenses of the Court now, esta blished at Sierra Leone, will for the present be chargeable to the Government of Chile. You will transmit in duplicate, addressed to Her Majesty's Prin cipal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, an account of any proceedings that may occur under this Treaty. Such despatches are to form part of your annual series addressed to the Secretary of State, and are to be numbered accordingly, but they will be distinguished by the word "Chile," placed in the margin of the first page, immediately before the number of the despatch. You will address to this department half-yearly returns as to cases adjudicated under the Treaty with the Republic of Chile, similar to those which you are required to make under other Treaties; and you will from time to time receive from Her Majesty's Secretary of State any further instructions which circumstances may render necessary for your guidance. Her Majesty's Commissioners. I am, &c. No. 51.-Her Majesty's Commissioners to the Earl of Aberdeen. (Received March 8, 1843.) MY LORD, Sierra Leone, December 31, 1842. We have the honour to inclose an abstract of the proceedings in the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission established in this colony during the year ending this day. In that period only 1 vessel has been adjudicated and condemned, and from which 440 slaves were emancipated. The Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. We have, &c. M. L. MELVILLE. SIERRA LEONE. (Spain.) No. 64.-Her Majesty's Commissioners to the Earl of Aberdeen. (Received March 8, 1843.) MY LORD, Sierra Leone, December 31, 1842. INCLOSED, we have the honour to transmit to your Lordship an abstract of the proceedings in the British and Spanish Mixed Court. of Justice during the year ending this day. The number of vessels adjudicated was 4, all of which proved cases of confiscation, excepting one, withdrawn for want of evidence to establish her Spanish nationality, but which was subsequently prosecuted and condemned in the Court of Vice-Admiralty of this colony, as a Portuguese vessel equipped for the Slave Trade. We have, &c. M. L. MELVILLE. The Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. JAMES HOOK. SIERRA LEONE. (Uruguay.) No. 87.-The Earl of Aberdeen to Her Majesty's Commissioners. GENTLEMEN, Foreign Office, August 2, 1843. WITH reference to my despatch of the 5th July, 1842, transmitting to you copies of the Treaty between Her Majesty and the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay for the abolition of the Slave Trade, signed at Monte Video on the 13th July, 1839, I now transmit to you, for your information, 6 copies of an Act of Parliament passed during the present session for carrying that Treaty into effect. Her Majesty's Government have decided that the colony of Sierra Leone is to be the station of the Mixed Court to be established in a British possession under the provisions of the Treaty. I herewith transmit to you a Commission, bearing date the 14th ultimo, by which Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint Michael Linning Melville, Esq., to be Her Majesty's Judge; James Hook, Esq., to be Her Majesty's Arbitrator; and Charles Brooke Bidwell, Esq., to be Secretary or Registrar, under and pursuant to the said Treaty and Act of Parliament. You will, on the receipt of this despatch, take the oaths prescribed by the Ist Article of Annex B to the Treaty, to be taken by you, and administer to the Registrar the oath to be taken by him. I transmit to you, for your information, the accompanying copy of a correspondence which Mr. Mandeville, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary for negotiating this Treaty, on the subject of the establishment of the Mixed Courts under its provisions. You will perceive from these papers that it is not at present the intention of the Government of the Uruguay to establish a Mixed Court in their territory. Instructions have consequently been issued to Her Majesty's ships employed in the suppression of the Slave Trade, to carry to Sierra Leone, for adjudication, vessels captured under this Treaty. You will further observe that the Government of the Republic of the Uruguay have no intention, at present, to appoint a Judge and Arbitrator at Sierra Leone. It will, therefore, become your duty, under the provisions of Article IX of Annex B to the Treaty, to take cognizance of any cases of vessels captured under this Treaty, and brought to Sierra Leone for adjudication. You will observe, by Additional Article III to the Treaty in question that it is agreed, that so long as no Judge or Arbitrator shall have been nominated on the part of the Republic of the Uruguay, Her Majesty's Government is to bear the entire expense of the Mixed Courts. No portion, therefore, of the incidental expenses of the Court now established at Sierra Leone will, for the present, be chargeable to the Republic of the Uruguay. You will transmit, in duplicate, addressed to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, an account of any proceedings that may occur under this Treaty; such despatches are to form part of your annual series, addressed to the Secretary of State, and are to be numbered accordingly; but they will be distinguished by the words "Republic of the Uruguay," placed in the margin of the first page, immediately before the number of the despatch. You will address to this Department half-yearly returns as to cases adjudicated under the Treaty with the Republic of the Uruguay, similar to those which you are required to make under other Treaties; and you will, from time to time, receive from Her Majesty's Secretary of State any further instructions which circumstances may render necessary for your guidance. Her Majesty's Commissioners. I am, &c. ABERDEEN. HAVANA. No. 95.-Her Majesty's Commissioners to the Earl of Aberdeen. (Received February 8.) MY LORD, Havana, January 2, 1843. WE have the honour to submit our annual Report, or summary of notices, on the state of the Slave Trade at this place during the last year, including a list of the vessels that have arrived in that time from the coast of Africa, and also lists of those vessels that have sailed hence, suspected of being intended for Slave Trade, during the years 1841 and 1842. In presenting this Report we cannot but, in the outset, express our utmost congratulation that, for the first time in the history of this Commission, we are enabled positively to say that good faith has been observed, as regards the Treaty, by this Superior Government; and |