execution of the Stipulations of the Treaty subsisting between the two Countries.

I am only further to recommend to you a perseverance in the same watchfulness over the illicit Slave-trade, as it may come under your observation, which you have shown hitherto; and the same prudent and conciliatory language and conduct in your intercourse with the Spanish Authorities, whenever you have to call their attention to apparent violations of their own Laws for the Abolition of this odious I am, traffick. &c. WILLIAM HAMILTON.

His Majesty's Commissioners.

No. 113.-Messrs. Kilbee and Jameson to the Marquess of Londonderry. (Received January 19, 1822.)

MY LORD,

Havannah, 10th December, 1821.

A SPANISH Privateer, named the Paxaro Verde, on the 6th ultimo, brought into this Port a Vessel having on board a Cargo of Negroes belonging to the Spanish Schooner Antonica, Don Joaquim Zorilla Master, which had been wrecked on Cayo Verde, near the Port of Guanaja, on the 19th October.

The Negroes were captured in Boats which were conveying them on shore from Cayo Verde, and were put on board a Coasting Vessel, in which they arrived here.

Having conversed with the Captain-General upon this subject, his Excellency readily agreed that this was a Case which ought to be tried by this Mixed Commission; and he accordingly ordered that the only Document he had yet received, viz. a Memorial from the Owner of the Privateer, praying that the Negroes might be declared lawful Prize, should be transmitted to the Register. In the mean time, by order of his Excellency, the Negroes were landed and deposited in proper hands.

The Vacancy occasioned in this Mixed Commission, by the death of Don Alexandro Ramirez, Spanish Commissary Judge, in May last, having not yet been filled up, and the Spanish Commissioner of Arbitration, considering the duties of his Office to be incompatible with those of Commissary Judge, a Note, of which a Copy is inclosed, was addressed to the Captain-General, requesting his Excellency, in virtue of the power invested in him by Treaty, to fill up the aforesaid Vacancy. A Translation of his Answer, notifying the Appointment of Don Claudio Martinez de Pinillos to succeed Don Alexandro Ramirez, is likewise inclosed. M. Pinillos subsequently took the oath prescribed by Treaty. On the 12th November, the two Commissary Judges met, to take into consideration the circumstances of the Case. From the first perusal of the Memorial transmitted by the Captain-General, it was evident that the legality of the Capture could not be tried by the Mixed Commission, the Vessel which made the Capture not be

longing to the Spanish Royal Navy. And accordingly, at a second Meeting, at which the Captain of the Privateer appeared, and in his Declaration upon Oath stated, that his Vessel was private property, that he was not an Officer in the Spanish Navy, and that he was not provided with the Special Instructions annexed to the Treaty of 1817, it appeared to the Court that any further proceedings would be unnecessary, as the 9th Article of that Treaty expressly states, "that the visit and detention of Slave-ships, specified in this Article, shall only be effected by those British or Spanish Vessels which may form part of the two Royal Navies; and by those only of such Vessels which are provided with the Special Instructions annexed to the present Treaty." A Decree, pronouncing the incompetency of the Mixed Commission to try this Case, was extended by the Registrar; and it was ordered, that the Documents presented to the Court should be transmitted to the Captain-General, to be by him referred to the proper Tribunal, which was to decide upon the Case, in conformity with the Law of the Kingdom, published in December, 1817, relative to illicit traffick in Slaves.

An Abstract of the Documents, and of the Proceedings, is herewith inclosed, together with a Translation of the Decree of the Court.

We have much satisfaction in reporting to your Lordship, that in this first Case which has come before the Mixed Commission, we have experienced every facility and attention on the part of the CaptainGeneral, that could be required to give efficiency to our proceedings. We have, &c. H. T. KILBEE. R. F. JAMESON.

The Marquess of Londonderry, K.G.

(Inclosure 1.)-The British Commissary Judge to the Captain-General. Havannah, 9th November, 1821.

THE Undersigned, His Britannick Majesty's Commissary Judge, having learnt that the Case of a Spanish Slave-vessel, detained and carried into this Port by a Spanish Cruizer, is about to be brought to Adjudication before the Mixed Commission established here, in conformity with the Stipulations of the Treaty for the Abolition of the Slave-trade, concluded between Great Britain and Spain in September, 1817, takes the liberty of suggesting to the Captain-General, the expediency of filling up the Vacancy which has occurred in the said Mixed Commission, by the death of Don Alexandro Ramirez, who held the Office of His Catholick Majesty's Commissary Judge. The 13th Article of the Regulations for the Mixed Commissions annexed to the aforesaid Treaty, and forming an integral part of the same, states, that on the part of Spain, the Vacancies shall be supplied, in the Possession of His Catholick Majesty by such Persons of trust as the Principal Authority of the Country shall appoint. The Captain

General is therefore fully authorized to fill up the actual Vacancy; and the Undersigned ventures to request, that his Excellency will be pleased to do so with as little delay as possible, in order that the Person who shall be appointed, together with the Undersigned, may proceed without delay to the Adjudication of the Vessel in question, in conformity with the Stipulations of the aforesaid Treaty.

H. E. Don Nicholas Mahy.

H. T. KILBEE.

(Inclosure 2.)—The Captain-General to the British Commissary Judge. (Translation.)

SIR,

Havannah, 10th November, 1821.

I HAVE received your Letter, dated yesterday, respecting the Appointment of Commissary Judge on the part of His Catholick Majesty, in the place of the Intendant, Don Alexandro Ramirez, who held that Office; and in reply, I have to inform you, that I have named Don Claudio Martinez de Pinillos, Senior Principal Minister of the Finance Department, to that Office; and I have directed him to present himself before me in order to take the oath, in conformity with the Constitution and the Laws. I have the honour, &c.

H. T. Kilbee, Esq.

NICHOLAS MAHY.

(Inclosure 3.)—Abstract of the Documents and Proceedings in the Case of the Negroes belonging to the Spanish Scho:ner Antonica, captured by the Privateer Paxaro Verde.

MEMORIAL of Don Francisco Vidal, Owner of the Paxaro Verde, dated November 9th, 1821, praying the Captain-General to allow him to land and sell the Negroes captured by his Vessel, as lawful Prize. He enters into several arguments against granting those Negroes their liberty.

The Captain-General directs this Memorial to be referred to the Mixed Commission for its decision.

Minute of the Secretary, stating that he had received the said Memorial from the Captain-General, and also 2 Letters, notifying the Appointment of Don Claudio M. Pinillos to be Commissary Judge, on the part of His Catholick Majesty, and his having taken the proper oath.

Minute of the Decree of the Court, dated the 12th November, stating that it was necessary that the Captain of the Paxaro Verde should appear personally, and directing that the Captain-General should be requested to take steps for that purpose.

On the 15th of November, Don Nicholas de Ribes, Captain of the Paxaro Verde, appeared personally before the two Commissary Judges, the Secretary being present, and declared upon oath, in answer to the questions put to him by the latter, that he was named as above, was a Native of Palamos, in Catalonia, and was Captain of the Schooner

Paxaro Verde; that the said Schooner was the property of a private Individual, and did not belong to the Royal Navy; that he was provided with a Commission (which he produced) authorizing him to capture Vessels engaged in Smuggling; that he had not received any Special Instructions relative to Vessels engaged in illicit traffick of Slaves; and that he was not an Officer of the Royal Navy, nor was there any such Officer on board his Vessel.

Minute of the Decree of the Court, stating, that it was not competent to decide upon the present Case, the Capture having been made by a Vessel which did not belong to the Royal Navy, and was not provided with the Special Instructions annexed to the Treaty.

This Decree was notified to the Parties on the 17th November, and the Proceedings were sent to the Captain-General, in order that they might be referred to the competent Tribunal.

On the same day Don Joaquim Zorrilla, Master of the Vessel to which the Negroes belonged, presented a Memorial, accompanied by various Documents, to the Mixed Commission, praying that the said Negroes might be restored to him. The Case, as set forth by him, is

as follows:

In the month of May last he sailed from Matanzas in the Schooner Antonica, of which he was Captain and Owner, for Buena Vista, one of the Cape de Verd Islands. The object of his Voyage was to recover some debts due to him there; but, upon his arrival, he found that it was impossible to obtain payment in any other manner than by taking Negroes, to which he at length consented. On his Voyage back to The Havannah, his Vessel was wrecked on Cayo Verde, where, with difficulty he landed the Negroes, and proceeded himself to the Port of Guanaja, on the North Coast of this Island, near to the Cayo where he was wrecked, and from thence to Puerto Principe, where he applied to the Authorities for assistance, and for permission to land the Negroes, which was granted on condition that they should be deposited in proper hands, until the determination of the Government at The Havannah upon the Case should be known. In consequence of this permission 4 Boats were obtained from the Commandant at Guanaja, and proceeded to Cayo Verde to convey the Negroes on shore, but upon their return they were attacked by the Paxaro Verde, and captured. Upon hearing this, Zorrilla again recurred to the Authorities at Puerto Principe, and orders were issued by them to the Captain of the Paxaro Verde to deliver up the Negroes, which orders the latter refused to obey, put the Negroes on board a Coasting-vessel, and carried them into The Havannah.

Zorrilla rests his Claim for the restoration of the Negroes, upon the circumstance that they were not embarked on the Coast of Africa, but at one of the Cape de Verd Islands, and were received from Portuguese Subjects, to whom it was lawful to carry on the traffick.

The Court directed that a Copy of this Memorial should be annexed to the Proceedings, and that the Party should be informed of the Decree, pronouncing that the Mixed Commission was not competent to decide upon the present Case.

The same resolution was adopted with respect to another Memorial from the Owner of the Paxaro Verde, referred to the Court by the Captain-General, the object of which was that the Court of Admiralty might be directed to stop the Proceedings which it seems had been commenced there respecting this Case.

H. T. KILBEE.

(Inclosure 4.)-Decree of the British and Spanish Commissary Judges, in the Case of the Negroes belonging to the Spanish Schooner Autonica, Don Joaquim Zorrilla, Muster, captured by the Spanish Privateer Nuestra Senora del Carmen, alias El Paxaro Verde, Don Nicholas Ribes, Captain.

(Translation.)

Havannah, 17th November, 1821.

THE powers of this Mixed Commission being limited to take cognizance of, and to try the Cases of Detention and Captures made by Vessels of War of the Royal British and Spanish Navies, as appears by the 9th and 11th Articles of the Treaty between their Catholick and Britannick Majesties, by the 5th Article of the Instructions with which the Commanders of the Vessels of War of both Powers should be provided, and by the 1st Article of the Regulations for the Mixed Commissions, annexed to the said Treaty; and it appearing, by the Declaration, upon Oath, of the Captain of the Schooner Nuestra Senora del Carmen, alias El Paxaro Verde, that that Vessel is a Privateer belonging to a private Individual, in which the Nation has no share; that she was not commanded by an Officer of the Royal Navy, and, consequently, was not provided with the Special Instructions for detaining and capturing Slave-ships; it is therefore hereby declared, that this Case does not come within the powers of this Mixed Commission, but belongs to the Tribunals of the Country, to be tried in conformity with the internal Law of the Kingdom, contained in the Royal Cedula of the 19th December, 1817, printed in continuation of the Treaty, and the Documents annexed thereto, as having been issued by His Catholick Majesty, in conformity with the 6th Article of the said Treaty. It is therefore ordered, that the Proceedings shall be transmitted to his Excellency the Superior Civil Chief (Captain-General), in order that he may be pleased to send them to the proper Tribunal, a Copy of them being left in the Office of the Secretary.

RAFAEL GONZALES, Secretary.

PINILLOS.

H. T. KILBEE.