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each the marquis of Downshire, earl Carnarvon, lord Gage, the bishop of Bath and Wells, sir Thomas Baring, Messrs. Escourt, Huskisson, &c. &c. &c. can state the importance of this system to the peasant and his family, and to the commonwealth of which he forms a respected member. Our country, already owing so many ages of obligation to its agriculture, has yet to reap in this fruitful field the harvest of ease and prosperity. Are we not, then, summoned, by our love to God and man, to rouse from the torpor of indifference, to apply the remedy to our distresses, and to do what in us lies to blot out the oppressive stain? Let Christians associate, and a kindred zeal to that we so much commend in missionary efforts, will be found exciting every bosom. Co-operation is alone required. It is recommended that a committee be formed in London, and district committees in the country, to digest the necessary arrangements, some of which are even now ready for such a call.

While the British land is furnishing employ to the British labourer, we shall soon realize, by the Divine blessing, the effects of that righteousness which exalteth a nation, and achieve paramount claims to the gratitude of our fellow-subjects.— Every rank and class throughout our land may be expected to follow such laudable examples. Poors' rates will be reduced; our sabbaths be likely again to witness the population visiting the temple where God's blessings may be found; and to him alone be the glory, who hath given such power unto men. X. Y. Z.

SLAVE SHIP EXAMINED AT SEA.

WHEN we were about a fortnight at sea, we found ourselves approaching the spot where pirates abound, many of whom had recently committed most atrocious depredations. Their known practice is as follows. They set out generally from the Havannah, to hover about the coast of Africa; and if they conveniently can barter for and embark a cargo of slaves, they proceed directly for the island of Cuba. If they are not successful in this speculation, or if an opportunity for piracy present itself, in any part of their voyage, they seize the first ship they meet with, preferring one already laden with slaves. Having taken possession of the vessel, they murder, or, sometimes, in rare cases, put on shore, in some desert place, the white men found on board, and then proceed

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with the vessel and cargo to Cuba, where they land the slaves surreptitiously on the back of the island, and then enter the Havannah openly in ballast. This occurred in the case of a prize-crew of English, put on board a captured slaver, who were murdered by these pirates in a ship called the Pelican.

The island of Cuba seems now the refugium peccatorium for every ruffian, and the spirit and practice of the buccaneers are revived there at the present day. Like Algiers, and the piratical states of Barbary, it has become the opprobrium of the commercial and civilized world, and requires the same exertion of a strong hand to put it down. It seems also to be the great inlet for slaves, and the incentive to continue the traffic, and this without any of those pretexts which the Brazilians yet can plead. In the treaty made with Spain, by the British government, on the 22nd of September, 1817, the very first article is, "That the slave-trade shall be abolished through the entire dominions of Spain, on the 30th of May, 1820, and that after that period it shall not be lawful for any subjects of the crown of Spain to purchase slaves, or to carry on the slave trade on the coast of Africa, on any pretext whatever." To reconcile the speculators to the change, the sum of £400,000, was actually paid by Great Britain, on the 20th of February, 1818, to the Spaniards, as a full compensation for the losses consequent on the abolition. Notwithstanding this, 20,000 slaves, it is calculated, are annually brought to Cuba, from the Gallinas and the river Bonny, on the coast of Africa, by these pirates and slavers.

Captain Arabin had met, while on the coast, one of these atrocious vessels. She was a ship of war from the Havannah, commanded by a Spaniard of the name of Jozé Antonio de la Bega. She was called the Veloz Passageiro, mounted twenty-four long guns, and was manned by 161 desperate fellows, of all nations. She was about 400 Spanish, equal to 680 English tons, capable of carrying 1200 slaves, and had a tender in company, for stowing 400 more. Captain Arabin could find no pretext to interfere with the captain on the coast of Africa, as he had no positive evidence that he was come on a slaving expedition; but he had received certain information, that he would sail for the Havannah on the 1st of May, with his own ship and his consort full of slaves, and so cross our course near the equator, about this time. We had been, therefore, for some days looking o

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him, and, as it was supposed he would make a desperate resistance, preparations were made for his reception.

The North Star was inferior in size, force, and complement of men, carrying only twenty-six short carronades, with two long guns, being only 500 tons burden, and having a complement of 160 men. Moreover, the masts were of a new and untried timber; the mizen sprung, the foremast decayed at the cap, the foretopsail-yard fished, and the rigging rotten; so that she was every way inferior in force and firmness to the armed slaver. Yet Captain Arabin was determined to board if they met, as well from a sense of duty, as because the crew would be allowed £10 a head, on all re-captured slaves; and in case of success in this instance, would share £16,000 prize-money, an inducement which Government most judiciously add to other incentives in this great cause of humanity. The crew, therefore, were exercised at the carronades every day; and as it was determined to run her aboard, the stoutest and most active young men, armed with cutlasses, were daily practised for that service, while the marines and boys, with muskets, were ready to cover the attempt.

On Friday, May 22, being in lat. 4o, 43′ 8′′ and long. 26° 23′ W. we were talking of this pirate at breakfast, and the probability of meeting her at this place, when, in the midst of our conversation, a midshipman entered the cabin, and said in a hurried manner, that a sail was visible to the N. W. on the larboard quarter. We immediately all rushed on deck, glasses were called for and set, and we distinctly saw a large ship of three masts, apparently crossing our course. Various conjectures were now made as to who or what she was, but in a little time the trim and look of the vessel decided us that she was a foreigner; and it was the general opinion that she was either a large slaver or a pirate, or probably both, and Captain Arabin was strongly inclined to believe it was his friend the Spaniard, from the coast of Africa, for whom we had been looking out, or another of the same kind, cruising on the look-out for our East and West Indian trade, which are generally crossed by pirates in this latitude. The stranger now hauled her wind, changed her course, and seemed to bear directly down upon us. We clapped on studding and every other sail the ship could bear, and stood towards her; and as we were nearing every moment, there was a probability we should

soon meet.

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After about an hour standing towards us, she tacked, as if not liking our appearance, and alarmed at our approach, and stood away directly before the wind. We crowded all sail in chase. The breeze freshened, and at four bells we had neared so much that we had a distinct view of her hull, and we now were certain she was a slaver, and also perhaps a pirate, and that she had at least five or six hundred slaves aboard. This opinion was formed on that sagacity that a long experience on the coast of Africa, and a familiar acquaintance with such vessels had imparted. We were, therefore, ail on the alert, exulting in the prospect of liberating so many fellow-creatures, and bartering and bargaining for our share of the ransom-money, for it seemed almost certain that she could not escape us. She resembled, however, a fox doubling in all directions, and every moment seemed to change her course to avoid us.

The captain now ordered a gun to be fired to leeward, and the English_union flag to be hoisted; we had the wind right aft, and were running right down upon her, distant about four miles. She took no notice of our gun and flag, and another was fired with as little effect. Orders were then given that one of the long guns at the bows should be shotted and sent after her. We all crowded to the forecastle, to witness the effect. The ball went ricochetting along the waves, and fell short of her stern; in a little time afterwards she hoisted a flag, which we perceived was Brazilian. Two shots more were sent after her with as little effect, and the wind again dying away, our coming up with her before dark seemed very doubtful. Το increase the way of the ship, the long guns of the bows were brought midships, but without effect; we were evidently dropping astern. We kept a sharp look-out with intense interest, leaning over the netting, and silently handing the glass to another, as if a word spoken would impede our way. At length the shades of evening closed on us, and we applied night-glasses. For some time we kept her in view on the horizon, but about eight o'clock she totally disappeared.

one

All night we were pointing our glasses in the direction in which she lay, and caught occasional glimpses of her, and when morning dawned, we saw her like a speck on the horizon, standing due north. We followed in the same track, the breeze soon increased our way to eight knots, and we had the pleasure to find we were every moment gaining on her. We again sent

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long shot after her, but she only crowded the more sail to escape; and we observed her slinging her yards, that is, hanging them with additional cords, that they might be supported if the proper lifts were shot

away.

We could now discern her whole equipment; her gun-streak was distinctly seen along the water, with eight ports of a side; and it was the general opinion she was a French pirate and slaver, notorious for her depredations. At twelve o'clock, we were entirely within gunshot, and one of our long bow-guns was again fired at her. It struck the water along-side, and then, for the first time, she showed a disposition to stop. While we were preparing a second, she hove-to, and in a short time we were along-side her, after a most interesting chase of thirty hours, during which we ran 300 miles.

The first object that struck us, was an enormous gun, turning on a swivel, on deck, the constant appendage of a pirate; and the next, were large kettles for cooking, on the bows, the usual apparatus of a slaver. Our boat was now hoisted out, and I went on board with the officers. When we mounted her decks, we found her full of slaves. She was called the Veloz, commanded by Captain José Barbosa, bound to Bahia. She was a very broad-decked ship, with a mainmast, schooner-rigged, and behind her foremast was that large formidable gun, which turned on a broad circle of iron, on deck, and which enabled her to act as a pirate, if her slaving speculation had failed. She had taken in, on the coast of Africa, 336 males, and 226 females, making in all 562, and had been out seventeen days, during which she had thrown overboard fifty-five. The slaves were all enclosed under grated hatchways, between decks. The space was so low, that they sat between each other's legs, and stowed so close together, that there was no possibility of their lying down, or at all changing their position, by night or day. As they belonged to, and were shipped on account of different individuals, they were all branded, like sheep, with the owners' marks, of different forms.-These were impressed under their breasts, or on their arms, and, as the mate informed me, with perfect indifference, "queimados pelo ferro queuto-burnt with the redhot iron." Over the hatchway stood a ferocious looking fellow, with a scourge of many twisted thongs in his hand, who was the slave-driver of the ship, and whenever he heard the slightest noise below, he

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shook it over them, and seemed eager to exercise it. I was quite pleased to take this hateful badge out of his hand, and I have kept it ever since, as a horrid memorial of reality, should I ever be disposed to forget the scene I witnessed.

As soon as the poor creatures saw us looking down at them, their dark and melancholy visages brightened up. They perceived something of sympathy and kindness in our looks, which they had not been accustomed to, and feeling instinctively that we were friends, they immediately began to shout and clap their hands. One or two had picked up a few Portuguese words, and cried out, "Viva! viva!" The women were particularly excited. They all held up their arms, and when we bent down and shook hands with them, they could not contain their delight; they endeavoured to scramble upon their knees, stretching up to kiss our hands, and we understood that they knew we were come to liberate them. Some, however, hung down their heads in apparently hopeless déjection; some were greatly emaciated, and some, particularly children, seemed dying.

But the circumstance which struck us most forcibly was, how it was possible for such a number of human beings to exist, packed up and wedged together as tight as they could cram, in low cells, three feet high, the greater part of which, except that immediately under the grated hatchways, was shut out from light or air, and this when the thermometer, exposed to the open sky, was standing in the shade, on our deck, at 89°. The space between decks was divided into two compartments, 3 feet 3 inches high; the size of one was 16 feet by 18, and of the other 40 by 21; into the first were crammed the women and girls; into the second, the men and boys: 226 fellow-creatures were thus thrust into one space 288 feet square; and 336 into another space 800 feet square, giving to the whole an average of 23 inches, and to each of the women not more than 13 inches, though many of them were pregnant. We also found manacles and fetters of different kinds, but it appears they had been all taken off before we boarded.

The heat of these horrid places was so great, and the odour so offensive, that it was quite impossible to enter them, even had there been room. They were measured as above when the slaves had left them. The officers insisted that the poor suffering creatures should be admitted on deck to get air and water.

This was

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opposed by the mate of the slaver, who, from a feeling that they deserved it, declared they would murder them all. The officers, however, persisted, and the poor beings were all turned up together. It is impossible to conceive the effect of this eruption-517 fellow-creatures of all ages and sexes, some children, some adults, some old men and women, all in a state of total nudity, scrambling out together to taste the luxury of a little fresh air and water. They came swarming up, like bees from the aperture of a hive, till the whole deck was crowded to suffocation, from stem to stern; so that it was impossible to imagine where they could all have come from, or how they could have been stowed away. On looking into the places where they had been crammed, there were found some children next the sides of the ship, in the places most remote from light and air; they were lying nearly in a torpid state, after the rest had turned out. The little creatures seemed indifferent as to life or death, and when they were carried on deck, many of them could not stand.

After enjoying for a short time the unusual luxury of air, some water was brought; it was then that the extent of their sufferings was exposed in a fearful manner. They all rushed like maniacs towards it. No entreaties, or threats, or blows, could restrain them; they shrieked, and struggled, and fought with one another, for a drop of this precious liquid, as if they grew rabid at the sight of it. There is nothing which slaves, in the mid-passage, suffer from so much as want of water. It is sometimes usual to take out casks filled with sea water, as ballast, and when the slaves are received on board, to start the casks, and refill them with fresh. On one occasion, a ship from Bahia neglected to change the contents of the casks, and on the mid-passage found, to their horror, that they were filled with nothing but salt water. All the slaves on board perished! We could judge of the extent of their sufferings from the afflicting sight we now saw. When the poor creatures were ordered down again, several of them came, and pressed their heads against our knees, with looks of the greatest anguish, at the prospect of returning to the horrid place of suffering below.

It was not surprising that they should have endured much sickness and loss of

life, in their short passage. They had

sailed from the coast of Africa on the 7th of May, and had been out but seventeen days, and they had thrown overboard no less than fifty-five, who had died of dy

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sentery and other complaints, in that space of time, though they had left the coast in good health. Indeed, many of the survivors were seen lying about the decks in the last stage of emaciation, and in a state of filth and misery not to be looked at. Evenhanded justice had visited the effects of this unholy traffic, on the crew who were engaged in it. Eight or nine had died, and at that moment six were in hammocks on board, in different stages of fever. This mortality did not arise from want of medicine. There was a large stock ostentatiously displayed in the cabin, with a manuscript book containing directions as to the quantities; but the only medical man on board to prescribe it was a black, who was as ignorant as his patients.

While expressing my horror at what I saw, and exclaiming against the state of this vessel for conveying human beings, I was informed by my friends, who had passed so long a time on the coast of Africa, and visited so many ships, that this was one of the best they had seen. The height, sometimes, between decks, was only eighteen inches; so that the unfortunate beings could not turn round, or even on their sides, the elevation being less than the breadth of their shoulders: and here they are usually chained to the decks, by the neck and legs. In such a place, the sense of misery and suffocation is so great, that the negroes, like the English in the black-hole at Calcutta, are driven to frenzy. They had, on one occasion, taken a slave-vessel in the river Bonny: the slaves were stowed in the narrow space between decks, and chained together. They heard a horrid din and tumult among them, and could not imagine from what cause it proceeded. They opened the hatches, and turned them up on deck. They were manacled together, in twos and threes. Their horror may be well conceived, when they found a number of them in different stages of suffocation; many of them were foaming at the mouth, and in the last agonies; many were dead. A living man was sometimes dragged up, and his companion was a dead body; sometimes, of the three attached to the same chain, one was dying, and another dead. The tumult they had heard, was the frenzy of those suffocating wretches in the last stage of fury and desperation, struggling to extricate themselves. When they were all dragged up, nineteen were irrecoverably dead. Many destroyed one another, in the hopes of procuring room to breathe; men strangled those next them,