442 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 



Commodore Chauncey to Mr. Forsyth. 



Navy Department, September 4, 1839. 

 Sir: Lieutenant John S. Paine, commanding the United States 

 (? ram pus, was yesterday ordered to proceed, without delay, to the 

 coasts of the British provinces, in obedience to the directions of the 

 President communicated to this Department by the Department of 

 State on the 29th ult. 



I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



I. Chauncey, 

 Acting Secretary of the Navy. 

 Hon. John. Forsyth, 



Secretary of State. 



Consul Primrose to Mr. Forsyth. 



(No. 13) Consulate or the United States, 



Pictou, N. S., October 10, 1839. 



Sir : I beg leave to enclose to you copies of several affidavits relative 

 to difficulties which have been experienced by American citizens 

 during the past season in their intercourse with this Province, and 

 in the prosecution of the fisheries on its coasts; together with copies 

 of the correspondence which I have entered into with the provincial 

 authorities on the subject. 



Being in daily expectation of a definite reply to my communica- 

 tions to the provincial Secretary, I delayed writing to you, in the 

 hope of being able to lay the whole matter before you at once; but, 

 at the suggestion of Commander Paine, with whom I have recently 

 had an interview, I transmit these documents now, and will forward 

 copies of other communications on the subject as they occur. 



The tax of six and two-third cents per ton register of shipping, 

 collected by the Province of Nova Scotia at the Strait of Canso, is 

 levied on British as well as foreign ships; but it becomes a heavy 

 charge on American vessels making four or five trips a year to this 

 port, in the coal trade; and as there is no impost on shipping in 

 American ports for the support of lights on the coast of the United 

 States, such a tax on American vessels in the ports of the British 

 colonies inovlves a discrepancy in the terms of intercourse between 

 the two countries, although it professes to be based on strict reci- 

 procity. 



In reference to the affidavits and correspondence, I beg to state 

 that I strictly cautioned Captain Taylor, as well as his crew, to 

 give a fair dispassionate account of the circumstances connected 

 with the detention of the Amazon. The report of the attorne}^ gen- 

 eral of Nova Scotia upon this case, to which the letter of the pro- 

 vincial Secretary refers, will, I presume, when received, furnish 

 the defense which may be set up for the conduct of the provincial 

 officer, or point to some means or redress. 



I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and humble servant. 



James Primrose. 

 The Hon. John Forsyth, 



Secretary of State, Washington. 



