ST. HELENA 277 



Lieut. Hockin took the prisoners on board the Wasp. I remained 

 in charge of the schooner till Lieut. Elliott came on board about 

 two hours afterwards. The schooner was boarded in the dark. I 

 was afterwards ordered to take charge of the schooner with three of 

 the prisoners and proceed to St. Helena for adjudication. I was 

 present when the Gaio was condemned in the Vice-Admiralty Court 

 of this place for being engaged in the slave trade. 



Edward Campbell, one of the crew of the gig when the Gaio was 

 taken, deposed that when about a mile from the schooner three 

 muskets were fired from the gig to bring the schooner to, the muskets 

 were fired in the air. He was wounded in the leg before boarding : 

 the ball went right through his leg. All the crew ran below when 

 they boarded, except one man, who jumped from the port to the 

 starboard side, and not knowing but what he was going to attack 

 him witness struck him on the neck with his sword, and as that had 

 no effect he ran him through and then threw him overboard ; did not 

 know whether he was armed or not. Lieut. Hockin had on his cap with 

 a gold band and a naval uniform coat with straps on the shoulders. 

 This witness corroborated Mr. Cave's evidence in other particulars. 



Austin Elson, the man named in the indictment, was one of the 

 crew of the Wasp's whale-boat when the Gaio was taken : he des- 

 cribed the manner in which he was wounded and produced the 

 leaden musket-ball which had been cut out from the under part of 

 his thigh. His wound was severe, and for some time he was con- 

 sidered in a dangerous state ; he had never done any duty since he 

 received the wound, and was still in the hospital. The shot which 

 wounded him came first through the boat just under the gunwale. 



The other witnesses, one of whom, Wm. Norman, was wounded 

 by a musket ball on the back of his head, testified to the same facts 

 that the others had stated. 



The ship's papers filed in the Registry of the Vice- Admiralty 

 Court, the decree of condemnation, and a certified copy of Captain 

 Ussher's authority to seize Brazilian vessels engaged in the slave 

 trade, were then put in as evidence of the unlawful character of the 

 vessel, and concluded the case on the part of the prosecution. 



Mr. Thompson on the part of the prisoners produced no witnesses 

 nor did the cross-examination of the witnesses for the prosecution 

 in any degree tend to weaken or discredit their evidence. Two of 

 the prisoners, Bastos and Sing Juan, produced passports in support 

 of their assertion that they were passengers, and some of them denied 

 taking part in the resistance, being below all the time. 



They all professed not to have seen any colours hoisted either in 

 the boats or on board the Wasp, and that they were not aware until 

 the moment of boarding that the boats were manned by English 

 sailors, which was first intimated by the cheering of the boats' 

 crews as they approached to board. The Chief Justice having 

 summed up, the jury retired and after an hour's deliberation returned 

 a verdict of guilty against the whole of the prisoners. 



The Court then adjourned till the next morning at ten. 



Thursday, 25 th June, 1846. 



