The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-26 00:00:00

PRICK .... _....4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

CRUISE OF THE .1.111-EL.

Captain Oldfield, of her Majesty's steam-sloop,
who has been cruising off the West Coast of Africa,
succeeded in capturing no less than 26 slave dhows
within the last 12 months. Several had slaves on
board—one 54, one 82, and two others 100 each.
One, which was taken with a cargo of slaves on.
board in March last, at the very entrance at Z iezi bar
harbour (the Sultan of Zinzibar having given au
thority to search suspected vessels) produced a pass
from the Sultar, but his Highness decided that she
had no claim to his protection, having been guilty
of violating his ordinance prohibiting the slave
trade and the treaty with Greet Britaie ; she was
therefore adjudged in open durbar a lawful prize,
and the negroes were sent to evchelles, and the
crew distributed among vessels bound out of the
Sultan's dominions. In the following month the
Ariel chased a dhow, which made for the land
near Brava, and the crew escaped, and left
the vessel drifting into the surf with
nearly 100 slaves on board; her position rendered it
impossible to remove them, and the boats of the
Ariel were in the most imminent peril, that com-
manded by Captain Oldfield being swamped, and
the crew with difficulty saved, while the shore was
lined with armed men, who with muskets and spears
attacked the boats and such of the slaves as at-
tempted to make for them. The dhow. , ;a4er.
wards became a total wreck. The slavei • d
to the shore, where they were seized by the armed
men, apparently Somali Arabs, and the dhow being
deserted her destruction was completed by shelling
her. She appeared to be from 160 to 175 tons
burden. The casualties in the course of the cruise
seem to have been but few. In one instance a
lieutenant of the Ariel having seized a dhow, from
which the crew had just escaped by swimming to
shore, placed a prize crew and native pilot on board,
and proceeded to sea with the dhow in company ;
but when within 30 miles of Zanzibar the dhow
without any assignable cause, unless treacherously
scuttled by the native pilot, sank, with the loss of
two of the prize crew and the pilot himself. In
another instance a sub-lieutenant seized a dhow at
anchor in port Chak chak with a crew of 15 Arabs
and six slaves, and it being necessary to follow ano-
ther vessel the dhow was left in charge of a single
seaman, the only hand that could be spared ; un-
fortunately, on returning, the dhow was found de-
serted by the crew, who had carried away the
slaves,and our seamen was found mortally wounded.
An encounter took place in Mombas harbour, in
April, Lieuts. Clark and Fellowes cruising in the
Ariel's cutter and pinnace, with a tender in charge,
having put in for water, leaving the tender outside.
Observing a large dhow at anchor in the harbour,
they went alongside, and asked for water, which
was refused. By another dhow, of Buddeen build,
water was again refused. They boarded the latter
dhow, and observed that she was a slave and had

evidently recently landed a cargo of slaves. The two
lieutenants landed and informed the Governor of

Mombas of the fact of the Buddeen dhow having a
slaver, whereupon the Governor accorded them his
permission to seize her. Accordingly, about four
p.m., they proceeded in their boats to seize-her,
when they found that since their first visit she had
been run ashore. A heavy fire was opened on the
boats, both from the dhow and from the shore. The
officers, however, succeeded in boarding the dhow,
but were not able to get her off in consequence of
the tide falling fast. While on board they had an
opportunity of seeing that she had a slave deck and
other slave fittings. They then returned to their
boats, and were pulling back, when, without cause
or provocation, the large dhow before mentioned
opened a heavy fire upon the boats, and wounded
Lieutenant Fellowes and two of his men. As the
dhow was obviously strongly manned and armed,
the officers did not tbink it prudent to risk their
men's lives by attacking I,er, more especially as she
received a strong reinforcement from the shore.
They, therefore, stood out to rejoin the tender, on
board which was a 12-pounder. That gun was
transferred to the pinnace, and at half-past two on
the. following morning, when the tide had risen
sufficiently to float the slaver, the boats again made
for the harbour. On entering it they found that
the slaver had been moved up the river into a posi-
tion so close to the town that she could not be
attacked without injury to private dwellings, and
probably imperilling the Protestant mission station.

The officers then made for the dhow which had fired
upon them on the previous evening, in order to take
possession of her as a pirate, when she again opened
a heavy fire on the boats, which was replied to with
the 12-pounder. After 10 minutes' engagement
some of the pirate crew were seen to leap overboard,
and others, including the wounded, to escape in
their boat. On boarding her the officers found her
deck stained with blood, but none of the crew dead
or alive. Some swords and muskets were found
lying about, the rest of her armament having ap-
parently been carried off in the boat by the crew.
The dhow had neither papers nor colours, and
appeared by her build to belong to some
of the Persian Gulf piratical hordes. The boats
towed out the dhow, but at the entrance of the
harbour she struck upon a sunken reef, and was
set on fire and abandoned, the boats having
lost their anchors in trying to get her off. From
information subsequently obtained there is reason
to believe that the dhow was the Futhel Hhaire, of
Sohar, in the Persian Gulf, and that she had five of
her crew mortally wounded in the engagement with
the Ariel's boats. She measured 89ft. in length,
17ft. in beam, 12ft. in depth of hold, and had a poop
measuring 26ft. in length, 13ft. in beam, and sft. in
depth. She was 190 tons burden.