The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1841.

. .
Volney Elliott, of Kirkland, was sworn.
The Jury being now complete
an;j3upalgaceeGs forrid iteljrendirected k thee
their Sheriff
meals,to piro)
ry ittee
Jury, lodgings,as
it would be necessary to keep them together during the
whole of the trial, and to provide them with accommoda-
tions as near the Court as possible. .
The Sheriff promised that it should be done.
The following is a list of the Jurors, with their resi•
dences and occupations :•--
Edmund Allen, physician,
Jetty. , :“.4 iei -,.s i
Charles O'Curtis, farmer, Paris. ',-,
Pllsreaatieaßrhysiinllegl
iutgorhnbt,e,rf a, rmer,
merchant,
Augusta.a •
John Mott, merchant, Sangerfield.
.Elijah Brush, merchant, Rome.
Wm.
farmer,Carpenter,
farmer,
1117ceisrtimiloanredi.and.
Asher Allen, farmer, Augusta.
Seymour Carrier, farmer,Steuben.
• Eseck Allen, farmer, Floyd.
Volney Elliott, farmer, Kirkland.
The Attorney-General then proceeded to state the
case to the Jury, and he spoke as follows :
Gentlemen of the Jury-_I stand before you in obe-
dience to the law, and in the name of the people of the
State of New York, to make out before you the charge
of murder against Alexander M'Lcod, the prisoner at
the bar. The grand inquest, upon the solemnity of their
oaths, have denohnced against the prisoner at the bar
the blackest in the catalogue of crimes; and it now de
wolves upon me to place fore you the evidence of his
guilt. Gentlemen, it cannot be disguised that this trial
has produced an extraordinary excitement in the public
mind. We have witnessed it in the crowding masses of
anxious citizens who have collected here to witness the
transaction of this day. We have witnessed •it in these
paroxysms of public agitation ; and it ,is• for
that reason that I feel called . upon to put you on
your guard—to warn you of . your dangers--for these
are stumbling. blocks in the way of your oaths, upon
which hundreds have fallen. Whatever may have been
the extraneous cause which has produced this exhibition
of unusual popular excitement, it is one with which
neither you nor I have properly anything to do, unless •
to shut our eyes and our ears, to close up every avenue
to our minds against them. If possible, we should for-
get that we are not here alone with the prisoner and his
witnesses. We should forget that there is any ear to
hear, or eye to see, save that alone of the all-seeing God
of Justice. My duty, Gentlemen of the Jury, like yours,
is as plain and as easy to be discerned as it is difficult to
be performed. To array and present to you, to examine
and enforce and urge upon you, the testimony which bears
against the life of a human being, is always a painful duty.
But; gentlemen, it is a duty as peremptory and paramount
as it is painful. Thank God, it is no part of my duty
to attempt to blind, deceive, or mislead you. I
am not required to insist upon any principle which I do
not believe to be true. The task to which my oath binds
me,; is nothing more nor less than with one unshrinking
mind to illicit the truth and place it clearly before you—
a task, in this case, embarrassed with all that we see
around us, with prejudices in many quarters, with many
unfounded and false rumours, with interests and passions
of men, which it has excited—a task which overwhelms
me with the sense of the greatness of my responsibility,
and drives me with unfeigned humility to throw myself
upon your indulgence, an pray you not to let the cause
of justice suffer on account of any deficiency on the part
of her humble advocate. If you shall see that through
any bias, fear, or innate weakness, I do not press it as
may be necessary for the development of truth, I pray
you to redouble your own vigilance, that the truth may
not escape you, and that you may not be overwhelmed
with error. It; on the other hand, you shall perceive
an effort to sustain my cause against proof, or in conse-
quence of the array of eloquence and talent enlisted for
the prisoner, I should seem to be captious or over zea-
lous,
place it against me. But let it not turn your hearts
against the truth of the case which I present to you.
Gentlemen of the Jury, the indictment found by the
Grand Jury, and which is now presented for your con-
sideration and investigation, charges the prisoner at the
bar, Alexander APLe6d, with having murdered, on the
29th day of December, 1837, Amos Durfee. This charge
is presented in various forms or Counts—they are seven-
teen in number. They are presented in these various
forms, in order to meet the testimony as it shall be pre-
sented. The Learned Gentleman here read the first
count of the indictment, and the several counts he com-
mented upon, so far as they presented any thing dif-
fering from each other, and as they were given in . the
Herald of Saturday. The substance of the indictment
is, that Durfee was killed and murdered by the hand of
the prisoner at the bar, or by some other person with
whom the prisoner was connected—aiding or assisting.
To sustain this indictment, it will be proved before you,
that upon or about the 28th day of December, 1837, a
steamboat called the Caroline, a boat of some 30 or 40
tons burden, left the harbour of Buffalo for Schlosser,
about 18 miles below Buffalo and two miles above Niagara
Falls. This boat was manned by citizens enrolled at the
Custom-house in Buffalo, according to the laws of the
United States. She had a license from the Collector of
the port of Buffalo, to ply between Buffalo and Schlosser.
At that time, Gentlemen of the Jury, a band of some two
or three hundred Canadian insurgents had taken pos-
session of Navy Island. They possessed it and claimed
to hold it, under the name of the provisional govern-
ment of Upper Canada. There had been in Canada great
excitement, and this excitement extended all along our
borders. Efforts were made by the Canadian insurgents
to enlist our citizens in their cause. The fugitive from the
terrible massacres of St. Charles and St. Eustache, whose
houses were burned and property destroyed—find whose
wives'and children had been forced into the driving snows
of a Canadian winter, found no difficulty in telling the tale
of their dreadful sufferings—in eliciting the sympathies of
our fellow-citizens. And it was bat an easy and natural
step, from sympathising with the sufferings of the refu-
gees, to sympathise also in their cause. And thus sti-
mulated and excited, some of the more reckless young
men joined the insurgents upon Navy Island. For this
act Great Britain has bitterly complained, and in our
own country many of our most judicious citizens have
looked upon it as a grievous fault. Gentlemen, it is no
part of my case, nor is it my design, to vindicate the
conduct of the patriots or insurgents ; but it is not irre-
levant to my case to state thus far, that those of our fel-
low-citizens who, without forming any military enter-
prise, or organising any body upon our own soil, single-
handed and alone, left our territory and united them-
selves with a foreign Power, have violated no law of our
State, no law of the United States, no law of nations.
They have done no more than has been done again and
again by the people of every nation.' Your own re•
collections of history will furnish your minds with
hundreds of examples. The Swiss nation have, for
hundreds of years, fed all the armies of Europe ; and
who ever thought of holding them responsible for it.
They did no more than Admiral Cochrane did in taking
part with South America. They did no more than Lord
Byron did who gave his life to aid the Greeks in break-
ing
the chains of Turkish bondage. TheY did no more
than La Fayette—the good, the glorious La Fayette—
who
in his love for human liberty crossed the Atlantic,
and gave his life and princely fortune in the struggle of
the patriots in our own revolution. Gentlemen, lam not
deviating from the case further than is necessary to re-
move the odium under which the case labours, by having
heaped upon it that which has heen unjustly thrown
upon those who joined the insurgents. I wish to set be-
fore you distinctly that in this case it will appear in proof
that the Caroline was not connected with the insurgents
on Navy Island, that she was not in their employment or
in any way connected with their operations. It will ap-
pear from the testimony that the objects of the owners of
the Caroline was of a totally different character. This
collection upon Navy Island had excited great curiosity,
throughout the country. At this period of the year the
lakes and canals were closed with ice. Those whose
usual occupaticn was to navigate those waters were re-
lieved from their labour, and this was a season of lei-
sure. Winter had set in—the farmer and his sons and
labourers were relieved from the cultivation of the soil,
and had leisure to enjoy the fruits of their labour. It
was about the time of the Christmas holidays. Large
numbers of people were assembling at Schlosser, the
nearest landing-place and port to Navy Island. Is it
remarkable, that one of our countrymen, especially
one of our eastern brethren, should see an opportunity
of - gain under these circumstances ? This was the
fact, and Mr. Wells saw in the circumstance of the ex-
citement
and curiosity which were drawing thousands
to Schlosser, of whom not one in a tholisand:went
to the island—ho saw an opportunity of making
gains by his little boat, which, was hardly larger
than a ferry boat, and which was lying idle at Buffalo.
With this, and no other motive than that of profit, he
started from Buffalo on the 28th Dt;e6iniaer;,M/,.t0
Schlosser. He stopped at all the intermediate Points,, or;
landing places where boats had heretofore stoi-TeLlif,
After reaching Schlosser about two o'clock. in the &Ix.
he went from there to Navy Island ; he made two tripi
in the course of the afternoon, carrying passengers acid
such articles as were brought to him to he , gonve-ed
) and'
such as were conveyed by other ferry boats. Among
these articles it will appear there was a cannon. Much
stress has been laid upon this circumstance; and I there-
fore, pause one moment to comment upon it So far
that you may perceive what force an set of this, kind
should have. It was one of those articles ivhicikwhep .
nations are at war, neutrals are prohibited' to eon;
vPy, under pain of forfeiture if
.taken. ,
Alf , a n9tro
undertake to carry arms and',
timiiiiions of war,
the vessel and articles so conveyed are , liable- to
forfeiture. But if a vessel carry ,such articles to the des,
tined point and land them, she cannot afterwards be held.
liable. The moment the articles-are ilanded she is no
longer liable to be seized or molested. • This, law applieS'
upon the high seas, the common highway of all nations.
In this portion of the territory it would . apply only in
cases of seizure within the waters of Great. Britain, and it
would not extend to them the right of coming within our'
own waters. It will
,be observed that at the same time
that this vessel was passing between Navy Island and the
American shore; a ferry-boat was passing- froni Black
Rock to Waterloo on the Canadian shore daily, and hourly,
carrying to Canada arms and munitions of war, and the
Canadian army was fed at the same time from the Ame-
rican shore. And Igo further and say—but Ido not in
this case say it with pride—it will be found that Ameri-
can citizens were in the ranks of the army embodied
upon the Canadian side. But .when it is brought up
against these people as a charger-that their interference
was unjust and iniquitous, the
charge seems to 'be un-
founded in fact. It seems as -a,toarse consistent when,
citizens of a neutral power enlisted in the ranks tif--flieir
enemies; our Citizens should bet equally read-
a•to enlist in
your•ranks; ---Our relatiena are-such, that Nye caw inter-
fere neither oh One side nor tlr. .o:tlier. A fteishaviog per-
formed these trips, this steare4hoat was Moored it Fort
Schlosser. Be not deceived. There is no fort there.
The old fort iscovered with luxuriant corn-fields. There
is'also no building, except a warehouse at the wharf, and
.7a, tavern about fifty rods from it, and scareel)-,
a house,
except at the Falls, for a distance of two miles. At this
tavern the hundreds who were flocking there, and were
crowding and thronging this place in the evening, could

not obtain lodgings, and came to the boq.: -The captain
gave them liberty to lodge -upon the liOae, so filr as
her accommodations extended. It will appear that
some eighteen or twenty went to the boat, and took
up lodgings. It will also appear that this boat was
manned ; that she had no equipments of her own, nor
had she on board any arms, nor were the men on board
armed. Nor were those -who came on board to lodge
that night armed. At ten o'clock, as will appear, the
watch was set, and the inmates retired to their repose,
unsuspicious of danger, as they were unconscious of
wrong. But about twelve o'clock—the testimony may
vary from half-past eleven until one o'clock—the captain
was aroused by the watch who informed him that boats
full of men were approaching, and that men were coming
on board. Presently the noise of tramping and shouting
was heard, and the men, aroused in this manner from
their slumbers, hastily arose, and seizing whatever of
their clothing was at hand they rushed for the compa-
nion-way, or gang-ways, to every avenue through which
they might escape. Some were fortunate enough to es-
cape with their lives, others were met by armed men,
and thrust at with swords and pikes, and severely
wounded ; yet they were enabled to escape
with their lives. It is but too probable that there
were still others who, alarmed at the sudden onset, by
the cries and shouts, the clashing of arms and firing of
pistols, and cries of " no quarter," and apprehensive of
being put to death, concealed themselves beneath and
around the boiler and other places, and came forth after

these ruffians had left the boat, only to meet the rushing
flames, and to hear the roar of the Niagara. But; Gen-
tlemen of the Jury, those who had escaped from the boat
found that they had not thereby escaped from danger.
Some who had escaped front the attack upon the deck of
the vessel were pursued into the warehouse ; and the
warehouse was searched with lights to ascertain, in the
language of themselves, if some of the d—d Yankees
were not concealed there. Amos Durfee, whole sad fate
is the immediate cause of your being empannelled here,
was found upon the wharf, some four rods distant from
the boat, a ball having been shot through his head, enter-
I ing the back part, and coming out in front. It had been so
near that the cap upon his head was singed with fire from
the gun. He had doubtless been shot on the spot, and
died instantly with the wound. It will appear also that
the assailants who had committed this bloody deed were
Some of a band of armed men, between forty and sixty,
who had come from the Canadian shore. It will appear
before you that it was a secret and voluntary expedition,
armed for the purpose of the destruction of the Caro-
line. At that time, Gentlemen of the Jury, there was
on the Canada shore an army of some twenty-five hun-
dred men, nho had been collected there on the occasion
of the seizure of Navy Island by the insurgents. They
were there avowedly for the purpose of repelling any at- '
tempt at invasion which might be made by the insur-
gents. From these circumstances, it has been alleged
that the transaction was one more of a military character
than civil ; that it was a transaction of armed men, act-
ing- in an organised manner and to be governed by laws
and rules which do not prevail in Courts of Justice.
Gentlemen, it is but right that your minds should be
perfectly disembarrassed ; I. therefore present the case
to you broardly, that when the testimony is brought be-
fore you, you may see its bearing and application. I
will submit the decision of the Supreme Court, given
upon the facts in evidence, after able and eloquent argu-
ments on the part of the counsel for the prisoner—given
after great deliberation—an opinion which is unanswered
and unanswerable. In that opinion, all those questions
which might embarrass you, under the ingenuity of
Counsel, have been entirely dsposed of, an the real
points which you arc to pass upon are distinctly pointed
out to you.
The Learned Gentleman read the opinion of Judge
Cowen, recently made on the case brought before the
Supreme Court of the State, by the prisoner some few
months ago. With that able opinion the public are fami-
liar. Before the Learned Gentleman got through the
whole—

Judge Gridley reminded him that the hour of one
o'clock had arrived, which time the Court had fixed to
adjourn for dinner.

-Officers were then sworn to attend tie jurors, and
other officers to take charge of the prisoner, and the
Judge charged the Jury (for whom accommodation was
provided at the Temperance House), not to converse on
the -subject of this trial, nor to allow other persons to
approach and speak to them until they shall have re-
deemed 'their verdict. He also charged them to ab-
stain from spirituous liquors, except as a medicine,
as they might thereby vitiate their verdict_ In a civil
suit, a case had occurred in which the verdict was set
aside for that reason. He then directed that the printed'
arrangement for leaving the Court should be reversed,
and accordingly the jurors left first, in charge of
officers, then the prisoner aecompanied by the Sheriff,
and Mr. Clark Robinson, the Marshal of the district ;
next the bar and the reporters, followed by the Court
and the audience. The prisoner proceeded through the
public street, with his attendants, to Bagg's hotel, where
dinner was provided for him, without exciting any
curiosity, except of some eight or ten small boys. There
were very few strangers present, and the, citizens of
Utica apparently feel no interest in the case.

At tivo o'clock the Court was again opened, and the
same quiet and order prevailed, the Court being but
partially filled. The names of the Jurors were called
over, and

The Attorney-General resumed and concluded the
reading of Judge Cowen's opinion and decision.
The Learned Gentleman resumed.—ln the first place,
the Supreme Court of the State of New York had
decided that this was not an act of war, that it was
not to be governed by the laws of war, but of peace;
-not by the laws of Canada nor the United States ; but by
our own municipal laws. There is, therefore, no considera-
tion in the case, which would not be brought before you in
any case, where an attack has been made and one of our
citizens murdered. The law is precisely the same here
as in our own municipal laws under which we all live,
and act, and seek protection. There is no justification,
nr exuase, or palliation. Another point is to excuse the
act on account of its being done in a pressing and dan-
gerous assault.; I will add one suggestion ; it is this,
that the offence which has been committed is an offence
against our laws alone, and no other laws. Blood has
been shed upon our soil, and we, the people of the State
of New York, are held responsible, and no other people.
If the prisoner is not punished here, he will be punished
nowhere. Not in Canada. Not under the laws of the
United States. He has violated no law of the United
States. It is here, and here alone, that the avenger of
blood calls upon you to answer as to the guilt or inno-
cence of the prisoner. I will make another suggestion.
Throughout the Court proceeded to take facts which he
states to be true. They presume that Durfee was one of
the insurgents in arms against Canada upon Navy Hand.
They have placed him in the same position as if he were one
of the insurgents, or as they would have placed Van Rens-
selaer hiniself,had he been killed instead of Durfee. This
you will perceive is a fallacy, and that the unhappy man
who met his death there was as innocent as you are. He
was there on his lawful business as you might have been,
and had any other citizen been killed in that situation
the facts would have been the same as in the case of the
unfortunate Durfee. The only question which you have
to decide is the simple fact, " Is the prisoner one of those
who assailed the Caroline, and killed Durfee ?'"fo
that single fact are you limited. The questions of law
have been disposed of by the Supreme Court, by which
decision you and this Court and all are bound. You
must bear constantly in mind that the testimony which 1
bears to any other point except whether he was there or
not is to be thrown from. your mind, as calculated to per-
plex and embarrass. The question then is, was the pri-
soner in that expedition ? Upon this point we
shall examine numerous witnesses ; some of them
will show that upon various occasions and in pre-
sence
of those who were in it, the prisoner declared
he was there. We will show that previous to this
expedition, the prisoner was one of the most busy and
active in getting up this expedition—that a few days pre-
vious he went to Buffalo for the purpose of seeing the
boat, and if it were coining to Schlosser. He went round
the island in various ways, and appeared to take a very
active interest in the affair, and we shall show you that
he was engaged in enlisting persons for the expedition.
It will also appear before you that on several occasions
he exhibited a pistol and a sword with blood upon them,
and repeatedly pointed to the blood and said it was the
blood of a d—d Yankee. Several witnesses will prove
before you that they saw him enter the boat to go on
that expedition—again, others saw him leave the boat on
its return. Such, Gentlemen, is the nature of the evi-
dence which will be adduced on the part of the prosecu-
tion, to show what part the prisoner had in this expedi-
tion—the destruction of the Caroline,- in which Durfee
met his death. Little now remains for me but to lay down
some principles of law, that you may judge of the weight
and application of evidence Which shall be given in
before you. Having stripped the case 'of all extraneous
law, and all foreign law, we are to try the case
according to.. our law as it is administered in England, of
the government of which the prisoner was a subject.
The first thing is, that every murder is presumed to be
maliciouS. It is for the accused to show that this was
cause of excuse. When one man meets his death by the
hand of another, it is presumed to be a murderous act,
unless the other can show that it was done by authority
of law, as in the case of a sheriff, or in necessary self-
defence, as when assailed by a robber, or some excuse
or justification of this kind, to excuse the person whose
hands are marked with the blood of the person whom he
has slain. The second proposition, that malice is neces-
sary to constitute murder, confined to an intention 6o take
the lire' of an individual, the malice prepense essential to
constitute murder, consists in a foul design, under the
dictates of a-. depraved, wicked, and malicious heart.
It. 'is not' hecessary for you to say that' the. hands of
the prisoner were the hands that slew Durfee.
The- third proposition is : If an action be un-
lawful, and its deliberative intention is mischief, in-
discriminately, and death ensues, beside the original
intent: it' will be murder, no matter. whether they in-
! tended- to' kill when they left Canada, if they were bent
on act of vihlany, and they must take the consequences.
The feurth proposition—in order to convict the prisoner
of murder, it is not necessary to prove that the fatal
wound was given by his own hand ; if he was aiding
and abetting, he is a principal in the felony. If several.
persons set out together, or in small parties, as several
boats starting from Canada upon one common design, be
it for the purpose of murder, or for other felony, for
the purpose of murdering Durfee or destroyingthtoe
Caroline, or any other object, some being employed
watch, some to prevent the escape of thoSe who are more
ittimediately engaged—they are all, in the eye of the law,
;present at the act committed. These are the princi,
:ples
:admitted ; they are the known rules of law, and
it is only for you to apply to these principles the
:evidence which shall be adduced ; and if the
'evidence brings the prisoner within the province
'of the law, there is no alternative but to pro-
nounce the verdict which your oaths will require.-
Befom you will
,be called upon to find a verdict of guilty,
the following facts must be established:—First, that Dur-
fee was killed ; secondly, that: he was killed in the
county of Niagara ; thirdly, that he was killed by a
pis-
tol or musket shot, or a wound of a, similar character; 0,

of- course, that he was killed by the prisoner or others. I
connected with him, with whom he was acting, counsel-
ing, aiding, and abetting. If this act was done by him,
or by the company, your verdict of guilty must follow.
Gentlemen, I have endeavoured to place before you, in
the most simple manner, the leadin?; features of this case,
so far as they may be useful to you, and no further, in un-
derstanding and applying the evidence as presented to
you. The interests that are committed to you are of
inexpressible importance to the prisoner, whose life is in
your hands ; to the people—for they have committed to
you the vindication of the laws upon which all our lives
depend. If the prisoner be proved guilty, and you find
him innocent, you sap the foundations of government, by
destroying the cenfidence of the people in the adminis-
tration of justice. Why is it that our ears are so often
shocked with accounts of deeds of villainy and blood-
shed ? The assembling together of men without law or
the form of a trial, and assuming to themselves the
right to take the lives of offenders ? It is because Courts
and Juries have failed to execute the laws. The people
have lost confidence in the regular administration of jus-
tice. Gentlemen, this trial must necessarily be long,
tedious, and painful. Let me urge upon you to arm your-
selves with patience, as you would consult. your own fu-
ture peace. This trial will be an epoch in your lives.
You will. think of it at your firesides, upon your farms,
by the wayside, in the long sleepless watches of the night,
in the last dread hour of review, when your past lives rise
up before you—as the dark and forgotten things are sud-
denly illuminated by light from eternity, this will stand
out as one of your most important acts and greatest
responsibilities. But if through fear, favour, or par-
tiality, or from any other weakness—if through an over-
looking of the law and testimony, which you are bound
to observe by your solemn oaths—if by any assumption
of that power to decide upon the expediency of a trial
and conviction—a power which belongs to the executive
alone and not the judiciary, if through vain and pre-
sumptuous attempts to overlook the cause and weigh the
consequences—if from any or all of these causes you
fail to vindicate the confidence which the law has re-
posed in you, you will then, at the last hour, bitterly
but vainly regret it. Gentlemen, I have but one word
to say ; it is, that throughout this trial, in every stage
of it, you are to keep fixed before you, as if written in
letters of fire, BE JUST, AND FEAR NOT.
The first witness called was William Wells, who was
examined by Mr. Woods. He said—l reside in Buffalo.
I was born there. lam now thirty-five years old. In
Decembei• of 1837, I was the owner of the steam-boat
Caroline. When I bought her, she lay in the slip or
ship canal at Buffalo. I fitted her up immediately, and
on the 29th of December I ran her down to Schlosser.
I lay up that night at "Schlosser about six o'clock, and
made her fast by a chain cable. There is a frame dock
there, made of timber. After supper I set a watch, and
did what is usual on steamboats. I gave each man his
duty, and retired to rest. Sylvanus Steering was on
deck. About twelve o'clock I was awoke by the bands
of the vessel, who complained that their berths were oc-
cupied. The hands had been to Niagara Falls, and
when they returned, they wished to have their
berths. I told the strangers who occupied them,
that the condition on which they were permitted
to occupy them was, that they would be given up
when the hands returned. Those persons were strangers
to me, and had come on board for lodgings for the night.
Afterwards some one put his head into the cabin and
said a boat was coming, with men in it. I do not know
who informed me, nor whether it was to inform me alone.
Captain Appleby and myself directed him not to let any
one come on board, but to see who they were. He
stepped from the companion way, and then said there
were four or five boats full of armed men coming, and be
called to me to come on deck. I got out of my berth and
was dressing, and I heard a terrible uproar, and men on
board; I heard the report of one or more pistols or guns,
and the noise of feet on deck. There was much hallooing
and noise ; I stood by the side of my berth until I was
dressed; I made up my mind that they wanted the boat,
and that that was all the harm they would do; I knew they
had possession of the deck, and I secured my papers and
little effects in the berth, and started for the companion
way. Before I could get on deck I heard orders given
to give no quarter, but to kill the d—d Yankees, or
words to that effect. I asked Captain Appleby what we
should do ? He said he did not know ; we must do as
well as we could. I did not get on deck. Captain Ap-
pleby got level with the deck, and got one foot out ;
some one standing on the cylinder, holding on to the
piston rod, hauled him in and told him they would kill
him if he went out, that crowded me down stairs again.
There then appeared to be two parties on deck, one
coming from the bow and the other from the stern, and
they commenced fighting ; instead of going into the cabin
I passed to the forward end of the boat, to make my
escape by the forward hatch. I expected to effect my
escape by a ladder which the firemen used to go up and
down. I stood with my hand on the boiler. The hatch
was immediately over a portion of the boiler. A man
sprang down into the fire-room, he turned round, got
hold of the poker, and commenced working at the fire.
I imagined that they were going to get up the steam
and take the boat off. I stood there until I saw him
busily engaged, so that I dared not make a noise. I
think he did not see me at all. I went back to
the cabin, with the intention of running out. I got on
the stairs, and when I got to the top to thrust my head
out to see if the coast was clear, my head brushed the
calf of a man's leg. I sprang down again on the cabin
floor. The cabin door was open at that time. A man
came against me—it was one of my own men. I then
got to my old position, and while I was standing there
the man at the furnace raised himself up in front, and
I supposed he was coming to take me. He stepped right
in front of me, and to the left hand, and seized somebody
by the boilers, four or five feet from me, and hauled him
out. It was in the shallow part of the boat, where a man
could not stand upright. Ile used rough language to the
man, and asked it he belonged to the boat. The man was
Amos Durfee, he said he belonged to the boat. The man
told Durfee to follow hiw, or he would blow his brains out.
He said follow me, you damned son of a bitch, or I will
blow your brains out. He kept jerking Durfee, who made no
resistance. I went out on deck, and I saw Durfee spring
on Deck. I saw them clinched, Durfee apparently try-
ing to get on shore. I made several attempts to escape
from the boat, but I saw men in boats, with swords,
pistols, and boarding-pikes. They were attached to
my boat, and were swinging round in —.the stream.
My boat was 46 tons, and was about 75 feet long. I
heard command given to cast her off: The words were
" cast her off—where's the rockets?" I intended to sur.
render, and went on deck; 'from whence I ultimately got
ashore, having passed my men, who appeared to be on
guard. I got on the track of the railroad, and saw a
mun lying there. The railroad runs from Niagara to
Schlosser wharf, to carry passengers. There is a ware-
house which stands flush with the dock, and covers about
half of it. The railroad was on the dock. It is a
single track from the main line, which runs from
Niagara to Buffalo. The tavern there is Field's Ta-
vern. I saw King, my brother-in-law, before I got there.
I saw he was hurt. He said, " they have cut me almost
to pieces." The next morning I saw Durfee lying dead
on the railroad track, with his arms crossed on his breast,
and his brains blown out. His cap was scorched. When
I got to the tavern, I was told there was a man dead, but
I did not see him until morning. He appeared to have
been killed by a ball. There was quite a puddle of blood
there. I afterwards saw a cap which I think I had seen
him wear ; it was singed. When I saw him he lay with
his head from the boat. It must have been between
twelve and one o'clock when the assault was made on
my boat. I was told by Captain Appleby there were
thirty-three lodging there that night. I cannot state how
many hands. We counted ten when we made up the
hands. There were twenty-three there that came to
lodge. I understood they had stood there till they
could not get up by the cars, and they requested ac-
commodation. I told them as many might take
accommodation as could find it, and the rest might
stand up. I cannot tell how Durfee got there ; he
was not one of my hands ; I do not know but he stood
watch. He was one of the strangers ; he took supper
with us, and staid on the boat.- Schlosser is about two
miles above Niagara Falls. It is town and county
of Niagara. There was search and inquiry made for
the men that were on board after -the boat was attacked.

I found six or eight short ; thore were more counted
among the missing at the time, but we heard that two
were taken prisoners to the other side. Seven have
never been heard of On King, when we got to' he hduse,
I found a severe wound on the shoulder, and another

on the arm ; his clothes were full of blood' down to the
heels. I clo not recollect he had other wounds
that amounted to anything. The gash on the shoulder
must have been three ornearly fourinches. The other was
as long, if not longer. It was so bad I could not look at
it. There were others wounded. John Leonard received
a blow on the forehead. There was a large- lump
there. Stearing had a blow on the forehead. Harding
had a severe cut through the front piece of lea-
ther of his cap, down to his skull. My_ object in
running my boat was to make money out of it by
carrying passengers snd freight, as she had always done,
between Buffalo and Canada. I made three trips on the
28th of December; first, from Buffalo to Blaekrock Dam,
Tonawanta, touching at Navy Island, and from there to
Schlosser.m
I hat dade two other trips between Navy Island
and Schlosser tay. I carried passengers and what
passengersnd.cabottahinwAaypsp,lebbuyt
.t
flrocmarritehde isla
freight
twnasa offfreeriedh
acted for me that day, but the papers werel3
in my name.
I do not know that. my boat had any more connection
with the Navy Islanders than with the people of any other
place. I did not belong to them, nor had they any own-
ership in the boat. When I came off the boat, I saw a
man lying on the deck. I do not know that it was
Durfee. He lay some ten or twelve feet from where
Durfee lay. It was not 'King, for he stood holding on
by the warehouse. I should think I heard forty or
fifty. shots, and also the clattering of swords. lam not
aware that any plea on my boat had swords. I
should think part of the men boarded my boat for-
ward,'and the other at the aft gangway. I think we bad
a light hanging in the cabin andanother sitting. It was
usual to nave one in the companion way. That there
was a light I know_, but I cannot say there was a lamp.
It was light enough to see to go up. After the
to
was com-
panion men
boarded we put out the lights to avoid their getting
the cabin.' Unless a manacquainted with the
panion way he would not get in readily. It was made
different from others.
Cross-examined by Mr. Spencer—
I do not recollect
that there was a light there when I
tst t •
uck my head
against the man's leg. When I stayed from Buffalo,
I had lost two hands that I had a a right to call upon ;
King, my brother-in-law, and black man who acted
acted' as Captain, as I
as engineer. Captain Appleby.
usiness: I had followed
was unacquainted with the
the lake in a schooner. I only heard of one dead man
heard the names of others inquired for.
there. I have
I did not see other marks of blood besides that where.
Durfee about. . I be-
d some that were .
ther from what I saw
Durfee lay, an
scorched, et
lieve Durfee's cap was_osift
know that I mentioned that
or what I heard.
I d d before. The navigation usually
when I was examine
December. The boat -
the middle of.had
closes in
She was seized for smuggling
lain idle all summer.