The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-05 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 5, 1848.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
TATTERSA.LL'S.—YESTERDAY.
LEAMINGTON STAKES.
7 to 4 agst Mr. Stephenson's Doctrine—taken
5 to 1 agst Mr. Craufurd's The Cur—taken
No others mentioned, and scarcely a bet laid.
GREAT YORKSHIRE HANDICAP.
5 to 1 agst Mr. S. L. Fox's Executor—taken
8 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Vampyre—taken
12 to 1 agst Mr. Disney's Cawroush—taken
14 to 1 agst Mr. Meiklam's Alliance—taken
16 to 1 agst Mr. Disney's Keleshe—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Greville's Mirmillo—taken
20 to 1 agst Mr. Dawson's Prince Charlie—taken
Most of the horses quoted were backed; but, with the
exception of Vampyre, who had several friends, for very
Brasil sums.

ST. LEGER.
5 to 2 agst Lord Stanley's Canezou
3to 1 agst Lord Clifden's Surplice—take 7to 2
4to 1 agst Duke of Bedford's Justice to Ireland—t
9 to 2 agst Mr. B. Green's Flatcatcher—take 5 to.l
100 to 7 agst Mr. Bowes's Springy Jack—taken
1,000 to 20 agst Mr. G. O'Sfore's Bandit-.-taken
500 to 10 agst Mr. R. Whaley's Mareschino—taken
Canezou was backed for four or five hundred pounds
at 5 to 2 and 3 to 1, but the greater portion at the smaller
odds. Surplice was steady at 3to 1, and Flatcatcher at
9 to 2; Justice to Ireland gave way to 4 to 1, and Springy
Jack from 8 to 1 to 100 to 7; the betting on this, as on
the other events, was fiat.

DONCASTER CUP.
Even on Lord Eglinton's Van-Tromp
10 to 1 agst Lord Strathmore's Brocardo—taken
DERBY.
1,000 to 55 agst Colonel Peel's Tadmor—taken
1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Watts's Chatterer—taken
2,500 to 50 agst Mr. Pedley's Fellow Commoner—tkn

AQUATICS.
WENTZELL'S OARS MATCH.
The annual (contest for two .pairs of silver oars, the gift
of Mr. A. Wentzell, for competition amongst tradesmen,
and other respectable amateurs, came off yesterday, and
was throughout a very spirited• affair, affording consi-
derable gratification to a vast concourse of spectators.
First heat—Saxby and Blinkho (yellow), 1; C. Mining
and Erwood (red), 2; Dimes and D. Mining (white), 3;
Clark and Price (purple), 0; Burns and Derbyshire
(green), 0. The race was confined to the vicinity of
Lambeth. The winners took the lead and kept it. The
other four made a capital, race. _
Second heat—Hawes and Laii(black), 1; Regan and
Smith (pink), 2; Pegler and R.. Clayton (stripe), 3;
Harris and J. Claxton (blue), G. - Black Soon went in
advance, and kept it. It was again a capital race for
second place.

Grand heat—Saxby and Blinklio- 1; HaWes and Law,
2; C. Mining and Erwood, 0; Regan and Smith, 0.
Black took the lead, but off the Penitentiary shipped a
deal of water, which much impeded him, and Red, with
a good chance of success, fouled the umpire's boat.
Saxby and partner won by half a dozen lengths.

AGGRAVATED HORRORS OF

THE SLAVE TRADE.
Great Britain has for msny years declared it to be
piracy for any of her subjects to be engaged in the
slave trade, and for nearly half a century has, by
means of treaties and armed cruisers, expended a
vast amount of treasure and human life to induce
other nations to relinquish this inhuman traffic. Never-
theless that it continues to be carried on to an awful ex-
tent, and with unprecedented horrors, will be seen by
reference to the evidence given before a Parliamentary
Committee of the present session, recently published, and
from which extracts are subjoined.
The reports disclose such an amount of atrocity on the
one hand, and of suffering on the other, that but for the
undoiibted character of the testimony, it might be deemed
incredible.

The evidence also proves, beyond all doubt, that the
employment of armed cruisers for the suppression of the
slave trade, has not only been ineffectual, but that these
measures have caused an extent of suffering to the slaves
unknown in the earlier history of this terrible traffic.
After all that has been done for the suppression of this
trade, the reader may perhaps be tempted to turn from
the subjoined details with a feeling of despair as to the
remoyql of such enormity by human effort, especially when
our own Government have recently adopted measures by
which it has been greatly stimulated and encouraged;
but with the conviction that such diabolical atrocities
continue to be perpetrated, the Christian and philan-
thropist, instead of allowing their exertions to be para-
lysed, may profitably inquire whether they can expect
the Divine blessing on their efforts so long as they are
knowingly and willingly the consumers of produce
raised at such a sacrifice of human life, and by such an
amount of human misery.

EXTRACTS FROM EVIDENCE GIVEN BEFORE A
COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS,
DURING THE PRESENT YEAR.—INCREASE OF
THE SLAVE TRADE.
Commander Thomas Francis Birch, R.N.—During
the time that you were on the coast of Africa, did you
come to the conclusion that the slave trade had di-
minished or increased ?—lncreased latterly, most de-
cidedly.
To what circumstance did you attribute that increase?
—I have been informed by the men that I have taken,
the Spanish and Portuguese captains, that they attribute
it to the extra demand for sugar in England.
Jose E. Cliffe, M.D., an owner of mines in Brazil, and
a slaveholder—Are you aware of what number of slaves
might have been landed in Brazil from the coast of
Africa, in the year 1847 ? Taking it from November,
1846, to November, 1847, we estimate the quantity at
not less than 60,000, and not exceeding, perhaps, 65,000,
landed alive.
Between 60,000 and 65,000 landed alive in Brazil ?
Yes.

Are you at all aware of what number of slaves might
have been taken from the coast of Africa, for the
purpose of landing alive 65,000 men in Brazil ?—The
only means which we have of calculation is from the
captains, or those employed in it, stating that
they receive on board their different vessels a certain
amount of men. To produce that number, with what
are taken by English cruisers, and what die in various
ways, no less than 100,000 would leave the coast of
Africa, to produce that amount of living subjects in
Brazil at the present time.
You conceive that to land 65,000 men in Brazil,
100,000 must have been taken from the coast of Africa ;
the difference being made up by the numbers who pe-
rished in the course of the voyage, those who were cap-
tured .by the British cruisers, and those who perished
after landing?—Yes, subject to those deductions.
Commander H. J. Matson, R.N.—Will you state to
the Committee whether it be or be not the case that
more slaves are ordinarily embarked that the captain
believes he can convey to the coast of Brazil or Cuba?
—Yes ; the effort of a slave captain is to land as
many slaves as he can on the coast of the Brazils; but
as it is not possible for the most practised eye to tell
a healthy from an unhealthy slave by seeing him in the
barracoons, if the vessel could take 300 slaves mode-
rately crowded, the captain would take half as many
again, say 450, and cram them on board below, and on the
decks, for the sake of putting them to the test, knowing
that all those who were not likely to cross the Atlantic
would sicken during the first 48 hours; then directly they
show the symptoms of weakness, on account of their•
weak constitution, they are put on one side of the deck,
no food nor water is given them, and they are allowed
to die ;tthey are then thrown overboard. Then, at the
end of the 48 hours, that man has a prime cargo of slaves,
of those who do not sicken. Those whose constitutions
are strong enough to stand the first crowding and the
heat will live till they have crossed the Atlantic ; they
will live during the passage.
You mean to state to the committee that it is a de-

liberate plan of the slave-dealer to embark, to take your
own illustration, 450 slaves on board, knowing that he
cannot hope to carry more than 300 to the opposite
coast ?—Yes ; it is a very common practice.
Captain Wyvill, R.N.—I suppose, under favourable
circumstances, the loss by death must be considerable in
the voyage from the eastern coast of Africa to the
Brazils ?—I should think:one-third ; they generally
think so, because they take one• third more than they are
allowed by their rules, so that they may have the full
quantity to land in the Brazils. For instance, if by their
tonnage they are allowed to take 400 on board, they will
take in 550, so as to have as nearly as possible the 400
that they are allowed to carry.
W. Smith, Esq.—You have seen occasionally slave-
ships captured by British cruisers, with the slaves on
board, which were brought into Sierra Leone?—Yes, I
have been on board of some; and very frequently when
they came in I could compare the appearance of the
negroes on board to nothing but a swarm of bees settled
upon the bough of a tree—they looked one black mass.
Can you mention any particular appearances about the
slaves which would denote the nature of the sufferings to
which they had been exposed?—Nothing but a gradual
exhaustion and wasting away from malaria and defi-
ciency of food and water.

Mr. J. L. Hook, lately employed in the Customs at
Sierra Leone—As you consider that the British squadron
has not diminished the slave-trade, aro you of opinion
that it has diminished the horrors of the slave-trade?—
On the contrary, I think it has very much increased the
horrors of the middle passage. I have had an oppor-
tunity of seeing many slave vessels when they have
been brought into Sierra Leone. I have gone on board ;
the spectacle which presented itself to tae was truly
awful. I have seen men, women, and children lying
upon the deck in the very last stage of existence, and
the majority on board were little better than living
skeletons; indeed, no language can describe the scene.
In general, what was the condition of the slaves which
you saw on board those vessels?—The most wretched
condition, as I have before stated.

Would it be possible to increase their sufferings?—l
should think not; hardly possible.
It is as bad as can be?—lt is as bad as can possibly be,
I think; they are huddled together like so many articles
of merchandise.

They have been compared to herrings in a barrel; is
that a good illustration of it in your opinion?—Yes, I
think it is.
Captain G. Mansell, R.N.—You mst be generally ac-
quainted with the state of suffering that the slaves are in
on board the slave-ships?—Yes.
You made, I presume, some captures while you were
on the coast?—Yes.
llave you ever heard or read of such horrors as you
witnessed on board those slave-vessels?—Never. I could
not have supposed it possible that so many people could
have been packed into a vessel, by any device, as I have
seen packed into slave-vessels.
Did you ever yourself capture a vessel in which there
were a number of slaves packed in that way? —We cap
tured a vessel not much larger than a river barge, a
vessel of 127 tons; it had stowed between decks, in
close confinement, 447 people.
Must not this state of things go on year after year
without any intermission, so long as there is a demand
for slaves in Brazil, and an attempt to intercept the
supply on the part of the British squadron?—l fear so;
it is the only conclusion that I can arrive at.
Is the agony occasioned by the desire for water very
great?—lndescribable. There are no words that I can
make use of that will describe the sufferings in the tropics
From the want of water; it is ten times more horrible
than the want of food. A man may suffer from the
want of food four or five days and think nothing of it;
but the sufferings from want of water for two days in the
tropics are almost beyond endurance.
Did you aver experience it yourself ?—Yes, I have
suffered it; I speak from what I have felt.
The slaver, I suppose, is in a Very, dirty condition?—
It must be, because the slaves are
jammed in, as I ob-
served before. They are packed in upon their Fides—
laid in heads amongst legs and arms, so that it is very
difficult frequently, until they become very much ema-
ciated so as to leave room, for them to get up alone
without the whole section moving together.
Are they permitted to get up?—Small boys would be.
Small boys are never confined; but the way in which
they are put in now is, that they are generally jammed
in in such masses that, oven allowing that there was
elevation sufficient for them to rise up, they could not
rise without the whole section rising, They make two
or three slave-decks in a vessel, which has perhaps six
feet between her deck and the beams above. There
would be three tiers of slaves stowed away.
In six feet?—Yes; sixteen to eighteen inches would
stow them in; then the timber, or whatever you term it,
of which it is built, would occupy the rest of the space;
so that you would have three tiers of them in a common
deck; therefore there is not room for a very small boy
to sit. They are put like books upon a shelf, conse-
quently there is plenty of room for them to lie flat, but
not enough for them to elevate themselves,
Do they lie upon their backs ?—No ; all upon their
sides.
Can they turn from side to side ?—By the whole sec-
tion turning, not otherwise, until they have become a good
deal emaciated, and some have died out; that, of course,
makes more room for the remainder,

Are they so placed for the convenience of sto*age P-
Yes, for the possibility of stowing larger numbers.
Did you ever know an instance of a vessel losing one-
half of her cargo ?—Yes ; a good deal more than that.
There was an instance in which, out of 160, which was
but half a cargo, only ten escaped, and ten were sold for
300 milreasf about 371, j know that personally to be a

fact.
Do not they suffer from bruises, from being jammed
together between the casks ?—When they are first put
on board they do bruise ; but afterwards they become so
emaciated, and are so very light, that the bruising is very
trifling then.
In point of fact it appears that the progressive emacia-
tion of the slaves is a sort of means of preserving their
lives ?—ln a medical point of view, if it
for that emaciation they would not exist, because the
system being in a torpid state a very little portion of
food will sustain life for a certain time, and a very small
portion of air also in Lreathing; the system is in a state
of partial torpor.
Is the Committee to understand that slaves ever pass

from Africa to Brazil without being taken on deck at all?
—Yes. I should think that in the present state it is fre-
quently done. Ido not mean to say the whole of them,
but a great number are never brought on deck.
When the food is supplied to them, is it possible for
the person who supplies it to get among them, between
the rows of them, or is it handed from one row to ano-
ther?—lf I were to speak the truth it would be this; the
vessels are so excessively offensive that it is, perhaps,
the greatest punistment to which you can put any per-
son on board. There is some half-witted person whom
they generally have almost on purpose for it, to pass the
food round to them, and he is in such a hurry in doing it,
that those who are nearest to one of the hatchways arc
more likely to get a double portion of food, rather than
that he should go round the sides of the vessel, which is
so ill ventilated that it produces a sickening effect upon
him.

Then he does not get upon the level where they are,
and pass between the rows of them, helping each one
singly ?—He should do it, but from the excessively filthy
state it is not always done.
He has to get upon a mass of filth?—He has to get
upon a mass of filth, and almost upon a mass of living
bodies at the same time, because they roll out and take
up everything that they can.
In that case some may go without food ?—Frequently
those that are more remote do not get anything at all,
unless they can crawl up over the others, and get nearer
to the hatchway's.
In the case of one of these people dying, how is the
body removed?—lt lies there till, perhaps, an alarm is
given, or something like that, and in the morning it is
generally thrown overboard.
Is it always noticed ?—There may be instances, and I
believe there have been instances, in which they have
remained until they have increased the amount of
putridity ; and, in fact, when they have been thrown
overboard you could hardly keep them together, because
the putrefaction would be so rapid in a temperature of
that kind, and in a few hours decomposition would take
place ; they would hardly hold together to be thrown
overboard.
According to the account which you have given, it
must be a matter of considerable physical difficulty to get
out the body frequently, if the person happen to die at a
considerable distance from the hatchways ?—There arc,
no doubt, instances where they have been three or four
days. Since the slave trade has been carried on in such
a suffering manner, personally and directly I have had
nothing to do with it.
But you have seen cargoes when they have arrived ?
—Yes ; I have seen some within six months past.
When they were just in the state in which they had
come in ?—When they have come in I have gone on
board a few minutes afterwards.
And have you been below deck ?—I have put my head
below, but not for very long. A thoroughbred white
man could not endure it ; I have no doubt he would die
from asphyxia.
When the cargoes come in, are the slaves, or a great
many of them, unable to walk?—Most of them are.
Have you seen many cases of the slaves landed from
the slavers on their arrival?—Yes.
In what condition did you find them?—l do not know
I could describe it to be intelligible to you. I do not
think that I have power of description enough to de-
scribe it.
You have told us these three things—that they are,
very many of them, in a situation of acute suffering, and
at the same time of great physical reduction and torpidity
of the animal functions?—Yes; so that the knee bones
appear almost like the head of a person; from the arm
you may slip your finger and thumb up; the muscular
part of the arm is gone; it is a mere bone, covered with
a bit of skin; the abdomen is highly protuberant; it is
very much distended; ♦ery large. I am speaking of
them just as they landed. A man takes them up in his
arms and carries them out of the vessel; you have some
slave or some person that must do it, if they are not
capable of walking; they are pulled out, and those that
are very dirty are frequently washed.
Are they for the most part lifted up on deck?—A
great many of them are; a good many make attempts;
they could not stand, even if they were not so much
emaciated. From not having perhaps stood upright for
a month or two, the muscles have lost the power of sup-
porting them.
The eye has lost its speculation?—Precisely so; it has
an idiotic appearance; a leaden appearance; in fact, a
sunken appearance. It is almost like the boiled eye of a
fish.

In fact, nature is reduced to the very last stage con-
sistent:with life?—To the lowest stage in which itis pos-
sible to say that they are living.
Do they suffer more from bruises and sores?--Many
become bruised; and there are many cases in which a
gangrene probably takes place, or a very large ulcer takes
place from lying so long in such putrid materials they
have to lie in. Many no doubt die from it.
The slaves usually require some period of time before
they can be sufficiently recovered to be brought into the
market ?—Frequently three months; they require to be
fed and taken care of before any person would take the
trouble of buying them.
J. King, Esq., M.D.—llas the operation of the squa-
dron on the coast been unattended with evil?—lt has
been the means of aggravating fearfully the miseries of
the slaves.
It has, in your apprehension, not only failed in its
object of preventing the slave trade, but it has also ag-
gravated the sufferings of the slaves?—Yes, to, a most
incredible extent.
Captain G. Mansell, R.N.—Have you any hesitation
in condemning entirely the employment of a marine
force as a means of "extinguishing the slave trade on the
coast of Africa?—No; I think it is impracticable.
You concur, also, I apprehend, in that sentiment of
Mr. Clarkson, that the employment of a marine force
on the coast of Africa has increased the horrors of the
slave trade?—l should fear so. 1

It is indeed a lamentable fact that the Government
measure of 1846, by which the slave, grown sugars of
Brazil and Cuba are admitted to the British market, has
directly implicated the people of this country in the en-
couragement of a traffic of which the foregoing extracts
give some impression.
. _ .

Ought not, iherfore, the friends of humanity to avoid,
as far as practicable, any connexion with a system which
inflicts such an extent of unutterable misery upon their
fellow-creatures?

Will not the people of England strictly confine them-
selves to the consumption of free-grown sugar, especially
when they have an abundant supply from their own
colonies, and from other parts of the world; even if it
entail upon them a littlo more trouble in the selection?
Although what is used by one family may form but a
small portion of the aggregate amount of the national
consumption, and the plea may be urged that though
some decline the use of the sugars of Brazil and Cuba,
they will be bought by others in this country, and on
the continent of Europe; yet who can estimate the effect
and the influence of one consistent example?
Those who resolve to wash their hands of all partici-
pation in support of this enormous evil, and by no act
of theirs to stimulate the tyrant t 9 the torture of his
victim, will have the consolation of reflecting that they
aro guiltless of their brother's blood.
JOSEPH STURGE.
Birmingham, Bth month, 21st, 1848.

The competitors of Mr. Stephenson for the premium
of 5001. offered in 1819 by the new Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway Company for the best locomotive engine
were Mr. Burstall (or Burstall and Hill), Messrs. Braith-
waite and Ericson, and Mr. Hackworth. Burstall's lo-
comotive, the Perseverance, was withdrawn: it was made
for locomotion on turnpike roads, on which it had re-
peatedly run with success previously, as we happen to
know, although we cannot now recall the precise reason
why it was withdrawn at a critical moment, when, had
its parts been properly readjusted on the ground, we
cannot doubt but that it would have run, as it did before,
and well too—better far, of course, than it had already
done, even on the rougher and more trying track of a
common road . It was, indeed, the fruit of much perse-
verance and more cash, and, in all probability, lost its
place in the grand race of renown by the mischance of
some mere accident. In justice to Messrs. Borthwick
then merchants at Leith, we think it right as we are
sure Mr. Burstall would, here to record, that to their
liberality, as well as to his own talent, was he much in-
debted for the means of perseverance. The other two lo-
comotives, the !Novelty and the Sanspareil broke down,
while Mr. Stepbenson's Rocket outran the requirements
of the directors, averaged 15 miles an hour in speed, won
the prize, and ushered in " the greatest mechanical re-
volution effected since the invention of the steam-engine
by Watt," and its more immediate friits.—Builder,
THE VERNON GALLEnt.—The trustees of the
National Gallery directed their architect, Mr. Penne•
thorne, to examine and report upon the facilities
for plating and exhibiting the Vernon Collection
in the lot Ht` rooms of the gallery in Trafalgar-
square. We unLrfitand his report to be, that the
rooms in question are tote tinsuited to the reception
of the pictures with regard both to light and space. The
space required for their proper display is three thousand
square feet. Mr. Pennethorne has, we believe suggested
to the trustees to erect a plain, temporary building in
one of the parks—a building that will not be required to
last more than ten or twelve years; and to apply to Parlia-
Went for an annual grant of 15,0001. or 20,000 L to accu-
mulate during these ten or twelve years, by which means
a fund will be formed for the erection of a National Gal-
lery; and the site he recommends is Cleveland-row, the
leases of a number of houses in which will expire about
the year 1860, when the ground will become the property
of the Crown. The period during which the public will
be admitted to view the Vernon pictures, at 50, Pall
Mall will eXpite on thie9oththoefcSoempmteemnbceerm.enOt
onfti\hreaTy,utehse-
days and Thursdays eno
rooms of Mr. Vernon'sthree usahnodfeouhra
usually between ayonscsrho crowded,
vhundrede been
a Ipwe persons
applications of at least thrice as many.
for which there
availed themselves of the admission,
were generally
t almost
It is gratifying to state, that upincon-
say
to the present moment,
not the slightest injury—we nalgh
tenienee---has been sustained; and although Mr. Vernon
has remained in the house (unhappily an invalid, con•
tined Chiefly to his bed) during the whole of the time, he
has experienced no etmoyance whatsoever ; and expresses
himself perfectly satisfied with the result of this experi-
ment for the accommodation and pleasure of the public.
We trust that Parliament will not have separated with-
out conveying to the donor of this munificent gift to the
nation some expression of public gratitude, in conformity
with the wish so generally signified by both Houses on
the 23d of May.—Art Journal.
DISTRESSING OCCURRENCE.—OH Wednesday after-
noon an accident of a very distressing nature occurred
at Babberton Mains, parish of Currie, which has un-
fortunately proved fatal to one of the parties, and occa-
sioned much distress to the other. From what we have
learned, it appears that Mr. Scott, farmer there, had
taken down a loaded gun from the wall of the kitchen,
and while engaged in examining the lock, it went oft'.
when the contents were lodged in the body of a man
who is well known in that district by the soubriquet of
" Johnnie Bauchels." The unfortunate individual was
• killed gloat instantaneously,—Scot man.