The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-16 00:00:00

HORRIBLE MURDER AT SEA.

On Tuesday, at the Thames Police office, Joseph
Bragg, master of the brig Valiant, now lying in the
East India Dock, was charged with the murder of
Francis Williams, a black man, and the cook on
board the Valiant.
Mr. PIERCE, of Clement's-lane, attended as his
Solicitor, and Mr. Aboeullus as his Counsel.
Robert Harris, stated, that he was a seaman on
board the Valiant, and that the deceased, Francis
Williams, was cook, and a black man, and that dur-
ing their passage to the Isle of France, he had often
witnessed acts of cruelty of the prisoner towards the
deceased ; that the prisoner was frequently in the
habit of kicking the deceased; and knocking him
upon the head; and for several days previous to the
16th of September last, he was continually ill-using
him ; but upon that day after breakfast, the prisoner
came on board and asked where the black rascal
was ; he was told that he was aft, eating his break-
fast. Prisoner then went aft, and saw the deceased
with a bone of beef and biscuit in his hand. He
desired him to go to the round-house, which -.cased
did. While standing near the round-house, he told
him to eat the bone which he had in his hand ; de-
ceased made no reply, but sat down upon the boom.
Prisoner ordered him to stand up, which, on doing,
he began to cut his clothes ofd him, leaving only
his frock shirt, and even cut that away; he then
made him sit up straight on the boom, while
he fastened a rope round his body, and then
dragged him to the hatchway, and threw him
down upon some barrels lying in the hold. De-
ceased, after he lay some time insensible, got up and
sat on the barrels. The prisoner then ordered
him on deck, which he not immediately complying
with, he hauled him up. Deceased begged a drink
of water. Prisoner called the cook of the day, and
ordered him to get a panican of brine (beef pickle),
which, on his getting, he attempted to make deceased
drink it, and actually forced a large quantity of it
down his throat; and on his attempting to resist, he
dashed him against the boom, and then struck him
several times. Deceased at this period fell from the
boom on the deck. He then dragged him along tit e
deck, towards the head of the ship. Deceased then
made an effort to get up, which with difficulty he ac-
complished. Prisoner then told the deceased to take
a bucket, and fasten the bottom of it. However, such
was the state of the deceased, that he seemed quite
unable to do it. Prisoner then snatched up a ham-
mer, stuck the deceased on the head, and knocked
him down the hatchway. Deceased fell again on the
barrels, which were lying on the ballast, and groaned
dreadfully. Prisoner then said, "Oh ! the blacA
rascal, I'll take the sulks out of him." Prisoner
then called the deceased to come on deck, but he was
unable. He then went down, and struck him with
a piece of African oak. Deceased at this time was
sitting upon the end of a beam, and after he had been
struck, he fell on the ballast; and while there pri-
soner took a shovel, and began to cover him with the
ballast, as if in the act of burying him alive. When
he had nearly covered him with the ballast,
he jlattencd it 071 his chest. He subsequently took
the ballast off the deceased, and called out to them
on deck to hand him a rope down the fore-hatch-
way, which, on his getting, he made fast to the leg
of the deceased, and dragged him forward. He then
called out to the people on deck to begin and haul
away, which they did ; hut on perceiving it was the
deceased they were hauling, they refused to pull any
more. The prisoner, with the assistance of one of
the crew, hauled the deceased upon deck. He then
made a rope tight round his body, under the arm-
pits, heaved it over the galley.coppers, end made it
tight. Deceased was at this period quite unable to
stand. He could not hold up his head; it lay upon
his shoulder. He inarticulately begged a drink of
water. Prisoner replied " Fetch him a panican
of pickle." It was brought, and he put it into de-
ceased's hand, who endeavoured to put it to his lips,
but was unable, and let it fall upon the deck ; de-
ceased also fell down ; prisoner said " You sulky
rascal, I'll make you stand up ;" and he desired Bill
Cassan, one of the seamen, to put the poker into the
,/ire; Cassan refused to do it ; prisoner then went
and did it himself; all this time deceased lay insen-
sible upon the deck; when the poker was red hot,
he applied it to the back of the deceased, and de-
ceased shrunk a little ; he Sail, the steam come from
the burning back of the deceased; prisoner then
took the rope, and cast it round the bow of the
long boat, and hauled deceased on his feet, at the
same time swearing he would take the sulks out of
him ; a rope was then put on the fore-yard whip,
and made fast to the arm-pits of the de-
ceased, and he was then slewed overboard ; this
was on the starboard side of the vessel ; he was
hauled up on the larboard side; while he
was hauling up the side of the vessel, one
of the iron hooks struck him on the throat, and lace-
rated it dreadfully; he then lay on the deck groan-
ing, until the crew had knocked off work, when
some of them said, the best thing that could be
done, was to put this man down below; the pri-
soner replied, "let him lie there—the rascal, I'll
take the sulks out of him before I have done with
him." He lay there until eight o'clock in the even-
ing; he had nothing on him but his frock; prisoner
then told the mate to put him down below, and
four of the people lowered him down the fore hatch-
way, and placed him on the water casks; there was
then very little appearance of life in him, and he
groaned occasionally; they then took and put him
into his hammock, and placed him upon his back,
and they found him dead on the following me:ning,
in that position; the watch on deck told ti.. mate
that the cook (the deceased) had died, which the

mate communicated to the prisoner; orders were
given that the body of the deceased should be
brought on deck; the prisoner said that he never
knew a black man die of the sulks before ; after break-
fast, the body of the deceased was laid out on deck ;
prisoner, on seeing it, desired that it should be
sewed up in his hammock and heaved overboard, at
the same time ordering the mate to bring some ruin
on deck, which he did, and gave every one of
the crew half a tumbler each; this was the first
spirits they had ever got from the prisoner.—
While they were drinking the rum, the prisoner came
on deck, and asked them did they see any marks
on the body. No answer was given, -apprehensive
that they should be served so themselves. The
body of the deceased was then sewed up in a ham-
mock, and a bag of sand put ie with it to make it
sink, and it was hove overboard. All the crew
were then called into the cabin, and the prisoner
asked them would they sign a paper, certifying that
the deceased died by the will of God. They all
refused to sign it. One of the crew positively refu-
sed; he said that he could not sign any such paper.
The prisoner then asked him what he would sign.
He replied, to make things comfortable, we will
sign, " Accidental Death.' They did so, but
through fear. When the vessel arrived at Port
Louis, prisoner employed an attorney, and he asked
the crew to swear that the deceased died in his
hammock; and on the crew going to explain to
him, the attorney did not. wish to hear any thing
about the; matter—all he wanted was for them to
swear that the deceased died in his hammock, which
they did. _

John Holmes (a lad about 17 years old), was one
of the crew of the Valiant in her late voyage to the
Mauritius; knew the deceased, Williams, who was
cook and steward ; he died in six weeks after the
Valiant sailed from London. I saw my master
heave the man overboard on the starboard side of
the ship by a rope; that was in the evening. He
was not suffered to remain long under water; the
ship was then going at three knots an hour. When
pulled up on deck, the man was insensible. I re- 1
member seeing him tied up to the galleys above the
cabouse, and my master ordered Wm. Cassan to put
the poker into the fire. Cassan refused, and master
put the poker in the fire himself; when it was red
hot, he put it to the man's back, and burned it, and
singed the hair off his head ; this was after he was
overboard. The deceased asked for a drink of fresh
water,, and the master ordered him to have a pani-
can of. brine. Bill Cassan brought the brine, and
gave it to master) who endeavoured to make the