Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1857-05-16


On Thursday last, the 10th inst, the inhabitants
OF st. AIMS Bay, where thrown into . state Of
considerable excitement by the arrival Of schoo.
ner, evidently American, lowed into port BY hel
Majesty's brig Arab. It was soon aseertained that
the schooner was a SLAYER, and that she had or
board large number Of captives. 1t appearl
that the captain of the Arab had received infor-
nation that bark and schooner were expected il
Cuba from the coast of Africa, each with cargo
OF slaves. strict watch was therefore kept, and
on Monday, the 18th inst, = suspicious looking
craft was seen with a full press Of sail, making
the best of her way to the destined port. She wai
closely pursued, and the captain finding that there
was no possibility of escaping from the Arab de-
serted her, taking with him in shallop, his crew
money, chr0nometer and other useful articles.
The commander of the Arab dispatched his gun
boat, with fifteen men under the command Of his
FIRST Lieutenant, with orders for the capture Of
the shallop. The chase continued for nearly three
hours, when shot having destroyed the rudder
of the shallop, the captain, who was owner of the
SLAYER, surrendered. Two of his principal slaves
and an interpreter were taken from the shallop,
and the crew were left in it to make the best Of
their way to Cuba.
The first Lieut.. then boarded the schooner and
found her filed with young Africans, males and
females, to the number of 3T3, no less than l27
having fallen victims to the horrors of the middle
fsscSs6O oosAn6 - vOyoS0 vi 40 uoyos 1uo pOOI
captives wore in wretohed condition, all of them
| naked, and the greater part seemed to have been
half starved. They were packed closely together
and covered with dirt and vermin. On the arri.
val of the schooner in ST. AIMS Bay, several gem
tlemen went on board, and their sympathies were
excited at the misery they witnessed. Messrs.
Bravo q Brother suggested measures which were
adopted, and with their usual iberality, ordered
steer to be killed and soup prepared for the suf-
| p0ontI fs,vp soho nd
ions, bread, &C., and while the food was being
prepared, the whole of the human cargo was
brought upon deck and washed, and had blankets
given to them until clothing could be procured.
Thirty OF them were in . dying state, but the
most humane attention was paid to them, and up
to the time when our informant left St. AIMS Bay
they were all alive, and expected to do well. The
Hon. Charles Reyes, Custos of the parish, sent
OF, without loss of time, dispatch to his excel
lency. the Lieut.. Governor, acqu.inting him of
the capture, and requesting to be informed wheth-
er the captives should be handed over to proprie-
tors of estates who were anxious to procure their
services.
The captain Of the schooner refused to give his
name or the schooner's, but stated that he would
be loser of $50, 0OO-a loss which did not cause
him much concern, as he had made other and sue
cessful trips. A great deal of information, how
ever, has been obtained from the interpreter, who
mentioned that several vessels were left on the
African coast, that they were to have sailed soon
with full cargoes that, upon an average, two
vessels departed weekly, each with from 500 to
700 slaves on board; that the trade is rapidly in
creasing and that the slaves on being landed in
Cuba, were worth from $500 to 500 each. With
regard to those that were captured in the schoon-
CT, there was but one days supply of provisions
on the day of capture, and so limited was the
quantity of food doled out to them during the
passage, that when they saw the soup, bread,
yams, &C., which were sent on board by the gen.
tlemen of st. AIMS, they made rush to get them
and it was found necessary to exercise most RI
gid discipline, in order that the numbers that were
the most feeble should be the first supplied.
The slave schooner has two decks and between
them the captives were packed in such manner
that they had scarcely room to move. On each
day OF the voyage they sat in a painful posture,
eighteen inches only being allowed for each to
turn in, aud in deck room of 30 feet in length
300 human being were slowed away, and brought
up in platoons once every day to get small pOr-
ton of fresh air. The schooner draws but six
feet of water, is of great breadth and fat bot
toned, and was thus built to enable her, in case
of pursuit, to run into a port where there is not
much depth of water. The interpreter states
when slave trading captains cannot escape the
cruisers, they make their way to particular point
of land on the Cuban coast, run the vessel ashore
and leave the slaves to perish. The place allu-
ded to is surrounded with rocks-none but fat
bottomed boats can get in, and the whole of that
portion of the coast is blanched with human bones
The commander Of the Arab is in pursuit of the
bark that sailed in company with the schooner,
and We hope that we shall soon have accounts OF
her capture.-FaImouth, (Jamaiea,) Post.