Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1860-06-07
On Board a SIaver

A letter dated Key West says:-as ..
United States steamer Crusader was o,n ,'e
ing in the old Bahama Channel M, e.
from luevitas, on the Odd of May, a soma, ,af
rugged vessel of moderate size was reiaS.',
from aloft. We Immediately stood fa r.i t'
as no sail is allowed to pass us in these .Iaa'
haunted waters, or even to come in soh.
without having her character ascertainaj
AS soon she found herself an ohiect :
pursuit, the strange sail began to behave -
such manner as strongly excited our sre,;
cions, and at length fairly put her helm r.
and run in for the shore, thus taking ~
last and most desperate chances of escsno VIC
Unfortunately for her the wind was 50 T,h,
that she was prevented from eiiecting e.
purpose, and we rapidly overhauled her NOV 's'
withstanding that she was carrying ali h.,
canvas.
The Crusader now hoistcd English co,o,,
and fired gun to windward, when. ,ftas
some delay, the bark (for such she proved ed, =
be- finally displayed the French nag At ,Lo
peak. BY this time, however, we were -
near that we were enabled to see thar h..
matches were all closely covered over. and >.
We continued to approach, we could even die
tinguished at intervals the peculiar loa,b.
some odor of crowded slave ship.
Under these circumstances it was de,or
mined to board her, and accordingly a hoo,
and the English ensign were lowered at tina
same moment, and the American colors wsrs
hoisted. No sooner did the Crusaders ho,,
leave the side than the bark hauled down TIA
French colors, and we subsequently, learn.
ed threw them and her Portuguese panars
| rI ia IL
boarded she had neither papers nor colors
and was coniessedly without name or nation.
atty.
For little while there was dead silence
on board both ships, though the increasing
strong ammonlcal odor placed beyond nj
doubt the fact that the bark had under her
matches cargo of slaves. And now we he.
gan to hear sort Of suppressed moaning.
which soons welled into the unmistakable mur
muir of many human voices As our boat
reached the side of the bark, and the officers
in charge sprang on the deck, with tremend-
Gus shout, the matches were forced open from
below, and out burst by hundreds the self
liberated slaves. As they caught sight of the
stars and stripes floating 50 near, which no
doubt seemed to these poor wretches ike
bright rainbow of promise, they became per
fectly frantic with JOY.
They climbed up all along the rail; they
hung on the shrouds; they clustered ike
swarming bees in the rigging. while rose
from sea to sky the widest acclamations Of
delight; they danced, and leapod and waved
their arms in the air, and screamed and yell
ed in 4 discordanU but pathetic concert
The scene of confusion on board the bark,
when the negroes found themselves released
| from the accustomed restraint, battles all 1es.
criptlon. They had, Of course, all been kept
on very small allowance of food and water
during the passage. The first use which
they made Of their liberty was to satisfy their
hunger and thirst, which they did by break.
ing into the breadbarrc!s and water-casks
aud then running about, eating, drinking
| dancing, and screaming all atom Ii mat
tered but little to them what sort of vessels
| they drank from-bnckets, boxes and trougils
were all brought into requsition. | even
saw several fellows, happy and delighted
with piece OF bread in one hand and
wooden spittoon, full Of muddy water, in the
other.
AS soon as their appetites were satisfied,
| the African tondneSs for tinery began to show
| itself, and all the loose articles IN the ship
| were employed rs personal ornaments
Some fastened Delaying pins TO their wrists;
some tied old rusty tin kettles around their
waists, and some strutteI proudly about,
with copper ladies' hung round their necks
BY this time, however, detachment Of
marines arrived from the Crusader, and or
! der was at once restored, and an organization
established The negroes were clothed with
pieces of canvas, and the captain, supercargo
and crew sent on board the Crusader a. prs-
oners. They made no claims or remon-
strances whatever, but surrendered them
selves as "slayers," without nationality
| They stated that the bark had no name, and
| that all their papers had been thrown over
| board with the colors. They seemed to bear
their loss with phiosophic equanimity.--
Such a contingency had evidently been re-
garded by them as part of their risk, and
they were not unprcpared for it. The cap
tain is frenchman, as is also the super
cargo, and the crew are mostly Spaniards,
with few Frenchmen. The negroes were
selected from among three thousand prison
ers of war, recently taken by the king OF
Dahomey. They were brought from Why
! dab, a large town on the slave coast, in the
Blight of Benin--the seaport of the renown-
ed kingdom Of Dahomey. They are much
superior to the 'C0ngos," who usually n
pose the cargoes Of slavers, not only in phys-
que, but also III intelligence. Nearl y all are
in excellent health, which, no doubt, Is
owing to the careful arrangements made for
their comfort on board the bark. In mum
bers they amount to about four hundred and
fifty, and the slavc-dcck affords ample accom-
modations for them all! During a passage Of
forty-fve days from the Gulf Of Guinea,
seven only have died, which is certainly
very small number.
Brigham Young, with several of the dig
nitaries OF his church, but with fewer, il any,
of his wives, has been in pniladel pIia for the
past ten days. He is negotiating for the pur-
chase of paper MILL which he proposes 10
set up in his city.
FOR THE NORTH, WEST, and NORTHWEST.
La III III ::ss;.:....: 8; . : :.3
NORTHERN CENTRAL RAILWAY.
SUN.NER 4 Il Il 4 n q i NEAI
CHANGE OF HOURS.
ON AND AFTER NAY 9th, 1860, trains VAL
~ leave Calvert Station:
The Mail Train daily Except Sundays ct a'@'
II for Elp,;r, RutIoIn Ni,.ara + .tlis. aai All