they continued their search; and upon opening a plank, which led down to the skin of the vessel, they found these unfortunate wretches concealed there. This plank seemed to have been fitted for the purpose of eluding detection, and the cables were stowed away, with rice and wood, hides being laid beneath, so as to make it appear, as if nothing further was to be discovered.

These three vessels were sent to the Cape of Good Hope, and proceeded against in the Admiralty Court there; but, instead of being condemned to the captors, were ordered to be restored to the claimants. An appeal to the prize court at home has, however, been lodged in each of these cases.

The Directors would have ill discharged their duty to the Institution, had they not represented these cases to his Majesty's Ministers, as soon as they came to their knowledge. Such a representation was accordingly made, and papers relative to the subject were moved for and ordered to be printed by the House of Commons. An abstract of some of these will be found in the Appendix*.

The Directors have now to bring before the General Meeting a new species of Slave Trade,

See Appendix A.

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carried on, it should seem, between Egypt and the island of Malta. They have received information on which they are disposed to rely, stating, that several slaves have been brought from Alexandria to that island, and there sold to Englishmen, as well as to Maltese inhabitants. It appears, that these poor creatures consist principally of negro children, brought from countries bordering on the Upper Nile to Alexandria, as captives; and that not fewer than 100 of these persons are annually sold as slaves in the island of Malta. The Directors did not fail to represent these proceedings to his Majesty's Ministers; and they have the pleasure of adding, that their representation was attended to with promptitude, and an inquiry into the matter immediately set on foot by Government.

The Directors must not omit to state to the Meeting, that in consequence of some false depositions having been made by an Englishman, of the name of George Woodbine, relative to the bond fide property of a vessel employed in the Slave Trade, called the Gallicia, of which he was the supercargo, under the feigned name of Jorge Madresilva, as detailed in a former Report*, an indictment for

*See Fifth Report, p. 32.

perjury was preferred against him at the last summer Assizes for Devonshire. The Bill was found by the grand jury, and an advertisement was inserted in several of the public papers, offering a reward for his apprehension. As yet, however, he has not been found. Proceedings have therefore been had, and are still continued, for the purpose of his being declared an outlaw, if he does not appear to answer to this charge of perjury.

It is with extreme regret that the Directors are again obliged to state to the General Meeting the want of success which has attended their repeated, earnest, and urgent representations to Government, respecting the Slave Trade carried on by means of the Portugueze island of Bissao. This is a subject which has engaged the attention of the Board from the very formation of the Institution; and although they are thoroughly convinced that Bissao itself is of no intrinsic value to the Portugueze Government, they cannot but deeply lament, that they have as yet been able to obtain no more than a vague and uncertain hope, that at some future period, the cession of it to Great Britain may be obtained.

The Directors have also to express their unfeigned regret, that no satisfactory explanation

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of the ambiguity in the Tenth Article of the Treaty of Amity between Great Britain and Portugal has yet been procured; but they see no reason to depart from the construction which they formerly ventured to put upon that Article. In this view of the subject, and hoping, as has been already stated, that the Slave Trade on the leeward coast of Africa has of late received a considerable check, from the great and laudable exertious of the naval officers on that station, the Directors cannot but consider the cession of the island of Bissao, as in the highest degree important to the progress of the measures necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Institution.

It has already been observed, that although the Spanish flag is frequently used as a colourable protection to British and American vessels engaged in the Slave Trade, yet that the boná fide Spanish Slave Trade is very trifling. It will be remembered, that a considerable time has now elapsed, since the Spanish colony of the Caraccas formally abolished that nefarious traffic; and the Directors have now the high gratification of announcing to the Meeting, that the Government of the important settlement of Buenos Ayres has adopted a similar line of conduct. In the month of May last,

that Government issued a decree of which the following is the substance.

"The introduction of cargoes of slaves into the territory of the United Provinces of the river Plate is absolutely prohibited..

"Those which may arrive within the space of a year, counting from the 25th day of this present month of May, shall be ordered to depart from our ports immediately.

"The term of a year being completed, all expeditions of the kind shall be condemned, the slaves shall be declared free, and the Government will employ them in useful occupations.

"All the authorities of the State are hereby strictly charged to observe and execute the present decree, which is to be published and circulated, being deposited in the Secretary's office of the Government."

Intelligence, which, though not official, is entitled to a considerable portion of credit, has also been received, stating, that the Government of Chili, another of the Spanish settlements in South America, has followed the example set them by the Caraccas, and Buenos Ayres, and has formally and totally abolished the Slave Trade in its dominions. Thus a complete answer is furnished by several of the Spanish