CAPTURE OF SLAVE DHOWS UNKNOWN

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVIII, Issue 1631, 13 October 1862, Page 4

CAPTURE OF SLAVE DHOWS UNKNOWN

At the sitting of the Vice A<hun.iltv C'omt, held on Satuulay, the 17th instant, 18 slave dhows, ciptuicd by HM. ste.imci 'Goigon,' weie condemned. Tlie piatkul-us of some of the captuus aie not iv httle exciting, and will lie read with inteiest in England. The first ot the dhows on tho list \uw> seen by the 'Goigon ' on the morning of the 19th August last, on shoic on the leef to the northward of Quenmbo Teland Capfc Wilson thereupon boanled her, and found she had a crew of 25 Aiabs, and was lcgnliul} fitted foi tho slave trade, hut had neithei colouis noi p.apeis. Tlie mastei of the dhow stated that on the pievious evening, having then IUO slaves on boaid, shipped at Conduoia, he bad been chased by one of the Bntish ciuisei-, (supposed to be the 'Penguin ) and had nin ashoie in the il.uk Dining the chase tin water tanks weie tin own o\eibo.ini, and aftei the stranding of the \ essd the blaves weie landed on the island Theciew weie engaged m getting the dhow off, in ordei th.it she might continue her oiignml vojageto Comoio, when the 'Goigon' hove in sight The hold of the vessel had been tecently occupied b\ slaves, and the cooking .mil feeding utensils quite as recently vised Tho cicw of the dhow was much mjuied I) 3' tho leef) were landed on the inland, and the dhow, winch measui<\l 172 tons, was burnt The second of these vessels, ctptuied on the 3rd of Aucust, while at anchor off Lindey Kiver, wns a Persian Gulf dhow, ol the bin then of 15b" tons She had on board a eievv of 20 Northern oi Joasmo Arabs, was reguliuh fitted foi the slave ti.ule, and cm led a quantity of slave food She was unseawoithy, and after the crew had been landed, was destioyed The thud and fourth dhow, weie captured on the 9th August last On that day two of the bhip'h boats weie onusing off Kis \ ua Haibour, and seeing the dhows the} gave chase After an horn's nm, two of the dhov\s, finding the boats gaming on them, loweied sail, ami weie boarded They weie nil htte<l for the <-live tiade The crew of tlie first dhow, 15 in mini bei, were Arabs and well aimed, and the vessel had neither papeis noi eoloins. Tlie second dhow had a ciew of 12 Ai.il> 1 ) The fust of these dhows was tie Ktmyed by the captor, and the second abandoned in a sinking state The capturo of the nc\t dhow (No ") took place on the 24th of August, not far fiom Zanzibar, and was attended with circumstances of unusual inttr<Nt. On the day in question, Mi G Ham«, second master of the 'Goigon,' being at Zvn/ibai in cbaigo of a slave dhow, received liifoimation from the British consul, Lieut Col. Kigby, that a Sooiee pirate, named Mohammed bin zVhe, intended to i tin a cargo of slaves fiom a point al>out seven miles noith of Zan/ibai Mr Hams theieupon pi acceded aftei daik with an armed boat to lay in wait foi the \es-itl, being accompanied by one of the consul's boats to identify hei, if neco-aiy. About midnight thuy saw a dliow i tinning to seawaid m a noith-westeily direction, and Mr Hau is hailed hei to heave to, stating that he was in command of a Bntish manof-wai's boat No atten tion was paid to this summons, and an attempt was made to boaid the dhow. As the ciew, howevei, tesistcd with diawu swoidb, a file of mnsketiy was opened upon hei, and tlnee oi fmn of the ciow killed Tho dhow w vs then lio.u ded, and the lest of the ciew dnven oveibo ud Onseirclnng hei seventeen slaves weie found stowed away m vanous paits of the vessel, and they stated that it was intended to take one hundred and fifty «la\os on boaid, and that the boats, con veymg them were m communication with the dhow I The captnied ■ve-isel was anchored foi the night at the place wheie she had been taken, and on pioeecding thithei the next morning, Mr. Ilarns found that she had been lemoved into a small bight in shore, but was totally debei ted. .She was fitted foi the .slave tiade, and had on board a laige quantity of vvatei and blave fooil She had no colours, but evidently belonged to the Joasmcs of the Peismn Gulf, who aie noted slaveis and pirates. Being unfit for a voyage to thib poit, she was destioyed. Her butden was 169 tons. Dhow No C was captiued by Lieut. Harvey in chaige of one of the ship's boatw, on the Bth of September, at Port Wangokee, in the noith of Pecuba Island. She was fitted for the blave trade, had on board a ciew of twenty Sevoodi Arabs, and <i quantity of hlave food, but no papeis or colours Tlie dhow, which was of the burden of 200 tons, was destroyed soon after her captuie Dhow No. 7 was taken off Mozambu on the 14th September. She was fitted foi the slave tiade, had a quantity of slave food on boaid, and was of the baiden of 66 tons. Being unfit for a voyage to the port of adjudication, she was destroyed. Dhows Nos 8, 9, 10, and 11, weie all seized on the lGfch cf September The circumstances attending their captuie are full of adventure. On tlie day in question, the. ' Goigon's ' pinnace, under the command of Lieutenant Ross, and the whale-boat, under the command of acting Sub-Lieutenant Price, were cunning off Melinda, in puisuance of Comiuandei Wilson's oideis. About 3 p.m., they btood into Melinda anchoiage foi water, when they saw three dhows at anchoi in the roadstead, and a small dhow shoving off from the shoie, witli 10 or 50 men — Noi them Aiahs —mined with muskets, and apparently standing for the dhows at anchor. The two boats proceed to in-

tercept the dhow with thi' aimed men, whereupon the crew* of tii" olhei dhows jumped overboaul, and swam on shoie. As the limits stood towards the smaller dhow, the Aiaus in her commenced to fire upon them, and the fire was immediately 1 etui ned. with muskoUy, and die howitzer of the piunaco, loaded with canister and grape. The combat lasted for some little time, but after several of the Arabs hail been killed and wounded, the remainder jumped oveiboaid and escaped to the shore. All four dhows woie then seaiehed, under a heavy fire fiom the shore, and they weie found to be fitted for the slave trado, and to have neithei papers nor colowb. In the smallest dhow a negro was found, who stated that tlneo larger dhows had 150 nlaved, who weio to have remained on shore while the vessels weie cleaned and wateied, and after reshipping the slaves and completing their complement, the dhows vveio to have pioceeded on their vojage to the Peisian Gulf. The vessels were all destroyed. The negio found on hoard the smaller dhow was, at his own earnest request, peimitted to rerurn to the shore, tho oificeis in command concluding from bis statement that he was a resident at the place The captuie of dhows No 12 and 13 was effected on the 29th of August. The story is an interesting one On that day the pinnace and whale-boat, undei the command of Lieuts Ross and Price, were ci vising between Port Pangane and Mahatto Island, when tlnee dhows weic observed standing for the land. The boats stood in to intercept them, the whale-boat leading, and filing seveial blank eaitndges to bring tho vessels to, but without effect, and as they continued to make for the land shots were fired across their bows, winch the dhows returned. Tho boats then gave chasi*, and in an hour's time cut them off, and foiced them to bring to The dhows, on being boaided, were all found with Arab colours, but no paper ; on boaid one of them was an Arab who styled himself King of Angoxa, and claimed the three dhows, but who could neithei find passports or papeis, nor account foi being without them. The dhows were all detained on the chaige of being engaged in the slave tiade, and as the weather appeared threatening, at about 5 pm. the Gorgon's boats and the captured vessels were anchoied two miles to the .south of Mahatto Island, with the intention of holding out till morning. To wards night, howevei, the wind mci easing, they became sunouiided with Ineakuis and a heavy faea, and at G p.m Lieut Ross, finding the dhows had dragged their anchors npaily two miles, and were in danger of beuig diiven on the reef to loewaul, wheie all on boaid would most probably have penahed, lemoved the staves and ere\\3 fiom two of the \es-sels iuto the thud, and then allowed the List dhow to make her way to the shoic tlnough a pas sacre in the reef with which her ciew were well acquainted as tho only chance of saving the h\es of the wi etched people. The other dhows left in the hands of the captois weie then burned, and it was subsequently ascertained that the othoi vessel had made her way through the passage in the uef in the coulee of tho night, and leached tho hhoic m safetyOil boaid the vessel wheio the peison styling himself King of AiigoN.il was found, the captois disooveud two lewiheis nuiked with tho luoad anow ami the letteis 80, and ic«pectfuUy numbeied 18 and 2i. It is believed these levolvcrs foimed pait of tho aceoutio inents of the men of a boat belonging to the ' Lyi.i,' who about two je.ais btfoie the captuie of these dhows wl'io murdeied m Angoxn, it was suspected at the instigation or with the connivance of the Sultnn or King of AngoN.i The King on being asked whether he had a Poituguese muscat, or any other pays on boaid, pioduced a blank envelope addicted to Queen Victowa, which was the only document he possessed. It was lepoited at Zanzibar, and appeal a to lie the f ict, that the king having been o\pelloil fiom Ango\a — a most notouous slave niaiket and a regular haunt for ■slavers and pnates — he was endeavouring, when intercepted by the Gorgon's boats, to escape with as many negroes as lie could lay hands on No 14 was captuied on the 6th September, near Quilloa She was fitted up as a slavei, had plenty of siavo fond, and an Aiab ciew of 13 men on boaid, but neitlici papois nor colouis Tho ciew admitted that they wue bound foi Quilloa to get a caigo of slaves They weie landed, and the vessel, which was of the bin den of 109 tons, was binned Two dhows, numbering 15 and 10, weie captuied on tho lHh Septumbei, off Wasseen leefs. The first was disco I . a ed at about 2 p.m , and aftei having been chased foi si\ miles hei eiew i.m her ashoieinthe mangrove bush and weie seen to dm c the. slaves, about 60 m numbei, inland She was legulaily fitted foi the skive tradi* Dhow No 16 was diseoveied and chased at 6 p in., her decks being crowded with negioes, appa lently "laves. The eiew m this instance also lan the dhow on shoie iuto the mangrove hush, and befoie the ' Goigon's ' boat could get up, earned off the slaves into the interior. She was fully equipped for the slave tiade. Both vessels weie deatioyed No 17, a matape, or laigc open shoie boat, of the bin den of 75 tons, was captured on the 1 3th September, by the ' GoigonV pinnace, under the command of Mi Hanson, the boatswain. She did not obey the usual summons to heave-to, and filed musketry and jmgal balls at the pursue.! ?, upon which the pinnace fired at hoi "\vith shot After ,x 20 minutes' chase she lav on shore into the mangrove bush Neither papeis not colouis weie found on boaid, and both the crew and the slaves, of whom there appeal od to be a considerable numbei, bad left her, the slaves having, no doubt, been ditven into the inteuor. She was destroyed The last of these dhows was captured on tho 3rd of October last. On that day, two of the ship's boats weie cruising off Sheila Point, when, at 8 p in., they saw i dhow running towaids the laud They cndeavouied to inteicept hoi, vvhcieupon the dhow lan on shoie, and the Arab ciew on boaid were feoeu with drawn swoids driving a ciowd of slaves oveiboaid. The boats boaided the dhow with as much expedition as possible, and the Aiabs made their escape to the fahnre, leaving 4 i slaves on boaid, 32 males and 12 females The dhow was got off and brought alongside the ' Gorgon 'in Kuryhoo Roads The slaves weio removed to the 'Gorgon,' and the dhow anchored at the ' Gor gon's ' bte'rn, but being leaky, she sank at her anrhoiage It is satisfactory to leain that the piompt and zealous action of Commandei "WiUon has giv en a berious blow to the tiaffic in slaves The 'L\ia' has gone north towards the Peiman Gulf, m the hope of intercepting many of the vessels engaged in this abominable tiade , and she will, no doubt, do a gieat deal to make the slave-dealei's ventures unpiofitable. The unfortunate negioes found on boaid some of the dhovv« captuied by the ' Gorgon,' weie landed at Seychelles.