Thompson, (it is doubtful yet whether Dr. M'William has the river fever or not,) all the mates, masters, second masters, and clerks, the whole of the engineers and stokers of the expedition, and the gunner of the Albert, (the only vessel that has an officer of that rank,) have been attacked, their Lordships will be able to form an idea of the paralyzed state of the steam vessels."

Dr. M'William is of opinion that the Niger is not fit for white constitutions. Captain Trotter was of opinion that it would be scarcely possible to officer more than one of the steamers, unless assistance should be sent from England. Captain Trotter states further, “It will be necessary for one steam-vessel to go up the Niger next year, as I left the Amelia tender at the confluence of the Niger and the Chadda, for the protection of the people of the model farm. Not thinking it right to leave up the river any white person after the fatal sickness we had experienced, I placed the vessel in charge of a trustworthy black, with twelve other natives of Africa under him, all intelligent steady men. Their Lordships will remember that they gave permission for the utensils of the model farm to be carried out by the expedition, which were landed at the desire of Mr. Can, the superintendent, at a spot which he selected for the site of the farm, situated immediately opposite to the confluence; and as Mr. Can made a request for naval protection to his people in the absence of the steamers, which I considered very reasonable, I obtained volunteers to remain there in the Amelia before the Albert went to Egga; and on my return to the con. fluence, I was too ill to do duty, but Dr. M'William, at my desire, sent nine months' provisions on board, and cowries were left to buy several months' more. In our distressed state, it would have been impossible to tow the Amelia down the river, but, independently of that consideration, it was, I conceive, necessary to leave a vessel for the protection of the farm people.

"It is also very desirable that a vessel should get up to Rabbah, if possible, next year, not only to complete a series of treaties which have been already commenced, but to show the people of Rabbah that a man-of-war can get up to their town; and the presence of one of Her Majesty's vessels there might, I conceive, have a beneficial effect in their future treatment of the Nufi nation, whom we found much oppressed by the Felatahs, and also tend much to the extinction of the slave trade in the upper part of the Niger. This, however, cannot be determined upon till I meet my brother commissioners at Ascension. Should only one of the steamers ascend the Niger next year, I would prefer one of the larger ones to be selected, from their superior velocity and stowage. Under present circumstances I would countermand the coals which I requested might be forwarded to Bonny, though, if already shipped, they will doubtless prove very useful; for it is more difficult to procure wood in that than in most other African rivers, owing to the prejudice of the natives against Kroomen cutting it."

Captain Trotter, shortly after the date of the foregoing letter, in consequence of the state of his health, returned to England, where he

arrived near the end of January. Some particulars of the condition of the sick have been learned since his departure. The government has intimated that it is not their intention to prosecute the expedition further. The vessels will probably return to England in the ensuing summer, after relieving the party who were left upon the Niger. Thus an enterprise, undertaken with the most philanthropic intentions, has entirely failed, and with a melancholy sacrifice of human life.

THE QUINTUPLE TREATY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.

[Signed at London, December 20, 1841.]

ART. I.THEIR Majesties the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of all the Russias, engage to prohibit all trade in slaves, either by their respective subjects or under their respective flags, or by means of capital belonging to their respective subjects; and to declare such traffic piracy. Their Majesties further declare, that any vessel which may attempt to carry on the slave trade shall, by that fact alone, lose all right to the protection of their flag.

ART. II. — In order more completely to accomplish the object of the present treaty, the high contracting parties agree by common consent, that those of their ships of war which shall be provided with special warrants and orders, prepared according to the forms of the annex A of the present treaty, may search every merchant vessel belonging to any one of the high contracting parties which shall, on reasonable grounds, be suspected of being engaged in the traffic in slaves, or of having been fitted out for that purpose, or of having been engaged in the traffic during the voyage in which she shall have been met with by the said cruisers; and that such cruisers may detain, and send, or carry away such vessels in order that they may be brought to trial in the manner hereafter agreed upon.

Nevertheless, the above-mentioned right of searching merchant vessels of any one or other of the high contracting parties, shall be exercised only by ships of war, whose commanders shall have the rank of captain, or that of lieutenant in the Royal or Imperial Navy, unless the command shall, by reason of death or otherwise, have devolved upon an officer of inferior rank. The commander of such ship of war shall be furnished with warrants according to the form annexed to the present treaty, under letter A.

The said mutual right of search shall not be exercised within the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the space within which the exercise of the said right shall be confined, shall be bounded, on the north by 32d parallel of north latitude; on the west, by the eastern coast of

America, from the point where the 32d parallel of north latitude strikes that coast, down to the 45th parallel of south latitude; on the south by the 45th parallel of south latitude, from the point where that parallel strikes the eastern coast of America to the 80th degree of longitude east from the meridian of Greenwich; and on the east by the same degree of longitude, from the point where it is intersected by the 45th parallel of south latitude up to the coast of India.

ART. III. Each of the high contracting parties which may choose to employ cruisers for the suppression of the slave trade, and to exercise the mutual right of search, reserves to itself to fix, according to its own convenience, the number of the ships of war which shall be employed on the service stipulated in the second article of the present treaty, as well as the stations on which the said ships shall cruise.

The names of the ships appointed for this purpose, and those of their commanders, shall be communicated by each of the high contracting parties to the others; and they shall reciprocally apprise each other every time that a cruiser shall be placed on a station, or shall be recalled thence, in order that the necessary warrants may be delived by the Governments authorizing the search, and returned to those Governments by the Government which has received them, when those warrants shall no longer be necessary for the execution of the present treaty.

ART. IV. Immediately after the Government which employs the cruisers shall have notified to the Government which is to authorize the search, the number and the names of the cruisers which it intends to employ, the warrants authorizing the search shall be made out according to the form annexed to the present treaty, under letter A, and shall be delivered by the Government which authorizes the search to the Government which employs the cruiser.

In no case shall the mutual right of search be exercised upon the ships of war of the high contracting parties.

The high contracting parties shall agree upon a particular signal, to be used exclusively by those cruisers which shall be invested with the right of search.

ART. V. The cruisers of the high contracting parties authorized to exercise the right of search and detention in execution of the present treaty shall conform themselves strictly to the instructions annexed to the said treaty, under letter B, in all that relates to the formalities of the search and of the detention, as well as to the measures to be taken, in order that the vessels suspected of having been employed in the traffic may be delivered over to the competent tribunals.

The high contracting parties reserve to themselves the right of making in these instructions by common consent, such alterations as circumstances may render necessary.

The cruisers of the high contracting parties shall mutually afford to each other assistance in all cases when it may be useful that they should act in concert.

ART. VI. Whenever a merchant vessel, sailing under the flag of one

of the high contracting parties, shall have been detained by a cruiser of the other, duly authorized to that effect, conformably to the provisions of the present treaty, such merchant vessel, as well as the master, the crew, the cargo, and the slaves who may be on board, shall be brought into such place as the high contracting parties shall have respectively designated for that purpose, and they shall be delivered over to the authorities appointed with that view by the Government within whose possessions such place is situated, in order that proceedings may be had with respect to them before the competent tribunals in the manner hereafter specified.

When the commander of the cruiser shall not think fit to undertake himself the bringing in and the delivery up of the detained vessel, he shall intrust that duty to an officer of the rank of lieutenant in the Royal or Imperial navy, or at least to the officer who shall at the time be the third in authority on board the detaining ship.

ART. VII. If the commander of a cruiser of one of the high contracting parties should have reason to suspect that a merchant vessel sailing under the convoy of, or in company with, a ship of war of one of the other contracting parties, has been engaged in the slave trade, or has been fitted out for that trade, he shall make known his suspicions to the commander of the ship of war, who shall proceed alone to search the suspected vessel; and in case the last mentioned commander should ascertain that the suspicion is well founded, he shall cause the vessel, as well as the master, the crew, the cargo, and the slaves who may be on board, to be taken into a port belonging to the nation of the detained vessel, to be there proceeded against before the competent tribunals, in the manner hereafter directed.

ART. VIII. As soon as a merchant vessel, detained and sent in for adjudication, shall arrive at the port to which she is to be carried in conformity with annex B to the present treaty, the commander of the cruiser which shall have detained her, or the officer appointed to bring her in, shall deliver to the authorities appointed for that purpose a copy, signed by himself, of all the lists, declarations, and other documents specified in the instructions annexed to the present treaty, under letter B; and the said authorities shall proceed, in consequence, to the search of the detained vessel, and of her cargo, as also to an inspection of her crew, and of the slaves who may be on board, after having previously given notice of the time of such search and inspection to the commander of the cruiser, or to the officer who shall have brought in the vessel, in order that he, or some person whom he may appoint to represent him, may be present thereat.

A minute of these proceedings shall be drawn up in duplicate, which shall be signed by the persons who shall have taken part in, or who shall have been present at, the same; and one of these documents shall be delivered to the commander of the cruiser, or to the officer appointed by him to bring in the detained vessel.

ART. IX.-Every merchant vessel of any one or other of the five nations, which shall be searched and detained in virtue of the provi

sions of the present treaty, shall, unless proof be given to the contrary, be deemed to have been engaged in the slave trade, or to have been fitted out for that traffic, if in the fitting, in the equipment, or on board the said vessel, during the voyage in which she was detained, there shall be found to have been one of the articles hereafter specified, that is to say:

1. Hatches with open gratings, instead of the close hatches which are used in merchant vessels.

2. Divisions or bulk-heads, in the hold or on deck, in greater number than are necessary for vessels engaged in lawful trade.

3. Spare plank fitted for being laid down as a second or slave-deck. 4. Shackles, bolts, or handcuffs.

5. A larger quantity of water, in casks or in tanks, than is requisite for the consumption of the crew of such merchant vessel.

6. An extraordinary number of water-casks, or of other receptacles for holding liquid, unless the master shall produce a certificate from the custom-house at the place from which he cleared outwards, stating that sufficient security had been given by the owners of such vessel that such extra number of casks or of other receptacles should only be used to hold palm-oil, or for other purposes of lawful commerce.

7. A greater quantity of mess-tubs or kids than are requisite for the use of the crew of such merchant vessel.

8. A boiler, or other cooking apparatus, of an unusual size, and larger, or capable of being made larger, than requisite for the use of the crew of such merchant vessel; or more than one boiler, or other cooking apparatus, of the ordinary size.

9. An extraordinary quantity of rice, of the flour of Brazil manioc, or cassada, commonly called farina, or of maize, or of Indian corn, or of any other article of food whatever, beyond the probable wants of the crew; unless such quantity of rice, farina, maize, Indian corn, or any other article of food, should be entered on the manifest, as forming a part of the trading cargo of the vessel.

10. A quantity of mats or matting greater than is necessary for the use of such merchant vessel, unless such mats or matting be entered on the manifest as forming part of the cargo.

If it is established, that one or more of the articles above specified are on board, or have been on board during the voyage in which the vessel was captured, that fact shall be considered as prima facie evidence that the vessel was employed in the traffic; she shall in consequence be condemned, and declared lawful prize, unless the master or the owners shall furnish clear and incontrovertible evidence, proving to the satisfaction of the tribunal, that at the time of her detention or capture the vessel was employed in a lawful undertaking; and that such of the different articles above specified as were found on board at the time of detention, or which might have been embarked during the voyage on which she was engaged when she was captured, were indispensable for the accomplishment of the lawful object of her voyage. ART. X. Proceedings shall be immediately taken against the