Commander Maffit reported the vessel to be in distress, and requested permission to anchor in the harbor of Nassau and to obtain coal. This was granted, and the vessel having coaled, left again on the forenoon of the following day, the 27th. An authenticated copy of the permission which he received from the local government for the purpose is annexed, marked C, as also an affidavit of Mr. Webb, an officer of the customs, in relation thereto, marked D, and a local newspaper containing the proclamation of Governor Bayley of the 11th March, 1862, is forwarded herewith, as also one of the 28th January, 1863, in which the arrival and sailing of the Florida is reported. G. C. ANDERSON, Attorney General. (Signed) ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, Nassau, September 1, 1871. [Inclosure 2 in No. 37.] A. List of witnesses examined in the vice-admiralty court of the Bahamas in the case of the Oreto. ON THE PART OF THE PROSECUTION. 1. Wynn Feley James Duggan, chief officer of the Oreto. 2. William Portor, seaman of Oreto. 3. Peter Hinson, seaman of Oreto. 4. Charles Ward, steward of Oreto. 5. Walter Irving, fireman of Oreto. 6. John Quinn, fireman of Oreto. 7. Thomas Robinson, fireman of Oreto. 8. Daniel Hamy, coal trimmer of Oreto. 9. Commander Hickley, of Her Majesty's ship Greyhound. 10. Thomas Joseph Waters, a master mariner in the merchant service. 11. Lieutenant Cardale, royal navy. 12. Bay Beaufoy Stuart, master and pilot of Her Majesty's ship Greyhound. ON THE PART OF THE DEFENSE. 1. G. D. Harris, merchant, in the firm of Adderley & Co. 2. Richard Henry Eustice, master mariner. 3. Fred. T. Parkes, master mariner. 4. William Raisbeck, master mariner. 5. Thos. Joseph Waters, master mariner. 6. James Alexander Duguid, master of the Oreto. [Inclosure 3 in No. 37.] B. Affidavit of Mr. Robert Butler. BAHAMA ISLANDS. I, Robert Butler, of the island of New Providence, esquire, make oath and say as follows: 1. I am acting receiver general and treasurer of the Bahama Islands, and have charge of the revenue department at the port of Nassau. 2. At the request of the attorney general of the colony, I have caused diligent search to be made among the records of the revenue department at Nassau for papers or entries in the books of the department, relating to a certain steamship or vessel called the Oreto, alleged to have arrived at Nassau in the year 1862, and I have found three entries in one of the books of the department relating to the said vessel, under the respective dates of the 28th April, 10th June, and 7th August, 1862, true copies of which I hereto annex, numbered respectively 1, 2, and 3. 5. To the best of my recollection the Florida coaled at Nassau on that occasion, and remained in port for that purpose until the following day, when she left. 6. I have no further knowledge of anything relating to the said vessel. (Signed) YORICK WEBB. Sworn to at Nassau, this 1st day of September, A. D. 1871, before me, (Signed) W. H. DOYLE, Chief Justice, Bahamas. BAHAMA ISLANDS. By his honor Captain George Cumine Strahan, R. N., administrator of the government and commander-in-chief in and over the said islands, chancellor, vice-admiral, and ordinary of the same. To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Be it known that William Henry Doyle, by whom the annexed certificate is subscribed, was on the day of the date thereof, and now is, chief justice for the said Bahama Islands; therefore all due faith and credit are and ought to be had and given to the said annexed certificate. In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the said islands to be hereunto affixed at Nassau, New Providence, this 4th day of September, A. D. 1871, and in the thirtyfifth year of Her Majesty's reign. [SEAL] (Signed) By his honor's command, (Signed) GEO. C. STRAHAN, Administrator. JOHN D'A. DUMARESQ, [Inclosure 6 in No. 37.] Decree in the case of the British steamship Oreto. [See inclosure 3 in No. 36.] [Inclosure 7 in No. 37.] F. Pleadings in the case of the Oreto. In the vice-admiralty court of the Bahamas. Our Sovereign Lady the Queen vs. The British Steamship or Vessel Oreto, (whereof James Alexander Duguid is, or lately was master,) her tackle, &c. I, Joshua Anderson Brook, registrar of the vice-admiralty court of the Bahamas, do hereby certify that the annexed contains a true copy of the affidavit of seizure, affidavit of Commander Hewett and officers of Her Majesty's ship Rinaldo, claim, libel, and responsive pleas in the above cause, as remains of record in the registry of this honora ble court. Given at the city of Nassau, in the island of New Providence, under the seal of the said court, this 30th day of August, A. D. 1871, and of our reign the thirty-fifth. (Signed) J. A. BROOK, Registrar. In the vice-admirality court of the Bahamas. Our Sovereign Lady the Queen vs. The Steamship or Vessel called the Oreto, (whereof James Alexander Duguid is, or was master,) her tackle, apparel, and furniture, seized by Henry Dennis Hickley, esquire, commander in Her Majesty's royal navy, and commanding Her Majesty's 'ship Greyhound. Appeared personally the said Henry Dennis Hickley, and made oath : 1. That the deponent is stationed in Her Majesty's steamship Greyhound, at Nassau, of which station he took charge on the 9th day of June instant, in succession to commander McKillop, of Her Majesty's ship Bulldog. 61] *2d. That previously to the deponent taking charge of the station as aforesaid, a steamship called the Oreto, sailing under a British register, arrived, as the deponent has been informed and believes, at Nassan, and was conveyed to and anchored at Cochrane's Anchorage to the eastward of the island of New Providence. 3d. That such vessel was subsequently removed from Cochrane's Anchorage by the orders of Commander McKillop, and brought into the harbor of Nassau; the cause of such removal being, that Commander McKillop had on inspection of her found her to be fitted for war purposes in a manner totally at variance with the character of a merchant-vessel, leading to the conclusion that she was to be employed in contravention of law for belligerent purposes. 4th. That the restraint so placed on the said vessel by Commander McKillop was however removed, when the Bulldog was about to leave the station, but Commander KeKillop at the same time officially notified to the deponent his view of the suspicious character of the vessel. 5th. That on the afternoon of the 10th instant the deponent, accompanied by several officers and men of the Greyhound, proceeded on board of the Oreto, then lying in the harbor of Nassau, for the purpose of examining her fittings, and equipments, and of ascertaining whether she had any munitions of war on board. That on reaching her he found the master, the said James Alexander Duguid, with one of the consignees of vessel, and other parties on board, and the vessel fully manned. That the parties on board appeared at the time the deponent so boarded the Oreto as aforesaid, to be in the act of discharging cargo, among which the deponent saw one or more cases which he believes contained shells. That the deponent was proceeding to search the vessel when he was informed by the consignee aforesaid that she had been cleared out in ballast for Havana, and would shortly, the next day as the deponent understood, proceed on a voyage to that port, which statement having been corroborated by the revenue officer, the deponent withdrew from the vessel, with the understanding that he would again visit and inspect her before she left port. 6th. That, on the morning of the 30th instant, the deponent received notice from the before referred to consignee, that the Oreto would sail in the course of an hour or so; in consequence of which the deponent, with several of his officers and men, again went on board of her and made a careful inspection; when he found her to be in every respect fitted as a vessel of war, on the principle of the dispatch gun-vessels in Her Majesty's naval service; that she had a crew of fifty men and was capable of carrying two pivot-guns amidships, and four broadside, both forward and aft, her ports being made to ship and unship, with port-bars, breeching and side tackle-bolts, &c. That she had shell-rooms, a magazine, light-rooms, and handing-scuttles for handing powder ont of the magazine, all fitted as in the naval service; as also shot-boxes for Armstrong shot, or shot similar thereto, round the upper deck. That she had two cutters, one for ten and the other for eight oars, two gigs and a jolly-boat, with davits fixed for hoisting them up, and that her accommodation was in no respect different from similar class vessels in the British royal navy. 7th. That the Oreto did not however quit the port of Nassau, but continued at her moorings, in the same place in which she was when first visited by the deponent, up to Saturday the 15th, when circumstances having come to the knowledge of the deponent tending to show that the Oreto was originally intended, as her build, fittings, and equipments indicate, to be employed as a vessel of war, and that if she was allowed to quit the port of Nassau, such intention would be carried into effect by her being employed in the service of a foreign belligerent power in contravention of the statute of the imperial parliament, passed in the fifty-ninth year of his late Majesty King George the Third entitled "An act to prevent the enlisting or engagement of His Majesty's subjects in foreign service, and the fitting out or equipping in His Majesty's dominions vessels for warlike purposes without His Majesty's license." He, the deponent, placed an officer's guard on board of her, and ultimately, on the 17th day of June instant, seized and arrested the said ship, for, and on the ground, that the said ship was, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, liable to forfeiture under the said recited act. (Signed) H. D. HICKLEY, On the 20th day of June, A. D. 1862, the said Henry Dennis Hickley was duly sworn (Signed) J. A. BROOK, Our Sovereign Lady the Queen vs. The Steamship or Vessel Oreto, whereof, &c., her tackle, &c., seized by Henry Dennis Hickley, esquire, &c. Appeared personally William Nathan Wright Hewett, esquire, commander in Her Majesty's royal navy, and commanding Her Majesty's steam-sloop Rinaldo; Ralph Lancelot Turton, lieutenant; Edward Crafer Smith, master; John Lyder, chief engineer; Frederick Ward, gunner, and James Somerville, carpenter, of the said steamsloop Rinaldo, and severally made oath and said that, in obedience to the orders of Commander Hickley, of Her Majesty's ship Greyhound, they, on the 19th instant, repaired on board of the steamship Oreto, and having made an examination of her, found that the fittings now on board of the said vessel are those of a vessel adapted for war purposes. And the affidavit of Henry Dennis Hickley, esquire, made in this cause, having been read to the deponents, they severally made oath and said, that on their inspection aforesaid they found, as described in the sixth paragraph of such affidavit, that the Oreto's ports were made to ship and unship, with port-bars, breeching and side-tackle bolts, that she had shell-rooms, a magazine, light-rooms, and handing-scuttles for handing powder out of the magazine, all fitted as in the naval service, as also shotboxes for Armstrong shot, or shot similar thereto, round the upper deck, with the number of boats therein stated. (Signed) W. N. W. HEWETT, Commander, R. N. On the 20th day of June, A. D. 1862, the said William Nathan Hewett, Ralph Lance lot Turton, Edward Crafer Smith, John Lyder, Frederick Ward, and James Somerville were duly sworn to the truth of this affidavit, before me, (Signed) J. A. BROOKE, Surr. J. C., Vice-Admiralty, Bahamas. In the vice-admiralty court of the Bahamas. Our Sovereign Lady the Queen vs. The Steamship Oreto, her tackle, apparel, and furniture, whereof James Alexander Duguid is master. The claim of James Alexander Duguid, on behalf of John Henry Thomas, of the town of Liverpool, in the county palatine of Lancaster, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the true, lawful, and sole owner and proprietor of the said steamship or vessel Oreto, her tackle, apparel, aud furniture, taken and seized by Henry Dennis Hickley, for the said ship, and for all costs, charges, damages, and expenses as have arisen, or shall, or may arise by reason of the seizure or detention of the said ship. Dated the 28th day of June, A. D. 1862. (Signed) BURNSIDE, Counsel. In the vice-admiralty court of the Bahamas. Our Sovereign Lady the Queen vs. The Steamship or Vessel Oreto, her tackle, &c., whereof James Alexander Duguid is the master. Appeared personally James Alexander Duguid, of No. 40 Wesley street, in the town of Liverpool, in the county palatine of Lancaster, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, and made oath : That he was the master of the said steamship or vessel Oreto, at the time of the seizure thereof by Henry Dennis Hickley, a commander in Her Majesty's royal navy; and that John Henry Thomas, of the town of Liverpool, in the county palatine [63] *of Lancaster aforesaid, was at the time of the said seizure, and still is, the sole owner of the said steamship or vessel. That on or about the 4th day of March, in the present year of our Lord 1862, this deponent duly cleared the said steamship from the chief office of customs, at the port of Liverpool aforesaid, and on the 22d day of March ensuing the said ship sailed from the said port of Liverpool in ballast for a voyage to the West Indies, under instruc tions from Messrs. Sanceto, Preston & Co., the agents for the owner of the said steam ship, in the first instance to proceed direct to the port of Havana, in the island of Cnba, there to receive instructions from her Britannic Majesty's consul general at that port; but, after quitting the said port of Liverpool, he (the deponent) was further instructed by the same parties, acting in the same capacity, to proceed to the port of Nassau and there await instructions by the mail, and while at this port to be subject to the orders of Messrs. Henry Adderley & Co., merchants, as to the further prosecution of the voyage to other ports in the West Indies. That at the time of sailing from the said port of Liverpool the said steamship was in all respects a duly registered British merchant steamship, and the owner thereof had in all respects complied with the provisions of the merchant shipping act, 1854, and the said ship had been duly inspected and admeasured by the proper government officer for that purpose at the said port of Liverpool, and had there been duly registered and a certificate of British registry, as provided by that act, duly granted, and the same is now in the custody of this deponent, a true copy whereof is hereunto annexed. That at the time of the sailing of the steamship or vessel from the said port of Liverpool she had not then, to the knowledge of this deponent, previously been nor was she then equipped, furnished, fitted out, or armed, with intent or in order that such ship or vessel should be employed in the service of any foreign prince, state, or potentate, or of any foreign power, province, colony, or part of any province or people, or of any person or persons exercising, or assuming to exercise, any powers of government in or over any foreign state, colony, province, or part of any province or people, as a transport or storeship, or with intent to cruise or commit hostilities against any province, state, or potentate, or against the subjects or citizens of any prince, state, or potentate, or against the persons exercising,, or assuming to exercise, the powers of any government in any colony, province, or part of any province, or country, or against the inhabitants of any foreign colony, province, or part of any province or country, with whom Her Majesty was not then at war; but the said steamship was then, and still is, in all respects, a duly registered British merchant-ship, and engaged in the prosecution of a voyage lawful for British ships to engage in. That no change whatever has been or was made in the character, nationality, or in the equipment, or furnishing, or fittings of the said ship from the time she quitted the said port of Liverpool until her arrival at this port of Nassau, on the forenoou of Monday, the 28th day of April last past, when the said ship was boarded off the bar of Nassan by a pilot, and by him brought to anchor without the harbor, the pilot alleging that it would be necessary for the ship to go to Cochrane's Anchorage, as there was not room in the harbor for her to swing, and the ship was therefore on the following day taken to the anchorage under charge of the pilot. That on the said 28th day of April this deponent duly entered the said ship at the office of the receiver general and treasurer, in ballast, and she was then boarded and overbanled as well by the landing-waiter and searcher from the receiver general's office, as by officers from Her Majesty's ship Bulldog and the ship and her papers duly inspected and examined. That this deponent then consulted with the agents of said vessel, Messrs. Henry Adderley & Co., and the ship continued at Cochrane's Anchorage, awaiting their orders, until the 7th day of June, when, under instructions from them, the said ship was removed from Cochrane's Anchorage and brought to the port of Nassau, for the purpose of receiving cargo to proceed in the prosecution of her voyage. That during all the time last aforesaid no change whatever had been made in the character of the said ship, nor in her equipment or fittings, nor had she been in any way, since her arrival as aforesaid, equipped, fitted out, furnished, or armed; nor had any attempt or endeavor been made to equip, fit out, furnish, or arm the said ship with intent, as provided against in the seventh section of the act of the imperia! Parliament, 59 Geo. III. cap. 69, or otherwise, in any manner howsoever; but the said vessel remained and still was, and is, in all respects, a merchant-vessel, in the prosecution of a voyage lawful for such ships to prosecute; and during all such last-mentioned time, and from time to time, was frquently boarded by officers and men from Her Majesty's ship Bulldog, and subjected to the most minute scrutiny, inspection, and examination by them. [64] "That on the said 7th day of June instant the said ship came into the harbor, and by direction of the agents, Messrs. Henry Adderley & Co., the deponent prepared to receive cargo on board, permission having been first asked and specially obtained from the office of the receiver general and treasurer for the purpose, and on the 9th day of June the cargo, for the shipment of which special permission had so been obtained, was sent alongside and taken on board, under the superintendence of the landing-waiter and searcher of this port. In the mean time, however, it having been determined by Messrs. Henry Adderley & Co. to send the ship in ballast to the Havana, the said ship was duly cleared in ballast for that port, and on the forenoon of the 10th day of June the cargo, which had been taken in, was then again discharged, |