he iron
collars about their necks was fastened at the end by a padlock,
and that this was first broken, and afterwards the other irons.
Their object, he said, in the affray, was to make themselves
free. He then requested it to be added to the above, that 'if he
tells a lie, God sees him by day and by night.'"

The interpreters alluded to in the preceding extract were two Africans
belonging to the crew of the British brig of war Buzzard, which
providentially arrived at New York, from a cruise on the coast of
Africa. They were found to speak the same language as the prisoners, and
with the consent of Captain Fitzgerald, their services were immediately
secured by the indefatigable committee for the African captives. By
their aid much information was elicited respecting the native country
and previous history of these negroes, with many incidental particulars
of great interest, some of which will appear in the following account.
The criminal proceedings against the Mendians being quashed, there
remained the claim of Ruiz and Montez to have the negroes returned to
them as their property. To sustain this claim they produced the license,
signed by the proper authorities at Havana, permitting the removal of
these negroes from that port to Principe, in the same island. This
document is signed by General Espelata, Captain-General of Cuba, and
countersigned by Martinez, one of the most extensive slave-traders in
the known world. This pass or license described the negroes as
_ladinos_, a term used to designate Africans who have been long settled
in Cuba. It was proved, however, that they were _Bozal_ negroes, that
is, such as had been very lately introduced, and the testimony on both
sides, on this point, established a fact that is but too notorious, that
the slave trade to Cuba is openly carried on with the connivance, and
even with the corrupt participation of the authorities. One of the
witnesses, D. Francis Bacon, gives the following account of the slave
trade:--

"Mr. Bacon stated that he left the coast of Africa on the 13th
of July, 1839. He knew a place called Dumbokoro [Lomboko] by the
Spaniards: it was an island in the river or lagoon of Gallinas.
There is a large slave factory or depot at this place, which is
said to belong to the house of Martinez in Havana; there are
also different establishments on different islands. Mr. Bacon
stated that he had seen American, Russi