Charles Tyng, the consignee, were very anxious to see him; that he, deponent, hurried to the consul's office, and learned there, with much surprise, that the Black Warrior would not be allowed to sail, because she had entered in ballast, while the authorities knew that she had cotton, &c., on board; that said Tyng had made explanations to the collector of the port on the subject; that when this deponent entered the consul's office he found said officer ready to go out, and he at once proposed that this deponent should go with him to the Captain General, as he thought that proper representations to the chief officer of the exchequer would put matters to rights; that the consul was immediately admitted to the presence of the Captain General, but he was told to wait in the ante-room; that in a few moments the consul rejoined him, and, as they walked back to the office together, informed him that the Captain General had requested him, the consul, to make a statement of the affair in writing, and that in the meantime he (the Captain General) would call upon the collector for his report; that in the meantime this deponent sent the purser of the ship on board to make out a full manifest of the cargo in transitu, which was delivered at the consignee's office before three o'clock of the said 28th of February; that about four o'clock, p. m., of the same day, said Charles Tyng informed this deponent that he had applied to the collector for permission to correct the manifest furnished by deponent, claiming this privilege under the law providing for such cases; that this privilege had been denied him, said Tyng, and that he, Tyng, had been told by the collector, that having already applied for the ship's clearance, he had forfeited or lost his claim to that privilege; that the consul's letter to the Captain General had by this time been sent, and his reply was anxiously looked for; that at about half past four or five o'clock this deponent went on board, fully persuaded, in his own mind, that if the authorities would examine into the case, the ship would be permitted to sail without delay; that his surprise was therefore very great, on reaching the ship, to find the commander of the revenue guards (comandante de carabineros) on board with a number of men, and to be informed by him that he (said commander) had been ordered to have the entire cargo of the ship discharged; that this deponent replied to the commander aforesaid, that the consul of the United States had been requested by the Captain General to memorialise him on the subject concerning the Black Warrior, and that the memorial was then before the Captain General, and that he, this deponent, considered the affair to be in the Captain General's hands. and protested against all proceedings until his excellency's decision was made known; that the commander of the revenue guards replied, that if he, this deponent, would give his word of honor that nothing should be landed from the ship during the night, and would allow him, the commander of the guards, to put seals on the hatches, he would suspend proceedings until he could communicate with the administrator of the customs; that he, this deponent, immediately gave the required assurance, seals were put on the fore-hatches, and the commander and his men retired about half an hour after; that the ship was hauled into the stream, the required quantity of coal being on board; that at about six o'clock the next morning, he, this deponent, was awoke by the commander of the revenue guards, who had

come on board and entered his room, stating that his orders had been repeated, and he had now come on board to have the cargo discharged; that he, this deponent, was yet in bed, and the comandante sat in the room while he dressed; that he then told the comandante that he protested against the entire proceeding; that the ship had been entered in good faith, as she always had been; that there had been no effort or intention to conceal the fact that there was a transit cargo on board; that the authorities were proceeding in a very precipitate manner, and had denied the consignee the privilege granted by the laws of correcting the manifest within twelve hours after the entry; that the commander of the revenue guards did not enter into any discussion with him, this deponent, but said that he would return on shore for further instructions; that said comandante immediately left the ship, and he, this deponent, immediately after followed him, to learn from the American consul what the answer of the Captain General had been; that the consul showed him, this deponent, the written answer from the secretary of the political government of the island of Cuba, in which it appeared that the Captain General would not interfere directly in the matter, but left it to be settled by the custom-house authorities themselves; that he, this deponent, then told the consul that he could not submit to this seizure and confiscation without the strongest protest; that the ship had been entered according to invariable practice, and every privilege allowed by the laws had been denied her; that under the circumstances, as he, as captain of the ship, had never been examined or called on for any explanation, he should refuse to countenance the discharge of the cargo by superintending it, and that if the authorities should proceed forcibly to take the cargo out of the ship, he would throw the ship upon their hands; that the consul replied that he would not have volunteered his advice on the subject, but as he, this deponent, had expressed a determination to act in a certain way, he, the consul, did not hesitate to approve of his, deponent's, views and intentions on the matter; that he, this deponent, then went on board, where he found the comandante of the carabineros had returned with a large number of men and two lighters, had opened the hatches and was already discharging the cargo; that he, this deponent, approached the comandante, and again decidedly protested against what the comandante was doing; hat he told the comandante-By forcibly opening the ship's hatches and discharging her cargo in opposition to my protest, you have virtually annulled my authority as commander. I shall, therefore, leave her in your hands, with the firm protest that I have been driven to this step by the cipitate action of an authority I have not the power to resist; that he then retired from the ship with her crew and colors and went on board the United States steamer Fulton, leaving all property belonging to the ship, the shippers, officers, crew, and passengers in the hands of the authorities; that since then the authorities have caused the ship to be removed from her anchorage, and have been discharging her cargo; that on the same day, within twenty-four hours after this deponent discovered that his ship was detained, he appeared at the office of the American consulate and noted protest to be extended, as is now done."

pre

And the said appearers did further severally declare that "there has been no intention on their part, or of either of them, to defraud the

Spanish government of what they, the government, might consider their just dues; that they, these deponents, in their conduct have been governed by the strongest wish and desire to arrange the difficulties aforesaid in a manner just and satisfactory to all parties concerned; that therefore they cannot but consider the proceedings of the Spanish authorities in the port of Havana towards the steamship Black Warrior and her cargo aforesaid, as violent and unjustifiable; that said proceedings on the part of the said authorities have caused, and will hereafter cause, very serious damages and losses to the owners of the ship and her cargo, and to all concerned in and about the ship."

And, therefore, the said Charles Tyng, as senior partner of the firm of Charles Tyng and Company, and the said James D. Bullock, jointly and severally acting for the owners of the steamship Black Warrior and her cargo aforesaid, and for all concerned in and about the same, did declare to protest, as by these presents they jointly and severally protest, against the government of Spain, and do declare that all damages, losses, and detriments that have already accrued, or may or shall hereafter accrue, to the owners of the ship or her cargo, and to each and every person concerned in and about the said ship, are, and ought to be, borne by said government of Spain, or whomsoever else it may or shall concern; the said damages, losses. and detriments, having been caused by the acts of the agents or officers of said government in the city and port of Havana, and not otherwise.

All which matters and things were declared, alleged, and affirmed before me, the said acting consul; and, therefore, I hereunto set my hand, and affix the seal of my office at Havana, having been requested to certify and testify the premises.

CHAS. TYNG.

JAMES D. BULLOCK.

Thus done and protested at the city of Havana, this 6th day of March, A. D. eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the inde[L. S.] pendence of the United States the seventy-eighth. WM. H. ROBERTSON.

I, William H. Robertson, acting consul of the United States of America for the city of Havana (island of Cuba) and the dependencies thereof, do hereby certify that the copy of a public instrument of protest, written on this page and on the three sheets hereto annexed, by means of my official seal, is a true and correct copy of an original public instrument of protest of record in the archives of this consulate. In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand and affix the office at Havana, this 7th day of March, A. D. 1854. WM. H. ROBERTSON.

[SEAL.] seal of my

WASHINGTON, March 11, 1854.

SIR: The undersigned, agents of the "New York and Alabama. Steamship Company," have the honor to enclose herewith, and to call the attention of your department and of the government to the following papers and documents relative to the late seizure of the steamship

Black Warrior, and confiscation of her cargo, by the authorities of the island of Cuba.

No. 1. A general statement by the undersigned, as such agents, of the facts of such seizure and confiscation, so far as they have come to their knowledge.

No. 2. Copy of letter received a few days since by the undersigned, from Charles Tyng & Co., agents of said company at Havana, dated March 1, 1854, giving a particular statement of the facts relative to such seizure and confiscation.

No. 3. Copy of a royal ordinance of April 27, 1847, granting certain privileges to the steamers of the Royal Mail Company, as well as to all packet steamers.

No. 4. Statement of R. W. Shufeldt, United States navy, former captain or commander of the Black Warrior, relative to the manner the steamer was entered and cleared at Havana, whilst he was such commander; form of manifest, &c.

No. 5. Form of a manifest prescribed by the officials of the customhouse at Havana, on the first visit of the Black Warrior at Havana, in the month of September, 1852, and which had always been used up to the time of her late seizure, &c.

No. 6. Extracts from the custom-house rules and regulations for the government of all vessels arriving at Havana.

No. 7. Statement of cost of the Black Warrior, and of the value of her cargo, &c.

N. B.-Paper No. 4, above referred to, was received by the undersigned in September, 1853, from Mr. Cruzat, of Havana, father of the present Spanish Consul at Mobile, and was represented by him to be a true copy of the royal ordinance or order in question.

Your obedient servants,

LIVINGSTON, CROCHERON & CO.

Hon. Wм. L. MARCY,
Secretary of State.

No. 1.

To the Hon. Wm. L. Marcy, Secretary of State of the United States:

The undersigned, agents of the New York and Alabama Steamship Company, respectfully request permission to present the following complaint for outrages committed by the authorities of the Island of Cuba upon their property, and beg leave, in presenting the same to the government of the United States, to ask that such steps may be taken as to insure them a speedy redress of their wrongs.

The steamer Black Warrior commenced her voyages to Mobile on the 25th of August, 1852, and has now partially completed the eighteenth voyage, having touched at Havana each way on each voyage, making in all thirty-six stoppages at Havana.

That in September, 1852, the authorities of Cuba verbally placed the Black Warrior upon the same footing, as to privileges, as the Royal West India mail steamers, allowing her to carry away three tons of freight

without paying port dues or tonnage; also to carry freight of every description in transit free of all port charges, as though in ballast.

This privilege had been enjoyed during three consecutive voyages, when, without any notice given, the permission was revoked, and in defiance of all law and usage, the tonnage dues were exacted to the amount of three thousand dollars. This sum was paid under protest, and a formal representation and memorial forwarded to the Spanish government at Madrid through our then minister, the honorable Daniel M. Barringer.

To this memorial no answer has been returned, and the matter stands as here represented.

After the month of November, 1852, no freight was brought to New York or to Mobile from Havana, (none having been taken thither ;) notwithstanding which, in the fall of 1853, the Cuban officials again made a demand upon the company of some two thousand five hundred dollars for two other trips, which was formally protested against, and the act of the official appealed from to the intendente of Havana, and thus this matter now stands.

In the year 1847, an order was published by the directors of the royal treasury, directed to all the collectors of the different custom-houses, allowing the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, and all other packet steamers, the privilege of carrying three tons of freight duty free, together with other special privileges very material to this cause, which order has never been rescinded.

The steamship Black Warrior is, in every sense of the word, a packet steamer, sailing upon regular advertised days for the transportation of freight and passengers, and, according to the order above mentioned, is entitled to the privilege accorded to all other steamships.

The company also complain, that, in the month of February, 1853, soon after leaving Havana, a Spanish brig-of-war ran down upon the Black Warrior, fired a gun, and instantly, without allowing time to hoist the United States ensign, fired a shot directly at the steamer, which passed within a few inches of the fore-stay, and then, without apology or explanation, bore away and left the steamer.

It is also respectfully represented, that their steamer has entered and cleared from Havana under a form of manifest prescribed by the custom-house at Havana, which ordered her to be entered as in ballast with a list of ship's stores; that on subsequent trips, when asked by the captain of the port what she brought, the captain of the steamer replied that she came to Havana in ballast, but was full of cotton for New York; to which the officer answered, that all cargo not intended to be landed at Havana was regarded by them as ballast. Yet, notwithstanding this order of their own making, the Black Warrior was, with out form or notice, upon arriving at Havana, on the 1st of March, 1854, seized, and the cargo declared confiscated, and taken out of the ship, and the vessel forcibly detained from the captain and crew, who have been forced to abandon the vessel and go on board the United States steamer Fulton for protection.

The only reason assigned is, that the cargo in transit was not mani fested, although the same form of entry was used as prescribed by them during thirty-six visits to their port.