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any ship or vessel, of the burden of forty tons or upwards, sailing coastwise, from any port in the United States, to any other port or place within the jurisdiction of the same, having on board any negro, &c. for the purpose of transporting them to be disposed of as slaves, to make out and subscribe, previous to the departure of such vessel, duplicate manifests of every such negro, &c. on board such vessel, specifying the name and sex of each person, their age and stature, as near as may be, and the class to which they respectively belong, whether negro, mulatto, or person of colour, with the name and place of residence, of the owner or shipper, and to deliver such manifests to the collector or surveyor of the port before whom the master, together with the owner or shipper, shall swear or affirm, to the best of their knowledge and belief,

moreover, forfeit for every negro, &c. so transported, or taken on board, the sum of one thousand dollars, one half of which shall be for the use of any person who shall prosecute the same to effect.

Section 10, directs the commanders of vessels laden, and sailing, as described in the 9th section, upon their arrival at their port of destination, to deliver to the collector or surveyor of the port, the certified copy of the manifest and permit before described, and certify its truth on oath or affirmation, previous to their landing or permitting to go on shore, any of the persons aforesaid. And any commander who shall neglect or refuse to comply with this injunction, shall forfeit ten thousand dollars, one half whereof shall be for the use of any person who shall prosecute the same to effect.

By an act of April 20, 1818, in ad

that the persons therein specified,dition to the preceding, further pro

were not brought into the United States after the 1st of January, 1808, and that under the laws of the state, they are held to service or labour; whereupon the said collector or surveyor, shall certify the same on the said manifests, one of which he shall return to the said master, with a permit, specifying thereon the number, ages, and general description of such persons, and authorising him to proceed to the port of his destination. And if any ship or vessel, being laden and destined as aforesaid, shall depart without complying with the requisitions above specified, or shall, previous

vision is made to prevent the importation of slaves into any place within the jurisdiction of the United States.

By this act, the first six sections of the former are modified, supplied, and repealed, except that all offences committed prior to the passage of this addition, which were punishable by any of those six sections, are still liable to like prosecution as though the law had continued unaltered. Every species of water-craft whatever, employed in the transportation of negroes, &c. from any foreign country to any place within the jurisdiction of the United States; every vessel built or

to arriving at her port of destina-equipped, or sailing from any place tion, take on board any negro, &c. other than those specified in the manifests, every such vessel, her apparel and furniture, shall be forfeited; and the commander of such vessel shall

within the jurisdiction of the United States, for the purpose of procuring negroes, &c. to be transported to any place whatever, to be held or disposed of as slaves, is liable to forfeiture.

The penalty prescribed by the third section of the former act, is here reduced from twenty thousand dollars to a sum not exceeding five thousand, nor less than one thousand dollars, but with this important addition, "an imprisonment not exceeding seven years, nor less than three. The fourth section is modified, by extending the penalty to the act of taking on board at sea* any negro, &c. not held by the laws of any state or territory of the United States, as a slave, and making not only the goods found on board any vessel employed in violation of the law, but those which shall have been imported therein in the same voyage, liable to forfeiture. The fine is fixed at a maximum of five thousand dollars, and a minimum of one thousand, with the addition of an imprisonment from three to seven years. The most exceptionable part of this section, was, however, retained, viz. the provision which rendered the slaves imported in violation of the law, liable to be retained and disposed of as slaves.

The

* By this modification the law is defended from an evasion, which unprincipled ingenuity might easily suggest; that of conveying the slaves from the African coast in oné vessel, and transferring them, on the high seas, to another to be transported in the latter to their place of destination. Puerile as such an evasion must appear to an unsophisticated understanding, it would be difficult to affix to this act the pun. ishment prescribed by the law for their transportation from a foreign country, for it is a fundamental rule of construction that penal statutes are to be construed strictly. Com. Vol. I. p. 87.

Blac.

It is certainly a curious anomaly in legislation, that during the summer of 1818, three American schooners, viz: the Louisa, Constitution and Merino, with American registers, which har sailed, the two former from New Orleans, and the other from Mobile, cleared out from Havanna, in the island of Cuba for the ports, from which they had respectively sailed, with a number of slaves on board, and being captured

5th section is modified so as to include the reception at sea, as well as on the coast of a foreign country, of any negro, &c. and the aiders or abettors, as well as the principals, within the penal provisions of the statute. The term of imprisonment is limited to seven years, and is not to be less than three. The sixth section is so changed, as to impose a penalty of one thousand dollars on every person, his aiders and abettors, who shall hold, purchase, sell, or dispose of as a slave, any negro, &c. introduced from any place beyond the jurisdiction of the United States, after the passage of this law. The offender to stand committed until the forfeiture be paid. The proviso in the sixth section of the former act, is retained in this.

All the penalties incurred, are, by this act, directed to be divided equally between the United States and the persons who shall prosecute them to effect. The remaining sections of the law of 1807, are left unchanged.

The eighth section is characterized by a peculiarity of legislative precaution. In all prosecutions under this act, the defendants shall be held to prove, that the negro, &c. which they shall be charged with having brought into the United States, or with purchasing, &c. and which, according to the evidence, the said defendants shall have brought in, or disposed of, was brought into the United States, at least within the jurisdiction of the United States, were libelled in the United States' court for the territory of Alabama. After a protracted trial, the surviving slaves found on board the Constitution, were adjudged to the Spanish claimants, and were sold by their legal representatives, at public sale in the city of Mobile. The others were condemned as forfeited to the United States, and ordered to be publicly sold by the Marshal in the same city. See President's message to Congress, March 8, 1826.

five years previous to the commencement of such prosecution, or was not brought in, held, purchased, or disposed of, contrary to the provisions of this act ; and the defendants upon failure of such proof, shall be adjudged guilty. Prosecutions to be commenced within five years after the offence was committed.

An act of March 3d, 1819, authorises the President to employ any of the armed ships of the United States, to cruise in such places as he may judge proper, and to instruct the commanders, to seize and bring into port, all vessels of the United States wherever found, which are, or have been engaged, or are intended to engage in the transportation of slaves, contrary to existing laws. And the proceeds of all vessels so seized, shall, when condemned, be equally divided between the United States and the officers and crew, by whom the capture shall be made. Provided, that said officers and crew shall safely keep and deliver to the marshal of the district, or other officer appointed by the President to receive them, all negroes, &c. found on board the captured vessel; and provided also, that they shall take into custody the officers and crews of the vessels so captured, and deliver them to the civil authorities, to be proceeded against according to law. A bounty of twenty-five dollars is assigned to the officers and crews of the commissioned vessels of the United States, for every negro, &c. delivered by them to the proper officers. The President is authorised to make such arrangements as he may judge expedient, for the safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United States, of all slaves delivered and brought within their jurisdiction;

and to appoint an agent on the coast of Africa, to receive such slaves as may be found on board of vessels seized by the armed ships of the United States. It is made the duty of the District Attorneys of any state or territory, upon information being lodged with them of the illegal importation of negroes, &c. to commence forthwith a prosecution against the person charged with holding the slaves alleged to be so imported. And in case it shall be proved that the slaves were brought in contrary to law, the court shall direct them to be delivered to the marshal, to be placed at the disposal of the President; and the informer shall receive a bounty of fifty dollars for every negro, &c. thus delivered to the custody of the marshal.

An act of May 15th, 1820, for punnishing the crime of piracy, prescribes, that if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company, of any foreign ship or vessel, engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew of any vessel, owned in whole, or in part, or navigated for, or in behalf of, any citizen of the United States, shall land from any such ship or vessel, and on any foreign shore seize any negro or mulatto, not held to service or labour by the laws of either of the states or territories of the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall decoy, or forcibly bring or carry, or shall receive such negro or mulatto on board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate; and on conviction thereof be fore the circuit court of the United States, for the district where he may be brought or found, shall suffer death.

And if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company, of any foreign ship or vessel, engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel, owned wholly or in part, or navigated for or in behalf of, any citizen of the United States, shall forcibly confine or detain, or shall aid and abet in forcibly confining or detaining on board any such ship or vessel, any negro or mulatto, not held to service by the laws of either of the states or territories of the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall on board any such ship or vessel, offer or attempt to sell, as a slave, any negro or mulatto not held to service as aforesaid, or shall on the high seas, or any where on tide water, transfer or deliver over, to any other ship or vessel, any negro or mulatto, not held to service as aforesaid, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall land, or deliver on shore, from on board any such ship or vessel, any negro or mulatto, with intent to make sale of, or having previously sold, such negro or mulatto as a slave, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate; and on conviction thereof, before the circuit court of the United States for the district wherein he shall be brought or found, shall suffer death.*

The last section of the law of 1820 is very important. The citizens of Philadelphia have been recently called to contemplate a traffic in slaves, from their own shores, little less revolting to humanity, than that which has long disgraced the intercourse of civilized Europe with savage Africa, but probably few of them are aware that the waters of the Delaware and Chesapeak are the scene of a commerce, denounced as piratical by the laws of the United States. VOL. I.-3

GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF AFRICA.

This division of the globe consists of an extensive peninsula, joined to Asia by the low sandy isthmus of Suez, which is interposed between the Mediterranean sea, and the Arabian gulf. The breadth of this isthmus, in a straight line, is, according to Malte Brun, nearly seventy-two miles.

The etymology of the name, by which this peninsula is now designated, has exercised the learning and ingenuity of the curious. According to Bochart it is derived from feric, a punic word signifying an ear of corn, an appellation supposed to be given as indicative of its remarkable fertility.Servius with greater plausibility, deduces it from the greek a, without, and friké, cold; a name sufficiently characteristic of its burning climate.

The form of this continent, has been, by some writers, compared to a triangle, the base stretching along the Mediterranean from the straits of Gades to the isthmus of Suez, and the vertex projecting far into the southern hemisphere, and forming a promontory a little to the east of the Cape of Good Hope.

From cape Guardafui, which forms the eastern extremity of Africa, lying in latitude 11° 52′ north, and longitude 51° 56' east from Greenwich, to Cape Verd, its furthest western projection in latitude 14° 47′ north, and longitude 17° 33' west, the distance on a great circle of the earth is 67° 17' or about 4653 miles; and from Cape Blanco, in the Mediterranean, in flatitude 37°20' north, and longitude 9°53′ east, to Cape Lagullas in latitude 34° 53' south, and longitude 20° 10' east, the distance is 72° 51', or about 5030 miles.* The area of this vast continent is estimated at 13,430,000 square miles.

"It was from the African shores that the Egyptian colonies, in the most remote times, brought to savage

*Owing to the spheroidal form of the earth the length of a degree on a great circle is not every where the same. According to professor Playfair, the circumference of the equator is 24896.16 miles, and that of the meridian 24855.84 miles. The degrees of the meridian lengthen as the latitude, either north or south, is increased.

Europe the first germs of civilization. At the present day, Africa is the latest portion of the old world to receive, from the hands of Europeans, the salutary yoke of legislation and of culture. If Africa has remained so long inaccessible to the ambition of conquerors, to commercial enterprise, and to the curiosity of travellers, we shall find, in its physical form, the principal cause of its obscurity. This vast peninsula possesses but few rivers of extensive and easy navigation. Its harbours and roadsteads seldom afford a safe retreat for vessels, and no gulf or inland sea opens the way to the interior of this mass of countries. The Mediterranean on the north, by which it is separated from Europe, and the Atlantic and Ethiopian oceans, which encompass it on the west, form inconsiderable inequalities in the line of coast, to which the name of gulfs, has improperly been given, viz: the gulf of Guinea, in the south, and that of Syrtes in the north, both held in dread by navigators. The breadth of the continent, between the bottoms of these gulfs is still 1800 miles. The coasts of Senegal and Guinea, indeed, present several mouths of rivers accompanied with islands; and were it not for the barbarous character* of the people, these would be the most accessible parts of Africa. To the south, however, the continent resumes its usual appearance, and terminates in a mass of land without any deep windings. To the east a number of islands, and some mouths of rivers, seem to promise a readier access. The coast washed by the Indian Ocean, lies low, like the opposite shores of Guinea, but we find only a short way in the inte rior, the formidable terrace of arid mountains which forms the eastern extremity of the continent. In the north-east the Arabian gulf, or red sea, separates Africa from Asia without breaking the gloomy uniformity of the African coast.

"Besides the connexion of Africa to Asia, formed by the isthmus of Suez, it has two remarkable approximations to the old continent. In the north-west

The cases which have contributed to perpetuate, if not originally to prodore, this her beriza character will appear at large in the fo ture numbers of this paper. Edit

the narrow strait of Gibraltar divides it from Europe; and in the east Arabia is separated from it by the strait of Babelmandel.

"In some parts excessively parched, in others marshy or flooded, the soil of Africa presents strange contrasts. At great mutual distances are some large and beneficent rivers; as the Nile in the north-east, the Senegal and Gambia, in the west, the Zaire in the south-west, the Cuama on the east coast; and in the centre, the misterious Niger, which conceals its termination as the Nile used to conceal its origin. More frequently we find small and short streams, such as all the rest, with the exception of ten or twelve, almost all containing cataracts in their course, and presenting bars or sand banks at their mouths. In the interior, and even on the coast, there are great and lofty rocks from which no torrents proceed; and table-lands watered by no streams, as the great desert of Zahara, and others of minor extent. At a greater distance are countries constantly impregnated with moisture, as those which contain the lake or marsh of Wangara, and the lake Maravi, and some temporary lakes, occasioned by the rising of the rivers.

"Though Africa very probably has mountains high enough to be covered with perennial snow, even under the equator, that is 16,000 feet† in elevation, it is in general to be remarked, that the African chains are more distinguished for their breadth

This river, until visited by Mungo Park was supposed to flow toward the west, he found its course was easterly. From the efforts which are now making to explore the interior of Africa, sanguine hopes are entertained that the Niger will soon be stripped of its mysterious charac ter. Should any important discoveries on this head be made public, they will appear in a fœ ture number. Editor.

+ That scientific traveller, the Baron Hum beldt places the commencement of perpetual frost, under the equator at the height of 4795 metres (corresponding to 15737 feet, above the level of the sea. This, however, must depend in some measure, on the firm as well as the tight of the land. An isolated peak, or narrow ridge, wil be colder than an extensive tract of table land at the same elevation; because the latter, presenting a larger surface to the solar rays, and corning in contact with a greater extent of atmosphere, is subjected to a less raped privation of heat. It is probable, therefore, that the re gion of perennial snow commences, among the mountains of Africa, at a greater devaoon, than on the precipitous ridgea of South America.

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