6667*. _Chairman._] Have there been instances in which a slave dealer in his own person has come to Sierra Leone and made purchases of this kind?--In the case I have just mentioned he had been already brought to Sierra Leone in some vessel, but he was not known as Pedro Blanco was; but I believe there would be no means of preventing them from taking the vessel away, unless equipment was on board. 6668*. Has the colony of Sierra Leone in any other way contributed to the maintenance of the slave trade, besides the facilities which it has afforded of purchasing ships which have been condemned?--I have no doubt that some degree of communication has been kept up between the slave dealers in the neighbourhood of the Gallinas and the Sherboro’, and parties in Sierra Leone. 6669*. Have you reason to know that any liberated Africans have engaged in slave dealing?--I have no actual knowledge of any such circumstance; I have no doubt that many, I have proof that some, liberated Africans have been sold again into slavery. 6670*. To any extent?--I am not able to say to what extent; I should think to a considerable extent, from cases which have fallen within my knowledge. 6671*. Sir _R. H. Inglis_.] Do you believe that they have been kidnapped?--I am unable to say whether they were kidnapped or not; I should think it most likely. 6672*. _Chairman._] What are the cases with which you are acquainted?--There were three cases at the Gallinas. There was one case in the Pongas, where I went up and liberated a girl who had been carried off. 6673*. Had those persons been carried off from within the district of Sierra Leone, or in the course of their traffic along the coast?--The one in the Pongas had been carried off from the colony of Sierra Leone, and one of them had been taken away as a servant, and left as a pawn; in fact a slave. The other two had been taken when out of the colony. 6674*. Was the case which you alluded to as having occurred within the colony itself, a case of kidnapping or abduction conducted by inhabitants of Sierra Leone?--I have Sir John Jeremie’s letter here upon the subject. By the Timmanees, I see, is the statement in the letter. 6675*. Then this is a case in which some strangers entered the country and carried off some of the inhabitants of Sierra Leone?--So it appears from the letter. 6661. Sir _R. H. Inglis_.] Then you wish the Committee to understand nothing more than that Sierra Leone has been the scene of incursions made with a view to carry persons as slaves from that part of Africa, as might have been the case from the Bonny?--I stated my belief that a considerable number had been kidnapped also by the people of Sierra Leone, and sold to natives who have carried them away, often in canoes. 6662. But you do not attribute that to any overt acts, or any neglect of the Government?--By no means; I think it is almost unavoidable under the circumstances.