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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0426 and id is 1 raw text is: THE FRANCIS AND ELIZA
facto, on the morning of the 27th of March, in which he states that the firing was
seen from the Sparrow, that every exertion was made to close, and that he did not
give up the pursuit until day-break, which is not very early at that period of the year,
and must have been long after the capture had been completed.
Upon the whole, I think that the fact of sight, at the time of the action and
capture, is made out, though I think it might have been proved in a more satis-
factory manner. But taking the fact to be otherwise, and that there was no proof
whatever of the Sparrow being in sight, still I think there is sufficient to establish
the claim of that ship on the other grounds which I have mentioned. She was a
consort of the actual captor, had pursued the prize in conjunction with her, and had
not discontinued the pursuit at the time when the capture was consummated. I
shall therefore pronounce for the claim of the Sparrow.
Note.-The Court made a similar decree in the case of The Sultane.
[115] FRANCIS AND ELIZA. May 7, 1816.-A King's ship is not entitled to
salvage for rescuing a convict vessel from the possession of the convicts and of
the mutinous crew and soldiers on board her.
(Instance Court.)
This was a claim for salvage on behalf of Sir Charles Thomas Jones, the com-
mander, and the officers and crew of His Majesty's sloop the Harrier, for services
rendered to this convict ship in rescuing her from the possession of the convicts,
and of the mutinous crew and soldiers on board her.
Judgment-Sir W. Scott: The claim for salvage in this case rests on the cir-
cumstances which are detailed in the affidavit of Sir Charles Thomas Jones, and the
exhibits annexed to it. He states, that on the l1th day of January last, whilst
proceeding with his sloop into the roads of Santa Cruz in the island of Teneriffe, he
received a letter, dated on the same day, from John Duplan, Esquire, the British
vice-consul at Santa Cruz, acquainting him that the above convict ship, the
' Francis and Eliza,' had arrived there on the preceding day in a state of revolt, and
had been put under quarantine, and requesting the appearer's assistance to restore
subordination and order on board; that in consequence of the said letter, the
appearer, for the purpose of affording the assistance required, ordered the said sloop
to come to an anchor, which was acdordingly done at about a quarter of a mile
from her; and the appearer, having learnt that there were no sick on board the
said vessel, [116] waited upon the governor of Santa Cruz to solicit her liberation
from quarantine, in order that he might render the assistance that had been required
of him more speedily and effectually ; but being unable to obtain the assent of the
governor to such liberation, he resolved to place his own ship also under quarantine;
and having so done, and brought his said sloop close under the stern of the said
ship, he dispatched gunboats to row round her; that at daylight on the following
morning, the appearer having received a letter from William Harrison the master,
containing a statement of the circumstances under which the vessel had come to
Teneriffe, of his being deprived of all authority, of the convicts being at liberty, of
the misconduct of the people on board, as well as of the soldiers (who had been sent
to maintain order, as is usual in ships of that description) in being perpetually drunk,
and plundering and destroying the stores and provisions, and the said letter also
requesting the appearer's assistance to enable him, the said William Harrison, to
recover him his command, he immediately boarded the vessel with three of his
officers, and a party of marines, when he found the ship in full possession of the
convicts, and everything in the greatest disorder and confusion; that upon the
representation of the master of the violent and disorderly conduct of the chief mate
and four of the seamen, corroborated by Ensign Steadman of His Majesty's 46th
regiment, who was in command of the soldiers on board, as well as by [117] Mr.
Gerling, the first Advocate to the Crown at New South Wales, and by the other
passengers, the appearer removed the said five persons from the said ship to his
own sloop, and ordered a court-martial upon such of the soldiers as had been most
guilty of mutinuous and unsoldierlike conduct, and which court-martial awarded
a severe punishment which they accordingly underwent ; that the appearer after-
wards ordered a survey of the stores and provisions which remained on board, and
which belonged to His Majesty's Government, and having procured wood from the
shore by the assistance of the British consul, he dispatched the carpenters of the
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2 DODS. 115.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0426&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)