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PEDRO GIBERT AND OTHERS. 761

Mexican and that given by Perez. The mate of the Mexican
says that the pirates took from them some spars, butter and
fowls, and Perez makes the same statements from his obser-
vation while in the maintop of the schooner. He also says
that he saw smoke proceeding from the galley of the Mexi-
ean, and Capt. Butman tells you that his vessel was attempted
to be set on fire. You have also the coincidence from the wit-
nesses in both vessels, that all this took place on the 20th Sep-
tember. Perez mentions the 20th, as the day on which the
Panda captured the American brig, and the log-book of the
Mexican tells you that she was robbed on that day. Well,
the Panda proceeds on her voyage to the coast of Africa, and
in a few days after the period of the robbery, changes her rig,
with the spars and duck taken from the Mexican; she also
changes her paint. On her arrival at her destination she
stays a short time in the river Nazareth, and then proceeds to
Prince’s Island, first removing her figure head and eubsti-
tuting an awkward piece of wood; and the next thing we
hear of her is, that she has fled from Prince’s Island, because
the news of the robbery of the Mexican had reached that
place. Her officers then propose running her on shore and
destroying her. Now, why, if they had done nothing wrong,
destroy their vessel! What was the burying of the money
for either?—why pnt that into the care of the negroes? If
they had brought it from the Havana with them, they would
have kept it in its proper place, under the guns of their ves-
sel, And if they were not pirates, what had they to fear
from a cruiser of his Britannic Majesty’s navy?

The English boats came up with the Union Jack hoisted;
that flag which was the protection of honest men, but the ter-
ror of pirates—the flag of the queen of the ocean! But these
men preferred to destroy their vessel and place themselves
under the protection of the negroes, rather than submit to the
search of a lawfully commissioned eruiser of the greatest na-
val power in the world. They had nothing to fear even on
the score of their being slavers, because no vessel ean be cap-
tured unless she have slaves on board, which the Panda had

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