He found himself, therefore, compelled to apply to the magistrates of Liverpool, for the apprehension of three of the principal officers of the ship; but the answer was that the ship had sailed, and that they whose names had been specified were then, none of them, to be found in Liverpool.
It was now for me to consider whether I would keep the two witnesses, Ormond and Murray, for a year, or perhaps longer, at my own expense, and run the hazard of the death of the officers in the interim, and of other calculable events.

I had felt so deeply for the usage of the seamen in this cruel traffic, which indeed had embittered all my journey, that I had no less than nine prosecutions at law upon my hands on their account, and nineteen witnesses detained at my own cost.

The committee in London could give me no assistance in these cases.

They were the managers of the public purse for the abolition of the Slave Trade, and any expenses of this kind were neither within the limits of their object, nor within the pale of their duty.

From the individuals belonging to it, I picked up a few guineas by way of private subscription, and this was all.