To this he added, that it was now a notorious fact, that the captain of the Alfred, when mate of a slave-ship, had been tried at Barbadoes for the murder of one of the crew, with whom he had sailed, but that he escaped by bribing the principal witness to disappear[A].
[Footnote A: Mr.Sampson, who was surgeon's mate of the ship, in which the captain had thus served as a mate, confirmed to me afterwards this assertion, having often heard him boast in the cabin, "how he had tricked the law on that occasion."] The reader will see, the further I went into the history of this voyage, the more dismal it became.

One miserable account, when examined, only brought up another.

I saw no end to inquiry.

The great question was, what was I to do?
I thought the best thing would be to get the captain apprehended, and make him stand his trial either for the murder of Thomas or of Charles Horseler.

I communicated with the late Mr.Burges, an eminent attorney and the deputy town-clerk, on this occasion.