Page 546 - INDIANNAVYV1

514 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
was called as the first witness, and stated as follows in the
—
course of" his cross-examination : " The boys were not treated
like lascars, but their treatnient was precisely the same as that of
English boys. The Superintendent of the Indian Navy came
on board and inspected the boys on his return from Poona
about a month after our arrival in port. Captain Cogan,
assistant to the Superintendent, came on board two or three
days after our arrival. Nothing more was said to the boys
than wdiat I said, that if they came on board for five years, for
which period the bounty was usually given, they might after-
wards return to their own country if they wished/'
The Advocate-General admitted the good treatment received
by the boys. Mr. Fraser, the surgeon, and IVIr. Peters, second
lieutenant of the ' Clive,' were also examined as to the facts of
the shipment of the boys, and the latter deposed that some
thousands of dollars were taken on board at Muscat, and
disbursed at Lindey. The native syrang who brought the four
boys in the launch to Zanzibar, deposed that " they came wil-
lingly," and that they used to leave the boat and return
Avithout compulsion. Mr. Willoughby, the Secretary to Govern-
ment, and Captain Cogan, w-ere examined as to the correspon-
dence between the Governor and the Superintendent; and the
sailing instructions issued by the latter to Commander Hawkins
were produced. Several of the African boys were then exaniined,
and it was elicited from two of them that they received no
money, but were ordered by their masters to proceed on board
the ' Clive.' They had, however, received pay regularly since.
This closed the case for the prosecution, and, on the following
morning, the prisoner, we are told, " stood up in the bar, and
in a loud, firm, and almost triumphant tone of voice, read his
address," which, as was afterwards announced by his Counsel,
" was written by him without any communication with them,
and that they were quite ignorant of its purport, till they heard
it delivered in Court."
His object in addressing the Court himself, and not, in the
regular course, leaving the conduct of his case in the hands of
his Counsel, was due, as is shown in his correspondence with his
solicitors, to a fear lest his Counsel might compromise Sir
Charles Malcolm or Government. For the same reason the
Captain of the ' Clive ' declined to call witnesses on his
behalf. Such self-sacrificing loyalty is as rare as it is
noble.
On the conclusion of Commander Hawkins' defence, which is
too lengthy for insertion here, some evidence was produced as
to the humane character he had always borne, and then the
judge charged the jury, who gave a general verdict of
" guilty," but with a strong recommendation to mercy in con-