793 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Search for:

Reading Time: 3 minutes [356 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

PEDRO GIBERT AND OTHERS

The mate of the Mexican vessel and Perez both recount that the pirates took some spars, butter, and fowls from them. Perez observed this while in the maintop of the schooner. He also noted seeing smoke coming from the galley of the Mexican, and Captain Butman corroborates this by stating that his vessel was nearly set on fire. Witnesses from both vessels confirm that these events occurred on September 20th. Perez specifically mentions the 20th as the day the Panda captured the American brig, and the logbook of the Mexican records that it was robbed on that day.

Following the robbery, the Panda continued its voyage to the coast of Africa. A few days later, it changed its rig using the spars and duck taken from the Mexican, and also altered its paint. Upon arriving at its destination, the Panda stayed briefly in the River Nazareth before proceeding to Prince’s Island. There, it replaced its figurehead with an awkward piece of wood. The next report of the Panda is that it fled from Prince’s Island upon news of the Mexican's robbery reaching the area. The officers then proposed running the ship ashore and destroying it. Why would they destroy their vessel if they had done nothing wrong? Why bury the money and entrust it to the care of the locals? If they had brought it from Havana, they would have kept it securely under the guns of their vessel. If they were not pirates, what did they have to fear from a cruiser of His Britannic Majesty’s navy?

The English boats approached with the Union Jack hoisted—a flag that serves as the protection of honest men and the terror of pirates, the flag of the queen of the ocean! Yet, these men chose to destroy their vessel and seek protection from the locals rather than submit to the search of a lawfully commissioned cruiser of the greatest naval power in the world. They had nothing to fear even if they were slavers, as no vessel can be captured unless it has slaves on board, which the Panda did not.