Vice-Admiralty Court of New Zealand. Saturday, March 2, 1850.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 479, 6 March 1850, Page 3

Vice-Admiralty Court of New Zealand. Saturday, March 2, 1850.

George Jefferson and John Jones weec indicted for piracy. The prisoners pleaded Not Guilty. The Attorney-General conducted the pro secution, and Mr. Ross was engaged for the defence. This is the first case in which the ViceAdmiralty jurisdiction has been exercised by the Supreme Court in this Province. Thomas Morgan, late master of the cutter William and James — I was on board on the 12th January ; Jefferson was a seaman, and Jones a passenger ; they were on board ; Jefferson came up to me and said be did not intend to go to Taranaki," but to California, where they . might make tbeir fortunes ; he afterwards told- me not to consider, myself^ master, that I might go in the vessel, or go on shore ; he offered to land me with half the provisions ; Jones did not say anything to me; Jefferson said "we" had taken the vessel; I understood him to mean "Jones;" the other persons on board were John Gowan and a native boy ; the two prisoners afterwards went down in the forecastle ; I remained on deck till one or two iv the morning ; I went on shore in the boat ; I was afraid they would take me away ; I made signs to Gowan to come with me, but he did not ; I was afraid the prisoners would hear me going away, that was my only reason for speaking ; I could not hear anything that was said ; I went to Philip Hines, about six miles from where the vessel lay ; 1 afterwards went to Mr. Thoms's; I thought they were going to take the vessel, and left for that retson, but I was not afraid of my life. Cross-examined — We had spirits on board ; we did not broach any ; I had a bottle of rum and one of brandy ; it was all gone at that time ; no other person broached the spirits with my permission ; no one came on board with spirits ; the two Guards, father and son, came on board ; they did not bring spirits; both prisoners ffad been on shore; I gave the spi its I had to the prisoners and others ; I was sober at the time ; Jefferson and Jones were both sober ; I did not give any one on board a kettle of spirits ; I gave them some in a teapot, it was what I had in -f-JKHtl^-which got broken ; . Jefferson was the only one who spoke to me. Piripi, the Maori cook on board the William and James, was examined through the interpretation of Mr. Deighton — I remember being on board in January ; I saw the Captain and prisoners talking ; Jones gave him beer in the night, they were all drinking; there were 14 bottles ; it was in the forecastle ; it was the evening of Saturday ; when the Captain left, Jefferson and another man were drunk below ; I went below and turned into my bunk, and I had not been long there before I saw Morgan go and return with three other bottles ; Jones knocked of the neck of one, and gave drink to Jefferson, and off the other which he gave to Gowan ; he then offered me a glass of ale, which I refused, and was afraid they wanted to make me drunk ; the bottles contained porter ; Jones offered wine, and on my refusing, he took a knife and put it to my throat; Jones speaks Maori ; t thought he offered to stick me to endeavour to make me drink ; Jones asked me if I wished that the vessel should go to Taranaki ; I replied, yes; Jones said she should not g6 to Taranaki, but to California ; Jones said they should take the vessel to sea, and if they were short of provisions, would kill Morgan and me, and eat us ; I was frightened, and determined to go away ; I got some biscuit in my blanket, which I threw on deck : Jones asked me where I was going, I said to sleep on deck ; I went on deck and found Morgan asleep, and roused him ; we went into the boat and went off; Morgan wanted to go back for the compass, but I persuaded him not to do so ; we went to the white man's settlement. . Cross-examined by Mr. Ross — This happened on the second night we had been out ; they bad been drinking beer and wine, not spirits ; they began drinking as soon as they got into the Sound ; Morgan did not drink and they called him ; the men. were drunk when the talk took place with Morgan ; I suppose from the grog taken from here; it was Jones who brought in the bottles. John Gowan, seaman — I live in Willis-st. ; I was one of the crew on board the . William and James in Queen Charlotte's Sound.; it was on a Saturday, but I cannot say the day; I cannot say. how long we had been in the Sound ; I heard Jefferson go up and ask Morgan to go' to California; Jefferson said that he would be master ; he asked me whether I would go; I said I would go wherever the old man went, I meant Morgan ; I was below, but was called up on deck in about

half-an-hour ; I again went below and turned into bed ; in the afternoon I got up and we had tea ; Morgan then said whatever was passed he should make it all right and we should go on to Tartnaki ; when it was dark I went to my bed ; the men had some ale to drink in the forecastle ; we drank some ale, and I went to sleep ; I saw the Maori boy drink some ale before I went to sleep ; before that Morgan calle&me on deck, but Jefferson said I should not go ; we were lying in Queen Charlotte's Sound, inside Long Island, not a mile from tbe shore ; the next morning Jefferson got the cutter under weigh, and reached over the Sound ; she stood towards the N.W., towards a bay called Deep Bay, on the larboard hand coming out ; the Captain was not on board ; we reached over intending to anchor, when we saw Thoms's boat ; I told Jefferson to run down to the boat, but he continued his. course till the wind fell, and then ran the cutter down to the boat, and threw, out a rope's-end ; I did not hear Jefferson say] anything after he had given the cutter up ; Mr. Thorns was in tbe boat; he boarded the cutter ; Jones said he was a nice old to come and take the craft from the men ; I thought he would not have said this but that he was in liquor. Cross-examined — I do not recollect the night we got into the Sound ; there was grog on board every day from the day she left here, 1 cannot say how many days that was ; the first day there was about a pint of gin ; the next day we went to Cloudy Bay and there was grog drawn off by the master from the cargo, about a teapot full of brandy, nearly two quarts ; we lay in Cloudy Bay from Salu' day till Tuesday ; I think no more was drawn off; in the Sound we had drink ; when we got to where Bell lives we had more grog ; it was drawn off from the cargo by the master's orders ; the master drank some ; I never saw him drunk, I have seen Jones and Jefferson drunk ; we were about a quarter of a mile from shore ; Long Island lies in the entrance to the Sound, the bay lies inside the island : we could not see the sea out of the Sound ; we were quite land-locked in smooth water ; Taranaki lies to the northward : we were in deep water. Daniel Doherty, Pilot — I know Long Island ; I have heard tbe spot described ; the Sound is an arm of the sea ; there are probably thirty harbours in it. Philip Hines, whaler Queen Charlotte's Sound — I know Tea witi ; I remember a matt coming to my house in January last in a~dh£ gy, one J. Morgan ; it was in the morning ; he said the men had taken his vessel, I took him to Thorns' and he remained there ; I saw the vessel under weigh ; the wind was N &., and they were on a wind ; she stood into a bay near the north entrance of the Sound; I went on board and saw three men on board ; it was about 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon ; Jones threatened to strike Thorns ; he told Thorns he was a pretty to come and take a vessel, he said " you should have come stronger ;" I .cannot recollect what more was said. Cross-examined — I have been drinking with Smith. This closed the case for the prosecution, when Mr. Ross for the prisoners objected that no proof had been offered of ownership by a British subject either of the vessel or cargo, and without such proof the indictment must necessarily fail. . His Honor allowed the objection, and a verdict of Not Guilty was returned by direction of the Court.