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well, with proper encourage

ment.

Vines you say would be cultivated with success?-I think so; in that district there have been very few attempts made to culti vate vines; but I know of no reason why they should not: very fine orange trees and peach trees grow wild there.

What is the extent of the district? It is a hundred miles in length, and perhaps fifty in width, I have stated that it would receive several thousands.

If there was any settlement established at Albany, would there be any facility of supplying it with cattle?-More than at Cape Town, for the country is a grazing country.

Where would the stock be obtained, are there any wild cattle? -It might be purchased from the farmers at a very cheap rate; I have mentioned the district of Albany as a very good situation; because, if the population of that district should ever become too great, being on the borders of the Caffree country, land might always be purchased at a very easy

rate from those tribes.

What is the state of that land? -A very fine country; by those who have been to the eastward, it has been said to be much more beautiful than the colony itself.

What are the habits of those people? They are a pastoral race of people, who follow the grazing life; cattle would easily be procured from them when a good understanding was established between them and the settlers.

And this colony might find the means of extension, by the pur

chase of land further eastward ?— Yes, of the Caffrees, and according to report, land of a better quality.

Might they extend their colony in a north-eastern direction inland?—Yes, for the same reasons that I have mentioned for carrying it into Caffraria.

You passed some time in Caffraria; did not you?-In that country near it; I did not pass to the eastward of the Great Fish river; it was not possible at that time, the tribes being at war with each other.

Could you give the Committee any information as to the cause of that misunderstanding that exists between the colonies and the Caffrees? - The misunderstanding that now exists between the Caffrees and colonists has arisen originally from impolitic and bad management on the part of the colonists themselves; and it is very probable that a settlement formed there of Europeans, who would act strictly on just principles, would be the means of restoring that good understanding which formerly did exist; and from its vicinity to a pastoral tribe, it would derive great advantage in procuring cattle at a very cheap rate, while the emigrant population might be employed in agricultural pursuits.

Upon the whole, do you apprehend that South Africa would be more desirable as a place of settlement, than North America? -I think in several points of view it has decidedly the preference; the climate is exceedingly healthy, and the temperature is very moderate, seldom excessively hot, and never so cold as to be below

the

the freezing point except on the mountains; and the country itself is quite open to receive the plough on the first landing of the emigrant, so that no expense would be incurred in preparing the land. The country beyond the colony, to the northward of it, is a country of a different description from that I have described in Albany; that is exceedingly well suited for pasturing and rearing large flocks of sheep, by which although the emigrant may not produce any thing from such a position that he may send to market, he may be always sure of living without the fear of want; from what I have seen among the Dutch settlers, the very smallest exertion always procures an abundant supply of every necessary of life.

Are there any wild animals to interfere with those sheep?-Yes, there are, but they seldom interfere; indeed the increase of the flocks in that part of the country which I am speaking of on the northern boundary, is annually so very large, that the loss of ten or twenty by wild animals is not felt by the colonist; the usual number of the flocks of those farmers may be from 2,000 to 7,000 or 38,000 sheep.

They would have the export of their wool?-Yes, if the distance did not make it difficult; those farmers kill their sheep and consume them on every occasion more for the sake of getting the fat, of which they make soap, which they carry to Cape Town.

Supposing a number of persons to be on the point of proceeding to Algoa Bay to settle, what are the essential requisites that you

would recommend they should take with them, of tools, clothing, and supplies of every description? -I should advise that all agricultural implements particularly, and such kind of common tools as would be necessary in the construction of their buildings; it does not strike me that it is necessary to take out a very great stock of any kind.

Seeds and cattle they might procure in the colony?-Yes, very easily; I am confining my observations to an emigrant who is leaving this country from poverty; I am not making a provision for his enjoying luxuries, but merely living comfortable.

What would be the best number of persons to commence such an establishment?-I should think. about 300 as a small number; I think by a small number beginning at first, and preparing the way, another much larger number might come immediately afterwards; but it would hardly be judicious to throw a great number of people into a strange country at first.

Would 300 be sufficient to protect themselves from the Caffrees? -Yes.

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Were you in Plattenburg Bay? -Yes, I was; I stopped there long enough to see every thing that was desirable.

Is it a bad anchorage, or is the harbour itself bad?-Not so bad as to be impracticable; but at a certain season of the year it is dangerous, but it is very little worse than Algoa Bay.

Is the river navigable at all?No; there are none of the rivers on the coast navigable.

At any season of the year is it unfavourable

unfavourable as a harbour? Yes, at any time when a south-east wind blows.

Are you secure from that wind the greater part of the year? Half of the year; and during the other half it is not always dangerous; so much so that whenever government have occasion to send troops or stores, they send them at any time.

Does not the colony derive their fuel from Plattenburgh Bay? -No; their demand of common fuel is got nearer; the résources of timber in that country are scarcely known, they are very great, and it will be a great while before they are exhausted.

What is the description of timber?-Not any timber we know of in this country; to use the language of carpenters, it is a kind of yellow wood, more resembling fir than any thing else.

Is there any wood fit for shipbuilding; any teak?-No; but there is a species of wood which very much resembles mahogany, and is almost as valuable; I think the produce of the Cape in articles of commerce remain entirely to be discovered, and made use of. Various kinds of timber that grow in the forests are applicable to, I suppose, all the purposes we can want for domestic uses; I could particularly mention one, which I have imagined would answer all the purposes of lignum vitæ, and another as good as box wood.

Do you include making blocks from lignum vita?-Yes; I mean that particularly, the natural productions of the Cape colony have never had any experiment made upon them. How far they may

be convertible into articles of commerce, I am not able to say; it is not likely that the present inhabitants of the colony, the Dutch boors, will ever be the means of bringing those articles to light; so that a great deal of good might be expected to be derived from European settlers going there, men of some knowledge of the arts of this country. I think there is no doubt they would soon discover a number of useful things, that would not only turn to their own advantage, but to the political advantage of the colony. Also, from the mild and sometimes warm nature of the climate it is very probable many of the productions of tropical countries, articles of commerce, might be cultivated there with success. would only add, that with regard to the mineralogy of the colony, it is altogether unknown; and, therefore, it might be worth the attention of any settler to examine it.

Extracts from the Report of the Select Committee appointed to consider so much of the Criminal law as relates to capital Punishment for Felonies.

Your Committee, in execution of the trust delegated to them by the House, have endeavoured strictly to confine themselves within the limits prescribed to them by the terms of their appointment. In some cases they have laid down restrictions for themselves, which the letter of the resolution of the House did not impose. They have abstained from all consideration of those

capital

capital felonies which may be Isaid to be of a. political nature, being directed against the authority of government and the general, peace of society. To the nature and efficacy of the secondary punishments, of transportation and imprisonment, they have directed no part of their inquiries, because another Committee had been appointed to investigate them, and because no part of the facts or arguments to be stated in this report, will be found to depend either on the present state of these secondary punishments, or on the degree of improvement of which they may be found capable. With many extensive and important parts of the criminal law; such, for example, as that which regulates the trial of offenders; they are entirely satisfied, and they should not have suggested any changes in these departments even if they had been within the appointed province of this Committee. On other parts of the subject; as for example, in the definition and arrangement of crimes, they have recommended a consolidation of the laws respecting only one class of offences, and have presumed only to express a general opinion of the utility of the like consolidation in some other cases. They wish expressly to disclaim all doubt of the right of the legislature to inflict the punishment of death, wherever that punishment, and that alone, seems capable of protecting the community from enormous and atrocious crimes.The object of the Committee has been to ascertain, as far as the nature of the case admitted, by VOL. LXI.

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evidence, whether, in the present state of the sentiments of the people of England, capital punishment in most cases of offences unattended with violence, be a necessary or even the most effectual security against the prevalence of crimes.

1.-In the first place, they endeavoured to collect official accounts of the state of crimes and the administration of criminal law throughout the kingdom, from the earliest period to which authentic information reaches. The annual returns of commitments, convictions and executions, first procured by addresses from this House, and since required by statute, go no farther back than 1805. Accounts, though not perfectly satisfactory, of the same particulars, from London and Middlesex, from 1749 to the present time, have been already laid before parliament, which, with an official summary of the returns of England and Wales from 1805, will be inserted in the appendix of this report.

A full and authentic account of convictions and executions for London and Middlesex, from 1699 to 1804, obtained, for the latter part of that time, from the clerk of arraigns at the Old Bailey, and for the former part from the officers of the eity of London, is inserted in the appendix. The corporation of the city of London have shown on this occasion a liberality and public spirit worthy of acknowledgment; and it is to be hoped, that they will continue their researches as far back as their records extend, and thus comᏃ

plete

plete returns, probably unparal leled in the history of criminal law.

The deputy clerk of assize for the home circuit, has laid before your Committee a return of commitments, convictions and executions on that circuit, which comprehends the counties of Herts, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Surry, from 1689 to 1718, from 1755 to 1784, and from 1784 to 1814. The returns of the intermediate period from 1718 to 1755, he will doubtless furnish very soon. From this important return it appears, that, for the first thirty years which followed the revolution, the average proportion of convictions to executions was 38 to 20; that from 1755 to 1784 it was 46 to 13; and that from 1784 to 1814, it was 74 to 19. It is worthy of remark, that the whole number of convictions for murder, on the home circuit, in the first period was 123; that the executions for the same period were 87 that in the second, the convictions for the same offence were 67, and the executions 57; and that in the third, the convictions were 54, and the executions 44. If the increase of the population during a prosperous period of a hundred and thirty years be taken into the account, and if we bear in mind that within that time a considerable city has grown up on the southern bank of the Thames, we shall be disposed to consider it as no exaggeration to affirm, that in this district (not one of the most favorably situated in this respect) murder has abated in the remarkable proportion of three if not four to one.

In the thirty years from 1755 to 1784 the whole convictions for murder in London and Middlesex were 71; and in the thirty years from 1784 to 1814 they were 66. In the years 1815, 1816 and 1817, the whole convictions for murder in London were 9, while in the three preceding years they were 14. Most of the other returns relate to too short a period, or too narrow a district, to afford materials for safe conclusion with respect to the comparative frequency of crimes at different periods.

In general however it appears that murders and other crimes of violence and cruelty, have either diminished, or not increased; and that the deplorable increase of criminals is not of such a nature as to indicate any diminution in the humanity of the people.

In considering the subject of our penal laws, your committee will first lay before the House their observations on that part which is the least likely to give rise to difference of opinion. That many statutes denouncing capital punishments might be safely and wisely repealed, has long been a prevalent opinion. It is sanctioned by the authority of two successive committees of this House, composed of the most eminent men of their age, and in some measure by the authority of the House itself, which passed several bills on the recommendation of their committees. As a general position, the propriety of repealing such statutes seems scarcely to have been disputed; respecting the number and choice of them, different sentiments

must

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