87. Q. Then, I understand you to say that when you made the first representations to the consul, at his office, he told you he would attend to it, and that subsequently he came on board the Virginius, and that Marguiz read a statement to you, which he said was prepared by the consul, in which the consul refused to discharge you?—A. That is correct.

88. Q. How, then, and by whom were you discharged?-A. We were discharged by the chief engineer and the American consul both.

89. Q. Had not the chief engineer, previously to this, refused to discharge you?—A. Yes.

90. Q. Do yon know where the Virginius got firemen and crew to take the places of those who left ?-A. I don't know.

91. Q. At the time you were discharged was General Quesada on board the Virginius?-A. I believe he was not; at least I did not see him.

Being cross-examined by George Bliss, United States attorney, he says:

92. Q. How large a number of persons, independently of those you call passengers, were on board the Virginius when she left the port of New York?-A. I don't know the exact number; I should judge there was in or about thirty.

93. Q. Was there any mate?-A. There was a mate.

94. Q. What was his name?-A. That I disremember.

95. Q. More than one mate?-A. Second mate.

96. Q. Remember his name?-A. His name was Griffiths.

97. Q. Does that include the firemen and coal-passers that you have spoken of ?—A. Yes, it includes all the ship's company.

98. Q. Did any of them except the captain leave before you did?—A. No, I believe they did not; not to my knowledge.

99. Q. Did any other persons, after the vessel left the port of New York, come aboard of her to remain, prior to the time of your leaving the vessel?—A. Yes, sir; General Quesada and a number of—

100. Q. I say after you left New York?-A. No; there did one come aboard.

101. Q. Who was he?-A. Varona.

102. Q. When did he come aboard?—A. I think it was in Puerto Cabello.

103. Q. Where did the captain leave?-A. Puerto Cabello.

104. Q. Did he leave before the landing of the guns in the fort there?-A. No, sir. 105. Q. He left after?-A. After.

106. Q. He left before the schooners were captured?-A. Yes.

107. Q. How many schooners in all were captured?-A. I don't know the exact number; I should judge there was five or six.

108. Q. You referred once to going to Puerto Cabello at a time when the crew wanted to leave. Was that the time that you have spoken of when you made the complaint to the consul?-A. No, sir.

109. Q. There was another time?-A. Another time after that when I went to the consul, at the time when a portion of the crew wanted to leave first; it was in Puerto Cabello.

110. Q. Just fix the date.-A. I can't say whether it was previous to carrying those Venezuela troops, whether it was before we took those troops on board, or after returning from the expedition.

111. Q. But it was before they captured the schooners?-A. Yes, sir. The sailors and the steward and the waiters, they left at that time.

112. Q. Then they did leave?-A. Yes, sir.

113. Q. Did they come back again?-A. No, sir.

114. Q. The sailors, the steward, and the waiters left ?-A. Yes, sir.

115. Q. All of them?-A. All of them, I believe.

116. Q. Were their places supplied?-A. Yes, sir.

117. Q. By whom?-A. Well, by some sailor-men that was picked up there. 118. Q. What became of those men who left; do you know?-A. They remained for some time in Puerto Cabello, until the consul got a ship and sent them to the States. 119. Q. Why did they leave; do you know?-A. Well, they thought that the ship was going to run into Cuba, and they thought they would run too much risk. There was Spanish men-of-war watching us all the time, and they were afraid if they were captured they would be dealt with in a very severe manner.

120. Q. Who discharged them?-A. They went to the American consul and got ther discharge through him from the captain of the ship.

121. Q. Who was the captain at that time?-A. I believe Shepperd was captain at the time.

122. Q. Where do you say it was that you saw this small boat with the Cuban flag A. In the harbor of Puerto Cabello.

123. Q. You said outside parties interfered with the discipline of the vessel-A Yes, sir.

124. Q. You described them as Cubans. Can you name any of them ?-A. General Quesada.

125. Q. Any others?-A. No, I cannot name any other.

126. Q. How did you know they were Cubans -A. Well, they admitted themselves to be such.

127. Q. Can you tell the date when you were discharged, about?—A. No, sir; I disremember.

128. Q. Can you tell the year, or the month, or anything?-A. I think it was in December, 1871.

129. Q. About how long were you aboard the Virginius, in all ?—A. We was between two and three months, or ten weeks, I think.

130. Q. You think it was in December, 1871?—A. Yes, sir.

131. Q. Was it in 18707-A. 1870; yes, sir.

132. Q. You spoke of being arrested by the police. Had you been doing anything?— A. No, sir. I had been doing nothing wrong that I know of.

133. Q. Had you been creating any disturbance?-A. No, sir; I was sitting down in the house with a company of two or three others that I knew, and we were playing a game of cards quietly.

134. Q. Who came and arrested you?-A. A police-officer.

135. Q. Then you were taken aboard. Were there any of the officers of the vessel along when you were taken aboard?-A. No, sir.

136. Q. Were you taken at once aboard the vessel?-A. No, sir; taken and locked up. 137. Q. And then taken aboard the next day?-A. Yes, sir; in the morning.

138. Q. You said after you made the complaint to the consul and he told you to go aboard and he would see to it, that at some time he came aboard and examined the crew one by one?-A. Yes, sir.

139. Q. Was that before the letter was read out from him, saying that he could not discharge you?-A. I ain't sure; it was in or about the time, close, and I cannot say whether it was before the letter was read to us or not. I do not remember now.

140. Q. Was the consul present when the letter was read ?-A. No, sir; he wasn't aboard the ship at the time. The letter was read, I believe, previous to the time that the consul came aboard, but I ain't positive. As soon as he finished reading the letter, the Marquis told you that he would discharge you and give you your three months' pay-A. Yes, sir.

141. Q. Did he give you any reason why he did it?-A. Yes; he said he didn't wish to have any man with him that was dissatisfied or didn't want to sail with him.

142. Q. When you left to go to Saint Thomas, where was the Virginius?-A. She was at Carasa.

143. Q. She had remained there, had she?-A. Yes, sir.

144. Q. How long was that after the discharge? How long after the discharge did you leave to go to St. Thomas?-A. Immediately after; the same day.

145. Q. What occupation are you now engaged in?—A. I work as a fireman, but I ain't working since I have been out in the Acapulco.

146. Q. What capacity were you in her ?-A. Fireman.

147. Q. How long ago?-A. November 3.

148. Q. Of this month, this year?-A. Yes, sir.

149. Q. Where are you now residing?-A. I can't give you the number of the house, as it is only a few days ago that I went in it. What is the number of the Mohawk House?

150. Q. Is it the Mohawk House?-A. No; but it is the next house to it. 151. Q. On Greenwich street?-A. On Spring.

152. Q. What have you been doing since you left the Virginius?—A. I have made my living by working as a fireman all the time since; not as as a fireman all the time, but I have worked aboard a steamer in the fire-room all the time.

153. Q. What vessels have you been aboard?-A. I have been aboard the Rising Star, Ocean Queen, the Cortes. I have been aboard the steamboat City of Lawrence, and there are others that I can't call to mind.

154. Q. Have you been to Cuba since then?-A. No, sir.

155. Q. Been down in those regions at all?-A. I never was in any of them places, that is, Caraso or Puerto Cabello, since then.

156. Q. Have you been down in the Caribbean Sea ?—A. I have been in Aspinwall. 157. Q. That is all, is it?-A. That is all.

158. Q. How came you to make this statement?

How came you to be brought

here?-A. Well, this gentleman here knowing that I was on the ship along with Mr. Greenwood, he told me that he had been down here.

159. Q. Who is this gentleman here ?-A. Greenwood.

160. Q. Greenwood brought you here?-A. Yes, sir, he brought me here.

161. Q. Was Greenwood on board the Virginius with you?—A. He was.

162. Q. In what capacity?-A. First assistant engineer.

163. Q. Any inducement held out to you to make a statement?-A. No, sir; no more than that I would be recompensed for the loss of my time.

164. Q. You were promised to be recompensed?-A. Yes, sir, so that I should be at no loss.

165. Q. No amount fixed?-A. No, sir.

166. Q. How much time have you lost?-A. Up to the present; yesterday was the first day I came; I consider from yesterday.

167. Q. Only a couple of days?-A. That is all.

168. Q. How do you know what was in those boxes was ammunition, guns, &c.?— A. There was two brass howitzers, and there was one of the boxes broken, and I saw the rifles, and I saw cartridges and revolvers in another box. I saw shell and fixed ammunition.

169. Q. You spoke of Marquis as being a paper-captain, and Camancho as the real captain; why is that?-A. Because we considered that he was chief engineer, and I thought that he could not hold the two positions at the same time, and I thought that he was not qualified to be captain. I considered that he did not understand navigation, and I heard it rumored around the ship that this Camancho was the real captain. I saw him giving orders.

170. Q. You heard Camancho giving orders?—A. I did.

171. Q. What kind of orders?-A. Giving orders to the mate. And when we were working, discharging this freight out of the schooner into the steamer, he was present there, and he was giving orders to us and every one around that was working.

172. Q. You speak of one Varona as coming on board at Laguayra or Curaçoa?—A. Yes.

173. Q. And you also speak of Varona as coming aboard off the highlands from a tug. Those were two distinct persons?-A. Yes, I believe they were two distinct persons, and I suspected—

174. Q. No matter what you suspected. You said something about Marquis's birth. What did you say about where he was born?-A. I said I heard that he was born in Poland.

175. Q. From whom did you hear of it?-A. Well, I heard it amongst the crewcouldn't give the name of the party.

176. Q. You spoke of a Cuban flag as being on one of the small boats. What is a Cuban flag?—A. Well, I disremember now, but yellow was the principal color in it. There was yellow and blue, I think, and white. How the colors were arranged I can't tell you. I can't describe the Cuban flag.

177. Q. How did you know that the flag you saw in the boat was a Cuban flag!A. Well, I heard everybody on board the ship say it was a Cuban flag. 178. Q. Had you ever seen a Cuban flag before?-A. No, sir; I had not. 179. Q. Have you ever seen one since ?-A. No, sir.

180. Q. Can you describe what that flag was?-A. I cannot.

THOMAS GALLAGHER.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of November, 1873.

JOSEPH GUTMAN, JR., United States Commissioner, Southern District of New York.

And now I, Joseph Gutman, jr., a duly-appointed commissioner of the United States circuit court for the southern district of New York, in attestation, do hereby certify that the foregoing questions and answers, after having been written out as above, were read to the foregoing witness, and were in my presence signed by him; and in attes tation of the verity and solemnity of all of the foregoing, I do hereby attach my sig nature and seal of office this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. [SEAL.]

JOSEPH GUTMAN, JR.,

United States Commissioner, Southern District of New York,

[Inclosure 11 J

Deposition of Ambrose Rawling.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Southern District of New York, 88:

To all to whom these presents shall come:

I, Joseph Gutman, jr., a commissioner of the United States circuit court for the sout ern district of New York, duly appointed and commissioned, and dwelling in the city of New York, send greeting:

Know ye, that on the twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord o thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, before me, at my office, No. 29 Nassa street, in the city of New York, appeared as a witness Ambrose Rawling, a marit formerly on board the steamship Virginius, produced by the consul-general of Spaz

for the district of New York, in the United States of America, and that I was attended at the same time by Sidney Webster, esq., counselor at law in said city, representing the aforesaid consul-general of Spain, and by George Bliss, esq., attorney of the United States for the southern district of New York, attending by the direction of the Secretary of State of the United States; and that the aforesaid witness, having been first duly cautioned by me to declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in respect to the matters concerning which he should be interrogated, and having then been duly sworn by me according to the laws of the United States, did, in answer to the interrogatories addressed to him in my presence, voluntarily, freely, and solemnly declare and depose in my presence as follows, that is to say:

1. Question. What is your age, occupation, place of birth, and citizenship?—Answer. Age, 29; occupation, steamship-fireman; born in England; am not a citizen of the United States.

2. Q. Were you a fireman on board the Virginius on her voyage from New York to Puerto Cabello in the latter part of 1870 ?-Ă. I was.

3. Q. Did you see a person on board the Virginius whom you understood to be General Quesada ?-A. I did.

4. Q. Did you see General Quesada, while the Virginius was lying at Puerto Cabello, go off from the Virginius in one of her small boats-A. I did.

5. Q. Were you one of the oarsmen at that time?-A. I was.

6. Q. What flag, if any, did the small boat carry at that time?-A. The Cuban flag; what I suppose to be the Cuban flag.

7. Q. Can you describe it ?—A. As near as I can recollect, it was a single star in blue. 8. Q. A single star in blue ground?-A. Yes, sir.

9. Q. How many oarsmen were there at that time?-A. There were six of us.

10. Q. Can you give their names?-A. Well, George Miller was one, and Daniel Shea, and Luby, and myself. I don't recall the other two.

11. Q. Who beside General Quesada was in the boat as passenger, if anybody?— A. I believe his name was Verona. We used to call him Verona.

12. Q. To what place did you pull the boat at that time?-A. We pulled it round past the fort, and went, I suppose, about two miles after we got outside the fort, and landed the boat high and dry upon the beach. This was, I think, on an island.

13. Q. State what you saw General Quesada do after he got out of the boat.-A. Well, he went about, I suppose, two or three hundred yards from where the boat was upon the beach, and he had some conversation along with another man. I don't know

who he was.

14. Q. Whom he met ?-A. Yes, who he met on the beach.

15. Q. Did he meet more than one that you saw?-A. No; only one-one man. Then there were three or four there besides this man, whoever he was.

16. Q. Were they in any military uniform that you saw ?-A. Well, no; had no military about them as I saw.

17. Q. How long was it before Quesada and Verona returned to the boat, if at all?— A. O, it was fully three-quarters of an hour.

18. Q. Did you then pull Quesada and Verona back to the Virginius?—A. We did. 19. Q. Was the Cuban flag flying on the small boat when you returned?—A. It was lying in the boat.

20. Q. It was not flying?-A. No.

21. Q. Were you on board the Virginius when her cargo was taken out and put in a fort at Puerto Cabello ?-A. I was.

22. Q. Subsequently to this did the Virginius transport the Venezuelan troops along the coast to Barcelona?-A. She did.

23. Q. Was it after this that you rowed Quesada in the small boat?-A. No; it was previous to this, to the best of my recollection.

24. Q. Were you on board the Virginius when she towed the Venezuelan gunboat out to sea?-A. I was.

25. Q. Did you row Quesada in the small boat before you towed the gunboat out to sea?-A. I did.

26. Q. Were you on board the Virginius at the affair of the capture or surrender of the schooners?-A. I was.

27. Q. How many schooners do you think there were?-A. Well, to the best of my recollection, there were five, and one made her escape, I think.

28. Q. Do you know whether these schooners were armed-had a gun on board?— A. I couldn't say now whether they had or not. I believe they had, though.

29. Q. When the Virginius towed the Venezuelan gunboat out, and at the time of the capture of this Mosquito fleet, did the Virginius have any guns mounted on her deck? A. To the best of my belief, she had two small pieces.

30. Q. Did you hear or see any guns fired at this time by the Venezuelan gunboat?— A. I did.

31. Q. How many?-A. One; one shot.

32. Q. At this time, what flag was flying on the Virginius ?-A. The Venezuelan flag, sir.

33. Q. Were you on the deck of the Virginius at the time?-A. I was.

34. Q. Did you see the flag with your own eyes?-A. I did.

35. Q. Did you see the American flag hauled down ?—A. I did.

36. Q. And the Venezuelan flag run up?-A. I did.

37. Q. Did you see General Quesada at that time ?-A. Yes; I saw him on deck.

38. Q. Where was he standing?-A. On the poop-deck; on the quarter-deck aft. 39. Q. Did you hear him say anything or use any words?-A. No; I did not. 40. Q. How many of the schooners, if any, did the Virginius take in tow?-A. Well, to the best of my belief, there were five.

41. Q. The Virginius took five?-A. Yes.

42. Q. How many did the Venezuelan gunboat take in tow, if any?-A. She didn't take any, because she went toward St. Thomas.

43. Q. To what place did the Virginius take the schooners she had in tow ?-A. The first place we made, after we got the schooners in tow, was Laguayra.

44. Q. And left them there?-A. Yes; and left them there.

45. Q. Where was the Virginius when you left her?-A. At Curaçoa.

46. Q. Were you discharged at the same time with Gallagher?—A. I was.

47. Q. Did you go to see the American consul at Curaçoa about your discharge?—A. Yes.

48. Q. Did you say anything to him?-A. No, sir.

49. Q. Did you hear anybody speak to him?-A. No, sir; I didn't hear what was passed between them.

50. Q. Where were you at the time of the conversation?---A. I was standing round with the rest of the crew.

51. Q. Where?-A. At the consul's office.

52. Q. Who went in and had the conversation with the consul, as you remember!A. I almost forget now who it was, whether it was George Miller or not.

53. Q. Was it George Miller and Gallagher?-A. I don't know.

54. Q. Were you at any time put, or driven, on board the Virginius by the police, or by the authorities?-A. I was.

55. Q. Where?-A. In Puerto Cabello.

56. Q. Did you hear a statement read on the Virginius by Marquiz in respect to the discharge of the crew?-A. Yes, sir; I did.

57. Q. Why did you leave the Virginius?-A. Well, I thought, capturing these schooners and things out at sea, I didn't think it was safe for us to be aboard of her.

Cross-examined by Mr. Bliss:

58. Q. You spoke of that boat as having the Cuban flag; was it flying or lying in the bottom of the boat?-A. This Verona had it in his hand at the stern of the boat.

59. Q. (By Mr. Webster.) Was it flying when you went?-A. Yes, flying when we

went.

60. Q. (By Mr. Bliss.) At that time did he have it in his hand?-A. Yes.

61. Q. (By Mr. Webster.) Flying you say?-A. Yes.

62. Q. (By Mr. Bliss.) Did he keep it flying all the time you were rowing to the island? A. Yes; he had it in his hand all the time.

63. Q. Coming back, it was lying in the bottom of the boat?-A. Yes.

64. Q. You say you were arrested by the police?-A. Yes.

65. Q. What for; did they take you for a deserter?-A. No, sir; we was trying to claim our discharge; we got sick of the ship, but they drove us right aboard.

AMBROSE RAWLING.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of November, 1873.

JOSEPH GUTMAN, JR., United States Commissioner, Southern District New York.

And now I, Joseph Gutman, jr., a duly-appointed commissioner of the United States circuit court for the southern district of New York, in attestation, do hereby certify that the foregoing questions and answers, after having been written out as above, were read to the foregoing witness, and were in my presence signed by him; and in attes tation of the verity and solemnity of all of the foregoing, I do hereby attach my signa ture and seal of office this twenty-sixth day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. [SEAL.]

JOSEPH GUTMAN, JR., United States Commissioner, Southern District New York,