to effect. Your Establishment had hardly begun its operation before the provisions of that system were enacted by the legislature, the advantages of which, great as they are, have been necessarily attended by some additional delay and embarrassment to business, which the Company has endeavoured to meet with promptitude, and with the requisite additions to their Establish

ment.

The benefits accruing to the West-India body generally, and the degree of accommodation and dispatch afforded by the Company, your Committee conceive will be best illustrated by a few concise statements, as they are desirous that on disputed points an appeal may be made solely to the evidence of facts. They will here premise, that whatever advantages it shall appear have been obtained for the trade, are secured to it without any additional expence being incurred; the Company on its formation having undertaken for the term of their charter, to provide all the accommodation which the Dock System affords, and to perform all the services and labour necessary to ships and goods at importation, for the charges then current at the port, although such charges had been previously and almost annually advancing.

In order to shew how far the means and resources of the Company have been properly applied, and the dispatch given to ships, your Committee will first call the attention of the Court to an account, shewing the number of ships employed in the West-India trade which have been discharged in the Docks in the last six years, with the dates at which the business of

each season appears to have been respectively completed.

Year. No. of Ships. Finished Landing. 1803...... .363......14 Jan. 1804 1804.354. 29 Dec. 1804

1805.

421 .....22 Jan. 1806 1806. 477.... 2 Feb. 1807 1807 ...... ·503· · · · · · 24 Dec. 1807 1808. ...... 598. .... 593 completed 3 Dec. 1808

by which it will appear, that such has been the increase of the WestIndia trade, that 95 ships have been unloaded this season in addition to the greatest number ever before received, and 174 ships more than the average number of the preceding five years. In the period between the beginning of July and the beginning of December, a space of five months, when circumstances of the greatest difficulty occurred, upwards of 460 ships were unloaded, exclusive of smaller vessels and craft, with cargoes consisting of 159,804 hhds. and trs. of Sugar.-26,917 puns. and hhds., Rum.-31,675 hhds. and trs., 125,480 bags, Coffee.10,855 bales, 487 pockets, &c. Cotton.-35 casks, 2,732 bags, Pimento.--351 casks, 2,411 bags, Ginger.-822 casks, 7,228 bags, Cocoa.-1,797 casks, Wine. Making a total of 11,342 bales, 137,851 bags, 221,401 casks, and from the 10th Oct. to the 28th Nov. 150 ships were entirely unloaded at the quays. This being the precise period when it was stated to the lords of the treasury, that owing to the negligence of the directors, only 8 or 9 ships were at that time unloaded weekly, and proceeding on that calculation, that 108 ships then in the docks would necessarily be delayed some months, (we must presume not less than three), and on such, and other equally unfounded pretexts,

pretexts, was grounded an applica tion for an infringement of the Company's privileges. Whereas the fact is, that these 108 ships, with the addition of others subsequently admitted, were unloaded in the month of November, such only excepted as were delayed by causes not dependant on the Company.

The general state of the business performed by the Company during the last year will stand thus:-598 ships have unloaded, and 106 smaller vessels and craft;-of the above number of 598 ships, 593 were completed upon the 3d Dec.

1808.

Thus so early as the close of the month of November, the great body of shipping in the West-India trade were completely cleared of their cargoes; an instance of dispatch singular and unexampled, and evidently proving the superiority of your Establishment, particularly under the embarrassing circumstances of an extraordinary accumulation of produce on hand, occasioned by an almost total stagnation of export: if these advantages be contrasted with the delays, impediments, losses, and abuses, which must have arisen under the former system, their value will be incalculable.

During the utmost pressure, and under peculiar circumstances of the season, the Company did undertake to provide at his own expence, and beyond its exclusive means, an extraordinary provision of warehouse room, but it did not become necessary to resort to it, beyond an accommodation for 5747 casks and 4137 boxes, and 511 barrels of prize or foreign sugar, and thus may the dispatch given to the shipping in such a season, afford the best proof

of the adequacy of the Company's resources to the general exigencies of the trade; but it may be proper to add the following statement of the quantity of goods actually lodged within your warehouses at one time, exclusive of the articles on the quays;-102,647 hhds. and trs., 11,612 chests and brls. of Sugar.14,681 puns. and hhds. of Rum.— 38,239 hhds. and trs., 190,408 bags, Coffee.--1,411 bales, 164 pockets, &c., Cotton.—24 casks, 3,168 bags Pimento.-201 casks, 1,006 bags, Ginger.-1,100 casks, 13,257 bags, Cocoa.-1,786 casks, Wine. -Making a total of 11,612 chests, &c. 1,575 bales, 207,839 bags, 158,678 casks. Let this statement be compared with all the accommodation existing at the port, for the housing of West-India produce, previous to the formation of the docks, which according to the best computation in respect to the article of Sugar only, was not capable of containing beyond one third of the quantity, which has been actually deposited in your warehouses.

The system of providing distinctly for the shipping of goods to the West-Indies, and the security afforded thereby both to the ships and goods, belongs peculiarly to your Establishment; and, to a system so recent and dependant upon corresponding regulations of the revenue boards, it cannot reasonably be reproached that it is yet susceptible of improvement; sufficient however has appeared to shew that this part of your Establishment, is one, which must eventually prove of essential benefit to the West-India trade of the port.

The regulations of the Company have all been framed in strict consistency with its solid and permanent

interests,

interests, by a constant snd primary regard to the security of property, the interests of the revenue, and the accommodation of the trade, and not in any case directed by narrow views of present profit, in contradistinction to those more essential objects.

With the laws and regulations of the revenue departments it is necessary that the Company should cooperate, and sometimes it has been accused of disappointments, and delays, originating solely in that connection. But in respect to that part of the system, over which your Directors have controul, they are ready, at all times, to adopt sug gestions for improvement, whenever they shall be found upon attentive consideration to be compatible with the great objects of the institution. The principles by which the Court of Directors have uniformly governed their conduct, have been those of sound discretion in the application of the funds of the Company, a liberal construction, and performance, of its engagements with the public, and a scrupulous impartiality in the administration of business.

How far these objects have been faithfully pursued, and successfully accompanied, may best be evinced: as to the first by the prosperous state of your finances; as to the second by the details furnished by, and the facts connected with this report; and, as to the last, it may fairly be demanded whether one single instance of deviation can be produced.

Copy of a letter from vice-admiral lord Collingwood, Commander in chief of his majesty's ships and

vessels in the Mediterranean, to the hon. W. W. Pole; dated on board the Ocean, off Toulon, the 19th of October, 1808.

Sir, I inclose a letter which I have just received from the right hon..lord Cochrane, captain of the Imperieuse, stating the services which he has been employed in on the coast of Languedoc. Nothing can exceed the activity and zeal with which his lordship pursues the enemy. The success which attends his enterprizes clearly indicates with what skill and ability they are conducted; besides keeping the coast in constant alarm, causing a total suspension of the trade, and harasing a body of troops employed in opposing him, he has, probably, prevented those troops which were intended for Figueras from advancing into Spain, by giving them employment in the defence of their own coasts.-On the coast towards Genor, the enemy has been equally annoyed by the Kent and Wizard. Those ships have had that station some time to prevent the French ships sailing from Genoa, and have almost entirely stopped the only trade the enemy had, which is in very small vessels:-during their cruize there they have taken and destroyed twenty-three of those coasters.I enclose the letter of captain Rogers, giving an account of the attack made at Noli, and the capture of the vessels in the road.

I have the honour to be, &c.

COLLINGWOOD. Imperieuse, Gulf of Lyons, Sept. 28. My lord,-With varying oppo sition, but with unvaried success, the newly-constructed semaphoric telegraphs, which are of the utmost consequence to the safety of the numerous convoys that pass along

the

the coast of France, at Bourdique, La Pinede, St. Maguire, Frontignan, Canet, and Foy, have been blown up and completely demolish ed, together with their telegraphhouses, fourteen barracks of the gens d'armes, or Douanes, one battery, and the strong tower upon the lake of Frontiguan.—Mr. Mapleton, first lieutenant, had command of these expeditions; lieut. Johnson had charge of the field pieces, and lieut. Hore of the royal marines. To them and to Mr. Gilbert, assistant-surgeon; Mr. Burney, gunner; Messrs. Stewart and Stovin, midshipmen, is due whatever credit may arise from such mischief, and for having with so small a force drawn about two thousand troops from the important fortress of Figueras in Spain to the defence of their own coasts.-The conduct of lieutenants Mapleton, Johnson and Hore, deserves my best praise, as well as that of the other officers, royal marines, and seamen. I have, &c.

COCHRANE.

Imperieuse, None killed; none wounded; one singed blowing up a battery.-French, One commanding officer of troops killed: how many others unknown.

H.M.S. Kent, off Genoa, August 2. Sir,-1 beg leave to acquaint you, that yesterday, running along the coast from Genoa towards Cape del Melle, we discovered a convoy of ten sail of coasters deeply laden, under the protection of a gun-boat, at anchor close to the breach abreast of the town of Noli; and as there appeared a fair prospect of bringing them out by a prompt attack before the enemy had time to collect his force, I instantly determined to send in the boats of the Kent and

Wizard; and as there was but little wind, I directed capt. Ferris, of the Wizard, to tow in and cover the boats, which immediately put off, and, by great exertion, soon towed her close to the vessels, when it was found impossible to bring them out without landing, most of them being fastened to the shore by ropes from their keels and mastheads. The boats therefore pulled to the beach with great resolution, exposed to the fire of two guns in the bow of the gun-boat, two fieldpieces placed in a grove which flanked the beach, a heavy gun in front of the town, and a continued fire of musketry from the houses; but these were no check to the ardour and intrepidity of British seamen and marines, who leaped from the boats, and rushed upon the enemy with a fearless zeal that was not to be resisted. The gun in front of the town was soon taken and spiked by lieut. Chasman, second of the Kent, who commanded the seamen, and lieut. Hanlon the royal marines; and the enemy, who had drawn up a considerable force of regular troops in the grove to defend the two field-pieces, was dislodged by capt. Rea, who commanded the royal marines, and lieut. Grant of that corps, who took possession of the field-pieces, and brought them off. In the mean

time, lieuts. Lindsay and Mores. by of the Kent, and lieut. Bisset of the Wizard, who had equally distinguished themselves in driving the enemy from the beach, were actively employed in taking possession of the gun-boat, and freeing the vessels from their fasts to the shore; and I had soon the satis faction to see our people embark, and the whole of the vessels coming

out

out under the protecting fire of the Wizard, which, by the judicious conduct of capt. Ferris, contributed very essentially to keep the enemy in check, both in the advance and retreat of the boats.--I should have pleasure in noticing the midshipmen and others who were conspicuous in this little enterprize; but I fear that I have already given a longer detail than it may be thought worthy of, and shall therefore only beg leave to add, that one seaman killed, and one badly wounded (since dead), both of the Kent, is all the loss we sustained. The enemy left many dead on the ground. -The gun boat was a national vessel, called La Vigilante, commanded by an enseigne de vaisseau, with a complement of forty-five men.

THOMAS ROGERS. P. S. Since writing the above, the boats of the Kent and Wizard have brought out, without mischief, from under the guns of a fort near Leghorn, where they had taken shelter, three laden vessels, and burnt a fourth, which was aground and could not be got off.

Revolution at Buenos Ayres.We have long expected that Liniers was exerting himself to the utmost in favour of the family of Buonaparte and we now learn, by letters from Rio Janiero, of the late date of February 6, that a Revolution took place on the 1st January, in which Liniers triumphed, and is now completely master as Viceroy of the city. It seems that the marriage of his daughter with a young man of the name of Perichon, which was contrary to law, disgusted the people generally, who were, besides, very desirous to elect a Junta, in

imitation of Seville, &c. The Cabildo met, and the usual elections took place on the 1st of January; after which, previous depositions having been made by arming, &c. on both sides, to decide the matter by force, in case of necessity, a negociation took place between the Cabildo and Liniers, regarding his laying down the sovereign authority. At length the heads of that body went to the Fueste to treat personally with the viceroy, when up went the drawbridge, and they were quickly marched through the Puerto del Socorro to the water side, put on board a schooner, and have been sent off, nobody knows where; but it is supposed that the voyage was not a long one, since it is known there were very few provisions on board. The names of those who thus put themselves into the trap are-Alzaga, Vilanueva, Sta. Coloma, Varela, and another.

As a proof that this revolution is altogether in favour of France, we only need state, that the above mentioned Perichon is a Frenchman by birth,and is the person who was charged by Liniers with dispatches for Buonaparte, giving an account of his defence of Buenos Ayres against the British under gen. Whitelock, and who, on his return from France thro' Spain, on his way back to South America, was, in May or June of last year, apprehended in Andalusia, by order of the Junta of Seville, and confined in Cadiz, from whence it would appear he effected his escape.

The event which has thus taken place, though unfortunate for the patriotic cause of Spain, has removed every difficulty which obstructed the course of operations that it might behove the government of