No. 8, Judicial

I beg to inform your Grace that I have been lately engaged with an
investigation into the causes, which led to the wreck of the Brig
"William", bound from San Francisco to this Port, and to the death of the Master John McIntosh, who was drowned in attempting to land from the
wreck while the mate and all the seamen landed in safety.

That disaster is said to have occurred near Barclay Sound, on the
west coast of Vancouver's Island, in the night of the first of January
last.

2. The investigation occupied several days, and after a patient
enquiry into all the circumstances, from the commencement of the voyage,
to its ill fated termination, in the loss of the vessel, and death of
the Master, we could not discover any grounds of complaint against the
seamen; as the fact but too evidently appeared, that the Master was a
person of intemperate habits and that the ship had been lost entirely
through his misconduct.

The evidence proves that he was often unconscious from
intoxication, that he was in that state when the vessel ran ashore, on
Vancouver's Island, and his death in attempting to land from the wreck,
appears to have been the effect of the same cause. A report of this
case will be forwarded as soon as I have time to get it drawn up.

3. I would not have troubled your Grace with any remarks on this
case at present had it not been for the extraordinary conduct of Mr
Robert Swanston, the Consignee of the Brig 
William, who showed a
disposition to set Her Majesty's authorities at naught, and to treat the
Vice Admiralty Court of this Colony, with contempt, as I will proceed to
show.

4. On the wreck of the Brig "William," the crew travelled under
the direction of the natives, towards this place and after much
privation and hardship arrived here in a state of great distress.

5. I relieved their immediate wants and addressed a note to Mr Swanston on behalf of the crew, advising him that payment of the wages,
due for the time they had served on board the "William" should be made
to them, on the part of the owners. That note produced no effect, as he
refused to pay the wages due, and there being no proof that he was a
party interested in the ownership of the vessel I could not advise the
seamen to have recourse to legal proceedings for the recovery of their
claims.

6. On the 23rd January I 
received a letter from Mr Swanston
applying for an enquiry into the causes which led to the wreck of the
William, and to the death of Captain McIntosh, and the reason given,
as the grounds of that application, was to use his own words; "as he had
heard rumours which led him to imagine that there may have been foul
play," and moreover mentioning that the crew of the "William" were on
the point of leaving the Colony.

7. I immediately thereupon proceeded to organize a Vice Admiralty
Court, appointed David Cameron acting Judge, and two Master Mariners,
William H. McNeill, and Charles Dodd acting Members of Court.

Mr Swanston was informed of those arrangements, through my
private Secretary Mr Golledge, on the 25th January, and that the
Court would proceed with the proposed investigation as soon, as he
produced the information referred to in his letter.

8. A note in reply was received from Mr Swanston, declining to
appear unless I addressed him under my own signature, and not through a
secretary.

9. The court was nevertheless opened on the 26th of January last, as before appointed, and proceeded to examine the mate and seamen
of the Brig "William", as hereinbefore mentioned in the commencement of
this letter.

Mr Swanston did not however appear when called upon for his
evidence; a Writ was therefore issued, on the same day requiring his
appearance before the Court. He still failing to appear I caused a writ
of attachment, to issue on the 28th of January and he was taken into custody on the 30th, and committed to Jail, until the Court met in the afternoon of the same day, when he was found in contempt, and sentenced to pay a fine of 50 with costs, or in default of payment to
be imprisoned as the Law directs. The fine was immediately paid, and 
the young man was discharged from custody on easier terms than I should
think it proper to grant on any similar occasion hereafter, when parties
either through folly or disaffection, attempt to oppose the Executive
authorities in the lawful discharge of their duties.

10. I was sorry to observe that the Revd Mr Staines,
chaplain to the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company, openly took part with
Mr Swanston,
*
and appeared to act as his legal adviser, but the young man, was so
clearly in fault that very little could be said in his defence.

At the close of the proceedings Mr Swanston entered a viva
 vocé protest against them, in presence of the Court, which I should
probably have considered, and treated as a fresh contempt, but not being
quite certain about the propriety of that course, I took no further
proceedings, and adjourned the Court.

11. This I am happy to say is the only instance, wherein the
authority of Her Majesty's Government, has been openly resisted, since
the Colony was 
founded. The offender is not a Colonist, and has no real
property in the Colony, being merely agent for a mercantile House in San
Francisco, from whence his imports are exclusively received, and to
which his returns are remitted. He therefore enjoys the protection of
the Laws, without contributing in any manner to the expenses of
Government or to the improvement of the Colony, and like many others of
the same class, is a good citizen of the United States, in California,
though he assumes the garb of a British Subject in Vancouver's Island.

12. Having no military force at my disposal and there being only a
single Constable at this place, such persons suppose they may insult the
Government with impunity.