Prince finally introduced in his behalf a claim for $500,000, under the pretext that his concession had been arbitrarily cancelled.
Another claim of still more extraordinary nature was presented by the same legation. This was founded on events that had taken place over eighteen years before. One Antonio Pelletier,[1] a Frenchman by birth, who became a citizen of the United States by naturalization in 1852, was well known as a slave-trader. In April, 1859, his ship, The Ardennes, had been captured at the mouth of the Congo River by Cap. Thomas W. Brent of the United States man-of-war Marion. This much was known of Pelletier when he arrived at Port-au-Prince in January, 1861, on the schooner Williams flying the flag of the United States. A member of the crew informed the Haitian authorities that the ship was a slaver and that the Captain had come with the intention of kidnapping about 150 people on the coast of Haiti, with the object of selling them in Cuba. A few days before Pelletier had tried to engage 50 men and some women at Port-au-Prince, under the pretext of taking on a cargo of guano at Navassa Island. The Haitian police at once proceeded to make a thorough search on board the Williams, where arms, ammunition, many handcuffs, and barrels of water were found. These articles at that time were the necessary accompaniment of the slave-trade. The ship, however, was not seized; she was allowed to sail for New Orleans, the Haitian Government causing her to be convoyed for a while by the man-of-war Le Geffrard. As soon as the Williams was left alone she changed her course, and returning to Haiti cruised for five days along the north coast, and finally entered Fort-Liberté, a small port closed to foreign commerce, on the 31st of March, 1861. This time she was flying the French flag. Her name was no longer Williams, but Guillaume Tell, and Pelletier also had changed his name to Jules Letellier. His plan was to get a sufficient number of the inhabitants on board
- ↑ The American and Haitian Claims Commission, Washington, 1885.
