Steamers and type of craft which are at present under the command of the Naval Authorities are ill adapted. They cannot follow the piratical junta into the shallow waters to which, in the hour of peril, they are forced to betake themselves. When in large numbers the piratical fleets put to sea they are often successfully attacked and destroyed by the intervention of Her Majesty's Ships of war, but these are ill-adapted to check that individual and petty piracy, that interruption to the smaller trading interests of this Colony, which is an intolerable and almost a daily nuisance.
I dare not propose the appropriation of so large an amount of the Colonial funds as would be necessary for the construction or furnishing of one or two fast Steamers of light draught, suited to the required service, but I should be willing to appropriate a small temporary monthly grant, say £75 per month, towards the expenses of supporting such Steamers. Their services should not be confined to this port, nor indeed principally employed here, as the pirates are generally congregated on the adjacent coasts and in the neighboring islands, and would have to be visited in their accustomed haunts, beyond British jurisdiction.
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