To James Madison from James Leander Cathcart, 30 September 1806
From James Leander Cathcart
George Town, Columbia. Septr. 30th. 1806.
Sir,
Inclosed I have the honor to transmit for your inspection and final Settlement my accompts and vouchers for expenditures occasioned by the Tunisian Embassy, the accurate manner in which they are stated & Vouch’d for, I hope will Superceed the unfavorable impressions, that the malicious falshoods of my Punic companion were calculated to make.
I likewise inclose you triplicates of the Invoices, bills of lading, charter party, and every other necessary document relative to the present voyage, undertaken by the Two Brothers Captain Candler.1 The originals & duplicates, have been intrusted to the care of Doctor Thomas Triplett, to be deliver’d to Mr. Lear & Doctor Dodge according to your orders, with a letter to each of them from myself, a Copy of which accompanies this.2
The enclosed affidavit made by Lieut: Wederstrandt3 will prevent the Department of State from becoming liable for the Debenture upon Melli’s goods, they were never landed & every precaution that was necessary on my part was used to prevent difficulty, consequently upon the arrival of the Consuls Certificate of the Goods being actually landed at Tunis, and the presenting the affidavit, the bonds given at the Custom House, will be cancelled. I have the honor to continue with the greatest respect and esteem Sir, Your Obedt: Servant.
James Lear Cathcart
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tunis, vol. 3). In a clerk’s hand, signed by Cathcart; docketed by Wagner. For surviving enclosures, see nn.
1. Of these enclosures, only one bill of lading, dated 5 Sept. 1806 and signed by John Candler (1 p.), is filed with the RC. It lists the goods shipped by Soliman Melimeni on the Two Brothers as 673 bags of coffee, 132 barrels of sugar, 39 boxes of sugar, “One Teirce loaf sugar,” various quantities of ginger, cochineal, tin, china, rum, and logwood, and a fowling piece, a blunderbuss, a plow, a rake, and a saddle. In addition, it states that Melimeni was to pay no freight charges.
2. In addition to forwarding an invoice and bills of lading (not found), the enclosed copy of Cathcart’s 6 Sept. 1806 letter to Tobias Lear (3 pp.) gave instructions regarding the distribution of the presents for Hammuda Bey and his prime minister or Sahib-at-Taba, Jussuf Hoggia, since the intended “arrangment ha[d] been alter’d” after the packages were marked. The gifts mentioned included fabrics, mathematical instruments, a microscope, sets of plate and china, and loaf sugar. Cathcart noted that Melimeni had advised on and approved the purchases. At the foot of the letter, Cathcart stated that a copy of it and its enclosures had been “forwarded to Doctor Dodge Agent of the United States at Tunis.”
3. The affidavit (1 p.), dated 8 Sept. 1806 and sworn before Suffolk County, Massachusetts, justice of the peace William Stevenson, stated that Melimeni’s merchandise had been “transshipped from the … Brig Franklin, on board the Ship Two Brothers … both of said Vessels being then in the lower Roads of Boston harbour—and that no part thereof was landed.” It was accompanied by debenture paperwork (2 pp.) including a consignee’s certificate intended to be completed by Capt. Philemon C. Wederstrandt upon arrival at Tunis, describing the goods as a total of 473 bags of coffee, 132 barrels of sugar, and 39 boxes of sugar.