The case of 'Fee Seng be, alias Betsey', was brought before the ViceAdmiralty Court on 4 September 1809. During the proceedings, attention was focused on the circumstances in which this 'Native of Africa' had been sold. It was established that Francis had purchased her at his house in Freetown on 28 January 1808 from a local trader named Peters, a regular visitor to the colony. It emerged that Fuseng-be had already changed hands twice before being brought into the colony. Peters informed Francis that he had purchased Fuseng-be from a trader named 'Young Smart' at a place called 'Rolullom', and that Young Smart had in turn purchased her from her father. The reason for her sale is not explained in this account, although sales of family members to repay debts or to alleviate poverty were among a range of possible reasons for enslavement. If Fuseng-be had remained in the hands of one of these African traders, her case would not have come to the attention of officials in Freetown, as slave sales in the hinterland were still legal. Settlers who left the colony could still own and sell slaves outside its boundaries, but colonial officials were prepared to step in if any of these individuals (as in the case of Fuseng-be) were brought to live within the boundaries of the colony or were purchased by settlers in the British colony.