'Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government' [‎652] (696/733)

,.. 9 SLAVE TRADE.
ina laroo boat?, and every little boat which touches the shore, means
would 'still be found, and an agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. kept at work, to defeat, with con-
piderable success, these endeavours."
In June of the year 1841, the Kheleeya Kussum, a native ship, under
British colours, whose owner, Twuz bin Humzan, was on board, arrived
at Muskat from Mocha, and the Persian passengers landed forty-five
male and female slaves.
The owner, on the circumstance being discovered and brought to
his notice, lost no time in substituting the flag and register of His
Highness the Imaum for those of the British Government, from a
consciousness, probably, that he had rendered himself and vessel
subject to heavy penalties, for his infraction ol the regulations existing
in Great Britain and her dependencies against the Slave Irade. No
further steps were taken in the matter, further than that His Highness
the Imaum withdrew the protection of his flag at the request of the
British Government. The owner, upon this, after incurring much loss
from detention, and constantly under dread of impending punishment,
adopted the Mocha colours, obtained from the Shereef, and eventually
sold his vessel.
This was probably not the first case, nor has it been the last, in which
the protection and character of the British flag have been made subser
vient to the interests of slave-owners; nor can ignorance of the rules
and regulations of Government with reference to the Slave Trade be
fairly urged as an excuse by the owners and commanders for becoming
parties to such nefarious transactions.
It may with confidence be asserted that, with very few exceptions,
ships under British colours, owned by natives of India, or naturalised
subjects, commanded by European officers, and having an Arab or
native supercargo, carry a certain proportion of slaves, not perhaps in
tended for sale, but as the concubines or personal attendants of the
latter; further, that a certain proportion of the crews of Buggalows
carrying the British pass and colours, trading between India and the
ports of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , are slaves. It is needless to remark the
facility with which a few destined for sale at Bombay or elsewhere
could be entered on board as sailors, and the difficulty of making the
distinction, unless the individuals would themselves come forward and
assert their natural rights.
O