'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎31r] (1/72)

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Printed for the use of the Foreigm. Office. October 29, 1869.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Papers respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa,
and the System pursued for its Suppression.
No. ].
Memorandum on Mr. Seward's Despatch of September 9, 1866, relative to the Protest of the
Sultan of Zanzibar against Interference of British Cruizers with Slave Vessels in
Zanzibar Waters.
IN order to enable Lord Stanley to deal with this despatch^ it will be necessary to
give a short account of our relations with the Sultan of Zanzibar in regard to Slave Trade
matters.
By the terms of an Agreement signed at Zanzibar in 1845, to come into force the
1st January, 1847, the Sultan engaged—
1. To prohibit, under the severest penalties, the exportation of slaves from his
African dominions, and to issue orders to his officers to prevent and suppress such Trade;
and—
2. In Article 3, to grant to the ships of Her Majesty's navy, as well as those of the
East India Company, permission to seize and confiscate any vessels the property of
His Highness or of his subjects carrying on Slave Trade, excepting only such as were
engaged in the transport of slaves from one part to another of his own dominions in Africa,
between the port of Lamoo to the north, and its dependencies, the northern limit of which
is the north point of Kuyhoo Island, in 1° 57' south latitude, and the port of Keelwa to
the south, and its dependencies, the southern limit of which is Songa Manara, or Pagoda
Point, in 9° 2' south latitude, including the Islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, and Monfia.
By the terms of an Agreement signed the 6th May, 1850, the Imaum of Muscat further
consented that the ships of Her Majesty the Queen of England should be allowed to enter
the creeks, rivers, and harbours in his territories in which slaves were shipped contrary to
his orders, and that the vessels found engaged in the Slave Trade might be seized and the
barracoons destroyed.
For some time after the conclusion of these Agreements, the attention of the
Commanders of British cruizers was directed chiefly to preventing the export of slaves by
European slave-vessels intended for the supply of the Brazilian and Cuban markets, and
comparatively few native vessels were captured engaged in supplying the slave markets in
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Red Sea.
As, however, the demand for the Brazilian and Cuban markets decreased, it was -
found that the Slave Traffic in native vessels considerably increased.
In 1861, Colonel Rigby, the British Consul at Zanzibar, and Brigadier Coglan, the
British Resident at Aden, called the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the great
extent to which the export in slaves was being carried on from- the East Coast of Africa,
the numbers exported being variously estimated by different authorities at from 30,000 to
40,000 annually.
The greater portion of the slaves thus exported from the mainland were derived from
the territories of the Sultan of Zanzibar, and those not derived from this source, from the
Portuguese territories.
They were carried chiefly to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Red Sea, probably two-thirds
going to supply the slave markets in those localities, whilst from 6,000 to 8,000 remained
in the Island of Zanzibar, and the balance found their way to Madagascar, the Comoro
Islands, and indirectly to the French Possessions in the Indian Ocean under the name of
free labourers.
The Commanders of British cruizers found great difficulty in dealing with the native
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