'Papers Respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎31v] (2/72)

vessels engaged in this Traffic, in consequence of some of thera claiming to belong to the
Sultan of Zanzibar, and others to be engaged in removing slaves from one part of
His Highness' territories to another (that is to say, from the mainland to the adjacent
islands), and as none of these vessels carried papers, it was found impossible to distinguish
between those vessels that were really engaged legally in carrying slaves coastwise from
one part of the Sultan's dominions to another, and others actually employed in taking
slaves to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Red Sea.
Under these circumstances, Colonel Rigby was, in 1861, instructed to express to the
Sultan the regret of Her Majesty's Government that the stipulations of the 1 reaty between
Great Britain and Zanzibar, by which His Highness was bound to prevent the exportation
of slaves from his dominions, had not been more faithfully observed, and he was directed
to point out that, so long as the Coast Traffic in Slaves was permitted, it would be
impossible for His Highness, or for the Commanders of British cruizers, to prevent slaves
from being exported from the Zanzibar territory.
It was therefore suggested to His Highness that he should give orders prohibiting,
under severe penalties, the transport of slaves coastwise from one portion of his dominions
to the other; and it was also proposed to him that he should conclude an Additional
Article to the Treaty between Zanzibar and Great Britain, authorizing British cruizers to
seize and detain all Vessels under the Zanzibar flag engaged in the coasting trade on board
which slaves might be discovered.
The Sultan for some time demurred to these demands; but upon their being renewed
with greater earnestness in 1862, and its becoming apparent, even to His Highness, that
the Coasting Slave Trade along the shores of his dominions was carried on mainly for the
supply of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Red Sea, he, in 1863, consented to prohibit entirely the
transport of slaves from port to port in his dominions during the months of January,
February, March, and April, those being the months that the northern Arabs from the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Red Sea frequented the coasts of the Sultan's territories for the purpose
of procuring slaves.
His Highness also, in 1864, instituted, at the suggestion of the British Naval Officers,
a system of passes to be issued to all vessels legally engaged in trade under the Zanzibar
flag, and he further consented to allow British cruizers to seize and detain all Zanzibar
vess'els not furnished with these papers, as well as all Arab vessels engaged in the Slave
Trade, even within His Highness' territorial waters.
It is under the foregoing circumstances that British cruizers have for the last few
years been engaged in the suppression of the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa.
The Traffic has "been unquestionably considerably diminished, but our cruizers have found
oreat difficulties in the execution of their duties, chiefly owing to the system of passes not
being found to work well, slavers having been found with passes given to other vessels,
and also on account of the inability of the Sultan and his authorities to cope with the
northern Arabs who come down in such numbers when the monsoon suits, as to
intimidate the authorities unless a British ship-of-war is at hand to support them.
In fact, in the town of Zanzibar itself, the Arabs have hitherto been in the habit of
making raids and carrying off the negroes into slavery, and considerable numbers are
undoubtedly carried off annually in this manner by the northern Arabs.
We are now asked by the Sultan to forego the exercise of the right of search and
detention in Zanzibar waters, and His Highness claims the sovereignty over the whole
area of water inclosed within lines drawn parallel to the African coast from the outside of
Pemba and Zanzibar Islands to Cape Delgado and Lamoo. This practically amounts to a
claim on the part of the Sultan to jurisdiction over the waters for a distance of ten miles
from the coast, and as all the native vessels engaged in the Slave Traffic keep close in
shore, the claim if acquiesced in would render any further attempt on our part to prevent
the exportation of slaves from the Sultan's dominions perfectly useless, and would
undoubtedly lead to a very considerably increased traffic.
I would very deferentially venture to submit that we should refuse to acknowledge
the Sultan's pretensions, and hold His Highness to the strict letter of his engagements for
the suppression of the Slave Irade.
Any concessions on our part would be mistaken by the Arab slave-dealers, and would
be looked upon as a tacit permission on our part to continue the Traffic.
But it will be seen that Mr. Seward, in his despatch dated 10th September, recom
mends the abandonment altogether by our squadron of operations for the suppression of
the Slave Trade on the coasts of the Sultan's territories, on the ground that it should be
our policv to strengthen His Highness' position as a Ruler on the African coast^ whereas
our operations for the suppression of the Slave Traffic have tended to weaken his power
and to discredit him in the eyes of his subjects. A further reason alleged why we should