ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA). 
129 
(^o. 165 of 1860.—Secret Department.) 
From //. L. Anderson, Esq., Acting Chief Secretary to Government, Bombay, to 
• Brigadier Coghlan, Resident at Aden. 
Sir, Bombay, 29 May 1860. 
I AM directed by the Honourable the Governor in Council to transmit to you copies of 
the additional correspondence* possessed by this Government relative to the affairs of 
Muscat and Zanzibar. 
I also enclose a letter from the Honourable the Governor in Council to the address of 
Syud Thoweynee of Muscat, accrediting you to his Highness as charged with the duty 
of inquiring into the disputes pending between the actual rulers of Muscat and Zanzibar, 
and also of installing Mr. Hormuzd Rassam as British agent at the former place, until 
further orders. 
The Honourable the Governor in Council desires me to state that the annexed translation 
of the letter referred to, will furnish you with a general idea of the principles on which 
your inquiries are to be based, as also of the objects contemplated by the Right Honoura 
ble the Governor General, in acceding to the request of the contending parties to mediate 
between them by arbitration. 
Those objects have respect mainly to securing the permanent peace, prosperity, and 
independence of the territories comprehended within the dominions of the late Imaura 
Syud Saeed, and to the maintenance of that legitimate influence therein to which 
our long friendly relations with the Muscat state fairly entitle the British Govern 
ment. 
The Honourable the Governor in Council considers it superfluous to add any further 
instructions for your guidance in conducting this investigation; but your experience will 
enable you to estimate fairly the value of the rival claims to the sovereignty of Zanzibar 
and its dependencies, and to suggest such an adjustment of existing disputes on that 
important point, as may bo satisfactory to both parties, most conducive to the general 
welfare of the people and tribes hitherto subject to the Tmamship of Muscat, and 
witlial, best calculated to maintain peace and to ensure the furtherance of our just 
interests in Oman, and along the Eastern Coast of Africa, dependent on Zanzibar. 
You are accordingly requested to associate with the report of your inquiries whatever 
arrangement you may deem most effectual towards the attainment of those desirable 
results, stating explicitly and in detail the ground on which your oj^inions are formed. 
The Honourable the Governor in Council has to regret that the latest intelligence 
received via the Persian Gulf represents Syud Toorkce of Sohar, as engaged in nego 
tiations for eventually disposing of that principality to the Ameer of the Wahabees. 
Considering that Syud Toorkee’s rule over Sohar during the lifetime of his father, the 
late Imam, was merely that of a local governor appointed to administer the affairs of 
that province in behalf of the souzerain, it is fairly questionable whether he possesses any 
valid right to be independent of Muscat, much less to effect such a transfer of Sohar as 
he is re})orted to be meditating. 
It is to be presumed that Syud Toorkee rests his claim on grounds analagous to those 
put forward by Syud Majeed as entitling him to the sovereignty of Zanzibar, and as 
these latter are to be made the subject of investigation in order to the final arbitration of 
the Right Honourable the Governor General, it is most desirable that the district of 
Sohar should not be alineated until his Lordship’s decision has been made. Moreover, 
such an alineation might endanger the security of Muscat and its other dependencies, and 
the ascendancy of the Wahabees would inevitably be 1 olio wed by the most disastrous 
results throughout Oman, destructive alike of the peace of that province, and of the 
maritime security of the Persian Gulf. 
On arriving at Muscat you will be able to ascertain what Syud Toorkee’s real inten 
tions are in this respect, and you are hereby authorised by the Honourable the Governor 
in Council, to take such steps as you may deem most effeetual for arresting the projected 
transfer of Sohar to the Wahabees. A letter of counsel and expostulation may suffice ; 
but in case of persistency, you will make known to that chief that the British Govern 
ment will regard with displeasure any course of action on his part which threatens to 
disturb the present peace, and to involve the country of Oman in civil war and 
bloodshed. 
Frequent opportunities will be afforded you during the existence of the Commission for 
inquiring into the actual state of the slave trade on the Eastern Coast of Africa, and the 
knowledge thus acquired will enable you to suggest some more effectual means for its 
extirpation than those now in force. The extent to which it is still carried on in that 
quarter, shows that a revision of the existing treaties with the late Imaum is imperatively 
called for, ^ before this nefarious traffic can be suppressed ; but the Honourable the 
Governor in Council is of opinion that until the question relative to the sovereignty of 
Zanzibar has been finally settled by the arbitration of the Right Honourable the Governor 
General, it is not desirable that you should initiate any measures to that effect. Moreover, 
recent proceedings on the coast indicated, render it more and more obvious to the Honour 
able the Governor in Council that any separate treaty on our part for the suppression of 
0.116. R the 
Appendix, No. 8. 
• Forwarded with 
Secret Despatch 
from this Govern 
ment, dated the 7th 
J une, No. 24 of1860.