ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
71
Tuesday^ 2bth July 1871.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Sir Robert Anstruther.
Lord Frederick Cavendish.
Mr. Crum-Ewing.
Mr. Robert Fowler.
Mr. Gilpin.
Mr. Russell Gurney.
Sir John Hay.
Mr. Kennaway.
Mr. Kinnaird.
Mr. Shaw Lefevre.
Mr. O’Conor.
Mr. John Talbot.
Right Honourable RUSSELL GURNEY, in the Chair.
Rev. Edward Steere, ll.d., called in ; and Examined.
^85. Mr. J. Talbot.'] I THINK you were resident
Zanzibar for some time ?—For four years.
. 986. You went out with the Universities Mis-
did you not?—Yes; immediately after
^shop Mackenzie’s death.
987. In what position were you in whilst you
resident in Zanzibar ?—I was a missionary
r^plain to Bishop Tozer; I was one of the mis-
^^^îiaries, in fact.
. 988. Bishop Tozer succeeded Bishop Macken-
p 989. And he changed the field of the mission
the Zambezi River to the town of Zanzi-
• 990. Before you went to Zanzibar, you had been
to L Portuguese territory ?—Yes ; we first went
Zambezi, and then finding that the original
th ^ mission was desolate, we looked out for
t^^^^atural centre of the country, and we moved
^anzibar with the remnant of the mission,
i 991. How are the slaves obtained which are
to Zanzibar?—I know very little of
}vay in which slaves are obtained in the
but my impression is, that they are
¡11 always bought, and that the desolation
^oe interior does not arise directly from the
trade, nor is it occasioned with the view
Ci:j^®^Pply slaves ; but it is not an uncommon oc-
^ ®ï^ce in Africa to have a marauding tribe
dç^^P^ûg over a large district, and practically
slg^^^ying the district for the time being. The
^ have talked to in Zanzibar have almost
sold by their relations, or by their mas
hy the interior. The great hardships caused
trade seem to lie first of all in the march
^ud then in the passage at sea. I have
Oj. ^ told several times of whole caravans of 200
^ having died between the place where
^^6re bought in the interior and the coast ;
^ilw ^ regards the passage by sea, even between
loet ^ Zanzibar, there was a dhow very lately
80 ^hird of the slaves on board ; there were
/o^vn overboard, either dead or dying, be-
Kilwa and Zanzibar.
' Sir i?. Anstruther.'] How many days
0.1^®j® it from Kilwa to Zanzibar?—Between
one and three. If a dhow is kept out three days
a very large proportion of the slaves invariably
die ; it is not customary to give any food on the
voyage except a little uncooked rice.
993. Mr. J. Talbot.^ lYe have heard some very
dreadful descriptions of the sufferings which the
slaves undergo in their land journey from the
place where they are captured to the port where
they are exported ; do you confirm those state
ments ?—Yes, entirely. The great difficulty is
to get them to the coast at all.
994. I understand that you do not agree en
tirely with what has been stated by former wit
nesses, that the country has been depopulated in
order to obtain those slaves ?—No.
995. But you think that the country has been
depopulated by wars, and that the result of those
wars has been the capture of slaves?—Sometimes,
but not always. Very often the effect of wars
has been, that no slaves have come from the
country. Till lately more than half the slaves
in Zanzibar came from the neighbourhood of
Lake Nyassa; and since the country has been
desolated, no slaves have come from it. When
the country was at peace there was a large
exportation of slaves, but when the war and deso
lation began the exportation of slaves ceased.
996. Do you confirm the statement that was
made yesterday, that the country between Lake
Nyassa and the sea is almost entirely depopu
lated ?—Yes, I have heard that stated over and
over again. Marauders, whom Dr. Livingstone
calls Mazitu, and the people of Zanzibar call
Maviti, have spread over the whole country, one
chief only having stood against them. Those
marauders came even to Kilwa, upon which the
Sultan of Zanzibar sent an armed force to defend
Kilwa ; a part of the Sultan of Zanzibar’s force
went out against them, and many were killed, a
few only escaping back to Kilwa. Some of the
town’s people were then sent out to treat with
them, and they were sent back without an answer,
and with their hands cut off.
997. Are you able to confirm the statements
which have been made to us as to the great fer-
1 4 tility
Rev.
E. 8 teere y
i'5 July
1871.
