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APPENDIX.
Appendix, No. 1.
PAPER handed in by the Honourable C. Vivian^ 13 July 1871.
INSTRUCTIONS for the Guidance of Naval, Officers employed in the Suppression Appendix No. 1.
of the Slave Trade. !—'
Admiralty, 6 November 1869.
The attention of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having been called to
serious irregularities and mistakes committed by officers commanding Her Majesty’s ships,
employed in the suppression of the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa, their Lordships
are pleased to issue the following Order.
It is not intended by this Order to alter the slave trade instructions which are now
furnished to Her Majesty’s ships, but merely to point out and explain to officers, in
the most marked manner, certain provisions of those instructions which, on some occasions,
have been misunderstood or neglected, and to bring to the notice of officers the
provisions of the recent Statute, 32 & 33 Viet. c. 75.
1.—As to what Vessels are liable to Capture,
Articles 50, 51, and 388.
The 50th Article of the General Instructions gives the general rule as follows :—
If in the course of the search you are satisfied that the vessel is engaged in or
equipped for the slave trade, and that she is subject to your authority, you will
proceed to detain her.”
The 51st Article gives ancillary rules:—You will be justified in concluding that a
vessel is engaged in or equipped for the slave trade
“ I. If you find any slaves on board.
II. If you find in her outfit any of the equipments hereinafter mentioned ” [then
follows an enumeration of the equipments taken from the Statute 2 & 3 Viet.
C, 73, 6. 4].
In construing the words in this Article, “ if you find any slaves on board,” reference
must be had to the general scope of the instructions, and particularly to the language of
the preceding Article, which speaks of the vessel being engaged in or equipped for the
slave trade.”
Slave trade must, for this purpose, be carefully distinguished from slavery ; with
which, as existing in foreign States, or on board foreign ships, not being in British
territorial waters. Her Majesty’s Government does not claim, either by treaty or otherwise,
to interfere. As a fact, slavery, as a legal institution, exists in several States
(amongst them Zanzibar) with which Great Britain has treaties for the suppression of
slave trade. The mere finding, therefore, of slaves on board a vessel will not justify an
officer in detaining Ijer if there are other circumstances which show that these persons
are slaves by the law of the country from which the ship has sailed, or to which she
belongs, and that they are not being transported for the purpose of being sold as slaves.
Thus, for instance, where the slaves found on board are very few in number, are unconfined,
and appear to be on board for the purpose of loading or working the ship, or
attending upon the master or the passengers, and there is no other evidence that the
vessel is engaged in or equipped for the slave trade.
0.116. M 2
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