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APPENDIX  TO  REPORT  FROM  SELECT  COMMITTEE

Appendix,  No.  1.

2.—As  to  Documents  found  on  Board  the  detained  Ships,
Articles  58,  69,  85.
These  Articles  which  prescribe  measures  for  the  preservation  and  final  delivery  to  the
Court  of  Adjudication  of  all  papers  and  documents  found  on  board  the  detained  vessels,
are  to  be  carried  out  with  perfect  fidelity  and  scrupulous  care.
The  unexplained  loss  of  any  such  document,  and  still  more  its  destruction,  on  any  pretext ­
  whatsoever,  will  lay  the  officer  open  to  very  serious  imputation.
3.—As  to  the  Destruction  of  Vessels.
Articles  60,  61.
These  Articles  give  authority  to  the  officer  to  destroy  a  vessel  which,  on  search,  he
considers  to  be  engaged  in  or  equipped  for  the  slave  trade,  if,  after  survey  held,  it  appears
that  she  is  not  in  a  sufficiently  sea-worthy  condition  to  be  sent  to  a  port  of  adjudication.
My  Lords  cannot,  however,  too  strongly  insist  that  such  destruction  of  a  vessel  is  only  to
be  resorted  to  as  an  extreme  measure.  Nothing  will  excuse  the  officer  in  not  sending  in
the  vessel  to  a  port  of  adjudication,  except  facts  showing  satisfactorily  that  doing  so  would
have  involved  serious  danger  to  the  lives  of  the  prize  crew.
In  addition  to  this,  the  390th  Article  is  to  be  strictly  observed  as  to  Zanzibar  vessels;
“  If  you  have  detained  a  Zanzibar  vessel  upon  suspicion,  and  are  unable  to  send
her  into  the  proper  port  of  adjudication,  you  will  not  destroy  her  without  (if  practicable) ­
  having  first  ascertained  at  the  nearest  Zanzibar  port,  by  inquiries  from
Her  Majesty’s  consul  and  others,  that  she  was  engaged  in  or  equipped  for  the
slave  trade.”
You  are  also  strictly  to  observe  all  similar  articles,  with  respect  to  vessels  of  other
nationalities,  to  be  found  in  the  Special  Instructions.
4.—As  to  the  Port  of  Adjudication.
Articles  63,  65,  389.
The  two  first  named  of  these  articles  prescribe  the  general  duty  of  forwarding  the
detained  vessel  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  to  the  port  of  adjudication,  and  direct  the
officer  to  refer  to  the  special  instructions  to  ascertain  the  proper  port.
The  389th  Article,  referring  to  Zanzibar  vessels  only,  is  as  follows:—
“  The  proper  port  of  adjudicatation  for  a  Zanzibar  vessel  is  the  nearest  or  most
accessible  port  at  which  a  British  Admiralty,  or  Vice  Admiralty  Court,  is  established.” ­

Since  the  issuing  of  these  instructions,  certain  powers  have  been  conferred  on  Her
Majesty’s  consul  at  Zanzibar,  by  Order  in  Council  of  9th  August  1866,  and  the  statute
32  &  33  Viet.  c.  75.
The  29th  section  of  the  Order  in  Council  is  in  these  words  :—
“  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  Her  Majesty’s  consul  within  the  dominion  of  the
Sultan  of  Zanzibar  shall,  for  and  within  the  said  dominions,  and  for  vessels  and
persons  coming  within  those  dominions,  and  in  regard  to  vessels  captured  on  suspicion ­
  of  being  engaged  in  the  slave  trade  within  those  dominions,  have  all  such
jurisdiction  as  for  the  time  being  ordinarily  belongs  to  Courts  of  Vice  Admiralty  in
Her  Majesty’s  possessions  abroad.”
The  Act  of  Parliament  extends  the  consul’s  power;  for  the  2nd  section  is  in  these
terms:—
Her  Majesty’s  consul  at  Zanzibar  for  the  time  being  shall  have,  and  shall  be
deemed  to  have  always  since  the  commencement  of  the  said  Order  in  Council  had,
all

It  is  quite  otherwise  where  the  slaves  are  found  crowded  and  chained  together,  and
are  obviously  being  carried  as  cargo  to  be  sold  as  slaves.
Between  these  two  classes  of  cases  there  are  intermediate  cases  ;  some  of  a  doubtful
character.  It  must  rest  with  the  officer  to  distinguish  to  what  class  any  particular  case
belongs  by  a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances  ;  bearing  in  mind  always
this,  that  it  is  his  duty  to  detain  the  vessel  if  he  is  reasonably  satisfied  that  she  is  engaged
in  or  equipped  for  the  slave  trade,  but  not  otherwise.
Officers  must  further  observe  that  by  the  388th  Article  of  the  Instructions,  a  right  is
reserved  to  the  subjects  of  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar  of  transporting  slaves  within  certain
limits  therein  specified.  That  right,  however,  has  by  a  special  order  of  the  Sultan,  dated
1863,  been  waived  during  the  months  of  January,  February,  March,  and  April.