ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
XV
house at Kilwa between 1862 and 1867, distinguishing those sent to Zanzibar from those
shipped to other places :—
Elsewhere.
5.500
3.500
3,000
4,000
4.500
20,500
“ 13. From a despatch of Dr. Kirk, dated 1st February 1870, it appears that 14,944.
were exported from Kilwa in the year ending 23rd August 1869. But besides those
passed through the Custom-house at Kilwa, numbers are exported from other places on
the coast.
“ 14. Snch is the extent to which the exportation of slaves takes place from the
Zanzibar territory on the Fast Coast of Africa. It has also been shown that there the
slave trade still exists from the Portuguese territory to the Island of Madagascar, and
that slaves are still imported into Turkish ports in the Bed Sea, General Bigby having
recently seen fresh importations even in the civilised port of Suez. It must not, however,
be thought that those who are taken captive, great as the numbers are, represent in- any
degree the total number of the sufferers from this iniquitous traffic. Such is the fearful
loss of life resulting from this traffic, such the miseries which attend it, that, according
to Dr. Livingstone and others, notone in five, in some cases not one in ten, of the victims
of the slave hunters ever reach the coast alive.
“ 15. Measures have at various times been adopted by the Government of this country
to control and check the trade, but hitherto with but partial success; these measures
have been two-fold.
y To control the trade, treaties have been made with the Sultan of Muscat, with the
friendly Arab chiefs on the Arabian coast, and with the Shah of Persia. The treaties
with the Sultan of Muscat are acknowledged to be binding upon the Sultan of Zanzibar,
who has issued orders accordingly, and they prohibit the export of slaves from Africa, as
well as their import from Africa into Asia, Arabia, the Bed Sea, or Persian Gulf, but
permit the transport of slaves to and fro between Kilwa, Zanzibar, and any coast port up
to Lamoo, which is the northern limit of the Sultan of Zanzibar’s dominions.
‘‘ 16. The result of the treaties, as far as the Sultan of Zanzibar is concerned, is, that
not only are the slave traders enabled to rendezvous in great numbers at Zanzibar, but
the slaver, laden with slaves, starting from Zanzibar, and provided with proper clearances
for Lamoo, is enabled to make the first half of the journey north unmolested by British
cruisers.
“ 17. The object of the British Government in assenting to these treaty provisions was
to ^'Oid interference with the status of domestic slavery in the dominions of the Sultan
. f\”/^oar, as appears by a Despatch from the Bight Honourable Earl Bussell dated
14th March 1864, in which it is stated that Her Majesty’s Government do not claim the
right to interfere in the status of domestic slavery in Zanzibar, nor with the bona fide
transport of slaves from one part of the Sultan’s teritory to another.
“ 18. It appears from the evidence that the admission of the Sultan of Zanzibar’s right
to transport slaves between his island and coast dominions has afforded a cover for the
foreign slave trade, as the traders procure at Zanzibar or Kilwa the requisite port clearances
and passes for Lamoo, and thence run northwards, taking their chance of escapin«-the
British cruisers. ^ ^
Year.
1862- 63
1863- 64
1864- 65
1865- 66
1866- 67
Zanzibar.
1 3,000
14,000
13,821
18,344
17.538
Total Exports from Kilwa 1
in Five vears - - I
76,703
20,500
97,203
‘"19. There are no means of ascertaining the exact numbers intended for the foreign
market, but different witnesses have estimated the numbers annually needed to maintain
® of slave labour in the dominion of Zanzibar, at from 1,700 to 3,000, which
wou d leave at least 17,000 as the number destined for the foreign slave market. The
rea y stipulations and agreements with the Sultans of Muscat and Zanzibar have been
cariie mto effect by various Acts of Parliament and Orders in Council, which contain
pioxnsion tor the establishment of courts of adjudication for the trial of vessels captured
as slavers at Zanzibar.
r ,1 carrying out of these measures has been committed to the Political Agent
o the Governor General of India, who also holds the appointment of British Consul at
^anzibar, and, in addition to the ordinary duties of a Political Agent and Consul, is
®Admiralty Court. The expenses of this establishment are borne by
the Indian Government, ^
420.
b 4
21. The
