42

MINUTES  OF  EVIDENCE  TAKEN  BEFORE  SELECT  COMMITTEE

Thursday,  2()th  July  1871.

MEMBERS  PRESENT  :

Sir  Robert  Aostrutber.
Lord  Frederick  Cavendish.
Mr.  Criim-Ewing.
Viscount  Enfield.
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.

20  July
1871.

Mr.  Vivian  read  a  letter  received  from  Dr.  Kirk  on  the  10th  of  June  \hll—{Vide  Appendix).

Major  General  Christopher  Palmer  Rigby,  called  in;  and  Examined.

Maj.  Gen.
C.  P.  Rigby

530.  Chairman.’]  Were  you  at  one  time  Consul
•  at  Zanzibar?—I  was  Her  Majesty’s  Consul  and
Political  Agent  for  the  Indian  Government  nearly
four  years,  from  1858  to  the  end  of  1861.
531.  Had  you  previously  to  that  been  acting
in  any  capacity  which  gave  you  a  knowledge  of
the  affairs  of  that  district?—1  had  been  stationed
at  Aden  for  four  years,  where  I  studied  Arabic
and  Persian,  and  the  language  of  the  African
Coast,  the  Somali  language  ;  and  I  had  also  been
nearly  two  years  up  the  Persian  Gulf  ;  I  was
the^  magistrate  at  Bushire,  superintendent  of
police,  and  Persian  interpreter  to  the  general
commanding  during  the  Persian  War.
532.  Had  you  any  opportunity  of  becoming
acquainted  with  the  proceedings  of  the  slave
traders  previously  to  your  being  appointed
Consul  at  Zanzibar  ?—I  had  heard  a  good  deal  of
the  trade  when  I  was  up  the  Persian  Gulf,  being
very  much  thrown  amongst  officers  of  the  Indian
Navy.
533.  At  that  time,  that  is  before  the  year
1858,  was  there  any  considerable  slave  trade
cairied  on  up  the  Red  Sea?—I  think  very  few
slaves  indeed  were  carried  up  the  Red  Sea.
There  were  always  one  or  two  vessels  of  the
Indian  Navy  stationed  at  Aden,  and  they  operated ­
  almost  as  a  complete  check  to  any  slaves
passing  into  the  Red  Sea.
^4.  In  1858,  who  was  the  reigning  sovereio-n
at  Zanzibar  ?—Syed  Majid,  the  late  Sultan.  °
much  communication  with  him  ?
—The  British  Consulate  at  Zanzibar  had  been
closed  18  months  before  I  went  there  on  account
of  tlie  death  of  my  predecessor,  Colonel  Hamerton.
I  was  the  only  Englishman  there,  and  of  course
it  took  me  some  time  to  become  acquainted  with
the  slave  trade  ;  every  individual  on  the  island
was  interested  in  keeping  me  in  ignorance  of  it
as  much  as  possible,  and  it  was  only  gradually
that  I  became  aware  of  the  vast  extent  of  it.
.  ^  suppose  it  has  existed  there  for  a  long
time,  It  has  grown  gradually  from  year  to
year  ;  but  it  is  within  the  last  20  years  that  it
has  become  developed  to  what  it  now  is,
53/.  You  found  it  prevailing  to  a  great  extent

in  1858,  as  soon  as  you  were  able  to  become  aC'
quainted  with  what  going  on  ?—Yes  ;  at  that
time  the  slave  trade  to  the  Persian  Gulf  and  to
the  Red  Sea,  was  not  so  active  as  it  is  now?
because  the  chief  number  of  the  slaves,  parti'
cularly  the  adults,  were  taken  away  by  the
French.  When  I  went  there  I  found  a  most
active  slave  trade  carried  on  at  Zanzibar  itself,
and  along  the  coast  by  the  French  vessels,  and
at  that  time  the  French  slave  vessels  went  eS'
corted  by  French  men-of-war.
538.  Would  those  slaves  be  taken  to  the
M  auritius  ?—To  Reunion  and  to  Mayotta.
539.  Did  the  slave  trade  increase  or  decrease
during  the  time  you  were  there  ?—For  sometime
after  I  went  there  it  increased  very  much.  The
French  Government  encouraged  the  trade  ;  the
French  Admiral  used  to  say,  we  want  labourers
for  our  colonies,  and  we  are  determined  to  have
them  ;  the  French  consul  also  gave  his  active
sujiport  to  it  ;  not  only  was  encouragement  given
to  slavers  under  the  French  flag,  but  also  to
slavers  under  the  Spanish  flag.
540.  Has  that  state  of  things  continued  up  to
the  present  time  ?—I  brought  this  to  the  notice  •
of  the  Foreign  Office,  and  I  followed  the  subject
up  as  much  as  I  possibly  could,  but  it  continued
till  Prince  Napoleon  came  into  office  as  Porei^n
Minister  in  France,  and  he  issued  very  strino-ent
orders  prohibiting  this  slave  trade,  which^  did
check  it  very  much  for  a  time,  but  afterwards
they  carried  it  on  under  the  free  engao-ées  syS'
tern.  ®  ^  I
541.  Have  you  reason  to  suppose  that  that
has  been  continued  to  the  present  time  ?—It  waS
checked  afterwards  by  our  Government  entering
into  ail  arrangement  with  the  French,  by  which
labourers  from  India.
542.  V\  as  the  principal  part  of  the  slave  trade
earned  on  at  that  time,  that  which  was  carried
on  under  the  French  flag  ?—In  addition  to  that,
theie  was  a  great  slave  trade  to  Cuba  under  the
Spanish  flag.
^  suppose  has  ceased  before  now  ?
AT  entirely  ceased.  Large  houses
at  Marseilles  and  Barcelona  entered  very  largely
inte