Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 832922498

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-79587

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Place of publication:: [London]

Publisher:: [The House of Commons]

Year of publication:: 1871

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (XXIV, 242 S.)

Collection:: Economics Books

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82 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE Capta n 1222. All of them ?—All of them. P. Colomb, 1223. What did you do with the slaves?— R.N, The slaves were landed at Aden. 1224. In your own ship ?—In iny own ship. 2,5 July 1225. Had you to proceed to Aden on each 1871. occasion and leave your cruising ground for the purpose of landing the slaves? — No; I kept them on board till my cruising ground was no longer tenable, owing to the setting in of the monsoon. 1226. How many crews of captured slavers had you on board at once ?—Not more than two crews, consisting of about 10 each, but five car goes of slaves. 1227. Consisting altogether of many persons? —In three of them there was one slave in each, in the other two there were 60 and 113, that would be 176 slaves. 1228. Would it have been possible for you to have continued your active exertions, if }ou had been obliged to save the dhows? — Certainly not ; if I had been obliged to save the dhows, I should simply have had to put a stop to my operations; I could not possibly have taken either of those dhows to the ¡^ort of adjudication, I must have let her go. 1229. You think that any proposal to prevent the naval officers, engaged in this service, from destroying the captured dhows, would make it impossible for them to continue the service with any great advantage?—As regards dhows, where there was no question about their being slavers, by reason of their being full, you would, in any case, destroy them. But where you have to act on less direct evidence, and are for this reason called on not to destroy the vessel, but to convey her bodily to the port of adjudication, the practical result is that such vessel would be always let go. 1230. The distances to the ports of adjudica tion are too great ?—Yes. 1231. The expenditure of fuel in towing her would make it quite impossible to take her to one of those ports?—Yes, if the dhow herself would stand the towing which she generally would not. 1232. Do you apprehend that difficulty will arise in carrying on the operations of the squadron from dhows being allowed to go free, which have a few slaves on board ?—If the Arabs understand that vessels with two or three slaves on board are allowed to go free, they will simply give up carrying full cargoes of slaves, and every lawful trader will carry five or six as part of her cargo. 1233. Full dhows on being pursued would not hesitate to put to death a number of slaves in order to avoid capture ?—I should think not. 1234. Mr. Fowleri^ By throwing them into the sea?—It would depend on whether they had a valuable cargo besides their slaves; they certainly would sacrifice the slaves to save a valuable cargo, either by throwing them into the sea, or by knock ing them on the head. 1235. Mr. Kinnnird.~\ They think nothing of knocking them on the head ?—Nothing. 1236. Sir R. Anstruther.^ In what condition were those 60 slaves which you captured ?— As to the 60 some of them were in very good condition, but many of them were horribly emaciated, and in a terrible state ; they had been 23 days at sea; the 113 which were in a dhow which I captured soon afterwards were all in a very excellent condition, they were as plump and as good humoured as possible ; they had been only 14 days at sea from Zanzibar. 1237. How were they stowed ?—Everybody in a dhow is stowed like cattle ; there is no dif ference between the Arab master and the slaves ; the Arab gentlemen and their wives and families going in dhows from Arabia to Zanzibar, have the same accommodation as the slaves have in coming up from Zanzibar. 1238. Are not the slaves bound on board ?— N ever. 1239. Sir J. Hay.'] Are not they ironed or chained?—1 never saw the slightest sign of force, and T never observed that there was the slightest likelihood of force being necessary. 1240. Sir R. ¿\nstruther.] In the case of the Arab and his family coming down to Zanzibar, there is not the same crowding that there is in the case of the slaves being carried from Zanzi' bar ?—No, still the difference w ould hardly strike one. 1241. Mr. CTum-Eu ing.] M hat is the ton' nage of the dhows?—They average about 80 tons ; some run to a much larger size, and a great many are smaller, but 1 suppose the average would be about 80 tons. 1242. How^ are they armed ?—With muskets and fowling pieces, and spears. 1243. Mr. Kinnaird] Where are they built ? —The great mass of them are built at Soor, a town near Bas el Hadd, in Arabia 1244. Chairman.] Have you ever found any difficulty in distinguishing between domestic slaves and slaves for export ?—I found none on the coast of Arabia. J was sometimes two of three days over the examination of the crew' o? the dhows ; but I found when I took time over it, I could always get at the truth. 1245. You carefully examined those on board before you proceeded to destroy the dhow ?-" Always. 1246. With that examination, you found perfectly easy to distinguish betw een legal traffic and illegal traffic ?—Yes, quite easy. 1247. You spoke of placing your fleet on the Arabian coast ; w'ould not it be very desirable, if possible, to save these poor creatures the 40 days voyage ?—Yes, I think it would. 1248. Have you reason to suppose that there is a great loss of life between Zanzibar and the Arabian coast?—Nothing that has come under my own notice leads me to suppose so, but I can easily understand that it might be so. 1249. Of course, all the evidence of deaths on the passage would be removed from any dho^ that you might capture ?—Yes. 1250. Might not a good deal be done in watch' ing the ports of departure ?—Yes ; I suppose h could. 1251. If there were a sufficiently large fleet to w atch them ?—I should think it might ; but yon might yourself form quite as good an opinion upon that point as I could. 1252. You spoke of the want of better inter preters ; would not it be very desirable to have a trained body of interpreters for the use of each captain ?—Most desirable. 1253. Would there be any difficulty in pro- vimng such interpreters at some small expense ^ —None whatever, I should think. 1254. You would then have persons upon whonr you could depend ?—Yes. 1255. Mr. Shaw Lefevre.] You said that i^ three of the vessels you captured, there were only three slaves?—One in each; those were very small vessels. 1256. Were

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