79 
ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA). 
^ charge of the boats ; was that ever brought to 
Jcur notice as commander of the station?—Cer- 
^inly not; I should say that the officers in 
harge of the boats displayed great zeal, and 
^onderful perseverance in carrying out the duties 
i*^cy had to perform ; and I had every reason to 
^ Satisfied with the captains under my command, 
A? ''Veil as with the state of discipline of the 
merent ships. 
Il62. It was given in evidence before, that 
of those officers are engaged in very 
Ijhluons duties away from their ships for many 
^^ys in a severe climate?—Yes, most arduous 
• and they have many difficulties to contend 
^§9,inst in the way of currents and breezes, in 
to which they are not accustomed ; the mon- 
^crs are very strong sometimes on the coast. 
^Cy certainly as a rule perform their duties 
^^y creditably to themselves. 
116.3. When you were in command did you 
^Ve many complaints of the conduct of the men 
1 ben on shore at Zanzibar ?—None, to my recol- 
g. II64. You are not prepared to agree with the 
Element made by a former witness, that the 
^^bduct of the men while on shore at Zanzibar 
so bad that they had to be prevented from 
ashore at all ?—The men were prevented 
going ashore in Zanzibar, to the best of my 
^^.^^llection, for fear of their coming in contact 
j dh the Northern Arabs, who are a very wild, 
^b^less race ; to prevent collisions between the 
^ ^fthern Arabs and the men, it was not thought 
^l^^irable to give the men leave to land on that 
and they were sent to the Seychelles to 
^1 ^nd their holidays and to have their leave. It 
^ot on account of their misbehaviour on shore 
o ^11, but merely to prevent collisions between 
and the Northern Arabs. 
¡^•,ll65. Sir J. Hay.'] The unhealthiness of Zan- 
also had something to do with the prohi- 
I presume?—Yes. 
\yö6. Chairman.] The Seychelles are healthy ? 
]jjl67. Mr. Crmn-Eicing.] Will you specify a 
Y more particularly the tonnage of the dozen 
^ ®®els which you think would be requisite ?— 
^ew class of corvette, from 1,000 to 1,200 
You would have steam launches attached 
^se corvettes ?—Y es. 
Lord F. Cavendish.] Do you consider 
the employment of such a fleet as you have 
tj.^'jbuiiended would absolutely put an end to the 
Rg or only diminish it ?—It would diminish it 
\vjj^|^^®iderably that it would not be worth the 
t ^be Northern Arabs to run the risk of 
st^k^re. It is a regular trade, and if they were 
Pfied in that way they would give it up. 
We have been told that it might be 
P while to make a great effort, and that if 
^^de was once absolutely stopped it might 
be renewed ; is it your opinion that 12 
® would so put an end to the trade as to 
the prospect of this large fleet not being 
^^ontly required?—Wherever there is a 
there will always be a supply if the 
^0^] vvithdrawn, but I should hope that it 
kiq d be found it would not be profitable to 
the slaves and send them to the beach 
prospect of sending them on. 
The present squadron of seven vessels 
0 one out of 20 ; that being so, do you 
think that 12 vessels would be likely to put an 
end entirely to the trade ?—No, it would be 
impossible entirely to do so with such a large 
extent of coast. 
1172. Was the health of the men under your 
command good?—The health of the men in the 
cruisers on the South East Coast was good ; but 
in the flagship, the “ Octavia,” we suffered very 
severely from an epidemic of small-pox and fever. 
1173. What would be the number of the crew 
which you would recommend for such a fleet ?— 
About 2,000. 
1174. Mr. J. Talbot.] Those steam launches 
would be able to go into the shallows?—Yes; the 
steam launches would go into the shallows where 
there would not be much sea ; the steam launches 
could not be exposed to the severity of the mon 
soon. 
1175. Do you agree with the last witness that 
large ships by themselves would not be efficacious 
in stopping the slave trade ?—You require small 
ships ; large ships consume more fuel than small 
ships, and a small ship would do the duty just as 
well as a large one. 
1176. Did you have a proper proportion of 
those small ships ?—They were all small. 
1177. Were they small enough to go into 
shallow water?—No, they sent their boats in; 
most of their duties were conducted by their 
boats ; I gave very strict orders that boats were 
on no account to land or to attack barracoons 
unless they had the support of the ships. 
1178. No difficulty arose from your not being 
able to follow the slavers into shallow water ?— 
We should surprise them in the shallow water if 
we could; it depended on the captains of the ships 
and the information they got ; their endeavours 
were to surprise the slavers ; if the slavers have 
the slightest hint of our coming, all the flttino-s 
a re'pitched overboard ; it is only by taking them 
by surprise that we can capture them. 
1179. Did you find any difficulty from the 
fact of your ships being so large that they were 
unable to leave deep water, in consequence of 
which the slavers got into shallow water, and so 
escaped from the large ship ?—No, I think, as a 
rule, the slavers ran on shore ; if they were 
chased by a cruiser along the coast of Arabia 
there would be a good deal of surf, and the ships 
could not stand in. 
1180. A boat could follow them ?—They were 
followed by the boats. 
. 1181. You had enough boats in proportion to 
the ships ?—Yes, every ship was supplied with 
her proportion of boats. 
1182. Chairman.] Had you any steam 
launches ?—I had one in the Octavia.” 
1183. Sir J. Hay.] W ith regard to the dis 
position of the captured slaves when liberated, 
will you state what the process was when dhows 
were captured?—They were sent to be adjudi 
cated at Aden, principally ; some went to the 
Cape of Good Hope. 
1184. And the slaves were sent from Aden to 
Bombay, were they not ?—They were sent to 
the Seychelles. 
1185. Do you think the Seychelles a good 
place in which to deppsit liberated slaves ?—Yes ; 
the inhabitants appeared to wish that slaves 
should be continued to be sent there ; they were 
found very useful labourers. 
1186. Chairman.] Could they absorb any very 
large number of liberated slaves ?— No, not a 
K 4 large 
Rear Adm. 
C. F. Hillyar, 
C,B. 
25 July 
1871.