43 
CN SLAVE TßADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA). 
the slave trade ; they used to have splendid 
^6ssels come out ; no expense was spared, and a 
large amount of capital was embarked in 
he trade; that was a great deal checked, and 
the last year that I was at Zanzibar, out 
six vessels that were sent out from a certain 
house at Marseilles, five were either lost or cap 
tured. 
544. Was there at that time any considerable 
^^de carried on by the Arabs?—Yes, but not to 
®Y^h an extent as now, because the French out- 
the Arabs very much ; they eould afibrd to 
a larger price for the negroes than the Arabs 
could. 
d45. What was the price of a slave at that 
at Zanzibar ?—Whilst the French were 
haying them, I should say the price of a full 
8^0wu slave was from 30 to 40 dollars. 
546. That gave a very large profit to the 
^ller of the slave to the French, did it not?— 
t-es. 
547. To what extent was the Arab slave trade 
Carried on while you were there ?—I think the 
®Ccond year after I was there I got the returns 
the Custom House, which showed that it 
^as 19,000. 
548. That included all, I suppose ? —Those 
^^cre the slaves which passed the Custom House 
Y Zanzibar, and which were supposed to be kept, 
they had obeyed the treaties within the Zan- 
^bar dominions, but probably at the very lowest 
^®tiinate, three-fourths of those were sold to the 
^^^thern Arabs. 
g 549. Xot to the French? — No; the late 
^Itan was always very fair ; he was himself 
y^^y anxious to put a stop to this French slave 
^ade in his dominions, and he remonstrated con- 
®^autly with the French ; but he said, what can 
do when they send their slave vessels with 
^cu-of-war ; if I attempt to interfere, the French 
„ cnsul immediately threatens me with the inter- 
c^ence of his Government. 
d50. Did the Sultan derive the same profits 
oui the slaves carried by French vessels, as from 
.,c others?—He derived no profit at all from 
them. 
d5l. JJis only profit was from those carried by 
northern Arabs?—Yes, those that passed the 
t^stom House at Zanzibar. 
552. Where did the French take them from ? 
^■^11 parts of the coast. They used to send 
Kcuts to the Island of Zanzibar also, and have 
' .®tn collected and taken to the back side of the 
® ^nd which is almost uninhabited ; where there 
ho roads and no huts, and have them shipped 
®ccretly from there. 
g d3. Was the Sultan equally honest with re- 
fo the slaves carried by the northern Arabs ? 
. 5; he was afraid of the northern Arabs,they 
of his own race ; I have intercepted letters 
^ ^ .his own nearest relatives sending orders to 
of describing the exact number and sexes 
gg c slaves they required, just as if they were 
dmg orders for horses to be shipped, 
horiif’ besides any fear he might have of the 
Pi’ofl Arabs, he would be deprived of the 
Y on the slaves by putting down the trade ? 
pas because a tax is paid upon the slaves 
dol^^^ the Custom House. At that time it was a 
the per head, and I think in 1860 he increased 
by 1 to two dollars. On all slaves imported 
^^It^^ own family no tax is paid, so 
^5inb^ ‘^oes not get a revenue upon 
0-1% 
that the 
the whole 
555. Were you called upon to remonstrate 
much with the Sultan as to the continuance of 
the trade notwithstanding our treaties with him ? 
—During the whole of the four years I was there 
I was perpetually remonstrating with him. His 
attitude towards us depended a great deal upon 
the state of eircumstances in which he happened 
to be in at the time. When he was in want of 
our assistance he would act very fairly, and do 
anything I wished, at other times, when he thought 
there was no danger of rebellion, he would not. 
556. What was the sort of assistance whieh he 
expected to obtain from us ?—Whilst I was 
there, his brother, the present Sultan, Syed Bur- 
gash, rebelled against him, and no doubt the Sul 
tan would have lost his life and the whole of his 
dominions would have been in a state of anarchy, 
had not he given me sole authority over the town 
to do what I liked. Fortunately I got assistance 
from a man-of-war which happened to be at the 
time in the harbour, and I went and seized the 
present Sultan, who had hidden himself in his 
house in the town, and I made him prisoner, and 
sent him to Bombay. At that time the Sultan 
would do anything ; but after the danger had 
passed he gradually relaxed ; he became very 
much annoyed by the more active proceedings of 
our cruisers, and at last he got into a very bad 
temper, and would not assist us in any way. 
557. At that time was it your opinion that he 
had some reason to complain of the proceedings 
of our eruisers ?—In very few instances. Great 
complaints were made, but, when investigated, it 
turned out in almost every case that the Arabs 
were instigated by the French or other foreigners 
who viewed our interference with the slave trade 
with the greatest dislike and jealousy. 
558. We had no assistance from the French 
ships?—Quite the reverse. Previous to my 
arrival in Zanzibar, I had not known of any in 
stance of a slaver being captured in the Zanzibar 
territories by any of our cruisers ; certainly no 
captures took place for six years before that. 
After that our cruisers were very active indeed, 
and a great many slavers were taken, particularly 
northern Arab dhows. As nothing had been done 
previously to my arrival, of course the Sultan and 
all the Arabs considered that the activity of our 
cruisers was owing to my personal action, and 
they had the idea that when I left the whole 
thing would drop. 
559. Did the seizures by our cruisers give 
any considerable check to the trade?—Very 
great ; so much so, that I found, when I was 
leaving Zanzibar in October 1861, that on the 
coast north of Zanzibar slaves were selling for 
five dollars a piece ; the sale of them had become 
so difficult then that the men who had bought 
them at Zanzibar and taken them north, with a 
view to shipping them to Persia and Arabia, 
were glad almost to give them away ; they found 
sueli difficulty in getting rid of them. 
560. Is the profit of the trader who buys slaves 
at Zanzibar and on the coast adjoining Zanzibar, 
and exports them to the Bed Sea, very large ?— 
Apparently it is very large, that is to say, a slave 
sold in the market at Zanzibar for, say 20 dollars, 
would be resold in Muscat for 60 to 100 dollars, 
but the mortality during the sea passage is so 
very great that it very mueh reduces the profit. 
561. What occasions that very great mortality ? 
—The way they pack the slaves in those small 
dhows ; the want of proper food ; the state of 
filth they are in ; the want of water ; and if they 
F 2 happen. 
Maj. Gen. 
C. P. Mxghy^ 
20 July 
,1871.