ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
49
Wt it
appears that Seychelles does not want
V .^17. Would not there be a danger of their being
idnapped by the northern Arabs^ if they were
glided at Zanzibar ?—Our squadron must stop all
; I found no difficulty with the 6,0001 emancipated
; each slave had his own certifícate of emanci-Pation;
I watched them pretty well ; I used to send
g^^iard about the island to find if they had been
kidnapped, and no complaints ever reached me.
fil8. In fact you think precautions might be
Y Gn to prevent any danger of kidnapping ?—
when the northern Arabs came down, and
prowling about, the slaves whom I had
^berated, without any hint from me, formed
i^iongst themselves a vigilance committee, who
J^cd to patrol the town all night to protect the
I^Y^cipated slaves; and they very often used to.
'ake me up in the night if the Arabs had at-'
^^^pted to take any of their children.
Whose subjects are the northern Arabs,
',ko chiefly carry on this trade ?-clu<
- - •" -
They
are
kefly the piratical tribes ; the tribes who in
years gave us a great deal of trouble.
^2o. Are they subject to any power?—That is
kG difficulty in dealing with the slave trade; a
niany of them are nominally under the
■J^krisdiction of the Imaum of Muscat, but in
^ality the Imaum of Muscat has no power at all
^ Gr them ; he can do nothing effective.
fl2l. q'o what ports do those northern Arabs
Giefly take the slaves ?—A great many now go
^•^cullali and Has al Had, and other ports in
^kia, and a great many go to ports in Persia.
o22. You think that the chiefs having control
Gr those ports, would not have sufficient power
^ stop the import of slaves, if they wished it ?—In
paling with them I should send an English man-Pt'War
round with proclamations in Arabic, which
^vould have read out by the sheikhs and elders
„ the tribes, giving them distinct notice that
w k certain date the provisions of our treaties
n', ^ kk those chiefs, declaring the slave trade
Hiacy^ would be rigidly enforced, and that the
yander of every dhow found with slaves on
Card would be hanged.
o23. The slave trade to Cuba was first effica-^
ciigiy stopped when we were able to station a
j^.k^dron round Cuba ; do you think this trade
gZSkt be more easily stopped if our ships cruised
^he jDorts of entry instead of cruising off
ports of export?—We should do both, and
cculd be more easily done in this case on ac-.^^,kkt
of the prevailing winds. The Committee
^^ch sat at the Foreign Office suggests that one
^.c®sel could easily watch the entrance of the Per-Gulf
; one stationed at Aden could easily
^jkfeh the entrance of the Red Sea. It is during
kionths when the southern monsoon prevails
^ the slaves are carried north, and one vessel
addition cruising off Socotra would intercept
of those. Of course, the northern Arabs
the
it
kiost
SQ^kld persist for some time, but they would very
k find that it was a losinj
off the
^ ijijcnj XU ,1 CIO cc trade.
Do you know whether cruising
the is unhealthy for the men?—ÎSot at all ;
'VYg khinate is nothing like so bad as that on the
kten kc^'-t, but it is an enervating climate ; the
ßgkught not to be kept too long on the coast,
kfte t ' ^kra short period the climate does not
1 the men?—2io ; at the time when they
a k not be required on service they have got
to go to which has one of the finest cli-0
the world, viz, the Seychelles Islands,
where they can get fruits and vegetables and
fresh meat in the greatest abundance.
626. Mr. Crum-EwincjYou mentioned that,
at one time, a considerable trade in slaves was
carried on with the French Islands ; is that entirely
given up now ?—We have no recent information,
I believe, about that. Two or three
years ago Lord Campbell carried a motion in the
House of Lords for an Address to Her Majesty,
to appoint a consul at Mozambique. I think
it is a most unfortunate circumstance that that
has never been acted on. J^ot only have we no
consul at Mozambiqe, but the consulate at the
Comoro Islands has been abolished, so that from
Zanzibar to our own territories in Port Natal,
there is nobody to watch British interests, or to
interfere with the slave trade. In consequence
of the ports in jMadagascar having been thrown
open to foreign trade since the death of the old
queen, there is such an immensely increasing
trade in the products of Madagascar, that they
have begun to import slaves into Madagascar
very largely, in order to cultivate their rich land;
and, although the Portuguese Government have
abolished the slave trade in Mozambique, I must
say I do not believe it is abolished, or will be
abolished without a British squadron to watch it.
Up to recently there was no trade whatever in
the Mozambique dominions except the slave
trade ; the whole business of the Portuguese
population was men-stealing and men-selling.
At the five chief ports, Ibo, Mozambique, Inhambane,
and the mouths of the Zambesi, the
only trade was in men. Large parties of halfcaste
Portuguese, led very often by Portuguese,
scoured all the interior, and brought those slaves
down to be sold.
627. Do you think that slaves are still taken
to Reunion ?—I have no reeent information about
it. We have now a consul at Reunion, and I
should think he would be able to state whether
they are still importing slaves under the name of
free engagées.
628. IVhat are the products of the interior of
the country about Lake Nyassa?—All sorts of
grains and vegetables. In the valleys of those
large rivers opposite Zanzibar, within the Sultan’s
dominions, they are now cultivating sim-sim, from
which most of our fine olive oil is made, which
goes very largely to IMarseilles. In the last few
years a great trade has sprung up in orchil la,
which is a purple dye, and sugar is grown to a great
extent. I believe very few people know what a
fertile country that is. Baron Van der Decken,
whose very interesting work has lately been published,
speaks in the very highest terms of the fertility
of the country, and of the opening there is
for trade there. H e describes a good deal of the
country, a little to the north, as being a mountainons
country, very much resembling Switzerland,
and he says the chiefs are very anxious to
have Europeans come and settle amongst them.
629. Chab'man.'\ You mentioned that Dr.
Livingstone had found one district near Lake
Nyassa where cotton was being cultivated ?—-Yes,
the Manganga country towards Lake Nyassa.
He describes the whole country as being a field of
cotton, all the people of both sexes being busily
engaged in spinning and weaving.
630. Mr. O’CWoî-.] You think it useless to
make treaties with the Sultan ?—From my
knowledge of the Arabs treaties are utterly useless.
I understand that some of the witnesses
who have been examined have suggested that the
G Sultan
Maj. Gen.
C. P. Rigby,
20 July
1871.
