60
MINUTES or EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE SELECT COMMITTEE
Mr. H. a
Rothery.
24 July
1871.
the disposal of the liberated slaves ?—Yes ; as a
member of the committee that sat at the Foreign
Office, our attention was a good deal called to
that point.
800. What is your opinion upon that subject ?
—We thought it very desirable to make Zanzibar
the receptacle for the liberated slaves ; hitherto
they had been taken to Aden or Seychelles, and
the Seychelles it appeared had as many slaves as
they required.
801. One advantage in having a depot of liberated
slaves at Zanzibar would be that the labour
which is wanted in Zanzibar could by that means
be easily obtained?—We thought that that would
be so.
802. That would tend to remove the objection
of the Sultan to the repression of the slave trade?
—We thought it would supply the wann that
would be felt in the event of the slave trade
between the main land and the island being put
a stop to.
803. You spoke of the Seychelles having as
many slaves as they could accommodate now ; are
not a large number of those who are captured
children?—I have a difficulty in answering that
question correctly. I do not speak from any personal
experience on the coast, but I am inclined
to think that on the East Coast of Africa the
number of children captured in proportion to the
adults is not so great as it used to be on the West
Coast of Africa. I have the number of males
and of females captured, and that is the only
classification which the Returns at the.present
time give.
804. The Seychelles would be a good place in
which to dispose of the children, schools having
been established there ?—It would, and I believe
' many children have been sent to the Seychelles.
805. Has your attention been called to the
effect of the bounties ?—I have to report to the
Treasury whether bounties are due and payable.
806. Have any difficult questions arisen as
to whether bounties should be paid or not ?—
The question was discussed before the Foreign
Office Committee whether it was desirable to
continue the system of bounties, or whether it
would be better to give the officers and seamen
rather larger pay when they were engaged in
suppressing the slave trade.
807. Did you form any opinion upon that
point?—We referred to that subject in our Report,
but I confess that I have formed no very
strong opinion upon the point ; it seems to me
that the advantages and disadvantages are pretty
nearly equally balanced. It is very much the
same question as arises with regard to prize in
time of war; there have been always two opinions
on the subject; one,of fliose who hold that higher
pay should be given to those from whom additional
services are required, and the other, of
those who hold that it is better that the captors
should have the benefit of any captures they
might make, as they would thus have an incentive
to greater exertions.
808. Is there any want of interpreters on the
East Coast of Africa ?—We were informed that
there was a great want of interpreters on the
East Coast of Africa, and that they were very
untrustworthy persons.
809. How can that evil be remedied, in your
opinion ?—I cannot answer that from any personal
knowledge ; I understand that there has
been evidence given before you to the effect
that there would be no difficulty whatever in
supplying the want of good interpreters. We
thought one means of doing it was by paying
them more highly, and at the same time not
allowing them to share in the bounties.
810. So as not to have an interest in misinterpreting
the evidence ?—Yes.
811. With respect to the recent instructions
from the Admiralty, probably you had something
to do with advising upon that matter?—Yes.
812. What has been the effect of those instructions
?—I think it has been to introduce more
regularity into the captures than previously
existed.
813. And to remove any ground of objection
on the part either of the Arabs, or of the Sultan?
—I think so.
814. Have they had any material effect in
diminishing the number of captures of guilty
dhows ?—That I can hardly say, for I do not
know how many ships there are at the present
time on the East Coast of Africa ; but certainly
there have been fewer captures of late.
815. Have you learnt whether there is any
difficulty in distinguishing a legal trader from a
dhow ?—I have always understood that there is
very little difficulty in distinguishing between
them, except in the case of legal traders, who do
sometimes take a few slaves on board. There is
no distinction in appearance, I am told, between
legal and illegal traders, but when a slaver has a
cargo of slaves on board, there is no difficulty in
distinguishing whether they are domestic slaves,
or whether they are slaves carried for sale.
816. Have you been able to learn from any
papers that have come before you, whether domestic
slaves are often taken to sea for sale ?—
I should have thought not; I should have
thought it exceptional ; the captain of the dhoW
perhaps might, if he had a good offer for a slave,
sell him, but I should have thought, generally,
that the slaves he had on board would be so valuable
to him, as hardly to make it worth his while
to sell them.
817. If they are trained for mariners at all,
they would be much more valuable on the ship
than on the main land ?—Many of these dhows
have perhaps half their crews composed of slaves,
and, if they sold them, I should have thought a
master would have great difficulty in navigating
his dhow home again.
818. How do you know a domestic slave from
a slave intended for exportation ?—1 have always
understood that the slaves when they got to
Zanzibar were well treated, that they became
more civilised, and got into better condition ;
whereas the slaves exported from Ivilwa, which
is the chief port of exportation, are generally in
a state of the greatest emaciation.
819. Are the two descriptions of slaves differently
guarded ?—I should have thought so.
820. Are the slaves for exportation in the
hold ?—Yot always, I believe ; when they have
only small cargoes of slaves that would not be
necessary.
821. Can you give us any assistance in suggesting
means for the suppression of the slave
trade?—No other suggestions occur to me than
those which we made in the Foreign Office
Committee Report.
822. From any information you have obtained
subsequently, have you had reason to change
your opinion at all ?—Not on any point.
823-4. With
