ox SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
69
y 968. Sir J. Hay.'] That was in the island of
^^Qzibar ?—Yes.
1 969. Mr. Crum-Ewing.] Does Wiseman’s
trade witli the interior of Africa?—I am
aware, but I know that a ship has just come
T^^Oie direct from Zanzibar for them ; the chief
^fade between Zanzibar and Europe comes
arougli a Hamburg house.
1 970. Sir R. AustrutUer.] independently of
^•ïiane considerations, are not you of opinion
^^at commercially it would be well worth our
^^ile to make an outlay for the purpose of sup-Dessing
the slave trade, and putting a stop to
depopulation of large tracts of country which
How going on ?—I cannot speak too strongly
that [loint ; a great part of the East Coast
Africa is useless for any purposes of commerce
^.Present. Of export you may say there is noexcept
a few hides from the northern part,
''Vhere the Somalis are in power, slaves, ivory, and
? little gold dust ; nothing else comes from the
^^lerior. I have no doubt were the slave trade
^^"^pped a very large trade with Europe might
®Mng up at Zanzibar, because the produce from
eastern part of Africa must inevitably come
^'H'ougb Zanzibar. Zanzibar would become a
^Gcond Singapore or Kurrachee for that part of
World, more especially now the Suez Canal
opened ; and, I think, it should be our policy
^11 considerations to try and get a stop put to
horrible loss of life ; commercially it would
A of the greatest importance to us. According
7 the accounts of the recent discoveries of Dr.
hivingstone and others, we have in the interior of
^^t part of Africa a country equal in resources to
part of India, and I believe more healthy as
? ^Hle ; the sea-board and the rivers are unhealthy,
.^t when you get some distance from the coast you
to a lovely table land, and it is a country
^hich, from what I saw, and from what I know
other men who have travelled there, is
Acourf in beauty to hardly any in the world, and
, is also a most productive country. Iron
^^Ounds in all directions ; in fact the Portuguese
all their iron from there. Coal is to be found ;
^ad f have seen myself in large quantities, and
^^tton can be grown to any extent. I have
Very large quantities of cotton there.
971. In fact, apart from all humane considera-^•^Hs,
you think it would be for our interest to
an outlay for the suppression of this trade?
^les; but independently of our interest I think
Englishmen, as a people so blessed as we are,
M as a people who profess to put down the
trade in different parts of the world, our
^^Gpiost duty is to stop this frightful loss of life,
^^ficularly when we consider that there are only
Q ®W treaties which have never been abided by in
Way. The plainer we make things for the
the better; hitherto there has been a vast
^Hnt of confusion ; they do not know* what we
and I candidly confess that such transacas
those I spoke of, in which Englishmen
had to do with the slave trade, give them
q to complain of us, and give rise to compli -
j I ^Hs. I have seen a French ship lying at the
of Johanna, crammed with slaves, with
Qf 9 of our men-of-wmr within a cable’s length
an 1 the poor creatures jumping overboard
swimming to us to protect them ; and the
would say to us, there is a Frenchman
full of slaves, if it was one of our ships you
burn her directly ; why do not you go and
^•116.
take her? All these things lead to complications. Rev.
and the sooner they are simplified by action pur II. Waller,
et simple the better. ” TT
972. Mr. Gilpin.] Have you yourself seen the
dhows going dow n the river laden with slaves ?— ^ D *
Not dhows, but canoes. I have seen 20 or more
in a day, laden w ith slaves, going down the River
Shire into the Portuguese dominions.
973. Sir R. Avstruther.] When wms that ?—
In 1864.
974. As to the healthiness of the coast, does
not it depend principally upon the habits of the
European settlers there ; would not a man who
was tolerably sober and correct in his habits have
a better chance of keeping himself in health than
a man of Intemperate habits ?—It used to be said
on the West Coast that a stock of tombstones
should be kept at Sierra Leone for the use of
those that died there, and that one sentence w ould
describe all their deaths,‘‘brandy and water.”
That really has a good deal to do with it, but I
must state this, that a man who lives in an unhealthy
place very soon becomes demoralised in
mind and body, and he is very likely to take to
an unwholesome way of living. I think it would
not be safe for a man to stay there long ; but, in
connection with your question, I should like to
state from information I have received from Dr.
Kirk recently, that he is decidedly of opinion
that a station might be found on the mainland
near to Zanzibar, wdiere Europeans could live in
perfect health, and where, if it were necessary,
liberated slaves could be sent to be kept under
safe supervision.
975. Chairman.] What place is that?—Near
to Dar Seelam ; Dr. Steere will be before you
to-morrow, and he will be able to give you more
information upon that subject than I can.
976. Mr. Gilpin.] To what extent were British
subjects and British protected subjects in the
habit of holding slaves when you were in
Zanzibar ?—I was not in Zanzibar, and I am not
able to answer that question.
977. You have probably not seen that paper
with reference to British protected subjects
(handing to the Witness the Draft Report of the
Foreign Office Committee, vide Appendix)!:—I
know that the question of the status of British
protected subjects at Zanzibar is a very vital
question ; they are now, owing to our very lax
treatment of the question, throwing off their
allegiance to the British Government in order
that they may claim that of the Arabs, and so
engage in the slave trade and be slaveholders.
978. Mr. J. Talhot.] With regard to the depopulated
country between the coast and Lake
Nyassa, which you say is like a desert, you think
it could be again made very productive ?—Of
course it must take some time for the remnants
of those tribes which have been driven north,
south, east, and west to come back to their old
country.
979. Do you think that there is still pojnilation
sufficient in that part of Africa to re-inhabit
that country and to re-cultivate it?—Without
doubt there is population sufficient in the neighbourhood
of the lakes ; I may state this, as a
peculiar feature of the depopulation going on in
that part of the country, that when destruction
and disturbance come, the natives are obliged t:o
make for either a lake or a river, because,
as I have stated, no corn can be sown except
during the wet season in the highlands ; but
I 3 there
