COPIES or EXTRACTS of the LETTERS of the Government of Bombay to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, or the Court of Directors, forwarding Letters written in August and September 1858 by Captain Rigby, the Company's Agent at Zanzibar, on the subject of the SLAVE TRADE at Zanzibar and along the Mozambique Coast. EXTRACT Secret Letter from the Government of Bombay to the Honourable the Court of Directors, dated 24th September (No. 115) 1858. WITH reference to the instructions received from the Honourable the Secret Committee, and alluded to in our despatch, dated the 7th instant, No. 112, we have the honour to forward to your Honourable Court copy of a letter from Captain C. P. Rigby, Honourable Company's agent at Zanzibar, dated the 15th August last, reporting circumstances connected with the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa. EXTRACT Letter in the Secret Department from the Government of Bombay to the Honourable the Court of Directors, dated 9th October (No. 125) 1858. 1. In continuation of the first and second paragraphs of our despatch of the 24th September last, No. 115, we have the honour to forward copy of a letter with enclosures from Captain C. P. Rigby, agent at Zanzibar, dated the 20th August last, reporting circumstances connected with the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa. 3. We have also the honour to forward copy of a letter from Captain Rigby, dated the 24th August last, reporting on the present state of affairs at Zanzibar. EXTRACT Secret Letter from the Government of Bombay to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, dated 9th November (No. 2) 1858. Para. 1. Our last letter relative to the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa was addressed to the Honourable the Court of Directors, and bore date the 9th October last, No. 125. 2. We have now the honour, with reference to our letter No. 115, dated the 24th September last, to submit copies of two communications from Captain Rigby, our agent at Zanzibar, dated the 13th and 21st of the same month, and to solicit the earnest attention of your Lordship to the commerce in slaves which has recently been created on the East Coast of Africa by French influence. (No. 10 of 1858.-Secret Department.) From Captain C. P. Rigby, Honourable Company's Agent, Zanzibar, to H. L. Anderson, Esq., Secretary to Government, Bombay. Zanzibar, 15 August 1858. Sir, I HAVE the honour to report, for the information of the Right Honourable the Governor in Council, the following circumstances relative to the slave trade on the East Coast of Africa. 2. In consequence of some recent orders of the French Government, permitting the importation of negroes into the Island of Bourbon, the slave trade all along the East Coast of Africa is being carried on to a far greater extent than has hitherto been known. Vessels are being sent out from France on purpose to be employed in conveying negroes from this coast. I am informed by the merchants here that one person in Marseilles has contracted to land 25,000 negroes in the Island of Bourbon within the next two years. These negroes are purchased by native agents all along the Mozambique coast, and taken on board French ships; they then go through the form of asking them if they are willing to engage themselves to serve for 10 years; the slaves, not understanding a word that is spoken, are previously ordered by their masters to nod their heads when spoken to, and this is considered sufficient assent. They are then registered and numbered, and forwarded in ship loads to Bourbon. 3. There is at present a large French ship of this description at anchor in this harbour; she is full of negroes, who wear a number on a piece of wood round their necks. I have been privately informed that she has been shipping negroes at night here by stealth: she is anchored outside all the other vessels in the harbour, and is said to be waiting the arrival of a French man-of-war, daily expected. 4. The sudden development of this trade on a scale of such magnitude has caused a great sensation amongst the inhabitants of this place, and his Highness the Sultan, Said Majid, is about to dispatch his frigate "Artemis" to cruise off the Island of Monfia and the southern part of his dominions on the coast of Africa to prevent slaves being shipped from those places. 5. I understand that his Excellency the Governor-General of the Mozambique has taken very decided steps to put a stop to this traffic within the limits of the Portuguese settlements. A French ship recently captured has been condemned by the Portuguese courts at Mozambique, and the commander sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. 6. In addition to the traffic carried on by the French, I am informed that a vessel under Spanish colours shipped 500 slaves from the vicinity of Lamoo on the African coast to the north of Pemba, for conveyance to Cuba; and another large American ship, also under Spanish colours, shipped 1,200 slaves for conveyance to Cuba from the ports of the Mozambique. Zanzibar, 15 August 1858. I have, &c. (signed) C. P. Rigby, Captain, Honourable Company's Agent, Zanzibar. (True copy.) H. L. Anderson, Secretary to Government. (No. 15 of 1858.-Secret Department.) From Captain C. P. Rigby, Honourable Company's Agent, Zanzibar, Sir, On the evening of the 17th instant the schooner "L'Eglée," belonging to the French Imperial Navy, arrived in this harbour, and on the following morning the brig "Génie," also belonging to the French Imperial Navy, arrived here, and the commander immediately sent a message to his Highness the Sultan, Said Majid, requesting to have an audience at 10 o'clock the following morning. In the evening his Highness sent his private secretary to me to inform me of the French commander's request for an interview, and to state that this same vessel arrived here some months ago, when the commander urged his Highness to permit the export of negroes from his Highness' territories, to be conveyed to the island of La Réunion as engaged labourers, and that upon that occasion his Highness gave a decided refusal to this request, and his secretary informed me that his Highness feared that the present visit of the brig " Génie was to renew renew this demand, and that he therefore wished for my advice as to the nature of the reply he should make to the commander of the "Génie," should his visit relate to this subject. I told the secretary that, as there are no free labourers here, and no class of persons who of their own free-will would engage themselves to embark for La Réunion or any other French colony, any compliance on the part of his Highness to the shipment of negroes, under any name or any pretence, would certainly lead to a slave trade on an extensive scale, such as it is notorious the French are actively engaged in along the east coast of Africa to the south of his Highness' territories, and that my advice therefore was that his Highness should inform the commander of the "Génie " that there are no free labourers here, and that his treaty engagements with the British Government forbid his sanctioning any direct or indirect sale of slaves within his dominions to Europeans of any nation. 2. His Highness' secretary then alluded to the suspicious conduct of several French vessels which have visited this port, and, pointing to a large French ship, now in the harbour, said that she had been lying here for a considerable time, and never held any communication with the shore, and no one knew the object of her visit, although it is known that she has a considerable number of negroes on board, said to have been purchased at the island of Johanna. I told him that I had been informed that this vessel was secretly embarking negroes at night; that after dark native boats get under weigh, as if to go across to the coast of Africa; and that, after standing some distance out to sea, they return and go alongside this French ship. He replied, that it very probably was so; for so long as purchasers are ready to pay a good price, some evil-disposed persons will find an opportunity of selling their slaves, in spite of all orders to the contrary. 3. The following morning his Highness' secretary again called on me, and said that the visit of the commander of the "Génie " was to urge upon his Highness the advantages which he would derive from complying with his demand to transport negroes to the island of La Réunion; and that he at the same time. presented his Highness with a letter from his Excellency the Governor of La Réunion, urging compliance with this request. This letter the secretary brought for my perusal, together with a rough copy, in Arabic, of the answer his Highness proposed to send to the Governor of La Réunion. After perusing both these letters, I told the secretary that if his Highness did not object, I should like to take a copy of both letters, for the information of the Right Honourable the Governor in Council, and to-day the secretary brought me both the letters; and a copy of the letter from his Excellency the Governor of La Réunion, and a translation of the answer sent to it by his Highness, are herewith forwarded. 4. Immediately after his Highness' answer was delivered to the commander of the brig" Génie," the schooner "L'Eglée" left the harbour; and I am informed that she has gone to La Réunion, to convey his Highness' answer to the Governor's letter. 5. I transmit herewith for the information of Government, copies of a correspondence on this subject between Her Majesty's Consul at this port, the late Lieutenant-Colonel Hamerton, and Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, by which it appears that the French authorities at the island of La Réunion made a similar demand about three years ago, during the life of the late Imaum, Sayyid Said, and only desisted in their attempts to force a slave trade in his Highness' dominions upon the repeated remonstrances of the British Government. But the pertinacity with which their agents repeat their demands in spite of positive refusals to sanction such an export, and the appearance of so many ships of war, as if for the purpose of giving weight to these demands, alarms his Highness and the inhabitants of his territories as to their ultimate designs. 6. As I have not yet received any commission from the Foreign Office, I do not feel authorised to address Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on this subject, and therefore now submit the whole of the former correspondence on this subject for the consideration of his Lordship in Council. 7. I believe that his Highness the Sultan, Said Majid, is sincerely desirous of acting up to his engagements with the British Government to put a stop to the slave trade within his dominions. His immediately sending me the letter of the Governor of La Réunion was a mark that he wished to be guided by the advice of the British Government, and his Highness' frigate" Artemise" has also sailed for the south part of his dominions on the coast of Africa to prevent the shipment of negroes. Zanzibar, 20 August 1858. I have, &c. (Ile de la Réunion, Cabinet du Gouverneur.) Hautesse, À Sa Hautesse le très puissant Sultan de Zanzibar. Saint Denis, le 29 Juin 1858. SA Majesté l'Empereur des Français est un prince juste, et ne saurait rien demander qui ne soit suivant les lois de la morale et de l'equité; c'est dans ces sentiments que je vous adresse ces lignes. Il vous demande d'autoriser les travailleurs engagés pour La Réunion à sortir librement de vos états. Les terres de La Réunion sont riches et fécondes, mais la chaleur du soleil. interdit aux hommes blancs d'y travailler. C'est pour cela que nous adressons aux hommes noir que Dieu a fait pour ces climats. Le sol de La Réunion, comme tout sol Français, est un sol de liberté ; tout travailleur qui le touche devient libre. Si on lui demande son travail, c'est à la condition de le nourir, de le vêtir, de le loger, de le soigner s'il est malade, et enfin de le payer. Est-il permis de dire que l'homme que l'on met dans de pareilles conditions est esclave, et ceux que tiennent un pareil langage ne sont-ils pas calomniateurs de la pensée de notre grand Empereur, et ne tiennentils pas un angage mensonger? Ce n'est que pour un temps très court et pour peu d'années que nous demandons le travail aux hommes qui nous viendront de vos états; ils seront autorisés ensuite à rentrer dans votre territoire; ils auront appris la culture du sucre ; ils auront connu nos coutumes; ils vous apporteront donc une population de gens propres à travailler vos terres et à augmenter la source des richesses de vos états. Ces conditions ne sont-elles pas justes? Ne sont-elles pas dignes des bienfaits que veut repandre sur tout le globe une grande nation? Ce n'est pas tout, Hautesse! Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français comprend que si vous vous privez pour un certain temps d'un certain nombre de vos sujets, cette privation demande une compensation. C'est pour recevoir nos offres et nos conditions que je vous envoie le Commandant du brick le Génie que vous connaissez. Il est chargé de vous dire que vos bons procédés et votre bon vouloir pour la France seront payés par l'amitié et la protection de l'Empereur. Ces assurances vous avez déjà dû les recevoir de la part de notre Consul accrédité près de vous. Quant aux conditions de détail (je ne les traite point dans cette lettre, qui n'a pour but que de vous faire connaître les bonnes et loyales intentions dont notre Gouvernement est animé), elles vous seront transmises par Monsieur le Commandant Méquet et par notre Consul. Sur le je prie votre Hautesse de recevoir l'expression des sentiments que font naître en moi l'idée de sa grandeur et de son pouvoir. Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur Le Gouverneur de l'Ile de La Réunion, Commandant la Station de Réunion et Madagascar, Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur, Commandeur du très sublime Ordre du Medjidié, Compagnon de l'Ordre du Bain d'Angleterre, &c. &c. &c. (True copy.) (signé) Brn Darrican. (signed) C. P. Rigby, Captain, Honourable Company's Agent, Zanzibar. Zanzibar, 21 August 1858. |