'Further Papers respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎79v] (26/50)

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vessels that they might capture, to send them in for adjudication, together with all the
crew and passengers, they would soon find which was the most convenient port both for
the captors and the captured. j u iv/r ir- i i,- u ri • a
There is another circumstance mentioned by Mr. Kirk which likewise deserves your
Lordships' serious consideration. He says at the conclusion of his letter of the 22nd May
that he had "just received from the Bombay Government thirty-six freemen—negroes, but
sailors who had been passed to Bombay from Aden among the sixty slaves taken last
vear by Her Majesty's ship ' Star,' near Brava;" and he adds, "it is very singular, indeed,
that upwards of half the so-called slaves should have to be sent back at Government
expense to Zanzibar, after the dhows from which they had been freed have been condemned."
The cases to which Mr. Kirk refers are no doubt the twenty-four dhows captured in
November 1868, at Brava and Morka, which were all condemned at Aden on the 13th of
January last, and upon which I have recently reported to your Lordships. The
circumstance mentioned by Mr. Kirk seems to raise a question whether these dhows were
properlv condemned, and it may be a question for your Lordship's consideration whether
you will not recommend to the Lords of the Admiralty that the distribution of the bounties
in those cases should be stopped until inquiries shall have been made not only of the
Commander of the " Star," but also at Aden, Bombay, and Zanzibar into the facts stated
b) M In conclusion I would beg to observe that the matter to which Lord Clarendon has called
your Lordship's attention appears to me to be deserving of the most serious consideration ;
for if the system which appears to prevail on the East Coast of Africa is continued, not only
as Lord Clarendon observes, will it give rise to large pecuniary claims upon Her Majesty's
Government, but in some instances vessels may be destroyed, and the owners, from not
knowing where their case will be adjudicated, may be unable to obtain a hearing and
defend their interests, and thus injustice be done to honest traders, a state of things which
it is on every account the object of Her Majesty's Government to prevent.
It only remains for me to say that, should your Lordships concur in the opinions that
I have ventured to express, it will be proper that copies of this Report should be sent to
Lord Clarendon, as well as to the Lords of the Admiralty, and that the Commanders of
Her Majesty's ships Peterel" and " Nymphe " and " Star " should be called upon for such
explanations as they may be able to give of their proceedings in the several matters which
have been respectively alleged against them, their attention being at the same time called
to the 58th, 66th, 69th, and 390th sections of the Slave Trade Instructions, which require
the capturing officer to preserve all the vessel's papers ; to send the vessel and all the crew and
passengers, together with the papers, to the port of adjudication ; and in the case of a
Zanzibar vessel, expressly prohibit him from destroying her until he has first ascertained
at the nearest Zanzibar port, by inquiries from Her Majesty's Consul or others, that the
vessel was actually engaged in or equipped for the Slave Trade. It might also be well that
further inquiries should be made both at Aden and at Zanzibar as to the persons stated to
have been captured as slaves by the " Star," and subsequently sent back to Zanzibar.
All which is most humbly submitted to your Lordships wisdom.
(Signed) H. C. ROTHERY.
Doctors' Commons, August 21, 1869.
Inclosure 2 in !No. 10.
Mr. Hamilton to the Secretary to the Admiralty.
Sir, Treasury Chambers, September 4, 1869.
1 AM directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to transmit
to you herewith, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, copy
of Report from Mr. Rothery, respecting the capture of certain dhows by Her Majesty's
ships " Peterel" and " Nymphe."
My Lords consider that there is much force in thie observations made by Mr. Rothery,
and thev would be glad to be furnished with any remarks which the Board of Admiralty
may wish to make on the general subjects referred to in the Report.
In the meantime, my Lords request that the Board of Admiralty will, if practicable,
issue immediate instructions for postponing any of the payments to the officers, &c., of
Her Majesty's ship " Star,'' on account of tonnage-bounty, which have formed the subject
of correspondence from the Department within the last few months; and that they will
call for explanations from the officers in command of Her Majesty's ship "Peterel,"
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