'Further Papers respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎83v] (34/50)

II
34
No. 13.
Sir F. Rogers to Mr. Otway.—(Received September 24.)
Sir » Downing Street, September 24, 1869.
I AM directed by Earl Granville to transmit to you. for the consideration of the
Earl of Clarendon, and with reference to the correspondence noted in the margin,* a copy
of a Report by the Emigration Commissioners on the observations made by the Commis
sioners of Seychelles as to the disposal of captured slaves landed in those islands. I am to
request that you will call Lord Clarendon's attention to the 4th paragraph of the
Emigration Commissioners' Report.
I am, &c.
(Signed) FREDERIC ROGERS.
Inclosure 1 in No. 13.
Mr. Murdoch to Sir F. Rogers.
sir ' t tt a ttt? . , , Emigration Office, July 19, 1869.
1 HAVE to acknowledge your letter of the 13th instant, with a despatch dated
31st May last, from the Governor of Mauritius, and a Report from the Civil Commissioner
of the Seychelles on the subject of the landing of liberated Africans in those islands.
2. It appears that two ship-loads of captured slaves have recently been taken into the
Seychelles by Her Majesty's ships; that there is reason to apprehend the arrival of more
the Slave Trade on the East Coast having been unusally active lately; that there is no
demand for these Africans in Seychelles nor even in Mauritius; and that if taken to
either they will be likely to put the Government to considerable expense. Sir H. Barkly
under these circumstances expresses a hope that Her Majesty's Government will be able to
dispose of them elsewhere.
3. The principal difficulty of doing so arises, I believe, from the description of vessel
in which these slaves are captured. They are captured in small Arab dhows which are
not fit for a long voyage, and they could not be transferred to Her Majesty's cruizers for
conveyance to a distant Colony even if there were accommodation for them, without
withdrawing the cruizers for too long a period from their cruizing ground. Otherwise
they might be taken to Natal, where the settlers would probably be able to employ them
advantageously. It is, however, for the Admiralty to decide whether this could be done
consistently with the efficiency of the service. If not, I see no way of relieving Mauritius
and the Seychelles but by sending all the people to Aden.
4. I beg to call attention to the fact mentioned by the Civil Commissioner that the
dhows employed m the Slave Trade between Africa and Madagascar sail under French
colours, and are furnished with French papers. Earl Granville will probablv think it right
to call the attention of the Foreign Office to this fact.
I am, &c.
(Signed) T. W. C. MURDOCH.
1!
No. 14.
Mr. Briggs to Mr. Otway.—(Received September 28.)
^ r ' mrTp t i ^ . . Admiralty, September 24, 1869.
DennrfmL * C ° m ™ ssi0ners of , He r Majesty's Treasury having forwarded to this
Adm^X nnT y of , t . he . ^J 011 of Mr - ^othery, the Registrar of the High Court of
and " 9l n r''' f V ^ ^ capture by Her Majesty's ships « Peterel," " Nymphe,"
rnmm.nrWl k ^ A^n • sus P ected of bein g engaged in the Slave Trade, I am
msfrnpHnn« wh'oi?' 0 t ^ 0mmissi0ners ; of the Admiralty to transmit herewith a draft of
the snnnrpsdrm 0r c d f to * ssue f or ^e guidance of the officers employed in
rre43rnn m . 0 l - ^ f T ^ With a vieW to P revent the recurrence of the
irregulanties complained of, should the Earl of Clarendon approve of those instructions.
I am, &c.
(Signed) JOHN HENRY BRIGGS.
* Colonial Office to Foreign Office, July 13; Foreign Office, September 18, 1869.