'Egyptian Claims to Sovereignty over the Somali Coast.' [‎7v] (14/62)

14
* Sir Louis Mallet to Foreign Office,
21st April 1875.
f From Foreign Office, 19th May
1875.
J Lord G. Hamilton
Office, 11th June 1875.
to
Foreign
General Coglilan further stated that the single advantage of Obokh
was its good water supply, but that, in every other respect, it was objec
tionable ; there was no port properly deserving the name; it had no
capabilities as a settlement; had no neighbourhood; produced nothing ;
led nowhere; was inconveniently far from the track of the Hed Sea
steamers; and the fine plain to the westward of it was uninhabitable
by reason of a pestilential marsh which, for at least half the year, was
directly to windward of it, and was so offensive at that time that no
one would willingly pass a night in its vicinity.
So far, Mr. Hertslet. It is believed that the French have never
actually occupied Obokh since 1863, but in Keith Johnstone’s Atlas
(Edition of 1868), the.place is marked as a possession of France, and the
French Ambassador at Constantinople has, quite recently, asserted to the
Porte, the claim of his Government to it.
On the 21st April, the Memorandum sent home by the Government of
India was forwarded to the Foreign
Office,* and it was at the same time
stated that Lord Salisbury concurred in
Lord Derby’s proposal to consult Sir H. Elliot and General Stanton on
the subject of the contemplated arrangement with the Khedive.
On the 19th May the Foreign Office forwarded drafts of two de
spatches,! which Lord Derby proposed
to address to Her Majesty’s Ambassador
at Constantinople and Her Majesty’s
Agent and Consul General in Egypt.
In reply,| I^ord Salisbury’s concurrence
in the drafts was intimated, subject to
some slight verbal alterations, intended to indicate more clearly the
precise intentions of Her Majesty’s Government.
The material passages in the despatch to Her Majesty’s Consul
General in Egypt may be quoted :—
“ You are already acquainted with the treaties into which Her
‘ Majesty’s Government have entered at various times with the Somali
‘ Chiefs and with the circumstances under which Great Britain acquired
£ possession of the islands of Mussa, Bab, and Aubad.
“ You will remember that the Khedive has expressed a wish to recover
4 these islands, and stated his belief that if they were ceded to him by
‘ England, he would be enabled to resist the claim of the French
‘ Government to Obokh.
“ Her Majesty’s Government on their part would not be unwilling to
4 surrender their right to the islands in question, provided that the
4 French claim to Obokh was also relinquished, and would, in any case,
4 require an assurance that no foreign Government was left in possession
4 of territory in those waters. They would further require from Egypt
4 a guarantee that no portion of the African Coast in the hands of
4 Egypt shall at any time be ceded to any foreign power.
44 As regards the ports of Berbera and Bulhar Her Majesty’s Govern-
4 ment are more immediately concerned, inasmuch as it is of vital
4 importance to the welfare and comfort of Aden that those ports
4 should continue to be an open mart from whence Aden can obtain, as
4 heretofore, a constant and unrestricted supply of live stock, provisions,
4 and other necessaries. This right has been secured to the Government
4 of Great Britain by treaty,” &c
44 Trusting in the friendly relations between England and Egypt, Her
4 Majesty’s Government are willing to recognize the African Coast of
4 the Bed Sea, as far as Cape Guardafui, as part of the Ottoman
4 dominions under the rule of the Khedive of Egypt, upon the condi-
4 tions that the Egyptian Government shall enter into a formal engage-
4 ment to prohibit the export of slaves along her entire coast, Zeyla and