No. 185.-Rear-Admiral Sir F. Grey to the Secretary to the Admiralty. (Received December 29.) (Extract.) Boscawen, Simon's Bay, October 28, 1857. I HAVE the honour to inclose the copy of an able report from Commander Gordon of the Hermes, detailing his proceedings in the Mozambique Channel, and his visit to the dependencies of the Mauritius. I have also received by the Hermes a letter dated the 27th July, from the then Governor-General of Mozambique, who has since been superseded by Senhor Almeida. In that letter his Excellency states that, during his government, no slaves have been exported beyond the Cape of Good Hope, but that it is impossible to prevent the natives from carrying them in dhows to the Comoro Islands, Zanzibar, and Madagascar; and he argues that, this being the case, it would be much better to allow the exportation of negroes to the Island of Bourbon under proper regulations, such as are enforced with respect to the coolies imported into the Mauritius. Their Lordships will find, from the report of Commander Gordon of the 10th August last, that the present state of the emigration question appears to be that the exportation of negroes has been prohibited by the Portuguese Government, and by the Sultan of Angoxa, and of slaves by the Sultan of Zanzibar; and that the new Governor-General of Mozambique is about to take measures for enforcing the prohibition as far as his means will enable him to do so. It is, therefore, probable that this trade will now be carried on by native boats carrying the negroes to the Comoro Islands, and to the ports in Madagascar frequented by French ships; and that the chief effect will be somewhat to enhance their price. The present Governor-General seems, by his measures, at present, determined to put a stop to it as far as he is able, and as his Excellency Sir George Grey has informed me that, although he is anxious that the naval force in the colony should not be further weakened by sending the Castor home, he does not apprehend that her absence for two months on a cruize in the Mozambique would be attended with any risk to the colony, I have determined on suspending for the present the execution of their Lordships' orders for her return to England, and to send her to Mozambique as soon as she has completed water and provisions. On proceeding on this service, Captain Lyster will be instructed that while giving every support to the Governor-General of Mozambique in his endeavour to prevent the exportation of slaves, he is carefully to avoid all interference with the French vessels employed in conveying emigrants to Bourbon, and to abstain from any act which could be construed into it. Where the export of slaves from the coast in native boats or dhows is prohibited by the local authorities, he would, I consider, be justified in detaining any such boats having slaves on board that he might fall in with, and in sending them to Mozambique to be dealt with by the Portuguese authorities. As it will be necessary for the Castor to return here before my departure for the West Coast, her visit will necessarily be a hurried one, but I trust that it may contribute to check the operations of the slave-dealers until the arrival of the Sappho. Their Lordships will now have before them full information of the state of affairs on the East Coast, and I shall anxiously look for their decision upon the measures to be adopted with reference to the export of negroes, and for the suppression of the Slave Trade. The Secretary to the Admiralty. F. GREY. (Inclosure.)-Commander Gordon to Rear-Admiral Sir F. Grey. Hermes, Simon's Bay, October 27, 1857. (Extract.) I HAVE the honour to report that, in compliance with your orders of the 24th of June, I proceeded to sea in Her Majesty's steamsloop under my command, and having landed the detachment of Sappers at Port Natal on the 5th of July, and received 28 tons of coals, I put to sea on the 7th, arrived at Delagoa Bay on the 8th, and Cape Correntes and Inhamban on the 11th of July; the information I had received at Natal leading me to suppose that slave-vessels might be found in those localities. When near Inhamban, I observed a suspicious-looking vessel, which, after altering her course two or three times, eventually bore up for the shoals off that port. Having brought her to, and examined her, as detailed in my inclosed letter (a copy of which has been sent to the Secretary of the Admiralty from Mauritius), I proceeded for the Quillimane river, where I arrived July 14th; but observing much surf at the entrance, I again proceeded for Angoxa, where the Sultan resides, and returned on board the next day, my proceedings being detailed at length in the accompanying letter. Having started from Angoxa July 19th, I arrived at Mozambique on the 20th, having 138 tons of coals remaining. The south-west monsoon set in strong soon after leaving Angoxa, and would have prevented my communicating with that place had I been delayed at Quillimane, Mr. McLeod and myself paid an official visit to the Governor-General on the 21st, and the Consulate was opened on the 24th of July. His Excellency the Governor-General seemed anxious to give me all the information in his power, and, in the presence of Mr. McLeod, alluded to the fact of the exportation of natives having been prohibited by his Government, and declared that he had entirely forbidden it. His Excellency informed me that he had, a few days since, destroyed two native vessels from the port of Conducia, but at the same time admitted that he had not sufficient force to prevent the traffic at all points. His Excellency further informed me that a Spanish vessel from Havana, bound to Manilla, had taken in 200 tons of coals at Cardiff, and having put into Inhamban last February for the purpose of obtaining slaves, was wrecked there, and her coals landed. Her crew arrived at Mozambique, and from thence were sent to Bombay. He also had received notice of a Portuguese vessel having sailed from Portugal for Mozambique, without any port-clearance, and supposed to be a slaver. I sailed from Mozambique on July 28th, and had intended to visit the ports on the north-west part of Madagascar, had the wind permitted, but the monsoon held so much to the eastward, that I only fetched Johanna, where I arrived on the 31st of July. Having communicated with Mr. Sanley, I learned from him that the Governor Higginson, a Mauritius steamer, under French colours, had arrived at Johanna from Bourbon on the 17th of April, and had sailed the next day for Mozambique for the purpose of obtaining emigrants. The Governor-General of Mozambique had not permitted any to be embarked at that place, and the vessel proceeded either to Pomba Bay or Oibo, where she obtained about 200 natives, and returned to Johanna on the 5th of May, where she obtained about 200 more, and sailed for Bourbon on the 7th. Mr. Sunley informed me that the price given on the coast was about 30 or 40 dollars each person, and that their indentures for 5 years' service were sold at Bourbon at 80 to 120 dollars each. Having visited the Sultan in company with Mr. Sunley, I expressed to him my opinion that Her Majesty's Government would feel much dissatisfaction if the exportation of natives from Johanna was permitted, after it had been expressly forbidden by the Portuguese Government. Mr. Sunley informed me that he believed it was a constant practice for the dhows trading to the Comoro Islands to dispose of a small number of their crew to meet the port-charges and other expenses, and this is a species of Slave Trade which, in the absence of a constant force on the station, it would be impossible to prevent. Having completed water and bullocks on board, I sailed from Johanna on the 2nd of August, and arrived at Ibo on the 5th, where I found six large French merchant-vessels at anchor, apparently waiting to receive emigrants. I immediately waited on the Governor, who informed me that they were waiting orders from the French brig-of war Génie, and he positively assured me, in reply to my representations, that he would not permit any emigrants to be embarked in them, and had only consented to their remaining in port for 10 days longer, at the expiration of which period he would insist on their departure. The Governor also assured me that it was quite out of his power to prevent the natives on the coast from embarking in the Slave Trade, as, from the small force at his command, the Portuguese have little authority except in the immediate vicinity of their Government. When I inquired about the shipment of emigrants in May last in the Governor Higginson, I was informed that the Governor of Ibo at that period had been superseded, and I was positively assured that the embarcation took place at Pomba, which is under native control. The coast is, in fact, so little under Portuguese control that it scarcely extends to Conducia, a few miles from Mozambique, where the native tribes were in a state of warfare at the time of my visit. I directed an officer to visit unofficially the vessels lying at Ibo, and to ask for any information that they might be inclined to give. The result is shown in Inclosure No. 3, a copy of which I have sent to the Secretary of the Admiralty. The captains stated that they had received orders from the Governor of Bourbon to proceed to Ibo to await the arrival of the French brig-of-war Génie, who would. bring them orders. They were all fitted with large coppers, and some with slave-decks, and the boarding officer informed me that he thought that three were Spaniards; but the vessels being in a Portuguese port, I did not institute a further search. I found in port the French brig-of-war Génie, and communicated with her Commander and the French Consul on the subject of the "engagés" for Bourbon. These gentlemen assured me that they had received positive orders from their Governments not to permit any natives to be embarked without the consent of the local authorities, and this consent has been refused by the Governor-General of Mozambique, the Sultan of Angoxa, and the Sultan of Zanzibar, but at Zanzibar the Sultan did not prevent any free men from engaging themselves, if they thought proper to do so, and I was informed that about forty of this class were preparing to embark in a French vessel then waiting to receive them. I have, however, reason to believe that the authorites at Comoro, Johanna, and Mohilla, would not object to their slaves embarking in any of the French vessels which have been chartered at Bourbon for the purpose of procuring "engagés." Both at the Comoro Islands and various Arab settlements (such as Pomba Bay) in the Portuguese dominions, the traffic in slaves is by no means abolished, and they are furnished in large numbers to Zanzibar from Quiloa, and other places on the coast, which becomes a source of revenue to the Sultan, as he receives a dollar each for every slave imported. During my stay at Zanzibar, I saw two dhows full of slaves lying close to the Sultan's palace. The Commander of the Génie, informed me that it was his intention to order all the French vessels (twenty in number) now upon the coast in search of "engagés," back to Bourbon, and that he was going to remain at Zanzibar until the arrival of another French man-of-war, in order to prevent any negroes being embarked for Bourbon. I gave him all the information I had obtained respecting the vessels I found at Ibo, and he said that he had ordered them away some time previously, but thought it likely they would endeavour to obtain cargoes at Zanzibar. He also informed me that there were a large number of negroes collected at Quillimane, but orders had been given to prevent their embarkation in French vessels. Arrival of a French ship 53. The Earl of Clarendon to Consul Aug. 28 Remarks on French ves Hutchinson. sels employed in procuring emigrants....... 1126 61. Consul Hutchinson to the Earl of Dec. 29 Transmitting letter of Clarendon. King and Chiefs of ing of M. Chevalier.... 1127 |