autres," the claims thus made upon him begin to recur with quite alarming frequency. In a word, then, I would say that the abolition of the legal status of slavery in Pemba has proved beneficial from all points. of view; it has proved an inestimable boon to the slaves; it has been the cause of awakening new energy in the Arabs; while it certainly has not affected adversely, as had been feared, the material prosperity of the island. Pemba, March 31, 1900. Table (A).-RETURN of Principal Articles of Import into Pemba during the Year 1899. D. R. O'SULLIVAN-BEARE. Articles. Cocoa-nuts Dry fish and shark fins Sim sim Grocery Live-stock Articles. Table (B).-RETURN of Principal Articles of Export from Pemba during the year 1899. .. Total value in rupees .. .. Fackages Quantity. :::::: Value in Rupees. 56,482 3,493 14,777 6,415 400 6,673 1,747,448 Value in Rupees. 79 2,203 1,970,767 108,538 52,547 241,532 9 9,404 99 14,595 309 400 289 1,097 96 4,018 1,292 710 1,163 335 762 1,275 10,685 15 1,026 417 1,272 472 1,386 2,421,792 No. 5.-The Marquess of Salisbury to Sir A. Hardinge. SIR, Foreign Office, May 16, 1900. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 26th March last, reporting the arrest of Seyyid Kinda on a charge of slave-dealing, and I have to request you to express to His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar the satisfaction of Her Majesty's Government at the attitude which he has taken up in the matter. I am, &c., Sir A. Hardinge. SALISBURY. No. 6.-Admiralty to Foreign Office.-(Received July 2.) SIR, Admiralty, June 29, 1900. I AM commanded by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit, for the information of the Secretary of State, extracts from a letter dated the 1st instant, from the Senior Naval Officer at Zanzibar, relative to the condition of the Slave Trade there and at Pemba. I am, &c., Sir T. Sanderson. EVAN MACGREGOR. (Inclosure.)-Commander Tunnard to Admiralty. (Extract.) Barrosa, at Zanzibar, June 1, 1900. WITH regard to Slave Trade: Dhows sailing from Zanzibar for Muscat generally leave Zanzibar during the month of April, as soon as the south-west monsoon breaks, in order to avoid the heavy sea in the northern portion of the Indian Ocean later on. There are at present only three Muscat dhows in Zanzibar; the majority having sailed for the north about a month ago, and it is supposed that about nine of them succeeded in taking away from ten to fifteen slaves each from the island. I have a boat cruising at the southern end of the island to stop any canoes bringing slaves from the mainland, but it is rather late in the season for this traffic. I am also informed that small numbers of slaves have been taken from Pemba and the coast ports during the early part of the south west monsoon. Pemba Island is now strongly policed by the Sultan's askaris, which has greatly checked the export of slaves from there. I propose to visit it shortly. Everything is quiet on the coast. No. 7.-Sir A. Hardinge to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received July 8.) MY LORD, Zanzibar, June 7, 1900. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a despatch which I have addressed to Her Majesty's Sub-Commissioners in the Provinces of Seyyidieh and Tanaland respecting the question of payment of compensation by the Zanzibar Government for the freeing here, under the Decree of the 1st Zilkada, 1315, of slaves belonging to the Sultan's subjects who are domiciled in His Highness' mainland dominions. I have thought it advisable to lose no time in warning mainland slave-owners that if they bring their domestic slaves with them here, or allow them to engage here for service, they do so at their own risk, as otherwise they may say, not perhaps altogether unreasonably, that they were unaware of this view of the law, and should in fairness have been officially informed of it. I have therefore not waited to refer the question for your Lordship's decision; but should you be of opinion that this class of slave-owners may fairly claim compensation in respect of slaves belonging to them here, the instructions I have issued can easily be altered in that sense. I have communicated a copy of them to the Zanzibar Government for its information. Cases, of course, may arise where the Courts may deem it just to award compensation, as in those, for instance, of widows, orphans, or aged and infirm persons unfit for work, who depend absolutely for their subsistence on the earnings or labour of their slaves, and who will be reduced to such beggary by their loss that they will anyhow be a burden to the State; but in such cases it would be given as an act of grace, or, so to speak, out-door relief rather than as a right. I have, &c., The Marquess of Salisbury. ARTHUR H. HARDINGE. (Inclosure.)-Sir A. Hardinge to Sub-Commissioner Tritton. Zanzibar, June 7, 1900. SIR, AN application was recently made by a Lamu Arab for compensation on account of the loss of the services of a slave who had been freed at Zanzibar, in accordance with the provisions of the Sultan's Decree of the 1st Zilkada, 1315. It was decided that in this case compensation should be paid, because (1) the engagement made by Seyyid Ali in Article 2 of his Decree of the 15th Zulhadja, 1307, to the effect that the status of the slaves owned by his subjects should be unchanged (a promise which is the main ground for the grant of compensation now) was [1900-1901. XCIV.] 3 P made to "all his subjects," and not merely to those born or domiciled within the islands; and (2) because in this particular case the slave bad proceeded of his own free will, as well as with his master's knowledge and permission, to Zanzibar before the publication of the Decree of the 1st Zilkada, and therefore at a time when his master was justified in supposing that Article 2 of Seyyid Ali's Decree was and would continue to remain operative. The point thus raised has, however, drawn attention to the general question as to the right of mainland slave-owners to demand compensation for the freeing of their slaves in the islands; and I have come to the conclusion that, at any rate in the cases of slaves who entered the islands with the knowledge and consent of their masters since the publication of the Decree abolishing the status of slavery there, this demand cannot be entertained. As far as the mainland owners are concerned, they have not been deprived of the benefits of Article 2 of Seyyid Ali's Decree within the districts in which they themselves are domiciled; and if they bring their slaves with them to Zanzibar, knowing as they now do that the status of slavery is no longer legally recognized or enforced in the islands, they must understand that they do so at their own risk, just as they would if they took them up country into, say, the Province of Ukamba. In both cases they are aware that a slave accompanying them can at any moment demand to be freed; and it would be as well that they should also be warned that in the former case the Courts cannot undertake in future to compensate, and, as regards mainland slaves already in the islands, must reserve their right to consider in each instance all the circumstances of their arrival and residence there. I have to instruct you to communicate the substance of this despatch to the Collectors, and through them or directly, as you may think most convenient, for the information of slave-owners, to the Walis and other local authorities in those portions of your province which form part of the Zanzibar dominions. I need scarcely observe that subjects of the Sultan of Witu can under no circumstances claim compensation for slaves freed in the Zanzibar Islands. I am, &c., J. Tritton, Esq ARTHUR H. HARDINGE. No. 8.-The Marquess of Salisbury to Sir A. Hardinge. SIR, Foreign Office, July 25, 1900 I HAVE received your despatch of the 7th ultimo, and I approve the terms of your instructions to Her Majesty's Sub-Commissioners in the Provinces of Seyyidieh and Tanaland relative to i |