His Excellency further states that Raschid Pasha promised that this suggestion should be taken into consideration. In the event, therefore, of any steps being taken to stop these caravans, you will be careful to report to this Department the result of the action adopted by the Ottoman authorities in the I am, &c., matter. P. Henderson, Esq. T. V. LISTER. No. 189.-Consul Henderson to the Earl of Derby.-(Rec. July 3.) WITH reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the Slave Trade, I have now the honour to report to your Lordship that during the last six months no exportation of slaves has been effected from this port by sea. A few manumitted slaves left in the suite of the late Governor, but they were liberated before leaving Bengazi, and regular manumission papers were handed to each at Canea by Raouf Pasha. In reporting to your Lordship the gratifying intelligence of the interruption of this traffic by sea, I think I can assure your Lordship that, as regards Bengazi, the exportation of slaves to the Levant by sea is at an end. I have, &c., The Earl of Derby. P. HENDERSON. TURKEY. No. 191.-Sir H. Elliot to the Earl of Derby.-(Rec. March 10.) MY LORD, Constantinople, February 21, 1876. I HAVE communicated to Raschid Pasha an abstract of Mr. Consul Henderson's despatch to your Lordship of the 24th of December, reporting his visit to the slave-entrepôt at Jalo, and I strongly supported the suggestion that a detachment of soldiers should be sent to that place to confiscate the caravans as they arrived. Raschid Pasha promised that the suggestion shall be taken into consideration. Mr. Henderson's despatch did not reach me till a few days ago. I have, &c., The Earl of Derby. HENRY ELLIOT. No. 195.-The Earl of Derby to Sir H. Elliot. SIR, I TRANSMIT to your Excellency herewith copies of a correspond * Page 412. [1875-76. LXVII.] ence on the subject of the inquiries which it has been found necessary to make into the status of persons passing through Malta who may be suspected of being slaves. It is evident that the concessions already made in this matter out of deference to the remonstrances of the Turkish Government have been abused for Slave Trade purposes, and under these circumstances Her Majesty's Government have felt it their duty to establish a system of inspection by female agents, to be deputed by the authorities of Malta, which it is hoped will obviate the evil in question, without furnishing any well-grounded cause of complaint to the Turkish Government. I have accordingly to request that, in communicating the substance of the accompanying correspondence to the Turkish Government, your Excellency will draw their attention to the circumstances under which Her Majesty's Government have felt themselves compelled to have recourse to the services of a female agent with the view to prevent the use of Malta as a port of transhipment in connection with Slave Traffic between Tripoli and the European or Asiatic ports of Turkey. I am, &c., Sir H. Elliot. DERBY. (Inclosure 1.)-Mr. Herbert to Mr. Lister. SIR, Downing Street, May 3, 1876. IN reference to the letter from this Office of the 23rd of February, inclosing a despatch from Sir Charles Van Straubenzee of the 1st of February, I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you, to be laid before the Earl of Derby, the inclosed copy of a despatch from Sir Charles Van Straubenzee of the 10th of April, from which it appears that the black man Mahomet (No. 3) who passed through Malta in December, 1875, with the black woman Radmy or Aischa, whom he alleges to be his wife, passed through Malta again in February with two other black women whom he alleged one to be a wife and the other a daughter, giving at that time an account of his other alleged wife inconsistent with that given by him in December. Lord Carnarvon concurs in the opinion formed by the local authorities that this man is a slave-dealer or the agent of such a dealer; and he considers the incident as corroborating the wellfounded belief that Malta is frequently resorted to as a port of transshipment, not only by Turkish subjects taking with them their domestic slaves or servants being members of their household, but also by regular slave-dealers in furtherance of their general occupation between Tripoli and the European or Asiatic ports of Turkey. In 1874, Sir A. Dingli, the Crown Advocate of Malta, proposed a draft Ordinance intended to prevent the introduction of female slaves into Malta, and in a letter to the Foreign Office of the 5th of August Lord Carnarvon expressed himself inclined to the enactment of some measure similar in principle to that proposed by Sir A. Dingli; but upon consideration of certain objections, chiefly of detail, raised in a report from the Law Officers, forwarded in your letter of the 9th October, his Lordship decided not to direct the Ordinance to be further proceeded with, expressing at the same time a hope that a strict examination of a ship's papers and a careful inquiry into the status of persons arriving from Africa might be found effectual for the suppression of the Traffic in Slaves. In a despatch of the 28th September, 1875, Sir Charles Van Straubenzee took occasion to comment upon the fruitless nature of these inquiries, and the reports of Mr. Consul Drummond-Hay and Mr. Vice-Consul Henderson strongly bear out the view of the Governor of Malta that the declarations on the part of supposed slaves of their willingness to continue their journey are worthless as evidencing any real condition of liberty, because those declarations are induced by the most outrageous falsehoods on the part of the dealers. In these circumstances Lord Carnarvon has come to the conclusion that the institution of an inquiry by the police authorities, however searching it may be, has been shown by experience to be ineffectual for the purpose of preventing the Slave Traffic being carried on through Malta, and he would propose, with Lord Derby's concurrence, to instruct the Governor to refer the matter again to the Crown Advocate, with a view to the preparation of an Ordinance similar in principle to the draft Ordinance of 1874, but avoiding those defects of detail commented on by the Law Officers of the Crown. The fact that the slaves on their journey from Barbary to Constantinople are actually landed in Malta, lodged for some days in Maltese lodging-houses, and re-embarked at Malta generally in British ships, makes the case, in Lord Carnarvon's opinion, a very strong one for interference. The Slave Traffic itself appears to be very limited, and if the dealers are prevented from touching at Malta, it may be hoped that it will cease to be carried on from Tripoli, as it would not of itself be sufficient to support a line of steamers direct to Smyrna and Constantinople. I am to annex, for convenience of reference, a proof, including some papers referred to in this letter which were laid before the Royal Commission on the reception of slaves in territorial waters. I am, &c., T. V. Lister, Esq. ROBERT G. W. HERBERT. (Inclosure 5.)-The Adjutant of Police to the Superintendent SIR, Police Office, Valetta, April 3, 1876. I BEG to transmit herewith, for your information, some remarks I have made in regard to, and the declaration I have been able to obtain from, Africans arrived on the 31st ultimo from Tripoli in the Ottoman steamer Trabulus Garb, and in the English steamer Circe, the number of individuals on board each vessel being as follows:by Trabulus Garb, 26; by Circe, 13. Several of these persons when called as usual to this office in order to be separately questioned by me respecting their status, have (although entirely covered with a thick drab and wearing a thick dark veil on their faces), not only positively declined to answer any of the questions put to them in the Arabic, Turkish, and Moorish languages, but also refused to show the colour of their skin by uncovering at least their hands, and therefore, under these circumstances, I am unable to say or guess either their sex, age, or colour. Taking into consideration the report of the marine police officer who went on board the two vessels soon after their arrival, and before they were admitted to pratique, it appears that the leaders of these parties had concerted between themselves a plan for concealing as much as practicable the colour of those they had under their charge, and for making them decline to answer any of the questions which might be put to them; since, contrary to all precedents, when that officer stepped on board, these women were already wrapped up in their habiliments, each wearing a very thick veil, and they immediately, when spoken to, one and all refused to answer, which deportment obliged that officer to return to the station without even being able to obtain their names. The attitude which these individuals assumed on board the steamers in the presence of the marine police officer was maintained by them also in this office whilst they were being interrogated by me, and should this behaviour be allowed to continue and be established as a rule for all future arrivals, I apprehend that serious consequences will ensue. No officer, bearer of a warrant of arrest of delinquents or of warrants of impedimento di partenza of debtors, will be responsible for either the delinquent's or the debtor's escape from the island, when no opportunity of taking the names and of knowing personally the individuals arriving and leaving this island is afforded in order to ascertain their identity. Arrivals of persons of the above class will henceforth be very numerous, there being at present three steamers plying between this island and Tripoli, viz., the Allegra, the Trabulus Garb, and the The interpreters employed on this occasion were, Sergeant Salvators Cassar, of the Interior Police, for the Turkish language, and Miss Antoina Vidal for the Moorish. I have, &c., GIACOMO PSAILA, Adjutant. (Inclosure 6.)—Declaration by Adjutant of Police.-Valetta, April 3, 1876. No. 198.-Sir H. Elliot to the Earl of Derby.-(Rec. August 11.) WITH reference to your Lordship's despatch of the 12th instant, The Earl of Derby. HENRY ELLIOT. (Inclosure.)—Sir H. Elliot to Safvet Pasha. SIR, Therapia, July 22, 1876. HER Majesty's Consul at Jeddah has reported to Her Majesty's Government that Slave Trade operations have of late greatly increased at that port. He states that buggalows under Turkish colours now fearlessly enter the port, and in broad daylight land their cargoes of slaves, and that the Quarantine authorities levy a fee of 10 piastres on each slave when they are passed through the Custom-house gate into the town. To satisfy himself of this being the truth, Mr. Beyts proceeded with the British Vice-Consul, Mr. Wylde, and the Consular Dragoman, to the Custom-house gate which faces the town, and there at noon-day they saw and counted a batch of slaves, boys and girls, numbering 96, who had just been landed, and were being driven through the gate like a flock of sheep. I have been instructed by Her Majesty's Government to bring these circumstances to the knowledge of the Porte, and to strongly remonstrate against this undisguised violation by the Turkish authorities at Jeddah of the orders for the suppression of the Slave Trade, by which they should be guided. Your Excellency will doubtless see the necessity of adopting stringent measures with a view of putting a stop to these infamous proceedings, and 1 trust that you will put me in a position to assure Her Majesty's Government that such of the Imperial authorities as may have connived at them shall be dealt with as such misconduct deserves, I have, &c., Safvet Pasha. HENRY ELLIOT. |