(Inclosure.)-M. Runtoné to the Sultan of Zanzibar. To His Highness Said Majid, Sultan of Zanzibar. (Translation.) 8th of Shahban, 1273 Hijra (April 4, 1857). AFTER COMPLIMENTS. I WAS much grieved to hear of the death of your Highness's father, the Imaum of Muscat, which took place on the passage from Muscat to Zanzibar, after having arranged the affairs of Muscat and its neighbourhood, and giving tranquillity to those countries. I was anxiously awaiting his arrival in Zanzibar, for I was desirous of writing to him on various subjects. I wished to advise him to be supreme in his own territories, and give permission for the shipment of slaves, so that they might labour for wages in any country, and that if the English Consul should oppose this, that his Highness should insist. And after the death of his Highness I was unable to write this; and now if I were certain that permission is granted, I should wish that you would send me some slaves, young and strong, to labour in our colonies; and if this can be arranged, send the answer in the ship which conveys this letter to you, viz., the ship named and inform me whether I shall send my ship to your country to convey slaves or not. I will sell them, or they shall remain with me; and I have a ship named the Paikur, a fast sailer, which can always perform the passage quickly between this and your Highness's country, and we shall make a profit, as it will perform voyages with speed, and this profit shall be divided equally between me and your Highness; the profit and the loss we will share equally; this is what I desired for your Highness's father; and the price of the slaves which you send me we will divide equally, after reckoning for the expenses of shipping, passage, &c.; the profit shall be equally divided between us; and let the slaves which you send be young, strong, and let it be a stipulation that for every 90 male slaves, there shall be 10 female slaves, small, of ages from 14 to 16 years. And I am confident that all slaves which your Highness conveys to me in your name, the Governor of Bourbon will permit to land, and will be pleased at it, for the Governor wrote to your Highness's father, and made him acquainted (with his wishes), and I did also. And do not pay attention to the words of the English Consul in all what he says to you; do all that you see is good for your country and condition; for the English Consul is dwelling in your country solely for his own affairs; he has by no means anything to do with your affairs; for the English would wish to manufacture sugar in their colonies, in Europe and in India, and sell it to foreign countries, and would desire that other countries should not manufacture any sugar. And the French Government has given permission to all * Illegible in the Arabic letter. the Governors of their colonies to purchase slaves and to set them free; for the Government of France desires the happiness of all mankind, so that people should convey slaves to Bourbon to be taught labour, in order that they may become wise and clever. And you will receive an account for 1,025 Spanish dollars and 83 centimes for the expenses of the ship named The Sooliman. I received charge of the ship from M. Bella and M. Desbussé; they have caused a great loss with this ship; and as Mahommed bin Hamees had no money, I paid all the expenses, and have provided the ship with all necessaries requisite until she reaches you; and I wish you to give me a bill of exchange for the above, at the rate of 11 German crowns for 10 Spanish dollars, and send it to me by the captain of this ship; and I wish the same friendship to continue between your Highness and myself as existed between your Highness's father and myself. And I wish to send my ships to your Highness's ports, and that your Highness should load them with sesamum seeds, which I will convey to Marseilles, for I have a house of business at Marseilles, and I wish that we should share the profits; and I tell you this to induce your Highness not to send your ships to other ports or countries as your father used to do. Pray write to me, in order that I may know you entertain for me the same friendly sentiments your father did. Written from M. Runtoné, dated the 8th of Shahban, 1273 Hijra, corresponding to the 4th April, 1857, a.d. CORRESPONDENCE of Great Britain, relative to the Slave Trade, 1858, 1859; viz.: CLASS A.-CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE BRITISH COMMIS Page 948 - 999 120. Commodore Wise to Rear-Admiral Mar. 30 Case of the Regina Cali, and Slave Trade on Sir F. Grey. 965 123. Commodore Wise to the Secretary May 11 Respecting boarding of to the Admiralty. a French launch by boat from Her Majesty's ship Vesuvius 966 125. Rear-Admiral Sir F. Grey to the June 15 Respecting boarding of Secretary to the Admiarlty. French vessel Merle, and other vessels Orion and French emigration scheme. 967 971 Report on French emi 147. Commander Hunt to Commodore Nov. 14 French ship Phoenix Wise. 148. Commander Hunt to the Secre- Dec. tary to the Admiralty. 1859 shipped slaves from Liberian territory, con- 1 Further intelligence re- 163. Commodore Wise to Rear-Admiral | Jan. 18 Shipment of negroes Sir F. Grey. 974 981 from West Coast of Africa, under French emigration scheme.... 984 AFRICA (EAST COAST). 1858 170. Commander Gordon to Rear-Ad- Aug. 11 miral Sir F. Grey. French vessel Marie et 172. Rear-Admiral Sir F. Grey to the Oct. 16 Boarding of Marie et Secretary to the Admiralty. 986 987 et Celine and Eléonore 992 No. Date. SUBJECT. Page 174. Rear-Admiral Sir F. Grey to the Oct. 19 Report of visit to JohanSecretary to the Admiralty. na. Information re specting French emi- 994 6 Report of Commander Oldfield on French emigration scheme.... 997 No. 69.-Her Majesty's Acting Commissioner to the Earl of Clarendon, (Received July 3.) MY LORD, Loanda, March 25, 1858. I REGRET to have to report to your Lordship that a progressive laxity has lately been observable in regard to the transfer of slaves coastwise within this province. In the space of rather more than a month, 3 vessels have entered or cleared out here, each having on board from 8 to 10 slaves, some of whom have been described as accompanying the passengers therein named; and others, sometimes as many as 5, loosely entered as "belonging to the captains, boatswains, seamen, and apprentices." On the 12th ultimo, the American barque Goldfinch arrived here from Benguella, with 8 slaves on board, amongst whom two reported as belonging to the master of that vessel. I therefore felt it my duty to lose no time in bringing this matter under the consideration of the Governor-General; and I have now the honour to transmit copies of a correspondence which I have had with his Excellency on this subject. Your Lordship will perceive that this correspondence embraces 4 distinct points: 1st. The right of the captains, officers, and seamen of ships proceeding from one point to another of this province, to be accompanied by slaves under Article V of the Treaty of 3rd July, 1842. 2nd. The conveyance of slaves by sea, within those limits, in vessels not subject to the operation of that Treaty. 3rd. The limitation as to the number of shares to be conveyed on board the same vessel in each voyage. And 4th. The right of American citizens to be accompanied by slaves in the same manner as Portuguese subjects. With regard to the first of these heads, his Excellency, although declining to discontinue the practice of allowing the crews of ships. to embark slaves under Article V of the Treaty, concurs with me, nevertheless, that the decision as to its legality belongs to the two Governments. Respecting the conveyance of slaves in ships which are neither British nor Portuguese, the Governor-General maintains that it is in no way opposed to the letter or spirit of the Treaty of 1842; but I respectfully submit, my Lord, that the Contracting Parties to that Treaty must have intended to limit such shipments to vessels liable to be visited and searched under the provisions thereof. In the report of the Colonial Board at Lisbon, a copy of which was inclosed to me in your Lordship's despatch of the 22nd October, 1857, it was recommended that, amongst other specified precautions to be observed, with a view of preventing any abuses in the removal of slaves by sea from one part of this continent to another within the same colony, such slaves should only be allowed to embark in Portuguese ships; and that the conveyance of more than 5 in each voyage should not be permitted. On conferring with Senhor Amaral some time since respecting that report, his Excellency fully concurred with me in the expediency of the restrictions therein proposed, but he now defends the system of allowing slaves to be removed in foreign vessels, and intimates to me that he has received instructions from the Portuguese Government not to allow the shipment of more than 10 in each voyage. With reference to the Governor-General's arguments as to the right of American citizens to be accompanied by slaves under the provisions of Article V of the Treaty, I will only observe that that right has been conceded by him equally to the subjects of nations which have not entered into a Convention with Portugal, similar to that upon which his opinion in this matter is founded; for it is not long since a Brazilian subject left this place for St. Thomas, accompanied by 10 slaves. I would, moreover, upon this point respectfully beg to direct your Lordship's attention to that passage in his Excellency's despatch of the 5th instant, in which he says that the right to remove slaves, within due limits, cannot be denied to the individuals composing the crews of vessels, if Portuguese subjects ("sendo elles cidadãos Portuguezes"). It only remains for me to refer to Senhor Amaral's observations respecting the circular issued by him to the different littoral authorities on the 20th April, 1857, which his Excellency considers to bo |