Class B. Correspondence with British ministers and agents in foreign countries, and with foreign ministers in England, relating to the Slave Trade. From January 1 to December 31, 1868. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. 1869. [4131-I].
Folio. VI, 86 pp. Top edge gilt. Sewn.
€ 8,000.00
Rare British parliamentary papers and correspondence with local agents on the slave trade, including accounts of the extent to which many Arabs of the Gulf involved themselves in slavery in spite of their rulers having entered into agreements prohibiting such an activity: "[T]he Northern Arabs repair to the East Coast of Africa with no other motive than that of running slaves to the Persian Gulf [...] It is a known fact, that not one out of a hundred dhows that come here from the Persian Gulf, comes for any other purpose than to carry a cargo of slaves stolen from the inhabitants of Zanzibar" (p. 75). "These Sheikhs [on the Arabian coast line], who are all, more or less, bound to observe the Treaties, [...] allow the dhows to land the slaves they have succeeded in smuggling out of the Sultan's dominions [...] Could not the Sultan of Oman and the other Chiefs of the Persian Gulf be induced to issue orders calculated to prevent their subjects from carrying on this Trade?" (p. 73f.).
Disbound from a volume of parliamentary papers. Some leaves loosened, but on the whole a good copy.
Wilson p. 210.