Page 271 - Gulf Precis (III)_Neat

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33- We will now proceed to embody the sentiments of Captain Felix Jones on
slave trade, and the measures he considered requisite effectually to abolish
it in these seas (see Resident's despatches to Mr. Secretary Anderson, Nos.
34, 44 67 and 75 of 1856 and 698 of 1857).
34. Captain Felix Jones submitted that slave trade would never be extin-
Vidt Captain Felix Jones' dc»p»tch to Mr. Sec- guished in the Gulf until a regular organised
rotary Ander»on, f'o. 7J-P.D. of August 28.1856’ system be established by Government, and
recommended therefore that a slave force, consisting of vessels of a particular
character, and properly equipped for slave service, distinct entirely from the
ordinary Gulf squadron, be maintained during the slave season in the proper
quarter.
35. Slaves, he was of opinion, were not often brought by boat north of Maskat,
. _. but, owing to the well-known vigilance of
p»tdfuPMar.8s«feur°yf AndS'-on.'nv 3political our cruizers, were landed at Soor* or other
Department, dated 23nd April 1856. ports to the south of the Imam’s territo-
• Vide paragraph a ot above despatch. , . 1 * 1
r 6 ries, whence, by caravan or leisurely stages,
they are marched across the desert for sale among the Oman Chiefs, or even
vide Captain Felix Jcnes' Je,patch to Mr. >" Mesopotamia and Persia. His own
Secretary Anderson, No. 34, Political Department, experience, from a lengthened residence in
dated 2md April 1856. Turkish Arbia, convinced him that in
many instances slaves were conveyed overland to Turkish Arabia from the
southern extremity of the Peninsula of Arabia. Hence, knowing such practice to
be not uncommon, he recommended the slave force to be stationed either in
t ra, Cap,.in Felix Jon.,' d„Pa,.h to M,. the neighbourhood of Zanzibar or off
Secretary Andenon. No. .14. p-iiticai Department, Manzeiraj Island. If, however, thereexist-
dated 26th May 1856, par-graph 4. ed State reasons to render their location
Government approved i„ .bo,. '•« those tracts inadvisable, no course
despatch and exoressed intention to forward a WOuld be left available, but, With far leSS
copy thereof to the Honourab e Couit of Directors.
chances of success, to exercise a greater
amount of vigilance in other quarters, and to chase every vessel that showed
itself between Maskat and the Quoins.
36. Captain Felix Jones preferred seeing steamers of light draught em-
ra.Je.oe.ch No. 698 ol November .8, ,SS7, 0n slaVe dut,'eS, Sailing Vessels,
from Captain Felix jonos to Mr. Secretary Andcr- His reasons were the following. Steamers
ion, paragraph 9. would in any case, for reasons that were
obvious, be probably the more effective. The dead calms that sometimes
reigned during the months of June, when the transport of slaves was at its
height, necessitated the officer and crews of the Honourable Company’s sailing
vessels of war occasionally to lower boats in pursuit of sails in sight, and to be
exposed for hours to a burning Gulf sun, lest the slaves, if on board, should escape
from their hands.
37. The Resident pointed to the unequal action and pressure of our con­
ventions with the several powers in the
Vide paragraph 5 of Captain Felix Jones’ des­
patch to Mr. Secretary Anderson, No. 75, dated Gulf as open to many inconveniences ;
August 28,1836. for wj,jjst Acts of Parliament had been
passed for giving effect to our slavery engagements with His Highness the
Vide paragraph J of' Captain Felix Jones' des- Imam of Maskat, and the Maritime
patch to Mr. Secretary Anderson, No. 67 of Arab Chiefs On the Arab Coast, no SUCh
August 1856. Acts exjste(j wich respect to Persia and
Turkey. Thus, while the vessels of the two former Powers could be seized and
confiscated, those of the two latter remained free. Nay, further, those of
Turkey must be conveyed by the captors from the southern end of the Gulf, or
wherever captured, to the nearest Turkish port, and be made over to the
Turkish authorities for adjudication. To the above, it may be added, that,
whilst in the case of slavers taken from the Imam and Oman Chiefs, the captors
by the Acts of Parliament derived profit for their labours, no such remuneration
Vide paragraph S of Captain Pelix Jonei’ dn- . was given when Persian or Turkish vessels
patch to Mr. Secretary Andenon, No. 67 of August became priZCS.
1856.
3S. In the eyes of the Maritime Chiefs of Oman, who are independent,
Vide paragraph 7 of Captain Felix Jones’ des- ^ Strange that We should Confiscate
patch to Mr. Secretary Anderson, No. 093 of their vessels, if found guilty of slave traffic,
ovember 1857. whereas in the case of the Maritime Arab
Chiefs on the opposite side of the Gulf, who were subject to Persia, we neither