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and northern Arabia, and tho thing is dono. They oonld bo tried in suspicious cases before
the Vion-Admiralty Court of Zanzibar whore the French Consul should sit as Assessor, or
boforo tho French authorities at Mayotte or
Secret, Judo 1874, No. 228.
Nosi Boh.
Sir Dartle Froro rofors to the regulations under which tho French flag was
given. These regulations I have not been able to trace.
22 i. In January 1874 tho Political Agent, Zanzibar, roportod tho follow­
ing case and asked for instructions :—
Political A., July 1874, Not. 205 203.
" Whether the subjects of a Native State in India aarrying on business at Noesibo or
ekowhere within tho Frenoh possessions in Fast Africa, but rosiding temporarily at Zanzibar
isamonablo t‘> tho provisions of articlo IV of tho treaty of 6th Juno 1873, or, in other words,*
whei hor such a person is pro toe tod by the Frenoh flag ashoro as well as afloat, if 6uspoctod of
boing ooucerned in the slave-trade.”
Tho circumstances of the cases were as follows
“On 20th Dcccraher Inst tbo protection of this A genoy was claimod by an African lad,
who stnted that ho was dhtainod ns a slave against his will by a native of India. On sending
for tho litter I ascertained that he was a subject of the Stato of Jamunoggar in Kathyawar,
that ho had for some years rosided at Nossible in Madagascar, that tho vessel in which ho
came to Zanzibar was under French colors, and the agreemont with tho crew (to which oom-
Noinant wasallegod to boloug) was drawn up in the presence of the French authorities at
plassible, and was then lodged in the Froneh Consulate at this port.”
223. Dr. Kirk applied to the French Consul in tho matter, but
“received an official reply from M. Guillois in which that gentleman declined to afford
me any information on tho subject, on tho ground that tho afFuir was exclusively a Frenoh
shipping question in which the authorities of no foreign power had a right to interfere.”
224. In a private note M. Guillois wrote :—
*• I'ai cru devoir officiellement vous dcries la note ci-jointo rraintonant je vous dirai
officiensement que la question purement maritime a eld reglee entio la negro ot l'lndien quant
a l’nccusation de l'esulavnge, je nai pns m’oeonpar; le negre ot l'lndien n’etnnt francais ni Turn
ni I'autre lcconsulnt do Franco n’a pae 8’immiscer daus uno question de ce geuro eur une
territoiie qui n’eat pas fraucais."
This, as Dr. Kirk remarked, was tantamount to declaring that no obstacle
whatever would he placed in the way of Indian subjects running slaves between
i
Madagascar and Zanzibar under the French flag.
2-5. The Indian Government obtained tho opinion of the Advocate
General on the subject; his opinion concluded thus :—
i
“ Had the French Consul, on the matter being referred to him, enquired into the facts
and ascertained that ihe African lad was in reality a slave, whom the owner of a vessol sailing
under French colors was about to remove shortly from Zanzibar under a colorable agreement he
would have been bound to discharge the lad from the performance of the alleged maritime
contract over which, as a shipping questijn, he had, on his own showing, exclusive jurisdistion.
“ Had he done so, the British Consul would have been clearly entitled to invoke the aid
of the Zanzibar authorities calling their attention to the treaty, and these authorities in all
probability has satisfactorily disposed of tho charge of slavery and liberated the lad.............On
the whole, then, it is clear that unless there exists in future so>»c better understanding between
the English and French authorities, it will be impossible to abolish slavery altogether, if it be
a fact of which there can hardly be any doubt, that tho African lad’s name was borne on the
ship’s articles as a matter of ferm.
In a better and more suitable under6tand:ng cannot be arranged, it willbo advisable, if a
similar case occurs, to refer it to the authorities at Zanzibar for decision, leaving it to the
French Consul to resist the application if so minded. Such a dec hi on would either bring
matters to a proper termination, or afford reasonable ground lor amendment of the existing
Treaty.”
The matter was referred to the Secretary of State, hut no reply was appa­
rently received to the communication.
(ii) General act of the Brussels Slave Trade Conference, 1890.
226. We have now to see how tho above Act affected tho French Flag
question. The provisions that bear upon the question are the following :—
ARTICLE XXX.
The signatory powers undertake to exorcise a rigorous watch (“ surveillance ) over
the native vessels authorised to carry their flag in the zone indicated in Article XXI and over
the commercial operations oarried on by such vessels.