§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANEsaid, he rose to put a Question to the Under Secre- 970 tary of State for Foreign Affairs, in which three families were deeply concerned. Eleven years ago the ship St. Abbs was wrecked off the coast of Africa, 600 miles from the main land. The captain and a certain number of the crew who put off in boats were saved, but the rest of the sailors and five young cadets going to Bombay remained in the ship. The British Consul at Zanzibar, Colonel Rigby, had received communications which led him to suppose that some of the survivors of the wreck were detained among the Somaali. Portions of the cargo of the lost ship had actually been sent to Zanzibar. He wished to point out to the House that this was a case of deep interest to the families of the young men who had been wrecked in the ship. ["Order, order!"]
MR. DEPUTY SPEAKERThe hon. Gentleman must, in conformity with the rules of the House, confine himself to the terms of the question which he intends to ask.
§ MR. BAILLIE COCHRANEThen, I wish to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Foreign Office have received any Despatches to justify the hope that there are some survivors of the ship St. Abbs, which was wrecked off Tenadi Nuova in 1855, still detained as prisoners among the Somaali on the coast of Africa; and, if so, whether the Government will take any steps to procure their release?
§ MR. LAYARD, in reply, said, he could assure his hon. Friend that the Government felt the deepest sympathy for the families of those persons to whom his Question referred, and who were supposed, he was afraid on insufficient grounds, to be alive. The wreck of the ship St. Abbs took place eleven years ago, and it was believed that, with the exception of some who had escaped in the boats, all on hoard had perished; but in 1861 a report was received from Colonel Rigby to the effect that there were some white persons in the interior of the Somaali country whom he assumed to be others who had escaped from the wreck. The Foreign Office thereupon communicated with the India Office, whose particular business it was to make inquiries on the subject through their agents at Zanzibar and Aden. Inquiries were instituted, I but the result was that the report was believed not to have been well founded. I About a year ago, however, some hides were brought down to some part of the coast from the interior, on which Euro- 971 pean letters were said to have been cut, and the report was revived that there were some persons—it might be survivors from the wreck of the St. Abbs—still living in the interior, in a part of the country which was unfortunately inhabited by very wild tribes, and quite inaccessible to Europeans. Under these circumstances, the Foreign Office had requested Dr. Livingstone and Dr. Kirk, who was recently appointed surgeon to the residency at Zanzibar, to take any means of ascertaining whether there were any white persons in the interior who might be survivors from the wreck. He could assure his hon. Friend that if there was the least reason to believe that there were any such persons still living, everything would be done to effect their release.