§ SIR ROBERT FOWLER (London)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he has received from Sir Samuel Rowe, Governor of the West African Settlements, any complaints from the Chiefs of Jarra and Fogni of cruel and unprovoked attacks being made upon them by large bands of slave-trading marauders; whether these Chiefs have offered to place their territories under British control; and, whether Sir Samuel Rowe has made any Report on the subject, or advised Her Majesty's Government as to the best means of restoring order and protecting legitimate commerce in the Gambia?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead)I have received from Sir Samuel Rowe complaints from the Chiefs of Jarra and Fogni of the kind indicated in the Question. These Chiefs have offered to place their territories under British protection. I received a few days ago a Report from Sir Samuel Rowe upon this subject. I can assure the hon. Baronet that Her Majesty's Government will give most careful consideration to that Report, and as to the means of restoring order and legitimate commerce in the Gambia. They are quite alive to the importance of the subject; but it is, as the hon. Baronet knows, beset with great difficulties.