§ SIR JOHN KENNAWAYasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been directed to the statement that the Khedive and his officers have permitted the resuscitation of the slave trade in Darfour and the other provinces of Central and Equatorial Africa, and that every order given by Colonel Gordon concerning its suppression has been cancelled; whether any information on the subject has been received from the European Commission appointed to carry out the Convention regarding slavery concluded between Egypt and this Country; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will take all reasonable means to secure the performance on the part of Egypt of her public and international obligations in this respect?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKEThe most recent information received by Her Majesty's Government from Her Majesty's Agent and Consul General in Egypt does not bear out the statement contained in the hon. Member's Question; but, on the contrary, is to the effect that in the month of April last, on the arrival of a slave caravan at Siout, 250 persons connected with it were arrested, of whom 34 wore detained as prisoners; 68 slaves were taken, and subsequently 24 more, all of whom received papers of manumission. Moreover, the Governor of Siout and the head of the Slave Bureau at that place are to be dismissed and tried by court martial; the Slave Bureaux to be re-organized so as to render the Governors of the places in which they are situated responsible for their efficiency; and the caravan routes to be watched by a military force under the command of Count Edward della Sala, an Italian gentleman of high character and ability, and formerly in the Austrian Army, to whom, as well as to the Governor General of the Soudan, Reouf Pasha, the most stringent orders have been issued by the Khedive for the suppression of the slave trade. We have no knowledge of any "European Commission" appointed to carry out the Egyptian Slave Trade Convention. Her Majesty's Government will certainly do all in their power to secure its complete execution.