§ MR. ATKINSON (Boston)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether information has reached him that, as stated in public newspapers, Natives are captured and shipped from the port which the French hold on the Western Coast of Madagascar to a French Colony on the Island of Reunion; and, if not, whether he will make inquiry as to the truth of the statement; and, in case the report is true, will Her Majesty's Government make represen- 878 tations against such re-opening of the Slave Trade?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N. E.)I stated about three months ago that grave abuses of the sort had occurred. The forced shipment of Natives did not, however, take place from a port in French occupation. As I then informed the House, energetic measures had been taken by the British and French Authorities; a British man-of-war has since visited the port in question, and it is believed that a stop has been put to the practice.