§ MR. MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the attention of the Prime Minister, in his capacity of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has been directed to the statements of Professor Drummond in his work on Tropical Africa, and of Mr. J. Scott Kilkie, in an article in The Contemporary Review for July, entitled British Interests in Africa, that since the withdrawal of H.M.S. Condor from the harbour of Zanzibar the Slave Trade in Africa "has been resumed with redoubled energy," and "has become more rampant that ever;" and, do Her Majesty's Government, having regard to the circumstances that led to the withdrawal of the Slave Circular in 1874, intend to take any steps for the abatement of this evil?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)The writers in question consider that the Arabs of the interior believed that the withdrawal of the Lon- 739 don in January, 1884, implied a diminution of interest in the suppression of the Slave Trade on the part of Great Britain. As a matter of fact, the withdrawal of this particular vessel was part of a scheme for more effectual suppression; and if the Arabs had an impression to the contrary they must long since have been undeceived. If the hon. Member will look at the recent Blue Book he will find ample proof of the continued vigilance and activity of Her Majesty's cruisers.