§ MR KNOX (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the "forest robbers," pursued by the recent Expedition from Witu, were chiefly runaway slaves; whether the object of the Expedition was to force them to come into Witu; and whether, if a runaway slave did come into the dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, his former owner would be entitled, by the law of Zanzibar, to resume possession?
§ SIR E. GREYFull information as to the character of these people, and as 1349 to the objects of the Expedition in Witu, is given in the Papers, Africa No. 9, 1893, and Africa No. 1, 1894, which have been laid before Parliament. A lawful owner in the Zanzibar dominions would by the law of Zanzibar be entitled to resume possession of a runaway slave. I may add that the Expedition in question never left the territory of Witu; its object was to destroy certain fortified posts, which were a centre of disturbance, and it had nothing to do either with the capture of runaway slaves or with the restoration of them to owners if they had any.
§ MR. KNOXWill the hon. Gentleman consider the possibility of drawing up Regulations as a safeguard against these runaway slaves being re-sold?
§ SIR E. GREYI am not aware that any one of these men has been claimed by any owner.