MR. JOSEPH A. PEASEI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government has recently taken any steps towards bringing about either the prompt abolition of slavery in the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, or even the liberation of those slaves illegally held in bondage in these British Protectorates?
§ SIR E. GREYA Vice Consul has recently been appointed in Pemba who will shortly take up the appointment. It is hoped that information will now be obtained from a source which has been hitherto closed, which will facilitate a comprehensive examination of the subject. The Sultan has always been, and is now, ready to liberate at once any slave proved to be illegally held. The prompt abolition of slavery in these islands presents many difficulties, but Her Majesty's Government are now considering how the object in view can best be obtained.