§ 11. Sir ROBERT THOMASasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what ships of His Majesty's Navy are at present on duty in the prevention and suppression of slave-trading in the Red Sea; what degree of activity slave-traders are showing in this region; and what captures of slave dhows have recently been effected?
§ The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. Bridgeman)Two sloops are detailed for duty in the Red Sea, where one of their principal duties is the prevention of slave-trading. One of these sloops is at present undergoing repairs at Malta, there being no repairing base in the Red Sea. The slave traders naturally take great care to conceal their activities, but from reports received it appears that there is still a limited traffic in slaves from the African coast to Arabia, but of what extent cannot be ascertained. No dhows carrying slaves have been captured recently.