§ Mr. COMPTONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty what is the speed of the sloops engaged on the prevention OF the slave trade in the Red Sea, and what nations own territory on the shores of the Red Sea; and whether there has been any international difficulty resulting in the operations for the prevention of the slave traffic being less satisfactory in 1925 than they were in 1924?
Mr. DAVIDSONThe maximum speed of these sloops is between 16 and 17 knots. Apart from the Arab rulers, territory on the shores of the Red Sea is owned by France, Italy, Egypt and Great Britain. The only international difficulty affecting these operations was the recent war between the rulers of Nejd and the Hedjaz (September, 1924, to December, 1925), which necessitated the frequent presence2316W of one of His Majesty's ships at Jeddah, and consequently the reduction of the period on patrol.