In regard to the machinery by which this Colony is governed, Your
Committee have no specific recommendation to offer.
In the course of their investigations, questions have arisen connected
with its past management and administration, more especially on the
subject of the party spirit of a peculiar nature, which is alleged to
have acted injuriously in regard to it both on the Colonial Office at
home and on the internal transactions of the Colony itself; questions
mixed up with topics of a personal nature, and which, in spite of the
facilities for a full investigation which were offered by the Colonial
Office, Your Committee would have found it impossible, within their
limited time, even if it had been their proper province, to follow
out. On these points, therefore, not having the means either of
forming themselves a satisfactory opinion, or furnishing The House
with the means of forming one, they have thought it due, not less to
the questions themselves than to the individuals concerned, not to
report the Evidence; and they are the more induced to pursue this
course, in that they are thus not prejudging any inquiry into this
subject, if in a future Session it should be the pleasure of The House
to engage in it.
In regard to the future, much will depend on the decision which shall
be come to as to several points which have been under our
consideration; such as the continuance at Sierra Leone of the Courts
for Adjudication of Prizes taken in the Slave Trade, the disposal of
the rescued Slaves, and the question of Emigration from Africa
generally.
Now it is hardly necessary to remind the House of The Resolution come
to by a Committee which sat upon this subject in 1830, which
distinctly condemned the location of the Mixed Commission Court at
Sierra Leone as highly inconvenient for the purpose, on the ground of
its situation, not only at so great a distance as 800 or 1,000 miles
from the places where the Slaves to be adjudicated were then
principally captured, but also so far to windward, that captured ships
were sometimes eight or nine weeks, and on an average upwards of five
weeks, on their passage from the place of capture to Sierra Leone,
occasioning a loss of the captured Slaves amounting to from one-sixth
to half of the whole number, whilst the survivors were generally
landed in a miserable state of weakness and disease. Such undoubtedly
was the case then, and had been the case then for many years, and has
been still the case, though in a somewhat less degree, since the
Report of that Committee. We regret that means should not have been
taken earlier to remedy this crying evil. As the Slave Trade however
now exists, that evil is no doubt much diminished. By the provision
introduced into our more recent Slave Trade Treaties, the Cruizers of
the contracting parties are authorised to seize Vessels merely on the
evidence of their equipment, without making it necessary to wait till
Slaves are actually on board, and thus a much smaller number of Slaves
is brought for adjudication and exposed to this kind of middle
passage. Moreover the exertions and improved quality and system of our
Cruizers, the depressed condition of the sugar-planters of Cuba and
Brazil, the extension of legitimate traffic, and other causes, have
succeeded in diminishing altogether the amount of Slave Trade; and the
scene of its greatest activity, North of the Line, lies now within a
moderate distance of Sierra Leone, or to the windward of it. The
reasons, therefore, for removing the Courts of Adjudication from that
Colony are not what they were. If, however, one place of adjudication
only is still to be assigned, and only one place of release, to the
wretched victims of the Slave Dealer, we believe that Ascension, or
one of the Portuguese Islands, would on the whole be best adapted for
that purpose, as being more convenient than Sierra Leone to the Bights
of Benin and Biafra, and to the Portuguese Settlements South of the
Line, now the principal seats of the existing Slave Trade, and (owing
to the set of winds and currents in that direction) as being easy of
access even from the farthest extremities of the Windward Coast, where
any Slave Trade is carried on. We are aware, however, that these are
arrangements which can only be made in conjunction with Foreign
Powers, and that they involve many considerations which have not been
fully before us. They are, however, of high importance to the
interests of humanity, and we cannot do less than invite the best
attention of Her Majesty’s Government to the subject.
The next point we have alluded to, that of the place and manner of
locating the Africans who are liberated from the captured Slave Ships,
is so closely connected with the question of Emigration from Africa
generally, that this seems to be the proper opportunity for discussing
that important subject. Before, however, they go further, Your
Committee desire to say a few words as to the point of view from which
they have felt it their special duty to look at it. On another
Committee has been devolved the charge of examining it in its bearings
on the prosperity of the West Indies: we consider it our peculiar duty
to look at it as affecting the interests of Africa only, whether of
its Natives generally, or specially of those who come into our hands
and under our protection in the course of our attempts to put down the
Slave Trade. Now, the investigation alluded to as devolved upon
another Committee of Your honourable House, is no doubt one of the
highest importance, even to the interests of the African himself;
inasmuch as we have it on the highest authority, that the diminished
supply of Sugar from our West India Colonies, consequent on
Emancipation, gave an extraordinary stimulus to the Slave Trade for
the supply of Cuba and Brazil; and the best aid for its
discouragement, and the best chance for its total extinction, would
undoubtedly be the diminution of inducement to carry it on, which
would arise from the production of Sugar by Free Labour in the British
Colonies on lower terms. But, as more immediately within our province,
we have thought it our duty to confine our inquiries upon this subject
to three points: 1st. Whether, indeed, there are any considerable
materials for a free Emigration from Africa to the West Indies; 2dly.
Whether it would be desirable for the African to make the change; and,
3rdly. Whether it could be carried on, and how, without reasonable
apprehension, or even a possibility of creating or encouraging a new
Slave Trade.
Now, as to the first point, we may briefly say, that on the Gold Coast
few materials for a perfectly free Emigration, or for Emigration of
any kind, appear to exist. The devastations of the Slave Trade, and of
the wars connected with it, though it has now ceased there entirely
for nine or ten years, are yet too recent to allow of the existence of
any very crowded Population, or any adventurous habits; and all, save
the Chiefs and a few dwellers on the coasts, who have engaged in the
various pursuits of commerce under the protection of the British, the
Dutch, and Danish settlements, are Slaves, though their Slavery, like
that of Africa generally, is not, as to labour, of a very grievous
kind. As we proceed up the Coast, we fall in, between Cape Palmas and
Cape Mount, with a very singular race of men, consisting of many small
tribes, known commonly by the collective name of Kroomen, scattered
along a considerable range of shore; much given, though not
exclusively, to maritime pursuits; forming part of the crew of every
English man-of-war and merchantman on the coast; known by a
distinctive external mark, and neither taken as Slaves themselves, nor
making Slaves of others. Their numbers are uncertain, but are
undoubtedly considerable, and seem to be increasing, and their
confidence in the English character is ascertained. But it seems
doubtful whether permission for large numbers to leave their shores
could be obtained without some present to their Chiefs; and their
attachment to their own country, and their present habits of migrating
only for a period, and without their families, make it also doubtful
whether they would ever become permanent settlers elsewhere, or indeed
remain away from home for a longer period than two or three years.
Upon this point we would refer, in addition to other Evidence, to that
which was given before us by two or three of these men themselves.
Passing by Sierra Leone for the moment, we come to the British
Settlement of the Gambia, and here we find about 1,500 Liberated
Africans, whom the British Government has removed thither from Sierra
Leone, from whom of course not much emigration could be expected,
though some, for they have little employment there. But we find there
a periodical Migration from a considerable distance up the River in
two tribes of Serawoolies and Tilliebunkas, who come in numbers to do
all the severe labour of the Settlement, and having saved their
earnings return to their homes, apparently free to come and go without
restraint or obligation of any kind. Their case may be considered as
somewhat resembling that of the Kroomen, and as offering materials for
a temporary Emigration in the first instance, though possibly
hereafter, on further experience, for one of a more permanent
character. We now return to Sierra Leone, and here we find the
Liberated Africans and their descendants, in number from 40,000 to
50,000, a body of Kroomen, in numbers which are variously stated from
1,000 to 5,000, who, like the Serawoolies in the Gambia, do all the
hard labour of the Colony, and between 1,000 and 2,000 of a mixed
population, who, like the Kroomen, have come into the Colony of their
own accord. We have also to deal here with those who may hereafter be
the subjects of adjudication on their release from Slave Ships, or who
may hereafter come into the Colony, if it should be permitted, for the
purpose of Emigration. These are the materials for Emigration to the
West Indies which have presented themselves, and progressively, if it
were permitted, encouraged, and successful, they would probably prove
to be considerable.
The next question is, whether it would be a desirable change for these
people to be in the West Indies rather than in Africa. Now for this
object we desired that statements might be prepared for us, founded
principally on Official Documents, acquainting us with the state of
things, the condition of society, the temporal, the moral and
religious advantages which would be enjoyed in three of our principal
Colonies, to which we beg to refer in our Appendix, but from which we
insert here a few Extracts, as sufficient for the present occasion.