No. 318.
Sir Edward
Thornton to Mr. Fish.
Sir: With reference to several conversations which I have had the honor of holding with you upon the subject of the conveyance of slaves from Tripoli through the island of Malta to Turkey, partly in British vessels, I have been instructed to inform you that a communication has been received from the governor of Malta upon this subject. In it his excellency expressed some surprise that the consul of the United States should have informed you that, whether from negligence or from worse motives, the authorities of the island were accused of not preventing the slaves in question from being conveyed in British steamers to Turkey, when it was notorious that they were really slaves, and would remain in a state of servitude after their arrival in Turkey.
His surprise, he said, was due to the circumstance that at the time when every possible effort was being made in Malta to ascertain the condition of the persons supposed to be slaves, and to prevent, as far as could be done according to law, any abuse of carrying a slave trade through that British possession, he was informed by the Crown advocate that Mr. Adams, the United States consul, called upon him for information, and that, after seeing all the papers connected with the investigation, he left Sir A. Dingle with the impression that he was satisfied of the groundlessness of the above-mentioned accusation. If, however, there is any point upon which the consul of the United States may have considered that the Maltese authorities failed in their duties, the governor of the island would be glad to be informed of it.
Earl Granville has further desired me to inform you that Her Majesty’s consular officers on the north coast of Africa have been in the habit of reporting for some years past to Her Majesty’s ambassador at Constantinople, and to the British consular officers in Egypt, every case in which they may have reason to suspect that slaves have been shipped for Turkey and Egypt, either by way of Malta or by any other route, and that Her Majesty’s consuls, in both the above-mentioned countries, keep strict watch on all such arrivals, and have been instrumental in procuring the manumission of a large number of slaves.
Regarding your suggestion that the Maltese authorities should be instructed to telegraph to Her Majesty’s consuls in Turkey whenever there is reason to suppose that a case of this traffic is occurring, Earl Granville has directed me to inform you that instructions have been issued to the governor of Malta in the sense above indicated.
I have, &c.,