EAST COAST OF AFRICA AND INDIAN OCEAN

Instructions to Mr. Hardinge respeoting the Abolition of the Légal Status of Slavery in the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

The Marquess ofSalisbury to Mr. A , Hardinge. Foreign OflSce, February 10, 1897.

Sir,

The fréquent communications that hâve passed between Her Majesty's Government and yourself during your récent visit to this country hâve enabled the Government to arrive at a décision as to the main steps to be taken by them in fulfilment of the pledges which they hâve given in Parliament for the abolition of the légal status of slavery in the Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

Preliminary instructions hâve already been conveyed to you as to the gênerai outlines of the plan to be carried into exécution. But there remain, on the one hand, a number of important points of principle upon which you will expect to receive a more detailed expression of the views entertained by Her Majesty's Government; on the other, there are also a number of topics upon which, after consultation with the Sultan and his Ministers, you will be able to supply further information and advice. It seems désirable therefore that I should place on record a full statement both of the gênerai grounds of action adopted by Her Majesty's Government, and also of their views upon the particular subjects referred to.