The following is an extract from instructions issued by the British Admiralty for the guidance of officers in their negotiations with local Chiefs in forwarding the suppression of the slave trade from coastal Africa.

1. The suppression of the Slave Trade may be materially assisted by obtaining the co- operation of the Native Chiefs of Africa in the object; you are therefore authorized to conclude engagements for this purpose with the African Chiefs; but you must strictly adhere to the regulations herein laid down on the subject.

2. You will procure the fullest and most correct information as to the state of those parts of the coast in which Slave Trade is carried on, so as to enable you to determine, with what Chiefs it may be expedient to enter into negotiations for the conclusion of Engagements.
With this in view, you will endeavor to ascertain the power and influence of the several Chiefs; their personal character, and the habits of the people; the extent and force of the country; the sources, amount, and description of the legitimate trade carried on.
You will endeavor to obtain the most accurate information as to the Slave Trade; its present extent, and whether it has recently increased or diminished: . . .
You will investigate the means whereby the Slave Trade may most effectually and speedily be extinguished, and you will enquire into the inclination and the power of the Chief to carry into effect an Engagement for that purpose, and the means which Great Britain may have for enforcing it. . . .

4. When you shall desire to open negotiations with any African Chief, you will, after taking every proper precaution for the safety of yourself and your people, at the same time avoiding giving offence to the Natives, obtain a personal interview with the Chiefs, and endeavor to induce them to conclude an Engagement . . .

6. Every opportunity is to be taken of impressing the minds of the Native Chiefs and their people with a conviction of the efforts Great Britain has made for their benefit, and of her earnest desire to raise them in the scale of nations. It is most desirable to excite in them an emulation of the habits of the Christian world, and to enable them to make the first practical step towards civilization by the abandonment of the Slave Trade.

7. Special care must be taken not to offend the prejudices of the Natives; and every respect must be paid to their peculiar usages, so far as the same are not of an inhuman character; and allowance must be made for any jealousy or distrust that may be shown by them. . . .

9. Threats or intimidation are never to be used to induce the Native Chiefs to conclude the Engagement: on the contrary, forbearance and conciliation must be in all cases the rule of conduct; and if the Native Chiefs refuse the Engagement, every means must be taken to encourage in them feelings of confidence, and to leave a favorable impression that may facilitate the renewal of negotiations at a future period. . . .

11. Immediately after the conclusion of the Engagement, you will require the Chiefs to proclaim a law to their people by which its stipulations shall be publicly made known.

12. In case the Slave Trade is actually carried on within the jurisdiction of the Chief at the time the Engagement is concluded, . . . you will then require that all the Slaves held for exportation shall be delivered up to you to be made free at a British colony. You will also demand that all implements of the Slave Trade, such as shackles, bolts, and handcuffs, chains, whips, branding irons, etc., or articles of Slave equipment for fitting up vessels to carry Slaves, shall be given up to you, or destroyed in your presence. You will also insist on the immediate destruction of the barracoons, or buildings exclusively devoted to the reception of Slaves, and, if necessary, you will enforce all these demands. . . .

14. You are not, without the signed consent in writing of a Native Chief, to take any step upon his territory for putting down the Slave Trade by force, excepting when, by Engagement, Great Britain is entitled to adopt coercive measures on shore for that purpose.

15. . . . You will cause a vigilant watch to be kept over the proceedings of the Chiefs, until you arc satisfied of their fidelity to their Engagements. After which, you will visit the Chiefs in person, or send a Commander of one of Her Majesty's Ships, at least once in six months, to see to the due execution of the Engagements on the part of the Chiefs.

16. In the event, however, of ultimate failure of the negotiations you will finally state to the Chief that every civilized Naval Power in the world has declared that it has abandoned the Slave 'I'rade; that most nations have united with Great Britain in endeavors to put it down; that Great Britain will not allow the subjects of the Chief . . . to carry Slaves for sale to or from any places beyond the limits of his own territory, and that Her Majesty's Officers have orders to liberate Slaves when found embarked in boats of his subjects for that purpose. . . . .

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