No. 467.
Mr. Beardsley to Mr. Fish.
Cairo, January 3, 1873. (Received February 1.)
Sir: I have the honor to report the arrival in Egypt on the 16th ultimo, and the departure from Egypt, via Suez, on the ———, of Sir Bartle Frere, the nature of whose mission to the Sultan of Zanzibar, with the view of suppressing the slave-trade of those parts, has been, undoubtedly, fully explained to you already.
Sir Bartle had several interviews with the Khedive, and was very active in procuring all possible information concerning the slave-trade in Egypt. The general result of his inquiries may be inferred from his remark that he had not expected that his work was to begin in Egypt.
I think he left Egypt with the feeling that it will be difficult to suppress the slave-trade in central Africa while the demand for slaves in Egypt remains as great as at present.
I hope to be able to send you some statistics on this subject which will throw some light on the much-debated question as to the actual extent of slavery in Egypt.
I am, &c.,