Abstract: This item consists of copies of a Political Despatch from the Government of India Foreign Department to the Secretary of State for India, dated 21 November 1873 and received by the India Office Political Department on 15 December 1873, forwarding copies of papers relating to the suppression of the trade in enslaved persons and the general condition of affairs in Zanzibar. The enclosures chiefly comprise copies of letters and reports of John Kirk, Political Agent and HM Consul in Zanzibar, including: reports on the geography and navigability of Latham Island and the Lufigi [Rufiji] River Delta; a description of Kilwa Kivingi [Kilwa Kivinje], the 'headquarters of the Zanzibar slave trade' (f 71); and a deposition and information elicited from a number of 'freed' or 'liberated' African men and women, received from HMS
Britonat D'Urban [Durban], Natal [KwaZulu-Natal], and taken down by various officials at that place.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 66, and terminates at f 84a, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The sequence contains five foliation anomalies: f 66a, f 67a, f 75a, f 76a, and f 84a.