IOR/R/15/1/138, ff 304-312

The letter and its enclosures relate to the imposition of fines upon Persian ports involved in the slave trade. The letter includes a number of enclosures:

1. A letter (folios 306-07) from Lieutenant-Colonel Justin Sheil, Her Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Court of Persia to Kemball, dated 12 March 1853, in which Sheil approves of Kemball's instructions to Commodore George Robinson, for the exaction of files from the chiefs of the Persian ports;

2. A further letter (folios 308-09) from Sheil to Kemball, dated 13 April 1853, in which Sheil writes that he is in agreement with Kemball in approving of the manner in which Commodore George Robinson executed his duties, and of the proposal to donate fifty Tomas to Mahmood Khan for his efforts towards the suppression of the slave trade;

3. Letter no.131 of 1853 (folio 310) from Kemball to William Taylour Thomson, His Majesty's Charge D'Affairs at the Court of Persia, Tehran, 23 May 1853. This letter is a covering letter, the original enclosing a copy of a report on the slave trade sent to Kemball by the Political Agent At Basra, John Taylor (folios 311-12);

4. Letter no.12 of 1853 (folios 311-12) from Colonel John Taylor, Political Agent at Busreh [Basra], to Kemball, dated 24 February 1853, reporting on the extent of the slave trade through Mohammerah [Khorramshahr]. Taylor reports that, though the numbers are imprecise, his intelligence suggest that most slaves are imported by traders from Suahel [Suwahil, East Africa] and Soor [Sur], and from the smaller ports of the Arab Coast of the Gulf.