He is known for his role in the initially unsuccessful British attempt to end the Arab slave trade between Zanzibar and the Persian Gulf region.

[5] Moorehead offers the following portrait of Hamerton: "It is extraordinary that in an atmosphere which was remarkable for quarrels and petty jealousies, so few of his contemporaries have a word to say against this warm-hearted and genial Irishman.

Hamerton had written a dispatch to London in which he described the trade: "I fancy, in no part of the universe is the misery and human suffering these wretched slaves undergo, while being brought here and until they are sold, exceeded .

They are in such a wretched state from starvation and disease, that they are sometimes considered not worth landing, and are allowed to expire in the boats to save a dollar a head duty, and the remains of these poor people are eaten on the beach by the dogs of the town; none will bury them.

In the past, the Company had remained circumspect about the African slave trade and refused to do anything about it, much less be told what to do by London, but Palmerston's letter to Hamerton transformed the situation.

This was more easily said than done, as Said responded to the promptings of Hamerton by reminding him that slavery was condoned by Islam: "The Koran, the word of God .

It soon became apparent, however, that this was mere posturing by the sultan and the Company, the latter doing nothing to enforce the terms of the treaty, and Britain having few warships in the area.

[2]) Moorehead relates his last days in The White Nile: "He was perfectly aware that his strength had finally run out; he confided to Burton that he expected death and welcomed it and wished to be buried at sea.

"[8]Seventeen years after Hamerton's death, the body of another explorer, David Livingstone, was taken to the former consul's residence on its passage back to Britain.