that Al-Shaibany proved to be crucial in aiding the British to reach a settlement with Sultan Barghash to abolish slavery in Zanzibar. He was British Minister Plenipotentiary at the 1890 Slave Act Conference in Brussels.The London Gazette, 22 July 1890 Other interests Photography Kirk photographed many scenes and people during his travels in East Africa. Examples include "Hamed bin Muhammed, slave and ivory trader", "Female retainers of Swahili household in gala dress", and "A panoramic view of Zanzibar". Botany He was a keen botanist throughout his life and published many papers from his findings in East Africa. He was highly regarded by successive directors of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: William Hooker, Joseph Dalton Hooker and William Turner Thiselton-Dyer. He introduced a very distinct and pretty species of orchid to the United Kingdom, subsequently named Angraecum scottianum. Eponyms Kirkia which is a genus of plant in family Kirkiaceae. It was previously placed in family Simaroubaceae, but was transferred into Kirkiaceae, together with Pleiokirkia, it was published by Oliv. in Hooker's Icon. Pl. vol.11 on page 26 in 1868. Also, Gossypioides kirkii, a new species of cotton from East Tropical Africa, Ochna kirkii, an evergreen shrub, and Uapaca kirkiana, a miombo woodland tree of southern Africa, were named after him. Zoology He studied the wildlife in East Africa and published many papers. He collected many birds from Zanzibar and East Africa. In 1892, he was credited with the third largest elephant tusk among animal trophy hunters. He collected many specimens of Lake Malawi fish on the Zambezi expedition. Eponyms According to sources, Kirk first drew zoologists' attention to the Zanzibar red colobus, which is also commonly known as Kirk's red colobus. This species, Procolobus kirkii, which is endemic to Zanzibar, is named after him. Also, a species of African lizard, Agama kirkii, is named in his honour, as is a species of African amphibian, Kirk's caecilian (Scolecomorphus kirkii) and the fish Kirk's blenny (Alticus kirkii). The Lake Malawi Cichlid fish Protomelas kirkii is named after Kirk. Awards and decorations Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Third Class, 1879 Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Second Class, 1881 Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for unremitting services to Geography, as a naturalist, as second-in-command to Dr. Livingstone, and as H.M. Consul-General at Zanzibar, 1882 Companion of the Order of St Michael and St