While the Governor-General was at Quilimane recently, Mr. ViceConsul Ross had an interview with his Excellency on the subject. It appears that on the 22nd November last the steamer James Stevenson was at Vicenti, and the Commander of the Portuguese river gun-boat Cuama ordered the master of the steamer referred to to lower his flag. The master at first refused, but eventually complied with the order, as the gun-boat threatened to open fire on the vessel, and had prepared to carry this threat into effect. The Governor-General told Mr. Ross that he had issued orders that no vessel flying British colours should be permitted to moor at any point in the waters of the Zambezi, but that now, owing to the modus vivendi entered into between England and Portugal, no vessels flying foreign flags in the Zambezi would be interfered with on that account. Mr. Ross has made no complaint to this office on behalf of the African Lakes Company, so I presume they are satisfied with the Governor-General's assurances. My only reason for communicating this incident to your Lordship is to report that the interview between the Governor-General and Mr. Ross respecting the James Stevenson indicates that the Portuguese authorities here intend to observe the operation of their part of the modus vivendi. I have, &c., The Marquess of Salisbury. W. A. CHURCHILL. No. 47.-Acting Consul Buchanan to the Marquess of Salisbury.— (Received February 2, 1891.) (Extract.) Chilomo, December 7, 1890. I HAVE the honour to inclose extracts from a letter from the Manager of the African Lakes Company, giving details of highhanded proceedings of the Portuguese at Vicenti on the 22nd ultimo. I have also the honour to inclose copies of protests by the Portuguese officer in command of their gun-boat Cuama. The African Lakes Company's steamer left Chilomo on the 18th ultimo, flying the British ensign. On arriving at Masongwe she was hailed by a Portuguese officer, who ordered her to lower her flag, though he subsequently allowed her to proceed on the captain showing a letter from Commander Keane, of Her Majesty's gun-boats, authorizing him to fly the British merchant ensign. At Vicenti, however, the port of destination, the Portuguese were prepared to resist what they characterized as piratical acts on the part of the English, and as soon as the James Stevenson arrived at the bank she was ordered to lower the flag. This the captain refused to do, and only after being threatened with being fired into did he submit. The Portuguese officer considered Captain Chalmers' refusal to comply with his command a breach of courtesy, and then and there arrested him, and placed him in gaol at Mopea. Meantime, the Governor of Quilimane was communicated with, and while he ordered the immediate release of Captain Chalmers, he at the same time issued a mandate declaring the steamer and crew under arrest, that no communication with the shore would be allowed, and that she must at once leave Vicenti without disembarking or embarking any cargo whatever, and that, should they return again to Portuguese water, she would be fired upon. On receipt of this news I hastened to Chilomo. I have requested Commander Keane to render what assistance he can in the matter, and to-morrow he leaves Chilomo for Vicenti with the gun-boats to inquire into the whole affair, and make sure that the Portuguese are not allowed to carry into effect their evident intention of blockading our supplies. I have the honour to inclose a copy of a letter to the Governor of Quilimane, asking for an explanation of these unfriendly proceedings. The Marquess of Salisbury. JOHN BUCHANAN. No. 53.-The Marquess of Salisbury to Sir G. Petre. (Telegraphic.) Foreign Office, February 4, 1991. I HAVE been informed to-day by M. de Soveral that the Portuguese Government were waiting to receive counter-proposals from Her Majesty's Government. I informed M. de Soveral, in reply, that I would communicate with you in fuller detail in regard to the railway and other commercial provisions. I said that as regarded the territorial stipula tions, there were changes which appeared essential. It is rendered necessary by the present condition of our mining population in those regions that our boundary-line should approxi mately follow the 33rd degree of east longitude up to the River Sabi, or that it should at least follow the watershed with which that meridian closely coincides. I added that compensation in the neighbourhood of Tété might, I thought, be given in return. This suggestion was strongly resisted by M. de Soveral, who urged that if Mutassa were formally ceded to Great Britain by Portugal, an internal revolution would probably be the result. SIR, No. 57.-The Marquess of Salisbury to Sir G. Petre. Foreign Office, February 9, 1891. I TRANSMIT herewith copies of despatches relating to the action. of the Portuguese authorities on the Zambezi in regard to the navigation of the river by British vessels, and the passage of supplies to British settlers in Nyasaland. It appears therefrom that the African Lakes Company's steamer James Stevenson, Captain Chalmers, flying the British flag under special permission from Commander Keane, arrived at Vicenti on the 22nd November last from Chilomo. On arrival there Captain Chalmers was ordered by the Portuguese authorities to lower the flag, and was threatened, on refusal, that his ship would be fired into. He was then arrested on a charge of discourtesy, and put in gaol at Mopea. On learning this arrest the Governor of Quilimane at once ordered Captain Chalmers' release, but declared the steamer and crew under arrest, forbade all communication with the shore, and warned the captain that if the vessel returned to Portuguese waters she would be fired upon. The Governor of Quilimane further issued orders that no one was to supply fuel, food, or anything else, to Her Majesty's gunboats or any British vessel. He also caused the forcible seizure of the African Lakes Company's station at Morambala. Lieutenant and Commander Keary, as senior British naval officer present, made an arrangement with the Governor under which the gun-boats were to return to the Chinde mouth, and there receive from his Excellency a formal communication of the agreement between the two Governments, on which he promised to maintain friendly relations with all British subjects. On the facts of the case being brought to the notice of the Governor-General of Mozambique by the Acting British Consul, he promised at once to take steps to prevent the continuance of any further opposition on the part of the authorities or the natives. I have to request you to make a formal representation of the above facts to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and to reserve all claims on the part of Her Majesty's Government which may arise from them. I am, &c., Sir G. Petre. SALISBURY. [1890-91. LXXXIII.] 3 I No. 68.-Sir G. Petre to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received February 17.) MY LORD, Lisbon, February 13, 1891. I HAVE the honour to inclose the translation of a note, dated the 5th instant, which I received yesterday from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in reply to my note of the 3rd instant, copy also inclosed, claiming 1,4507. from the Portuguese Government as compensation to the African Lakes Company for the seizure of the James Stevenson and the imprisonment of the officers and crew. The Portuguese Government, on grounds against the validity of which I have thought it right to protest at once, in a note of which I inclose a copy, decline to admit the claim to compensation. I have, &c., The Marquess of Salisbury. GEORGE G. PETRE. (Inclosure 1.)-Sir G. Petre to Senhor du Bocage. M. LE MINISTRE, Lisbon, February 3, 1891. IN my note to your Excellency of the 25th September last I informed the Portuguese Government that formal claims would probably be presented to Her Majesty's Government in consequence of the seizure of the James Stevenson in the Shiré by Portuguese officials in the month of July last. The claims resulting from this seizure have now been presented to Her Majesty's Government. When first put forward they were assessed by the African Lakes Company at 4,9007., but this amount appearing to Her Majesty's Government to be excessive, the claims, after careful examination, have been reduced by them to the sum of 1,4507. from the amount originally claimed by the Company. I am now instructed by the Marquess of Salisbury to make a formal demand on the part of Her Majesty's Government for the payment of the last-mentioned sum. If the Portuguese Government should require it, Her Majesty's Goverument are prepared to support the claim with details of the items. If they have not done so in the first instance, it is because they feel sure that the Portuguese Government will recognize the justice of the case and the moderation of the amount claimed. Senhor du Bocage. I avail, &c., GEORGE G. PETRE. (Inclosure 2.)-Senhor du Bocage to Sir G. Petre. (Translation.). YOUR EXCELLENCY, Foreign Department, Lisbon, I HASTEN to acknowledge the receipt of the note which your Excellency did me the honour to address to me the day before yesterday, making a formal claim on the part of Her Britannic Majesty's Government for the seizure of the steamer James Stevenson in the Portuguese waters of the Shiré. His Majesty's Government regret that they are not convinced, as the British Government are, of the justice of the claim of the African Lakes Company; and while appreciating and feeling thankful for the moderation with which the British Government have modified that Company's claims, which they have reduced from the amount which they considered to be exaggerated to the sum which they have thought just, His Majesty's Government nevertheless differ from the British Government as to the manner of taking into consideration the essence of the question itself. The opinion of His Majesty's Government is based on the official reports which they have received upon this matter, and which were later on confirmed by the record of the inquiry which was made in the presence of the Governor of the district, the whole of the witnesses being unanimous in their depositions; the witnesses were the Commander of the military detachment, as well as other officers of the army and navy, and public officials, &c. The reports are as follows :- On the 6th July, 1890, the British steamer James Stevenson was sighted by the Portuguese sentry at the battery at Chilomo; it was ascending the Shiré at full steam, in the direction of the waters. which flow along the territories in dispute. As the Governor suspected that the ship was conveying arms and ammunition of war for the tribes who were engaged in hostilities against the Portuguese authorities, he ordered all the usual intimations to be made, which were confirmed by his firing three guns with blank shot, in order that he might exercise, as in duty bound, the right of search. The British steamer paid no attention to the intimations made in a regular manner by a Portuguese authority, and proceeded rapidly to the north of the Ruo. It was only there that a Portuguese boat got alongside with an unarmed crew, and the officer in command courteously called upon him to descend below the mouth of the Ruo, that is to say, a few fathoms lower down, in order to settle by mutual agreement the difficulty caused by the James Stevenson having failed to comply with the intimation made to it by a Portuguese authority. As the captain of the James Stevenson refused to accede to this conciliatory step, the officer gave him |