Mr. Lewis to Mr. Bayard.
Lisbon, September 11, 1885. (Received October 3.)
Sir: As instructed by your No. 12 of August 13 last, referring to the case of missionaries, American citizens, expelled from Bihé and Bailunda, West Africa, I have the honor to report, that immediately after the return to Lisbon of the minister of foreign affairs I had an interview with his excellency and handed him, informally, copies of the papers inclosed in the instruction above acknowledged.
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[Page 648]Senhor du Bocage in receiving the copies assured me of the desire of His Majesty’s Government to elicit the truth in relation to the circumstances which led to this deplorable occurrence; that his colleague, the minister of marine and the colonies, had the case under examination, and that in forwarding Senhor Chagas the new evidence I had laid before him, he would forcibly appeal to his excellency to furnish the result of the examination ordered at Benguela with the least possible delay; and when that report was received at the foreign office he would hasten to communicate to me the views taken on the subject by His Majesty’s Government. His excellency also informed me that a reliable report had arrived from the west coast of Africa that the aforesaid Edward Braga was dead.
Before the termination of the interview, Senhor du Bocage said that he desired, in an entirely informal manner, to communicate to me for my information the substance of a letter recently sent by the governor of Benguela to the home Government.
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I have, &c.,