your Consul at Moncooloo, for which I was sorry. I wish much for the friendship of the English, and trust that you will now show the sincerity of your good-will towards Abyssinia. No. 50.-Consul Plowden to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. June 28.) I HAVE the honour to inform your Lordship of my safe arrival at this place, the residence of Ras Ali, on the 27th February. The next day I presented the gifts of Her Majesty to the Ras, with the accompanying letter, everything has arrived in good order. The Ras was much delighted with the present, and expressed his intention to do everything in his power to retain the friendship of myself and of the English nation. I hinted but lightly at a Treaty and its advantages, as I rather wish the proposal to come in part from himself. To all he replied that he would talk matters over with me at leisure, with continued assurances of friendship and good-will. I doubt not that I shall induce him to sign the Treaty, though I am not so sure of obtaining his consent to the signature of the Emperor, with whom he is now at variance. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. WALTER PLOWDEN. No. 52.-Viscount Palmerston to Consul Plowden. SIR, inclusive. With reference to the request from Dejaj Oobeay, contained in his letter to the Queen inclosed in your despatch of the 3rd of March, that the British Government would support his claims on certain portions of the coast of the Red Sea, I have to state to you that this is a matter with which it would not be advisable for Her Majesty's Government at present to meddle. I have accordingly addressed the inclosed letter to Dejaj Oobeay in reply to his letter to the Queen, and I have to instruct you to forward it to that Chief, with a translation made from the copy of it herewith transmitted to you. W. Plowden, Esq. I am, &c. PALMERSTON. (Inclosure.)-Viscount Palmerston to Dejaj Oobeay. Foreign Office, July 3, 1849. I AM commanded by the Queen to acquaint you that Her Majesty has received your letter, in which you request her assistance in support of your claims to the possession of certain districts on the coast of the Red Sea near Massowah, which you state to have been occupied and ravaged by the Turkish forces. The Queen commands me to assure you that she would gladly do anything which might be agreeable to you in this respect if the circumstances of the case admitted of her supporting your claims. But the Sultan of Turkey is also a friend of the Queen, and it is inconsistent with the principles which regulate Her Majesty's conduct towards other Powers to pronounce an opinion on any point on which her friends are at issue without being previously applied to by both the dissentient parties, The Queen accepts the expression of your regret for the damage occasioned to the property of her servant at Moncooloo by the conduct of your soldiers, and she desires me to assure you that she takes a lively interest in your welfare, and that she will always rejoice to hear through her servant Plowden that you are in the enjoyment of good health and worldly prosperity. I subscribe, &c. PALMERSTON. No. 53.-Viscount Palmerston to Sir S. Canning. SIR, Foreign Office, July 3, 1849. YOUR Excellency will have seen in Mr. Consul Plowden's despatches of the 27th and 28th January of this year, of which copies were forwarded to you by Mr. Murray, that the Abyssinians under Dejaj Oobeay had made a descent on the coast of the Red Sea, opposite to the Island of Massowah, with the view of expelling the Turks from the places which they occupied in that quarter. I received, a few days ago, from Mr. Plowden, a further despatch on this subject, inclosing a letter from Dejaj Oobeay to the Queen requesting Her Majesty's assistance in support of his claims to the district in question. I inclose, for your Excellency's information, copies of those papers, and of a letter which I have addressed to Dejaj Oobeay; and I have to instruct your Excellency to endeavour to ascertain on what grounds the respective claims of the Porte and of the Abyssinians to the district in question are supposed to rest. I am, &c. PALMERSTON. No. 55.-Viscount Palmerston to the King of Shoa. Foreign Office, July 4, 1849. I AM commanded by the Queen to acquaint you that Her Majesty has received the friendly letter which your agent delivered to the Consul-General Murray for transmission to England. The Queen thanks you for your inquiries after her health, and she hopes that you also are in good health, and that you will long con. tinue to rule over the country which you have inherited from your late father. The Queen thanks you for the elephants' tusks and kobas' horns which your agent states that you have sent to Aden for Her Majesty, and she commands me in return to send you, in the gold coin of her country, the sum of money which you desire to receive. With respect to your wish for the assistance of some men skilled in the arts, Her Majesty commands me to explain to you that the distance between England and your country is great, and the journey occupies much time; and, moreover, the workmen in her dominions are at present much employed: but if any should be at liberty at any future time and willing to go to Shoa, the Queen would be very glad that any of her subjects should be useful to you in any of the things which you mention. With every wish for your personal welfare, I subscribe myself your sincere friend, PALMERSTON. No. 58.-Sir S. Canning to Viscount Palmerston.—(Rec. July 5.) MY LORD, Constantinople, June 19, 1849. I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith in translation a Vizirial letter, the original of which I have obtained and transmitted to Mr. Murray for the protection of Mr. Plowden's correspondence on its passage through the port of Massowah. I have endeavoured to provide for contingencies by getting it expressed in comprehensive terms, and applied to Souakin as well as to Massowah. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. STRATFORD CANNING. (Traduction.) (Inclosure.)-Vizirial Letter addressed to Hassib Pasha. 19 Regib, 1265 (10 Juin, 1849). L'AMBASSADE Britannique a demandé par un Tacrir que les autorités de la Sublime Porte dans les échelles de Massowah et de Souakin facilitent le transport de lettres et d'autres objets que les Agents du Gouvernement d'Angleterre qui se trouvent dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique expédient par voie des échelles sus-mentionnées, Donner une assistance complète dans des opérations de cette nature est une suite nécessaire des relations amicales qui existent heureusement entre la Sublime Porte et la Cour de la Grande Bretagne, et des Traités conclus entre les deux Gouvernements. Ainsi votre Excellence voudra bien donner des orderes rigoureux aux autorités des échelles susdites d'avoir à faciliter l'expédition des lettres et d'autres choses arrivées là; et à mettre tous leurs soins à donner dans ces occasions toutes espèces de protection et d'assis tance. Et c'est à ces fins que j'écris la présente lettre à votre Excellence. MUSTAPHA RESCHID. SIR, No. 62.--Viscount Palmerston to Consul Plowden. Foreign Office, July 23, 1849. I COMMUNICATED to the Commissioners of Woods and Works your despatch of the 3rd of March, respecting the wish of Ras Oobeay that some workmen should be sent to him from England, and I inclose, for your information, an extract of a letter which has been received from that office in reply. Considering the difficulties and the expenses which would attend a compliance with Ras Oobeay's request, it is desirable that you should divert his thoughts from the notion of obtaining the assistance of English workmen; but, if you cannot do so, you must send me some more precise and specific information as to the purpose for which these persons would be wanted, and as to the length of time during which they would be required to remain in Abyssinia. It is possible that the assistance desired by Ras Oobeay might be obtained from India more easily than from England, and natives of that country would doubtless be quite competent to perform any services which the Ras might require of them. W. Plowden, Esq. I am, &c. PALMERSTON. No. 64.-Sir J. Hobhouse to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. July 31.) I HAVE the honour to transmit, for your information, an extract relating to Abyssinia of a letter dated the 7th ultimo, addressed by Lieutenant George Adams of the Indian Navy to the East India Company's "Political Agent at Aden." Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. (Inclosure.)-Lieut. Adams, I.N., to the Political Agent at Aden. (Extract.) June 7, 1849. ABYSSINIA has been getting on quietly and well. Since the raid of Oobeay, nothing has occurred; however, a few days since, news came to Massowah that Carthsei, a dependent of Ras Ali, had refused to appear when called on by him to do so, and it was thought that disturbances would shortly break out in consequence, more especially as Oobeay is on good terms with Ras Ali, and is said to be inciting him to fall upon Carthsei and seize his territories. Near Gondar, gold has been found in great quantities. Massowah and Souakin are to be given over to the Sultan; Salim Effendi has arrived at Massowah, and the place is to be under his hands. The Sultan's troops have not yet arrived, but are expected some time this month, when Kaled Beg, the present Governor, goes to Cairo, and the Egyptian troops proceed to Abbas Pasha's district in Nubia. A deputation of Indian merchants waited on me: they said they were well-treated, and that the duty charged on imports and exports was quite correct. I had previously waited on the Governor and Salem Effendi, requesting them to protect and see respect shown to them, and which they said should be done. M. de Goutier was to leave for Cairo on the 6th June, he having been relieved by M. Rolange, who has been sent out by the French Government; the latter speaks a little English, but has no knowledge of Turkish or Arabic. M. le Fevre, who has been travelling for some years, has been recalled to France. The master of the French brig Grenouille has remained at Massowah for mercantile purposes. The former French Consul and Mr. Stephen have made the town of Goob Ducnoo; they have discovered a number of hot springs at the lower end of the inlet, temperature of some, 142°, of others, 160°; also a small river, some temples (pillars of black granite), and the ruins of a large fortification. At Dissec, on the eastern side, silver ore was found. The Political Agent at Aden. G. ADAMS. No. 71.-Consul Plowden to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. May 3.) I HAVE the honour to send the Treaty between Great Britain and Abyssinia, signed by his Highness Ras Ali. The seal of the Emperor at Gondar is affixed thereto, also by order of the Ras. His remark on hearing the Treaty read was, that the proposals were excellent, but that probably in 10 years one English merchant might trade to Gondar. It must be equally obvious to your Lordship that the Abyssinian nation being powerless on the coast, unless we in some striking way carry out that Article of the Treaty by which we are engaged to exert ourselves in opening a road and facilitating a mutual commerce, this Treaty will be as useless as the one effected with the late King of Shoa has hitherto been. Her Majesty the Queen, in ratifying this Treaty, will acknowledge the Ras as an independent and friendly sovereign; and it does not appear inconsistent that we should enforce those Articles in our Treaties with Turkey that relate to trade with independent nations through a port in the Sultan's dominions. 3 F [1861-62. LII.] |
