No. 372.
Viscount das Nogueiras to Mr. Bayard.

The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of Portugal, has received instructions from, his Government to address the following communication to his excellency the Secretary of State:

By the treaty concluded in the month of August, 1885, by Dr. Bernardo Meyrelles Leité, acting in the name and as the representative of [Page 772] the governor of St. Thomé, and by Prince Conhondu, heir apparent to the throne of Dahomey, acting in the name and by the special authorization of the King of Dahomey, it was stipulated that Portugal should exercise a protectorate over the entire sea-coast of that Kingdom.

That instrument, whereby the benefit of Portuguese jurisdiction is granted to Europeans residing in those regions, has been approved and confirmed by a royal decree, dated December 29, 1885.

As the Government of His Majesty has, in the compacts concluded in its name, and officially confirmed by it, no object save that of extending the area of African civilization in the interest of all enlightened nations, it has pledged itself to respect the legitimate and pre-existent rights of foreign powers to the territories over which, according to the terms of the convention, the Portuguese protectorate should extend.

Taking these principles as its point of departure, His Majesty’s Government does not consider the port of Cotomnu, which is situated at the eastern extremity of the coast of Dahomey, as being actually included in the protectorate of Portugal. In view of the rights claimed by Prance, which are based upon conventions concluded prior to the Portuguese treaty, and like that approved by the chief ruler of the state, it has been decided to leave that port in the situation that it has hitherto occupied, so that the question of dominion over that portion of territory may be definitively determined by the Government of the French Republic and the King of Dahomey.

The undersigned avails himself, &c.,

Viscount DAS NOGUEIRAS.