Mr. Bayard to Mr. Pendleton.
Washington, January 5, 1889.
Mr. Bayard informs Mr. Pendleton of the receipt of a telegram from the first lieutenant of the United States ship Nipsic, who had been sent by Commander Mullan to New Zealand. The telegram stated that an armed force had been landed from three German vessels of war for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of Mataafa’s forces; that an engagement had followed with serious loss to the Germans; that they, in revenge, were shelling the native villages in disregard of neutral rights and of protests made, and that the lives and property of foreigners were placed in the greatest danger.
Mr. Pendleton was directed to represent this immediately to the minister of foreign affairs, and to report to the State Department his reply.