File No. 4737/43.

The Secretary of State to the Brazilian Chargé.

Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 24th instant, stating you have been informed by the minister for foreign affairs of Brazil that “the battleship Minas Geraes, Capt. Baptista das Noves, has received orders to sail the beginning of February from Newcastle to Norfolk to escort the Montana.

I have transmitted this information to the Secretary of the Navy. In this connection I beg to inform you that instead of the Montana, as stated in my note to you of the 20th instant, the Secretary of the Navy writes me to-day to say that the cruiser North Carolina will convey the remains of the late lamented ambassador to Brazil, and that the commanding officer of the ship has been ordered to cooperate with the authorities at Rio in such ceremonies as may occur upon the return of the ambassador’s body to his own country.

The Secretary of the Navy further informs me that the commanding officer of the North Carolina has been ordered to arrive at Rio de Janeiro on the forenoon of Monday, March 7, and has been directed, if possible, to communicate with the signal station at Cape Brio, Brazil, in order that the exact hour of arrival may be telegraphed to that city in advance.

Accept, etc.,

P. C. Knox.