§ SIR JAMES ANDERSONsaid, he wished to ask the First Lord of the admiralty whether Her Majesty's Government had received any report of the bombardment and destruction, on the 9th of January last, by Her Majesty's steamship Antelope, Lieutenant Commander Young, of Old Town, at Calabar, on the coast of Africa, by which the property of British missionaries residing there was destroyed; by whose authority Lieutenant Young acted, and what were the reasons assigned for such a proceeding; and if it was by the orders of Her Majesty's Government that the British consul there had interdicted the inhabitants from rebuilding the town?
§ SIR CHARLES WOODsaid, Her Majesty's Government had received an account of the bombardment of Old Town, Calabar, by Her Majesty's ship Antelope, and it was done at the particular request of Her Majesty's consul. The reason for taking that course was, that an article of the treaty with certain chiefs had been infringed. The missionaries represented that the chiefs were in the habit of murdering persons by administering what was called "the poison cup." The consul called upon the chiefs to give an assurance that they would abstain from the practice. The chiefs, in spite of remonstrances, having repeated the offence, the consul called upon the commander of the Antelope to bombard the place. He (Sir C. Wood) did not know whether the property of the missionaries had been destroyed, and he was not aware of any steps being taken to prevent the rebuilding of the town.