§ MR. AYRTONasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government respecting the Seizure of the Herald by the Portuguese authorities, and whether the Papers relating thereto will be laid upon the table of that House. The hon. Gentleman said that the vessel in question had been fitted out in 1857, by certain British subjects at the Cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of opening up commercial relations with the inhabitants on the banks of King George's River; and, whilst engaged in trading operations, was seized by the Portuguese authorities. He hoped that the papers relating to the transaction would be placed upon the table of the House.
MR. SEYMOUR FITZGERALDsaid, that the matter to which the hon. Gentleman referred was doubtless one of considerable importance, and had received the careful attention of Her Majesty's Government. Representations had been made to the Portuguese Government; but as the transaction had taken place at the other side of the globe, it was necessary to wait for communications in the most authentic form before Her Majesty's Government could demand that reparation which the Portuguese Government might be called upon to make. The case, as he said, was one of great importance, because British subjects had been grievously outraged and maltreated, and a loss had been inflicted on the master of £4,000; but a claim had been made on behalf of the Portuguese Government which it was impossible that Her Majesty's Government could recognize, that they had the right to stop all intercourse with the interior of the country in the neighbourhood of which the vessel in question was seized, inasmuch as it was asserted that they had the control of the mouths of all the great navigable rivers in that quarter. The case was under the careful consideration of Her Majesty's Government, and every effort would be made to secure justice.