§ MR. J. HOLMSasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If his attention has been drawn to a report that negotiations have been or are about to be entered upon by Her Majesty's Government with the King of Dahomey, for the acquisition of a narrow strip of coast which is in the possession of that Monarch; and, if so, can he state what the extent and nature of the territory is?
§ MR. J. LOWTHERIt is true, Sir, that serious political and fiscal inconvenience arises from the existence, between the extreme points of the Gold Coast and of Lagos, of a strip of independent Native territory. No negotiations for its acquisition have been entered into or are now in contemplation, though it may hereafter be possible to effect arrangements with the Native tribes on that coast for the development and protection of trade.