§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that the French Government have concluded a Treaty with the native ruler of the territories on the Upper Niger, placing the Niger from its sources down to the great emporium of Central African Trade, under the exclusive protectorate of France, and excluding all Europeans, except French subjects, from establishing themselves and from opening trading factories within these immense regions, and even from navigating the River Niger; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will consent to the imposition of such disabilities on British subjects?
§ SIR CHARLES W. DILKEWe have heard from private sources of the conclusion of a Treaty between France and the King of Segoo through the Go 958 vernor of Senegal, with regard to trade upon the Upper Niger above Timbuctoo—that is, some 2,000 or 2,500 miles from its mouth. Similar information has reached Her Majesty's Government from Her Majesty's Minister at Brussels. I am not aware that there are at present any British traders or trade in the country in question.