§ MR. BRYCE (Aberdeen, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what information Her Majesty's Government have received regarding the collision between certain Portuguese officers and certain representatives of the British South Africa Company in Manica Land, South East Africa; and whether he can make any statement regarding the progress of the negotiations which have been carried on with the Portuguese Government on the subject of the area of Portuguese influence in East Africa?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS(Sir J. FERGUSSON, Manchester, N.E.)Her Majesty's Government have received information of certain places having been taken and re-taken by Portuguese officers and by representatives of the South Africa Company. The merits of the cases have not yet been ascertained, because they depend partly upon geographical facts. The Governor and the Premier of the Cape Colony are on their way to this country to confer with Her Majesty's Government. Negotiations with Portugal on the subject of the area of British and Portuguese influence are not terminated. In the meantime both Governments have enjoined upon their subjects the observance of the status quo founded on the limits under the late unratified Convention.
§ DR. CLARK (Caithness)When does the modus vivendi cease?
§ SIR J. FERGUSSONIt is still existing.
§ [No answer was returned.]