MR. J. W. LOWTHERI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is in a position to give any information with respect to the expedition of the Congo Free State, under Lieutenant Van der Kerckhoven, which was reported to have entered the British sphere of influence in the neighbourhood of Wadelai; and whether the expedition still remains within the limits of the British sphere of influence, or whether it has returned?
§ *SIR. E. GREYWe have been unable to obtain any reliable information as to the nature, objects, or results of this expedition. We do not know whether it ever entered the British sphere, nor, if it did so, whether it has advanced or retreated.