§ SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAGGREE () Bethnal Green, N. E.I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any information with regard to a report widely circulated in India that among Her Majesty's subjects who received notice last October from the Boer Government to quit the Transvaal on the outbreak of hostilities were eighty-two British Indian settlers of Natal; that although they wished to return to Natal they were forcibly deported to India; that prior to their embarkation they were placed in charge of the Portuguese military authorities at Delagoa Bay; and that while thus detained Portuguese soldiers subjected them to brutal treatment, robbed them of all their money, and, outraged the modesty of their women; and if so, will he state how it was that the British representative at the place of detention did not remonstrate with the Portuguese authorities, or take other necessary measures for the protection of the refugees.
§ *THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey,) GuildfordThe Foreign Office has no information in regard to the incident referred to. Many British Indian subjects who fled from the Transvaal to Lorenzo Marques were sent to India, their passages being paid out of the Lord Mayor's Fund. Her Majesty's Consul at Lorenzo Marques will be instructed by telegraph to report the facts.