My Lord,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's Despatch No.24 of the 15th of April last, with its inclosures relative to the shipwreck of Mr. Victor Howes on the Coast of Cochin China, and his subsequent imprisonment.
The captivity of Mr. Howes having been brought to my knowledge by the Governor of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore and Malacca, I on the 28th March requested Captain Campbell the Senior Naval Officer here, to allow H.M. Ship Egalité to touch on her way to Singapore at Hong Kong.
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Victoria, Hong Kong
June 17. 1848.