364 MISSION TO PORTUGAL. [1806. 



here is connected with, the business of the extra- 

 ordinary mission lately at this Court. I had a good 

 deal of conversation after my return with M. d'Aranjo, 

 upon whom I waited, both to thank him for the per- 

 sonal civilities I had received from his family in the 

 northern provinces, and to inform him that I had 

 discovered the robbery of my courier to be, contrary 

 to every appearance, a tale invented by the man to 

 screen himself from punishment for having lost his 

 bag of letters in a scuffle. They have since been 

 recovered, unopened. In justification of Messrs 

 Mayne & Browne, who had employed this person in 

 forwarding your lordship's letter to me, I must re- 

 mark that he had been well known as a courier at 

 Oporto, and on the road for above twenty years, and 

 bore the best character. 



" In the course of this conversation with M. 

 d'Aranjo, he alluded to the sensation produced at 

 Madrid by Sir H. Popham's expedition. Upon my 

 saying that this must doubtless have created a great 

 alarm there, he observed, rather significantly, ' Ce- 

 pendant il faut que 1'Angleterre en tire quelque parti' 

 and added, 'II vaudra mieux que des nouvelles 

 colonies dont-elle n'a pas besoin.' This remark, I 

 presume, bears a reference to what passed in the 

 early stages of the negotiation relative to Spain. It 

 appears to me, however, that the greatest care should 

 be taken to prevent M. d'Aranjo from learning what 

 are the designs of his Majesty's ministers upon this 

 very delicate and important subject; and, at any 



