which accomplished, you will proceed with all dispatch to Paris, and place the letter in the hands of Mr. Slidell, and await his instructions. Should you become satisfied from your conversation with the admiral that there exists in the hands of any officer in Mexico to carry out the views of General Smith, you need not proceed to the City of Mexico, but go at once to Paris.

You are authorized to intrust the letter to a good, reliable, and intelligent man, to be delivered to Mr. Slidel after it has been perused in Mexico, and return yourself to this place, should you encounter a person of such description in Vera Cruz.

Should you proceed to Paris, you will have a full and free conversation with Mr. Slidell, and place before him the exact situation of affairs on this line, which line serve to strengthen him in the position he may assume on the points involved in the letter. You knowledge of matters as they exist renders it unnecessary to give you any detailed instructions.

You are instructed to keep this matter a profound secret, and allow no intimation of your business to escape you. Your mission as my agent to secure the cargo of the Love Bird will be ample to cover this transaction, and you will not fail to always represent yourself in that light. Your dispatches will be concealed on your person or otherwise, prepared for immediate destruction should there arise any emergency involving their capture by the enemy. You will communicate with me from Vera Cruz, and on all other occasions when there is an opportunity, under cover to Droege, Oetling & Co., Matamoras.

I herewith inclose bills of exchange for @200 sterling, which I hope will be sufficient to defray your expenses.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. P. BEE,

Brigadier-General, Provisional Army, Confederate States.

HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, ARMY OF TEXAS,
Fort Brown, Tex., October 13, 1863.

The Captain of the French Ship Magellan:

SIR: I have the honor to inform you that by a letter received from London, dated September 2, 1863, I am notified that a shipment of arms was made from that port on the 1st of September, on the schooner Nancy Dawson, consigned to Hale & Co., Matamoras.

This shipment is made by Mr. Nelson Clements, the same contractor who loaded the Goodyear and Love Bird, and, like those cargoes, is destined solely for my Government. With the earnest hope that you will receive this information in time to prevent a repetition of the disastrous and lamentable consequences to my country which she has suffered with the other cargoes, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. P. BEE,

Brigadier-General, Provisional Army, Confederate States.

[Indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS, Fort Brown, November 2, 1863.

Respectfully forwarded for the information of the general commanding, as the evidence that we have nothing to expect from any one, and that, between the French, Yankee, and Mexican, no arms will be received here for the Confederacy.

H. P. BEE.