asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether there is any truth in the statement made in a Newcastle paper that if in the course of a few weeks our dispute with the King of Dahomey still remains unsettled, it is the intention of Commodore Sir William Hewitt to bombard the towns on the Coast; and, if so, whether this extreme measure met with the approval of Her Majesty's Government?

I have no reason to believe that Sir William Hewitt proposes to bombard any towns. It is intended, however, to institute a blockade of the coast of Dahomey, commencing on the 1st of July.