Mr. Coggeshall to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor to advise you that the question of the transfer of the Gallapagos islands has been reviewed before the government of Ecuador, by a proposition for their purchase from the British holders of Ecuadorian bonds. Such sale direct is forbidden by the Constitution of Ecuador, and by treaty stipulations, but the expediency of such a transfer, at a price to be agreed upon between the contracting parties, as will put the British bondholders in possession of the islands de facto, and yet conserve the political jurisdiction of Ecuador, has been urgently presented to the cabinet of this republic, and is now, I am credibly informed, a topic of official correspondence.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.