the arrest and detention of German mail steamers bound
for Delagoa Bay, the English Government found the attempt to substitute
possibly well-grounded suspicions for facts no more acceptable to third
Powers than the assumption with regard to foodstuffs had been, if the
emphatic statements of the German Government indicate the general
opinion upon the subject of the carrying of analogues of contraband and
unneutral service in general.

GERMAN SEIZURES. BUNDESRATH, HERZOG AND GENERAL.

THE BUNDESRATH.--It was reported to the English Government by Rear
Admiral Sir Robert Harris, on December 5, 1899, that the German East
African mail steamer _Bundesrath_ had sailed from Aden for Delagoa Bay.
He informed his Government that ammunition was "suspected but none
ascertained;" that the _Bundesrath_ had on board "twenty Dutch and
Germans and two supposed Boers, three Germans and two Australians
believed to be officers, all believed to be intending combatants,
although shown as civilians; also twenty-four Portuguese soldiers."[8]
On the twenty-ninth of the same month the _Bundesrath_ was taken into
Durban, about three hundred miles from Lorenzo Marques, under the escort
of the British cruiser _Magicienne_. The German Government demanded the
immediate release of the steamer upon the assurance made by the Hamburg
owners that she carried no contraband. Great indignation was expressed
in Hamburg, and a demand was made in the Chamber of Commerce that
measures be taken to insure the protection of German commercial
interests. A diplomatic note was sent by Germany protesting against the
action of England. Lord Salisbury's reply on the part of his Government
was that the _Bundesrath_ was suspected of carrying ammunition in her
cargo, and that it was known that she had on board a number of
passengers who were believed to be volunteers for service with the
Boers. He added, however, that no official details had been received
other than those contained in the cable announcing the fact that the
ship had been captured.[9] The German consul at Durban protested against
the ship's being brought in there as prize, and his Government
reiterated its request that she be released at once since she carried no
contraband. The detention of a mail ship, it was asserted, interfered
with public interests in addition to the loss which was inflicted upon
the owners of the vessel.

[Footnote 8: Sessional Papers of the House of Commons, Correspondence
respect