File No. 837.6112/21.
[Untitled]
Sir: I have the honor to inform the Department that pursuant to the instruction in relation to a report upon the matter of the Zapata Swamp concession, I have arranged with Mr. Champion, of the concessionary company, to accompany me to the swamp, and will leave here, unless something unforeseen prevents, on November 10. I am sure that this is the only feasible method of reaching any definite conclusion about the general characteristics of the swamp. The more I have inquired into the matter in Habana the more convinced have I become that the information about the region extant in Habana is based upon the wildest hearsay and is more or less incorrect. At all events I do not consider it reliable, and although the trip to the swamp will naturally be a hard and difficult one, I prefer to make [Page 321] such investigation as may be possible rather than to trust to the opinions of those who have never seen it.
I will try to accomplish this journey in the smallest space of time possible and as soon as I return to Habana will endeavor to forward my report with little further delay.
I have [etc.]