[No. XII.] Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, to Lieutenant Piercy S. Pope. Natchez, 17^th April, 1797. S I R, BY the commandant of that post I am informed of your arrival there, with the troops under your command; and he has also sent me the letter that you wrote to him ac-knowledging the reception of my two. The particular reasons that for the present have su[undecipherable: spended] the evacuation of the posts, do not effect the tre[undecipherable: aty in] any other respect; and these will soon be settled be[undecipherable: tween] his Catholic Majesty and the United States of Am[undecipherable: erica,] they being of a nature that only wants an explai[undecipherable: nation;] therefore it has been my most earnest wish to keep th[undecipherable: e set-]tlements in peace and quiet until that political chang[undecipherable: e takes] place. As I expected you might come down before an infor[undecipherable: mation] of this incident could reach you, I provide[undecipherable: d the] most convenient barracks that I could for your troo[undecipherable: ps at] that post, wishing to shew the United States the greate[undecipherable: st at-]tention to their troops; and in consequence of this dir[undecipherable: ection] having conferred with the Honorable Andrew [undecipherable: Elli-]cot, we have agreed that you should remove to this [undecipherable: post] to encamp in its vicinity, where you may be assiste[undecipherable: d in] every thing more conveniently. By this opportunit[undecipherable: y I] forward the correspondent orders to the commandan[undecipherable: t of] that post, who will do every thing necessary to faci[undecipherable: litate] and expedite your descent, which I hope will be s[undecipherable: o far] as I flatter myself with the prospect of much satisfa[undecipherable: ction] in forming your acquaintance. I have the honor to be, with due consideration, S I R, Your most humble servant, MANUEL GAYOSO DE LEM[undecipherable: OS] P. S. Pope, Esq.