Although the British offer had not been accepted by the Spanish authorities, he believed that there was still hope, as they had refused on the ground that £2m was nearer its value than £50,000 as offered. If, after a lapse of time, the British Government increased its offer, negotiations could be reopened. This had placed him in a dilemma when it came to publishing his second volume. If they went ahead and published, the Spaniards would be apprised of the real value of Fernando Po (Bioko); if they did not, they could lose a whole year over the expedition, the Americans might get in first with colonising Benin (southern Nigeria), the two Associations they wished to found could not get under way, and a vast number of African lives would be lost in the interim. If he published after excising all reference to Fernando Po (Bioko), the whole scheme would be incomprehensible. As a possible compromise, he suggests communicating the scheme in confidence to the meeting and forming the nucleus of both associations. In this way, although they would not raise as much capital for their scheme as they hoped, the two of them would be supported by a body of interested persons and would have sufficient funds for carrying out their limited purpose, they would be able to bring pressure to bear on the government so that the expedition need have to be launched, which would prevent the Spanish Government hearing of it, and yet still achieve sufficient support for their project without publishing the book. He insists that Lushington must read his book before the meeting and asks him to read and amend Beldam's resolutions. He points out that the two committees were the first concern and promises to send him a list of possible members, adding that agents needed to be appointed by the committee. He suggests William Forster as Secretary to the Benevolent Committee and McQueen to the Agricultural Association with Scoble as joint Secretary, though another joint Secretary was needed for the Benevolent Society. They needed to appoint a delegation to the government to urge that no more time be lost in preparing the expedition. He mentions that Captain Bird Allen, Captain Fitzroy, and Major Sabine had been recommended as commanders and Captain Cook, Charles Grant, and Captain Beatty as commissioners. He believed the government should at least make a move to appoint the leader of the expedition, to get Minto to nominate a steamer to be used, to get Bandinel to draw up the instructions incorporating his own emendations, to appoint a medical man to accompany the expedition, and to conclude [the offer for Fernando Po (Bioko)] at £100,000. He announces that he would go to Upton on Monday and would be in London on Tuesday morning, when he would see him, and that he expected Lushington to expound their cause in the afternoon. (Copy.)