ed in foreign ports,
have been thrown on the hands of our consuls, who, to rescue them from
the dangers into which their distresses might plunge them and save them
to their country, have found it necessary in some cases to return them
at the public charge.

The cession of the Spanish Province of Louisiana to France, which took
place in the course of the late war, will, if carried into effect, make
a change in the aspect of our foreign relations which will doubtless
have just weight in any deliberations of the Legislature connected with
that subject.

There was reason not long since to apprehend that the warfare in which
we were engaged with Tripoli might be taken up by some other of the
Barbary Powers. A reenforcement, therefore, was immediately ordered to
the vessels already there. Subsequent information, however, has removed
these apprehensions for the present. To secure our commerce in that sea
with the smallest force competent, we have supposed it best to watch
strictly the harbor of Tripoli. Still, however, the shallowness of their
coast and the want of smaller vessels on our part has permitted some
cruisers to escape unobserved, and to one of these an American vessel
unfortunately fell a prey. The captain, one American seaman, and two
others of color remain prisoners with them unless exchanged under an
agreement formerly made with the Bashaw, to whom, on the faith of that,
some of his captive subjects had been restored.

The convention with the State of Georgia has been ratified by their
legislature, and a repurchase from the Creeks has been consequently made
of a part of the Talasscee country. In this purchase has been also
comprehended a part of the lands within the fork of Oconee and Oakmulgee
rivers. The particulars of the contract will be laid before Congress so
soon as they shall be in a state for communication.

In order to remove every ground of difference possible with our Indian
neighbors, I have proceeded in the work of settling with them and
marking the boundaries between us. That with the Choctaw Nation is fixed
in one part and will be through the whole within a short time. The
country to which their title had been extinguished before the Revolution
is sufficient to receive a very respectable population, which Congress
will probably see the expediency of encouraging so soon as the limits
shall be declared. We are to view this position as an outpost of the
United States, surrounded by strong neighb