I have the honour to refer to previous correspondence in regard to
the general position in Portuguese Timor and to the Staughton
concessions.

I have been informed by the London Office of the Department of
External Affairs that you recently suggested in a despatch to the
United Kingdom Government that Mr Lambert, His Britannic Majesty's
Vice-Consul at Batavia, should visit Portuguese Timor to
investigate conditions there, and you further suggested that the
Commonwealth Government might care to submit a questionnaire to
which Mr Lambert might supply answers. I understand that Mr
Lambert will be leaving on 14th December, 1937, and that he will
endeavour, among other objects, to ascertain the extent of
Japanese penetration in Portuguese Timor and the attitude of the
Portuguese authorities towards foreign concessions. Both of these
questions are of great interest to the Commonwealth Government.

I am enclosing questionnaires (Annexes 'A' [1] and 'B' [2]) from
the Department of Defence and the Department of External Affairs
respectively. You will note that Annex 'A' relates to defence
matters and Annex 'B' to the Staughton concessions.

I fully realise that Mr Lambert may experience considerable
difficulty in obtaining answers to the questions raised, but I
would be grateful for any information which he might reasonably be
able to obtain on any of the points enumerated.