U.S. Consulate
Cheefoo, China Dec 3 1867

Hon William H. Seward
Secretary of State
Washington D.C.

Sir:
　I have the honor to inform you of the report made to me by Mr. [BranTae] respecting the American Schooner General Sherman which was taken by the Coreans in the year A.D. 1866
　Vis. as follows.
　“During the last of August and the first of September of the present year, I was over in Corea on a trading voyage. I saw the hull of the Schr. General Sherman in the Ping Yang river, about fifteen li (five miles) from its mouth. Her masts had been cut away, and her armament removed. On boarding her I found considerable water in the hold. The Coreans stated that the crew had been beaten to death by the villagers. As I was upbraiding them for their treatment of foreigners who came there for trade, a Corean named King Tze Ping stated that four of the crew were still living in confinement at Ping Yang so (Ping Yang so is the capital of the Province situated on the Ping Yang river, about eighty li (twenty eight miles) from its mouth. I then asked him “Why do you wish to deceive me.” To which he replied “I am not deceiving you, I saw the men myself, during the second month (April) two Europeans and two Chinese, of the latter, one belonged to Peking and one to [b___][____].” King Tze Ping further stated that they were confined, under charge of an officer, in a garden 棧 at Ping Yang so, where they were well treated and fed with rice. He did not know why they were detained.
　Such is the statement of [BranTae] (and Kan Ban Tae as was erroneously reported in my despatch No. 37.) He moreover added that the above was a common report amongst the Coreans at the Ping Yang river, that it was also well known to other Chinese traders to Corea, that King Tze Ping frequently visited the capital of Ping Yang so to dispose of the goods purchased on the coast, that he had business dealings with him for many years and had found him trustworthy and reliable and that this man King Tze Ping could easily be found should he be wanted.
　The pilot [BranTae] has been carefully examined by myself and two others. He tells his story in a straightforward manner and I cannot but be impressed with the feeling that there must be some foundation for the report.
　As regards the pilot, the testimony of all the Europeans who have had dealings with him, as well as of Capt. Shufeldt of the U.S.S. Wachusett, who employed him as pilot last January, all tend to show that the man is to be depended on.

I have the honor to be
Sir
Your Obd. Servant
E. Sanford
U.S. Consul