John Leslie, London correspondent for Panton, Leslie and Company, wrote to John Forbes, a partner in the firm, who was at the time most likely in Pensacola or Mobile. Leslie repeated rumors that he heard circulating in London about the results of Spain's transfer of the Louisiana colony back to France - the probable boundaries, new commercial restrictions on non-French vessels at the port of New Orleans, and the imposition of a government monopoly on the Indian trade, in which Panton, Leslie and Company engaged. Leslie, also mentioned news of General Leclerc in Santo Domingo and the bankruptcy of the Charleston office of the London firm of Ed. Gairdner and Company at a loss of more than $500,000.
