Although the two governments were now competing to sell out their countries, there was still a difference in speed. With the telegraph, the British could transmit information more efficiently, and after waiting only five days, Palmerston received London's formal reply.
The result was naturally no surprise. British Parliament had already passed the proposal to sell the West Indies, though they still hoped Palmerston could bargain for a better price.
London's orders were rather contradictory. On one hand, they told Palmerston to conclude the deal as quickly as possible at any cost; on the other, they told him to push the price as high as the Austrians could bear.
As a seasoned diplomat, he had seen plenty of such self-contradictory orders. Palmerston therefore chose to prioritize the main objective: the deal with the Austrian Empire.
Since both sides had already weighed their options many times over, the entire signing process was exceedingly uneventful.
The Austrian Empire formally declared its neutrality in the Anglo-American conflict and was not to interfere in the war under any pretext.
At the same time, Britain sold the West Indies and the colony of Honduras to the Austrian Empire for 101 million Florins.
British expatriates were to evacuate before June 20, 1858. The Austrian Empire would provide every British person willing to leave with five Pounds Sterling for travel expenses.
The Anglo-Austrian armistice agreement was extended until January 1, 1861.
Although Palmerston had always claimed to understand Europe better than anyone, he found himself unable to make sense of the Austrian Empire's moves.
After all, in Palmerston's view, the Austrian Empire had better options—for instance, destroying Britain's Mediterranean Fleet first and negotiating afterward.
At that point, even if Britain suffered grievous losses, it could only knock out its teeth and swallow them with its blood. The Austrian