At a glanceExisting decipherment · partial · 26 of 54 groups
- The telegrams
- Ernesto Hintze Ribeiro, head of the Portuguese government, to Queen Amélie during her Mediterranean journey of spring 1903: Lisbon to Naples, “à bord du yacht Amelia”, 23 April; Monte Estoril to Paris (Hotel Bristol), 11 May.
- Where
- Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, Documentos de D. Carlos, D. Amélia e D. Manuel II, maço 15 (PT/TT/CAM/M15), images m0001–m0004. Catalogue entry 406, dated there “before 1907”.
- The code
- A code of four- and five-figure groups (1347 to 67398 seen), mixed with clear Portuguese words. Its order looks alphabetical within page blocks, with the lower pages reversed (a hypothesis).
- How it was deciphered
- The May telegram carries a decode written by hand under the strips and on the back. Split at the clear words, the groups and the decode’s units agree segment by segment, which gives 24 code values.
- What it says
- In the House of Peers the peer Arroio interpellated the Foreign Minister about the Queen’s journey; the minister answered that it was “falso boato”, a false rumour.
- Still open
- The April telegram: 28 of its 29 groups. In the May telegram, two doubtful words of the decode (Livorno, contestar) and the split of three groups.
- Credit
- Transcriptions, dates and routes, the alignment, the 24 values and the page model of the code by WAINUT (27 October 2026), done with AI language-model agents; the transcriptions were made with a vision-capable language model and checked by a reviewing agent against the DigitArq images. The decode is the one made on receipt in 1903.
01 The telegrams
Maço 15 holds four images: two telegrams and their backs. DigitArq dates the file 1913, and the catalogue “before 1907”. The telegrams are of 1903. The first has the stamp NAPOLI 23 APR 03 and “Ricevuto il 23/4 190[3]”; the second the stamp CENTRAL PARIS … MAI 03 and the header day 11, on a form printed “Mai 1902”. Both belong to Queen Amélie’s Mediterranean journey of spring 1903 on the yacht Amélia, which ended in Paris.
| image | route and date | groups | decode of the time |
|---|---|---|---|
| m0001 (back m0002) | Lisbon → Naples, yacht Amelia, 23 April 1903, URGENZA, no. 7325, 75 words | 29 among clear words | none |
| m0003 (back m0004) | Monte Estoril → Paris, Hotel Bristol, 11 May 1903, Exprès, no. 12, 46 words | 25 among clear words | under the strips, continued on the back |
The word counts check both transcriptions (code.py, part 1). With five figures to a word, the address counted and punctuation not, the April telegram gives 12 + 63 = 75 and the May telegram 9 + 37 = 46, the figures in both headers. The count also shows that the April telegram’s “60134”, printed with a stray stroke, is one five-figure group: as six figures the count would be 76.
02 The May telegram
Split at the clear words, the groups and the decode’s units agree segment by segment: 1, 3, 5, 4, 8, 1, 1 and 2 (code.py, part 2). 43322 stands both times where the decode says “Ministro dos Estrangeiros”. Only the split of “Camara dos Pares / Arroio / divorciado” over three groups is a choice made here.
Hoje, na Camara dos Pares, Arroio, divorciado de todos, [veio] interpellar o Ministro dos Estrangeiros acerca da viagem [de] Vossa Magestade, fazendo referencia [á] ausencia [das] auctoridades [em] Livorno [?] e [á] falta [de] visita [do] Presidente da Republica Franceza. O Ministro dos Estrangeiros [veio] contestar [?], [ser] falso boato, referindo os factos em termos convenientes. Hintze Ribeiro.
“Today in the House of Peers Arroio, at odds with everyone, interpellated the Foreign Minister about Your Majesty’s journey, pointing to the absence of the authorities at Livorno [?] and to the President of the French Republic not having paid a visit. The Foreign Minister answered that it was a false rumour, setting out the facts in suitable terms.” Words in brackets are supplied here. Arroio is presumably João Arroio (Arroyo), a peer who had broken with Hintze’s party, which fits “divorciado de todos” (an identification made here, not checked). “Livorno” is a hard reading of a smudged word; the last word on the face is “contestar” or “contestou”. The marks “. S” around 26541 are not explained.
03 The code
The alignment gives 24 values (code_values.tsv). Groups under 10000 are sent with four figures, and all 54 groups of the two telegrams lie between 1347 and 67398, so the book probably has fewer than about 70,000 entries.
Group number and the alphabetical order of the values agree only loosely (rank correlation 0.57). Read each group as a page (n ÷ 100) and a line (n mod 100), and reverse the order of the pages below a split while keeping the lines in order: with the split at page 375, 21 of the 24 values fall in alphabetical order (rho 0.957). The reversed lower half holds a–h, the upper half i–v; Livorno sits in a high block (67398), perhaps for names. Shuffling the 24 words and giving chance the same choice of split reaches a median of 0.275 and a maximum of 0.746 in 2,000 runs, so the model is not a fit to noise. It was found after the fact on these 24 values, with a fitted split, and stays a hypothesis until more decoded traffic in this code tests it.
The model supports the doubtful words of the decode: divorciado falls among the d-words, contestar among the c-words, Arroio among the a-words (so the encoder used the common noun arroio for the name). Two groups are out of order: the model would rather make 3707 = franceza and 49641 a word between ministro and presidente. The decode’s split is kept.
No group is shared with King Carlos’s code of the same spring (carlos1903), Sabugosa’s, Manuel II’s of 1910 or Venceslau de Lima’s of 1909 (code.py, part 5).
04 The April telegram
The clear words give the frame: “Agradeço muito a carta de Vossa Magestade. No [..] [..] das [..] em [..] parece-me [..] … mas Vossa Magestade [..] … e muito dedicadamente beijo a sua mão. Hintze Ribeiro.” (“I thank Your Majesty very much for your letter … most devotedly I kiss your hand.”) One group recurs in the May telegram: 41285 = Vossa Magestade. The first pass counted four values; the other three (57136 seu, 53803 regresso, 67394 Lisboa, “no seu regresso a Lisboa”) are guesses from position and the code’s order, and are not used.
Under the page model every open group but one is bracketed between two decoded values (code.py, part 4). “No 34648 7684 das 22922 em 67033” would be an a-word, an e/f-word, a c-word and a name. The brackets are too wide to decode the telegram.
05 What remains uncertain
- The April telegram, 28 of 29 groups, no decode and no codebook: 34648 7684 22922 67033 50272 32540 55354 57136 53803 67394 63194 60134 10972 49920 1347 49638 15716 35512 10928 42476 56840 49638 60775 15128 53251 55354 42414 5249. The guesses seu, regresso, Lisboa are grade I and not counted.
- May telegram, values taken from the decode (grade H) except: the split of 24724 29878 11876 over “Camara dos Pares / Arroio / divorciado” (M); 67398 Livorno and 18148 contestar, doubtful readings of the ink (M); 3707 “da Rep.” and 49641 “franceza”, out of order under the page model (M).
- The page model of the code is a hypothesis fitted on 24 values.
- The Diário da Câmara dos Pares of about 11 May 1903 should confirm the day and the words Livorno, contestar and divorciado; it was not consulted. Arroio as João Arroio is not checked.
Full texts
The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.
m0003, Monte Estoril -> Paris, 11 May 1903
Hintze Ribeiro tells the Queen, then in Paris, that the peer Arroio interpellated the Foreign Minister in the House of Peers about her journey (no authorities at Livorno, no visit from the French President), and that the minister called it a false rumour.
Transcription
# ANTT PT/TT/CAM/M15, image m0003 (back m0004). French receiving form, printed strips, marked "Exprès". # Address strip: SA MAGESTE LA REINE DE PORTUGAL HOTEL BRISTOL PARIS = # Header strip: SS PARIS MONT ESTORYL 12,-46,-11,-10/30- HSR (destination Paris, origin Monte Estoril, no. 12, # 46 taxed words, day 11, 10.30). Stamp CENTRAL PARIS .. MAI 03 (the day is not clear). Form imprint "Mai 1902". # Groups under 10000 are sent with four figures. A receiver marked one figure in most groups (not reproduced). # The decode of the time is written under the strips and goes on on the back (m0003_contemporary.txt). # Word count: address 9 + text 37 (25 groups, 12 clear words) = 46 = the header. = 1378 NA 24724 29878 11876 DE TODOS 37600 43322 34962 62851 41285 FAZENDO 53538 28643 28605 67398 E 5556 63416 50554 3707 49641 43322 18148 5554 . S 26541 . S REFERINDO OS 5897 EM 59587 17836 .- HINTZE RIBEIRO .
Decipherment of the time
# ANTT PT/TT/CAM/M15, images m0003 and m0004: the decode of m0003 made at the time, written by hand under the # printed strips in four lines (pencil or faded ink) and continued on the back. Line breaks as on the form. # "63276" stands at the right of line 3 in darker ink; it is not a group of the telegram. Hoje na Camara dos Pares Arroio divorciado de todos inter- pellar Mi. Estrangeiros acerca de viagem V. M. fazendo referencia ausencia auctoridades Livorno[?] e falta 63276 visita Presidente da Rep. franceza. Mm. dos Estrangeiros contestar[?] # m0004 (back) falso boato. Referindo os factos em termos convenientes.
Decryption
# m0003 group by group against the decode of the time (m0003, continued on m0004). 25 groups. # Clear words of the telegram in capitals as (clear). The decode gives one unit per group, segment by segment # between the clear words (code.py, part 2); only the split of "Camara dos Pares / Arroio / divorciado" over # three groups is ours. ? = doubtful reading of the decoder's word. 1378 Hoje (clear) NA 24724 Camara dos Pares 29878 Arroio 11876 divorciado (clear) DE TODOS 37600 interpellar 43322 Ministro dos Estrangeiros 34962 acerca de 62851 viagem 41285 V. M. (clear) FAZENDO 53538 referencia 28643 ausencia 28605 auctoridades 67398 Livorno ? (clear) E 5556 falta 63416 visita 50554 Presidente 3707 da Rep. [the page model would rather make 3707 = franceza and 49641 = an unwritten "o"; not adopted] 49641 franceza 43322 Ministro dos Estrangeiros 18148 contestar ? [or contestou] 5554 falso (clear) . S 26541 boato (clear) . S REFERINDO OS 5897 factos (clear) EM 59587 termos 17836 convenientes (clear) .- HINTZE RIBEIRO .
Reading
# m0003: Hintze Ribeiro to Queen Amélie, Monte Estoril -> Paris (Hotel Bristol), 11 May 1903 Hoje, na Camara dos Pares, Arroio, divorciado de todos, [veio] interpellar o Ministro dos Estrangeiros acerca da viagem [de] Vossa Magestade, fazendo referencia [á] ausencia [das] auctoridades [em] Livorno [?] e [á] falta [de] visita [do] Presidente da Republica Franceza. O Ministro dos Estrangeiros [veio] contestar [?], [ser] falso boato, referindo os factos em termos convenientes. Hintze Ribeiro.
Translation
# m0003: English translation Today in the House of Peers Arroio, at odds with everyone, interpellated the Foreign Minister about Your Majesty's journey. He pointed to the absence of the authorities at Livorno [?] and to the President of the French Republic not having paid a visit. The Foreign Minister answered that it was a false rumour, setting out the facts in suitable terms. Hintze Ribeiro. Notes. From the decode of the time under the strips and on the back; in the reading [ ] marks our addition and [?] a doubtful word. Arroio is presumably João Arroio (Arroyo), a peer who had broken with Hintze's Regenerador party, which fits "divorciado de todos" [our identification, not checked]. "Livorno" is a hard reading of a smudged word (L + "-vorno"); it fits the Italian leg of the Queen's cruise. The decoder's last word on the face is "contestar" or "contestou". The Diário da Câmara dos Pares of about 11 May 1903 would confirm the day and these words; it was not consulted.
m0001, Lisbon -> Naples, 23 Apr 1903 decoded, not read
Hintze Ribeiro thanks the Queen, on the yacht at Naples, for her letter; the coded part is not read.
A mechanical decode with holes in most sentences: shown so that the transcription and the key can be checked and improved, not as a reading.
Transcription
# ANTT PT/TT/CAM/M15, image m0001 (back m0002). Italian receiving form, Ufizio Telegrafico di Napoli, printed strips,
# stamped URGENZA. Address strip: SA MAJESTE LA REINE DE PORTUGAL A' BORD DU YACHT AMELIA NAPLES
# Header strip: SS NAPLES LISBOA 7325 75 23 5/27 HN .+ (destination Naples, origin Lisbon, no. 7325, 75 taxed words,
# day 23, 5.27). Stamp NAPOLI 23 APR 03; "Ricevuto il 23/4 190[3]".
# No decode on the form or on its back (m0002). Groups under 10000 are sent with four figures.
# 60134 is printed with a stray stroke after it ("60 1341"); the word count shows it is one five-figure group.
# The "5" of 53251 is retouched in darker ink; one figure of 57136 is overstruck (the reading is clear).
# Word count: address 12 + text 63 (29 groups, 34 clear words) = 75 = the header.
AGRADECO MUITO A CARTA DE VOSSA MAGESTADE . NO 34648 7684 DAS 22922 EM 67033
PARECE .+ ME 50272 32540 55354 NO 57136 53803 A 67394 63194 NAO 60134 10972 EM
49920 1347 49638 MAS 41285 15716 35512 COM 10928 O QUE 42476 56840 49638 VOU
60775 15128 DAS 53251 55354 QUE VOSSA MAGESTADE 42414 , 5249 E MUITO
DEDICADAMENTE BAIJO A SUA MAO .+ HINTZE RIBEIRO .+Decryption
# m0001 (Lisbon -> Naples, 23 Apr 1903): no decode of the time. Clear words in capitals; one group has a value from # m0003 (41285 = Vossa Magestade); the other 28 are open. After each open group, its place among the decoded values # under the page model (code.py, part 4), and our guesses, which are not readings. AGRADECO MUITO A CARTA DE VOSSA MAGESTADE . NO (clear) 34648 [?] (after acerca, before arroio) 7684 [?] (after divorciado, before factos) DAS (clear) 22922 [?] (after camara, before contestar) EM (clear) 67033 [?] (after visita, before livorno: high block, a name?) PARECE .+ ME (clear) 50272 [?] (after franceza, before presidente) 32540 [?] (after acerca, before arroio) 55354 [?] (after referencia, before termos) NO (clear) 57136 [?] (after referencia, before termos; guess: seu) 53803 [?] (after referencia, before termos; guess: regresso) A (clear) 67394 [?] (four below 67398 Livorno; guess: Lisboa) 63194 [?] (after viagem, before visita) NAO (clear) 60134 [?] (after termos, before viagem) 10972 [?] (after divorciado, before factos) EM (clear) 49920 [?] (after franceza, before presidente) 1347 [?] (after da, before hoje) 49638 [?] (after ministro, before franceza) MAS (clear) 41285 Vossa Magestade (as in m0003) 15716 [?] (after convenientes, before divorciado) 35512 [?] (before acerca) COM (clear) 10928 [?] (after divorciado, before factos) O QUE (clear) 42476 [?] (after magestade, before ministro) 56840 [?] (after referencia, before termos) 49638 [?] (after ministro, before franceza) VOU (clear) 60775 [?] (after termos, before viagem) 15128 [?] (after convenientes, before divorciado) DAS (clear) 53251 [?] (after presidente, before referencia) 55354 [?] (after referencia, before termos) QUE VOSSA MAGESTADE (clear) 42414 [?] (after magestade, before ministro) , 5249 [?] (after falta, before da) E MUITO DEDICADAMENTE BAIJO A SUA MAO .+ HINTZE RIBEIRO .+ (clear)
Key: code_values.tsv
06 Sources
- Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, Documentos de D. Carlos, D. Amélia e D. Manuel II, maço 15, PT/TT/CAM/M15, DigitArq record, 4 images: m0001 (Naples, 23 April) and its back m0002; m0003 (Paris, 11 May) and its back m0004 with the end of the decode.
- No print of these telegrams or of the interpellation was found (one web search). General literature on the 1903 journey: Repositório Aberto, Universidade Aberta.
Files: targets/hintze1903/ (notes, transcriptions, the decode of the time, reading and translation, code_values.tsv, code.py with its output). Contributed by WAINUT; reviewed for the site on 27 October 2026.