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 CAT, NO. 23233 
 
 TC 784.K24E2 ""'""*"" '""'"^ 
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 3 1924 022 883 585 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 the Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924022883585 
 
■I ':-;.vL.'K':~ 4 
 
 IMITTEC^ AS ONE QP THaRE<^U'lR'EM|r^;TrS ,¥^Xf 
 fHE DEGREE OP bOCTpR" Si- F^MlLOSOPHY. 
 IN THE SCHOOL O? POLITICAL SCIENCE, 
 ' " COLOMBIA COLLEGE, 
 
 ilNDLEY M- KEASBHY, A.JVI. 
 
The Early Diplomatic History 
 
 .^ 
 
 Nicaragua Canal. 
 
 
 StIWWTTED AS ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 
 
 THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 IN THE SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, 
 
 COLUMBIA COLLEGE, 
 
 LINDLEY Nl. KEASBEY, A. IVI. 
 
 
 NEWARK, N. J. ; 
 
 
 The 
 
 HoLBROOK Printing Company. 
 
 
 1890. 
 
 
 
 KC 
 
 (' (> U 1,* )- / 
 
•A'':'^V^-.y^ 
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 By Lindley M. Keasbey. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ias been my intention in the following pages, to give as concise an 
 aLv.^ant as possible of the early diplomatic difficulties which for so many 
 years impeded the work of the Nicaragua canal. As all the questions 
 naturally,group themselves around two central points, the Mosquito con- 
 troversy, and the disputed boundary line between Nicaragua and Costa 
 Rica ; I have adopted this arrangement in treating the subject, and have 
 endeavored to follow these two disputes, side by side, from their origin to 
 their final adjustment. 
 
 As landmarks on the way, I have taken all the treaties which have in 
 any way directed the course of the controversy, and have filled in the gaps, 
 as best I could, with an outline of the negotiations which led to them all. 
 Then here and there along the path, where spots still remained obscure, 
 I have cast a side-light of general history, hoping thus to show the nature 
 of the obstructions, and mark the course of the questions more clearly. 
 
 The treaties themselves carry their authority on their faces, and need 
 no farther explanation. The summary of the negotiations is taken di- 
 rectly from the diplomatic correspondence of the nations interested, and 
 as such, is, I believe, admitted in a court of law as competent evidence of 
 the acts of the difierent governments. A knowledge of the general facts 
 of history is, of course, presumed in the law of evidence, but as these 
 questions concern the obscure little states of Central America, I have 
 taken the precaution to refer in all cases to two standard authorities on 
 the history of the country, hoping thus to avoid all x)artiality and really 
 arrive at the true causes of the difficulties. 
 
 Newabk, N. J., April 11th, 1890. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 1503-1820. 
 
 A. — Introductory. 
 
 1. The Topography of Central America. 
 
 a. General position, b. Internal features. 
 
 2. Ancient races. 
 
 a. Civilized nations, b. Wild tribes. 
 
 3. Spanish discovery and conquest. 
 
 a. Columbus and Bastidas. b. Castilla given to Nicnesa, 
 Nueva Andalucia to Ojedo. c. Balboa in CastUla. 
 d. Davila succeeds him. e. Nicaragua given to Gon- 
 zales, f. Davila sends Cordova to take it fix>m him. 
 g. Gonzales attempts to oust the intruder, h. Cortez 
 sends Olid from the north. 1. Olid turns traitor. 
 j. Las Casas sent after him. k. Olid killed. 1. Cortez 
 himself sets out. m. Cordova too turns traitor and 
 Davila occupies Nicaragua. n. Indian revolt, o. 
 Change of governors, p. Salcedo's advance, q. Dav- 
 ila's return, r. He attempts to open the vray to the 
 coast, s. Honduras colonies, t. Coming of the eccles- 
 iastics, n. Contreras opens up the San Juan. 
 
 4. Audiencia of Guatemala, and its policy to colonize. 
 
 a. Costa Rica. b. Nicaraguan coast. 
 
 5. Origin of the Mosquito tribe. 
 
 B. — Origin of Great Britain's claims in Central America. 
 
 6. Buccaneering raids. 
 
 7. Englishmen occupy 
 
 a. Mosquito coast, b. Bay Islands, c. BeUze. 
 
 8. American treaty, 1670. 
 
 9. England's imUcy adopted. 
 
 a. Mosquito subjection, 
 
 10. War of 1739 results in farther encroachments in 
 a. Mosquitia. b. Bay Islands, c. Belize. 
 
 11. Treaty of Alx la ChapeUe and its effect upon 
 a. Mosquitia. b. Bay Islands, c. Belize. 
 
 12. Seven years' war and treaty of Paris, 1763. 
 
 13. English settlers continue to occupy 
 
 a. Mosquitia. b. Bay Islands, c. Belize. 
 
 14. War of the American Revolution. 
 
a. Spanish colonists attack Belize, h. English seize the 
 San Juan and fort Omoa. c. Spanish colonists regain 
 the entire coast, d. English drive them back. 
 
 15. Treaty of Versailles, 1783. 
 
 16. Additional treaty relative to America, 1786. 
 
 17. Mosquitia abandoned by the English. 
 
 18. Continental war. 
 
 a. Caribs landed on Bay Islands, b. Spanish colonists 
 attack Belize. 
 
 19. General condition of Central America during the last years 
 
 of Spanish rule. 
 a. Mosquitia. b. Bay Islands. C. Belize. 
 
 Chaptbk II. 1820-1850. 
 
 A. — Monroe Doctrine. 
 
 20. Recognition of the independence of the Spanish American 
 
 colonies. 
 
 21. The President's Message. 
 
 22. The Panama Congress. 
 B. — Great Britain's Policy. 
 
 23. Mr. Canning's statement, and action of British agents in 
 a. Belize, b. Mosquitia. c. General results. 
 
 24. Central America appeals to the United States. 
 
 25. New Grenada's claim. 
 
 26. English government assumes control. 
 
 a. Belize boundaries fixed, b. Roatan recognized, c. 
 Mosquito territory extended and the San Juan seized 
 once more. 
 
 27. Loch treaty. 
 C. — United States Policy. 
 
 28. Summary of early canal negotiations. 
 
 29. Acquisition of California. 
 
 30. Hise treaty. 
 
 31. Squier treaty and canal contract. 
 D. — Great Britain and the United States at issue. 
 
 32. Mr. Clayton's policy. 
 
 33. Negotiations opened. 
 
 34. Seizure of Tigre Island. 
 
 35. Mosquito question discussed. 
 £. — Compromise. 
 
 36. Clayton-Bulwer treaty. 
 
 37. Quasi amendments. 
 
Vll. 
 
 Chapter III. 1850-1852. 
 
 A. — The United States stands by the terms of the treaty. 
 
 38. Change of administration. 
 
 39. The Sqnier treaty shelved. 
 B. — Great Britain avoids the convention. 
 
 40. Protectorate retained j'^Greytown reoccupied. 
 
 41. Free city of Grey town. 
 
 C. — United States and Great Britain again at issue. 
 
 42. Mr. Webster tries to straighten matters out. 
 
 43. Nicaragua appeals to him. 
 
 44. Costa Eica presents her claims. 
 
 45. Grant to Accessory Transit Company. 
 D. — Crampton- Webster Basis of Settlement, 1852. 
 
 46. Negotiations begun. 
 
 47. Nicaragua's proposals. 
 
 48. Basis agreed upon. 
 
 E. — Test of Clayton-Bulwer policy. 
 
 49. Agents sent to Central America. 
 
 50. Costa Eica accepts the basis. 
 
 51. Nicaragua reftises and protests. 
 
 52. Modifications proposed by Nicaragua. 
 53.'Costa Eica protests. 
 
 F. — Failure of Clayton-Bulwer Policy. 
 
 54. Downfall of Webster-Crampton basis. 
 65. Downfall of canal contract. 
 
 56. Downfall of whole structure of diplomacy. 
 
 Chapter IV. 1852-1857. 
 First. Negotiations viUJi Great Britain. 
 A. — Great Britain continues in her oldjpolicy. 
 
 57. Colony of the Bay Islands. 
 B. — The,United_States"protests. 
 
 SS.JThe Monroe doctrine again. 
 C— Another issue. 
 
 59.'Diplomatic campaign opened. 
 
 a. Mr. ^Buchanan's statement. ' b. Lord Clarendon's answer. 
 
 60. Enlistment question and general disturbance : diplomacy 
 
 faUs. 
 
 61. Honduras [acts as mediator. Convention between Great 
 
 Britain[and Honduras. 
 
 62. Dallas-Clarendon treaty. 
 
 ) a. Amendments, b. Eejection. 
 
YUl. 
 
 Second. Negotiations with Central America. 
 
 63. Bombardment of Greytown. 
 
 64. Civil war breaks out in Nicaragua. 
 
 65. General Walker's Expedition. 
 
 a. Kinney's expedition, b. Walker government estab- 
 lished, diplomatic relations with the United States cut 
 off. C. Transit company suspends. d. Ciosta Eica 
 and Nicaragua at war. e. Colonel Wheeler's report. 
 f. Revulsion of feeling in the United States, g. The 
 tide turns in the opposite direction in Nicaragua, h. 
 Central American states combine to defeat General 
 Walker, i. General Walker captured, j. Costa Rica 
 and Nicaragua again at v^ar. 
 
 66. Cass-Yrisarri treaty. 
 
 Chaptbe V. 1857-1860. 
 
 A. — Change of Great Britain's policy. 
 
 67. Three alternatives offered to the United States. 
 
 a. Sir William Ouseley's mission. b. Arbitration. c 
 Abrogation. 
 
 68. Mission plan accepted. 
 
 B. — Final settlement of Central American questions. 
 
 69. Canas-Jerez treaty. 
 
 70. Belly contract. 
 
 C. — Final settlement of disputes between Great Britain and Central 
 America. 
 
 71. Three treaties of settlement. 
 
 a. Guatemala, b. Honduras, c. Nicaragua. 
 
 72. Conclusion. 
 
 Finis. 
 
LONGITUDE WEST FROM SR6ENWICH. 
 -M ____ 8_6 
 
 LONGITUDE WEST FROM W/ASHlNeTON 
 
 . <?^ 
 
Chapter I. 
 
 A. The engineers and laborers are now actively en- 
 gaged in cutting the long delayed water-way through 
 Nicaragua, and every month or so our interest is freshly 
 aroused by some paragraph in the papers telling of the 
 rapid advance that is being made in the work, or we are 
 further encouraged by an enthusiastic account of some 
 engineer or surveyor, who has just come from among the 
 busy workers. In the midst of this more active interest 
 there may be room, perhaps, for an older story of the origin 
 and course of the early diplomatic difficulties which for so 
 many years impeded the real work of the canal — a story so 
 interesting in itself, but one so likely to be forgotten in 
 the successful termination of the present undertaking. 
 
 1. In searching for original causes of existing condi- 
 tions, the enquirer is only too apt to be led on a will-o'-the- 
 wisp chase, from history to myth, from myth to met- 
 aphysics, only to be lost finally in the mists of general 
 uncertainty ; but in the present questions we are fortunately 
 spared the fruitless search, for nature herself has so clearly 
 stamped the reason of them all in the very way she has 
 modelled the lands of Central America, that we can scarcely 
 be led very far astray. 
 
 Lying as it does, a narrow bar cutting off the two great 
 a. oceans of the world and yet affording at the same time 
 the only practicable route of transit from the one to 
 the other, it is only natural that ever since its discovery 
 this country has been a centre of interest to the nations of 
 the world and a bone of contention for them to quarrel over. 
 The rivalries so engendered have had necessarily an impor- 
 tant influence on the development of the Central American 
 States themselves, an influence too, which the topographical 
 
features of the conutry have only served to aiigmeut ; for 
 though the geiiei:il position of the laud, it is true, afforded 
 the chae to the theory of interoceauic comuinmcation, in 
 the practical solution of the question it was soon found 
 tlvat nature liad still further defined the problem by tlie 
 wav in which she planned the mountain chains and 
 b. river valleys of the country. Beyond these general 
 questions, however, and even leaving aside for a mo- 
 ment all thought of the interoceanic canal, a little study of 
 the map of the country will demonstrate very clearly what 
 an important influence such topographical conditions must 
 also of necessity have on the life and growth of the people 
 themselves, and the internal history of the country. 
 
 The great Coi'dilleras range, whicli runs due east through 
 Mexico and forms the high table lands of Guatemala, is de- 
 flected somewhat from its easterly course in Honduras, it 
 will be noticed, and follows a more southerly direction 
 fronting the Pacific shore along tlie coast of Salvador, and 
 broken only by a long transveree valley, stretching from 
 the mouth of the river Flua, in the Caribbejm, to the Bay 
 of Fonseca in tlie Pacific. Rising again on the southerly 
 side of this valley, the mountains still pursue a southeast- 
 erly course, though now moi-e in the form of detached 
 peaks, skirting tlie north and east shores of the two great 
 lalces of Nicaragua, until they slope off finally in the Ca- 
 ribbean sea just north of the river San Juan, leaving on their 
 west and south the basin of the lakes and the river valley. 
 From this main range great spurs stretch out toward tlie 
 north and east in Honduras and Nicaragua, forming by their 
 slopes broad valleys, drained by the many rivei-s which flow, 
 ^ome north, some east, into the Caribbean sea ; while still 
 f nrtlier south of the lake basin, the range once more assumes 
 its old form of a rugged mounhiin bai-rier. and extends on 
 through Costa Ricii and Colombia, until it dwindles away 
 at last in the lower ridges of Panama. 
 
Breaking thus at the river Ulua, at the San Juan and the 
 lake basin, and again at the river Chagres and broken ridges 
 of Panama, these mountains do indeed give place for 
 three great avenues of transit from sea to sea; but run- 
 ning longitudinally through the country, they are able to 
 afford no adequate boundary lines between the several little 
 states into which it is politically divided, and the narrow 
 rivers are consequently left to perform this important func- 
 tion. Of these there are so many, however, that no one is 
 sufficiently important to decide the questions with certainty, 
 and in fact they only tend to obscure the issue. 
 
 Finally, only to add to the perplexities which must 
 perforce arise from such utter inadequacy of boundary 
 lines, this range of mountains further cuts each State itself 
 in two, and from the geographical and climatic conditions 
 which have ensued from such division, a marked ethnic 
 contrast has grown up, which from the earliest times has 
 proved a fruitful source of conflict and trouble. All along 
 the Pacific slope and in the elevated lands in the interior of 
 Central America the climate is dry and healthful, less rain 
 falls there, and the temperature is moderately cool. On the 
 other side of the mountains, however, along the Caribbean 
 coast, the conditions are very different. This whole dis- 
 trict, drained as it is by innumerable rivers with their many 
 lagoons and marshes, covered in parts by dense forests, 
 drenched through so many months of the year by heavy 
 rainfalls, and heated by a tropical sun and the southeast 
 trades, is naturally damp and insalubrious, except perhaps 
 on the northern coast of Honduras, where some of the 
 mountain spurs extend even to the sea, and where more 
 cooling winds from the north prevail during parts of the 
 year. 
 
 2. Under such conditions it is not at all surprising that 
 ever since the early migration of the tribes of the somewhat 
 
mythical Votanic Empire civilization has only taken root 
 in the more healthful regions, while the lower insalubrious 
 country on the east has remained, even to the present day, 
 in undisturbed possession of wild uncivilized aborigines.* 
 
 However these early migrations of the native Americans 
 took place, whether from the north or from the south, 
 in their final settlement many of the most civilized 
 a. nations took up their abodes in Central America and 
 Yucatan. In the high table lands of Guatemala and 
 Northwestern Honduras, there grew up four great nations, 
 the Quiches, the Cakehiguels, the Zutugils and the Chortis, 
 who reached as high a grade of civilization as either the 
 Nahuans of Mexico or the Mayans of Yucatan, and who 
 owe their origin, it is conjectured, to a mingling of these 
 two great primal stocks about the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.f 
 
 South of these nations of the mixed blood there developed 
 many others of pure Nahuan stock, who are supposed to 
 have sprung from Aztec colonists, who emigrated from 
 Anahuac' in Mexico. Of these the Pipiles inhabited the 
 southwestern part of Salvador, the Chore tegans dwelt in 
 that part of Nicaragua which lies between the Gulf of 
 Fonseca and the Lake and included two offshoots of their 
 tribe, the Darians and the Nagrandians ; the Cholutecs lived 
 on the opposite side of the gulf toward Honduras, the Mori- 
 bios were settled about Leon, the Niquirans or Nicaraguans 
 occupied the fertile district between the Nicaraquan lakes 
 and the Pacific, while still further south, about the Gulf of 
 Nicoya there dwelt the Orotiiias and Nicoyans. Along the 
 southwestern slopes of the mountains, just east of Lake 
 Nicaragua, there lived another tribe, the Chontales, not as 
 highly civilized as the others and supposed to belong to the 
 
 *Brasseur Hist. Nat. Civ. I., 37, 150. Bancroft Native Races of 
 the Pacific, Vol. II., p. 117 ; Vol. III., p. 450 ; Yol. V., pp. 24, 164, 
 231. Max MuUer's Chips from a German Workshop, " Popul Vnl." 
 
 t Bancroft Native Races, Vol. II., chap. 2, and ohap, 5, pp. 543-53. 
 
Lenca family, a race of semi-civilized people who spread 
 over Salvador and of which traces are found in some of the 
 wilder tribes.* 
 
 b. These older settlers seem to have made no attempt to 
 cross over the monntain barriers or push their civilization 
 to the coast, for, beside being so insalubrious, this eastern 
 district has ever been devoid of mineral resources, and of- 
 fered no attractions to those so comfortably settled in the 
 richly endowed lands of the Paciiic slope. Thus, the wilder 
 tribes who lived in these parts were in the early days left 
 entirely alone, and civilization being really impossible from 
 the very nature of the country, they never advanced beyond 
 the crude nomadic state. Along the northern coast of Hon- 
 duras and in the adjacent islands there dwelt a somewhat 
 Higher race of Indians connected in lineage it is conjectured 
 also with the Lenca family. Among them were the Xica- 
 ques, who inhabited the district between the river Ulua and 
 the Tinto, the Poyas who lived in the triangle which is 
 formed by the river Tinto, the sea and the river Segovia, 
 and the Secos who dwelt along the shores of the Black 
 river. Along the eastern slopes of the mountains in Nica- 
 ragua were other Indian tribes, the Towkas, the Cookras, 
 the Woolwas,f and, where the mountains reach the sea, the 
 iiamas. Finally, along the marshy shore south of Cape 
 Gracias and north of the abode of the llamas, there dwelt 
 still another race of Indians, the Moscoes, who were even 
 lower in the scale of civilization than their Indian neigh- 
 bors and lived about the many lagoons which indent the 
 coast in this region.:}: 
 
 * Bancroft Native Eaces, Vol. I., pp. 684-747 ; Vol. II., CSiap. 2, and 
 Chap. 5, pp. 543-53. Sqnier Cent. Amer. States, pp. 223-257. Justin 
 Winsor, Nar. and Crit. Hist, of Amer., Vol. I., pp. 134-207. 
 
 t These Woolwas were later assimilated with the Chontales who lived 
 on the west slope in that district. 
 
 J Bancroft Native Eaces, pp. 684-747. Sqmier Cent. Amer. States, pp. 
 247-257. 
 
3. Beyond some slight changes among the civilized na- 
 tions, the native races in Central America remained in about 
 the same relative positions until the coming of the Span- 
 
 a. iards at the dawn of the sixteenth century. Columbus 
 was the first to disturb them, when he landed on the 
 
 shores of Honduras in 1502 and sailed thence to the south, 
 touching here and there along the coast until he reached 
 Darien and the northern point of Bastidas' former discov- 
 eries in South America. Then, to satiate to some extent 
 the greed of conquest so engendered by these early discov- 
 eries, King Ferdinand soon began to parcel out these new- 
 found lands to the adventurers of his court. This 
 
 b. Tierra Firma, so discovered by Columbus and Bastidas, 
 he divided in two in 1507 and allotted the province 
 
 north of the Gulf of TJraba,* henceforth to be called Cas- 
 tilla del Oro, to Eicnesa, one of his courtiers, while the land 
 to the south or Nueva Andalucia, as it was called, he gave 
 to Ojedo, one of Columbus' companions. 
 
 Shipwreck and disaster soon reduced Nicuesa's colony to 
 a small, half-starved garrison at Nombre a Dios, and Ojedo 
 also, ill fitted to cope with the savage natives who sur- 
 rounded him, was forced to give up his command and re- 
 turned to Spain only to die a beggar there. Encisco, a 
 Spanish lawyer, succeeded Ojedo, but legal learning was 
 scarcely in much demand among those early colonists, and 
 the reins of power before long fell into the hands of 
 
 c. the hardy sailor, Balboa, whose ways, if not strictly 
 legal, were at least suflBciently forcible. 
 
 Knowing from his early voyages under Bastidas that the 
 province of Castilla just across the gulf was far more fertile 
 than Andalucia, Balboa persuaded the colonists to emigrate 
 to the northern shore, and there they planted a new city, 
 Antigua. Balboa then approached Encisco with a lawyer's 
 own subtlety, and calmly informed him that his authority 
 
 * Modem Darien. 
 
was at an end ; for he argued most plausibly, you were 
 only appointed to succeed to the province of Andalucia, 
 and we being now in Castilla, are under Nicuesa's rule. 
 Even Encisco was forced to admit the force of this Iokic, 
 and when he sailed away to Spain Balboa was formally 
 chosen Alcade of the new city. He soon increased his 
 power, by expelling poor Nicuesa, too, and was rewarded 
 for it all at last by a royal commission from Spain giving 
 him authority over the entire province. 
 
 Balboa's discovery of the Pacific in 1513, of course, cre- 
 ated a great sensation in Spain ; but in the triumph of 
 his adversary, Encisco at last saw his chance for revenge, 
 and prevailed upon the King to appoint a new governor for 
 the province, as Balboa, he said, was no fit man to rule in 
 such an important post. So even Balboa's rule was short 
 lived, and soon he too had to succumb to his suc- 
 d. cessor, Pedrarias Davila. Davila was an energetic 
 fellow, and under his rule many expeditions were 
 undertaken, Panama and Ada were founded, the southern 
 seaboard was surveyed as far as JSTicoya, and even at this 
 early time plans were laid for some mode of interoceanic 
 communication across the Isthmus. 
 
 e. The Spanish king then wishing to hasten the march 
 of discovery, and fearing, perhaps, lest Davila were becoming 
 too powerful in the extent of his province, issued another 
 royal decree in 1519, authorizing Gil Gonzales, Contador 
 of Espanola, to undertake a voyage of South-sea discovery, 
 and ordered Davila to hand over to him the ships which 
 had belonged to Balboa. Now Davila had caused Balboa 
 to be executed some time before, and jealous at this new 
 authority stubbornly refused to deliver up the ships. Noth- 
 ing daunted, Gonzales took his own ships apart on the At- 
 lantic, and transporting them as best he could across the 
 Isthmus, put them together again on the Pacific and sailed 
 away along the coast to the north. He had not gone far. 
 
however, before many of his sliips became useless, so order- 
 ing those which were still sound to continue their voyage 
 along the coast, he himself landed with a hundred of his 
 men, and marched north into the lands of the Orotinas and 
 Nicojans. The Cazique of Nicoya and his people seemed 
 very kindly disposed toward the new comers ; so Gonzales 
 forthwith baptized them all, to the number, they say, of six 
 thousand, and received in return for the favor a goodly store 
 of gold. Pleased witli the result of this first encounter, 
 Gonzales then set out to pursue the same system of barter 
 with the Nicaraguans. The cazique of these people in- 
 deed expressed some surprise that so few men should want 
 so mueli gold, but consented nevertheless to be baptized, 
 and so, as Gonzales said, the country was " converted." The 
 Darians, however, Gonzales did not find so tractable ; true 
 they gladly gave their gold to see the bearded Spaniards, 
 but when they had seen all they cared to, they gathered 
 their forces together and drove Gonzales and his little band 
 out of their country. At this signal the If icaraguans imme- 
 diately apostabized and attacked Gonzales on his rather hur- 
 ried homeward march. He finally rejoined his sea force, 
 however, which meanwhile had sailed along the western 
 coast of Nicaragua and discovered the Bay of Fonseca, and 
 together they returned to Panama. 
 
 f. Davila meanwhile was still nursing his jealousy 
 against his rival Gonzales, and moreover, as word had 
 just reached him that he was about to be deposed from 
 the governorship of Castilla, and that a new governor, 
 Pedro de los Rios, was to be appointed in his stead, he 
 was paticularly anxious himself to secure a foothold in 
 these northern provinces before he was forced to give up all 
 authority ; so, disregarding entirely the royal decree which 
 had assigned this district to Gonzales, he despatched his 
 lieutenant Cordova with orders to really conquer Nicaragua. 
 
 In 1524 Cordova set out and having made a survey of the 
 
great " Fresh water sea," as lake Nicaragua was then called, 
 he founded near its shores two cities, Grenada and Leon, 
 doing the whole thing in the most systematic way, overaw- 
 ing the natives with his force, delighting them by " mira- 
 cles," and baptizing them by the wholesale. 
 
 g. Gonzales of course was greatly incensed at this act 
 of aggression on Davila's part and immediately appealed to 
 the royal audiencia at San Domingo, which by this time 
 had practically assumed control over the mainland colonies 
 as well as the islands of the West Indies. Having secured 
 the necessary aid he set sail from San Domingo, bent upon 
 driving the invaders from his province. He lost his reck- 
 oning somewhat on the way, however, and landed on the 
 northern coast of Honduras, at Puerto Caballos instead ; so, 
 leaving a small colony there, he marched south to drive 
 Cordova from the lake region. 
 
 li. During the years of these expeditions from the soutli, 
 Cortez in the north was also extending his power from 
 Mexico into the rich gold fields of the Quiches, Oakchiquels 
 and Zutugils. Already his lieutenant Alverado had passed 
 through Tehuantepec and was fighting his way south 
 through Guatemala and Salvador (1524r-1525); but this was 
 not enough for the ambitious Cortez, for he, too, was im- 
 bued with the desire of gaining the fresh water sea, and 
 wished to discover some route of transit. So, like Davila 
 before him, Cortez sent out another of his lieutenants. 
 Olid, under orders to seize the country in his name, and 
 to discover if he could some strait of communication 
 between the two oceans. 
 
 i. Scarce was Olid out of his master's sight, when 
 he gave up all idea of obeying his commands and de- 
 cided to secure the province for himself. With this end in 
 view, he too landed on the northern coast of Honduras and 
 set out for the interior. He had only gone a short distance, 
 however, when he fell in with Gonzales' and Cordova's men 
 
 N 
 
10 
 
 in conflict over the disputed country. Soon another 
 j. element was added to the general confusion, for Cortez 
 
 had meanwhile got wind of Olid's treachery and had 
 sent still another lieutenant, Francisco de Las Casas, to se- 
 cure the renegade. Olid at first was clever enough to seize 
 both Gonzales and Las Casas, but they in turn, by a bit of 
 
 Spanish treachery, obtained the mastery, and having 
 k. put the traitor to death, they left another small colony 
 
 at Truxillo, on the Honduras coast, and sailed away to 
 tell Cortez the news. 
 
 1. Cortez, however, had grown impatient at the delay, 
 and distrusting every one, had decided to visit the scene of 
 action himself. Having gathered about him an enormons 
 force, ho set out iu October, 1524, to journey by land 
 through Yucatan, in this way to open up the country still 
 untouched by Alverado, and at the same time to bring an 
 armed force to aid the few struggling colonies along the 
 Honduras shore. Swamps and forests blocked his way, the 
 natives harassed him on every side, and diflSculties almost 
 insurmountable met him at every turn ; but the indomitable 
 Cortez pushed on, felling the trees and bridging the swamps 
 before him, driving the Indians back into the mountains or 
 making them his slaves, until at last he broke through the 
 wilderness and reached the little colony at Truxillo. It was 
 Cortez' intention from here, of course, to push on to Nic- 
 • aragna, but before his plans could be matured he was forced 
 to return to Mexico to attend to more important matters 
 there, and left a lieutenant, Saavedra, in charge at Honduras 
 in April, 1525. 
 
 m. Cordova meanwhile, infected with the general fever 
 of treachery then so prevalent, had thrown off the yoke of 
 his master Davila, and was trying to rule Nicaragua on his 
 own account. Such action on the part of his trusted lieu- 
 tenant only imbued Davila with that same desire to punish 
 that had so incited his northern rival Cortez, and in tnm 
 
11 
 
 Davila also collected liis forces and marched north to crush 
 the insubordinate Cordova. He had little trouble in regain- 
 ing his authority over Nicaragua, with his old vigor- 
 ous, if merciless, policy, and when he felt secure in this 
 possession he began to look with envious eyes upon liondu- 
 ras, now only held b}' the lieutenant Saavedra, and seem- 
 ingly inviting encroachment. 
 
 n. By dint of a policy of oppression and cruelt}', neither 
 Cordova nor his master had any difficulty in bringing the 
 civilized races into a state of complete subjection, and by 
 this time the remnants of the once powerful nations were 
 meekly slaving for their Spanish masters. The wilder In- 
 dians of the mountains were made of sterner stuff, however, 
 and thus far had resisted all attempts at subjugation. Davila 
 seems to have overlooked this strong element of antagonism 
 in planning his attack upon Honduras ; but when he tried 
 to carry out his idea into practical execution he soon discov- 
 ered what a mistake he had made, for the Indians were 
 shrewd enough to see their advantage and fell upon the 
 two Spanish invaders while they were preparing to attack 
 each other. Their revolt was very successful, and Davila 
 being utterly unable to do anything against such a general 
 uprising, was forced to recede from his cherished plan, and 
 only to make the defeat more bitter, he was then at last re- 
 called by the Spanish authorities, and Eios was sent to take 
 his place as governor of Castilla (January, 1526). 
 
 o. Spain evidently did not care to act as arbitrator be- 
 tween the claims of all the rival conquerors and traitors at 
 this time, so to simplify the whole matter she simply de- 
 posed them one and all, and appointed new governors in their 
 places, and in order to set more definite limits to the inor- 
 diate ambitions of these rapacious conquerors, she also began 
 to divide the provinces into smaller holdings and definitely 
 mark their boundaries. In this new allotment even the 
 valiant Cortez lost Honduras, after all the trials he had en- 
 
12 
 
 dnred to secure it, and Salcedo, his successor, ai-rived at 
 Truxillo in October, 1526, soon after Rios had assumed con- 
 trol of Castilla. 
 
 p. One of Salcedo's first acts as governor of Honduras 
 was to invade Nicaragua and annex the province to his, 
 for with Davila recalled and Rios still in the southern 
 district of Castilla, the whole country was completely at his 
 mercy. The invasion itself was marked by the most abomi- 
 nable cruelties to the natives imaginable, and the antagonism 
 of the races, which had been growing stronger and stronger 
 year by year, now broke out in a blaze of revolt throughout 
 the whole district. Salcedo pushed on, however, carrying 
 out tlie plan of enslavement and conquest so successfully 
 pursued by his predecessors, and taking up the lash and the 
 branding iron, which Cortez on his march had brought as 
 far as Truxillo, he carried them on even to the shores of 
 the fresh water sea ; but so great had been the cruelty of 
 Davila in this region that the poor natives hailed even the 
 merciless Salcedo as their deliverer. Many natives were taken 
 prisoners during this invasion and made to carry burdens 
 for the conqueror, while those who escaped fled to the moun- 
 tains, and in these higher fastnesses civilized and uncivilized 
 banded together in league against their common enemies, 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 q. Davila, meanwhile in Spain, had been pulling the 
 wires well, and taking advantage of the desire of still fur- 
 ther limiting the colonies in Central America, obtained 
 another royal order separating Nicaragua from the old pro- 
 vince of Castilla and from Honduras, under whose jurisdic- 
 tion it had now been included by Salcedo's conquest, and 
 had himself appointed royal governor over the new province 
 so formed. Once more in Nicaragua (March, 1528), 
 r. Davila began again his old energetic ways, oppressing 
 and enslaving the natives and opening up the country 
 for the Spanish colonists. He was not satisfied with his 
 
13 
 
 work, however, until he could break down the barrier which 
 cut him and his province entirely off from the eastern coast, 
 and thus open a more direct communication between the 
 colony and the mother country by means of a port of entry 
 on the Caribbean. To accomplish this purpose he organ- 
 ized a large expedition to conquer at last the wild tribes of 
 tlie mountains and clear a pathway to the shore. Beginning 
 at this river San Juan and the lake, the Spaniards pushed 
 north even to Cape Gracias, enslaving the natives as they 
 went and branding them with the irons, while those whom 
 they were not able to capture they drove even further back 
 into the mountains. As for opening a way to the sea, how- 
 ever, the expedition had little practical effect^ and all it 
 really did was to glut the markets of Leon and Grenada 
 with slaves, and even made it profitable to open a new slave 
 market at Panama, whence the slaves could be shipped 
 abroad to supply the foreign market. 
 
 s. In Honduras, too, it was but a repetition of the same 
 events, for on the downfall of Salcedo the colonists had 
 called upon the famous conqueror Alverado to help them to 
 withstand the attacks of the surrounding Indians, and at 
 the very mention of the man's name, so renowned for his 
 cruelties, the natives fled to the mountains, as many as could, 
 while those less fortunate were kidnapped and sent to the 
 slave markets. 
 
 The Spanish authorities at home were doing all they 
 could during these years to ameliorate the lot of the na- 
 tives, and decree after decree was issued to put an end to the 
 barbarous policy, but nothing could be done against such an 
 organized system of cruelty, and all their orders fell on 
 t. deaf ears.* The ecclesiastical authorities, however. 
 
 * Eoyal Decrees of 1526, 1533, 1536. Soc. Mex. Geog. Boletin V., pp. 
 326-331. Eecop de Indias, II., pp. 192, 194, 201, 277, 288. Bancroft's 
 Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. 11., p. 237. Las Casas Destruction of tlie In- 
 dies. 
 
14 
 
 were gradually gaining a firm foothold in the country, 
 and by zealously esponsing the cause of the natives were 
 doing much to stem the tide of merciless cruelty, though 
 planting, at the same time, the seeds of that antagonism be- 
 tween the lay and ecclesiastical anthorities which has always 
 proved a disturbing element in the history of the country. 
 
 In 1531 a Dominican convent was established at Leon, 
 and Bartolome de las Casas, the grand old " Apostle of the 
 Indies," after his splendid labors in Mexico, came to take 
 _ up the cause of the natives in Nicaragua. He and his Do- 
 minicans were doing much good when Contreras, who had 
 been appointed governor of Nicaragua at Davila's death, 
 again broached the plan of opening up a route to the eastern 
 sea. Knowing of the cruel deeds which had accompanied 
 the last expedition, the Dominicans bitterly opposed this 
 new plan, and at last when they found they would be pow- 
 erless to prevent it, they forsook the country in a body. 
 u. Contreras, however, was a far more humane man than 
 his predecessor and succeeded in opening the river San 
 Juan to the sea in a very peaceful manner, thus at last con- 
 necting his province with the Caribbean, and opening up 
 for the first time a direct trade with the mother country 
 and the West Indies. 
 
 4. Finding her commands so entirely unheeded by her 
 colonies in Central America, Spain then made a radical 
 change in her mode of governing them, and in 1542 issued 
 a new code of laws abolishing the holding of slaves entirelv. 
 To be more sure these laws would be carried out, she also 
 introduced into the colonies a complete systemof central con- 
 trol by establishing two more audiencias or vice royalties, 
 one in Xew Grenada, with jurisdiction as far north as what 
 is now Costa Rica, and the other in Guatemala, -with author- 
 ity from the southern boundary of Mexico to the northern 
 boundary of the audiencia of Xew (Grenada.* This latter 
 
 *Xew Laws for Kingdom of the Indies, Madrid. 1.542-4. Bk. II, 
 Tit. XV., Laws 6 and «. Brit. Accounts and Papers, Vol. 45, Doc. 966, 
 Xo. 5, enclosure 11. . 
 
15 
 
 audiencia formed the ancient Kingdom of Guatemala, or 
 what has developed since into the states of Central America. 
 An indefinite enough sort of a Kingdom it was in those early 
 days, with its ill defined boundary lines and half conquered 
 country ; but even as it was it served to mark a new era in 
 the growth of the country, and at least brought some degree 
 of order into the chaos of rival authorities which had ex- 
 isted before.* 
 
 Though in name the boundaries of this new Kingdom ex- 
 tended from Mexico to New Grenada, and from sea to sea,t 
 in reality, as has been seen, the Spaniards were only in pos- 
 session of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, and the lake 
 basin of Nicaragua. On the south lay what is now Costa 
 Rica, still unconquered, and all along the eastern coast of 
 Nicaragua the Indians still held their own in spite of the 
 determined efforts to dislodge them, and except at the 
 mouth of the' San Juan they still cut off the entire eastern 
 coast, from Cape Gracias down. The new audiencia's plans 
 were to change all this, and since the outlet to the sea had 
 already been secured, their idea was to open up all the wild 
 country lying on either side of the San Juan and thus ex- 
 tend their jurisdiction in fact over the whole country con- 
 tained within their nominal boundaries. 
 
 a. Some two years before these new laws were promul- 
 gated, one Diego Gutierez had been authorized to extend 
 the conquest of Yeragua to the north, even as far as Cape 
 Camaron and the Black River, provided he did not " ap- 
 proach to within fifteen leagues of Lake Nicaragua, inas- 
 much as these fifteen leagues, together with the said lake, 
 
 * For the fdller history of this outline of the conquest and settlement 
 of Cent. Amer., see Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vols. I. and II. Ju- 
 arros' Hist, of Guatemala. Squiers' Cent. Amer. States, Ibid. Nicaragua. 
 Justin Winson Nar. and Crit. Hist, of Amer., Vol. I. 
 
 t Eecopilacion de Indias, No. 6. Chap. 15th, Book 2d, Sen. Ex. Doc. 
 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess.. Doc. No. 12. 
 
16 
 
 have to remain and do remain under the government of 
 Nicaragua ; but the navigation and fishery of that portion 
 of said river * which remains to you and of the said fifteen 
 leagues and lake which remain to Nicaragua are to be en- 
 joyed in common."f 
 
 Contreras was naturally very much incensed at this pro- 
 posed division and insisted that Nicaragua rightly extended 
 from sea to sea and as far south as Veragua, thus all uncon- 
 sciously striking the key-note of the boundary disputes 
 which have ever since been breaking in with jangling dis- 
 cords on every attempt to harmonize the endless Central 
 American questions. Gutierez was long in getting off on 
 his voyage of conquest and did not really reach his destina- 
 tion until after the new audiencia had assumed control. 
 The whole expedition, besides, was a failure, for he and 
 most of his followers were massacred by the natives of the 
 interior, six only reaching the coast to tell the tale. In 1560 
 another attempt was made to pacify and settle Costa 
 Kica, and this time the audiencia attempted the task itself. 
 Some few colonies were established and a governor was ap- 
 pointed in 1565, but not satisfied with these meagre results 
 the Spanish government once more took hold and in 15Y4, 
 made a contract with Diego de Artieda Cherino, by which 
 he agreed to pacify and further colonize the country. In 
 return he was appointed governor of the province and the 
 terms of the charter the boundaries were given as extending 
 " from the north to the south seas in latitude and longitude 
 from the confines of Nicaragua on the side of Nicoya fronting 
 the valleys of Chiriqui as far as the province of Veragua to the 
 south, and to the north from the mouths of the channel, 
 which is in those parts belonging to Nicaragua,:]: all the 
 tract of laud as far as the province of Veragua."§ 
 
 * San Juan, evidently, 
 
 t Royal Charter, dated Nov. 29, 1540. Copy in Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 
 34th Cong., Ist sess., Doc. 10, p. 28. 
 
 t The San Juan River, according to Mr. Molina. 
 
 I Royal Charter, dated Feb. 18th, 1.'574. Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, Doc. 10, 
 pp. 32-35. 
 
17 
 
 Mr. Bancroft, the historian, says that the district of Nic- 
 oya was annexed to Costa Kica in 15Y3,* hut there seems to 
 be no other authority for the statement. Nicaragua, at 
 least, never admitted the annexation, and even Don Diego 
 de la Haya, a later governor, spoke of Nicoya as a separate 
 district, and in his report to the Court of Spain he thus 
 bounded Costa Rica : " This province of Costa Rica," he 
 wrote, " is situated between two others, that of Veragua and 
 that of Nicaragua, being also encircled on the south by a 
 small strip of the district of Nicoya. The length of said 
 province is one hundred and sixty leagues, commencing at 
 the Rio de Boruca(the same which separates its jurisdiction 
 from that of the province of Veragua) and extending to the 
 place designated Rio del Salto,f which lies between this 
 province and said province of Nicaragua. In width it ex- 
 tends sixty leagues, which are to be reckoned from the val- 
 ley and coast of Mathina, which is in the northern part, as 
 far as Puerta de la Caldera, where it is washed by the waters 
 of the South Sea. And the jurisdiction of this province is 
 separated from said district and jurisdiction of Nicoya by 
 the Rio del Tempisque.":|: 
 
 Despite these attempts at colonization, Costa Rica's 
 growth was very slow. The few settlements that had sprung 
 up were in the interior, and surrounded as they were by the 
 wild Indian tribes, it is but natural that a very vague idea 
 existed of the true boundary lines of the province. 
 
 b. Even more barren results met the audiencia in its 
 endeavors to colonize the coast north of the San Juan. 
 Royal decrees were issued from time to time,§ directing 
 
 ♦Bancroft Hist, of Cen. Amer., II., p. 427, Note 6. 
 
 t Also called Alverado River, flowing into Pacific at Gulf of Nicoya. 
 
 i Report of Diego de la Haya to Spanish Court, March 15th, 1719. 
 Sen. Ex. Doc. 25. Doc. 10, pp. 38-40. 
 
 i Cedula, dated Oct. 30th, 1547, Aug. 31st, 1560, July 2d, 1594. Ju- 
 arrosHist. of Guatemala, I., p. 346. 
 
18 
 
 inquiries to be made as to the best way of reconciling these 
 wilder nations to the Spanish rule ; and to bring about the 
 desired result the whole district between the San Juan and 
 Cape Gracias was conveyed to Captain Diego Lopez and 
 Senor Palacios, by the audiencia, to be colonized and gov- 
 erned by them under certain regulations.* These early at- 
 tempts amounted to nothing, however, and the country was 
 still in its original state of barbarism in the seventeenth 
 century, when the Franciscan monks took the matter in 
 their own hands to see what missionary labors could do 
 when force had failed so signally. For nearly a century 
 they worked with untiring zeal, establishing mission houses 
 in the mountains and living among the Indians themselves. 
 Most of them were killed for their devotion, however, and 
 though toward the close of the century it did seem as if 
 some advance were being made, the field was then entirely 
 abandoned and the natives were left once more to pursue 
 their old ways of barbarism.f 
 
 5. During all these years of missionary labors in the 
 mountains, another force was exerting itself along the shore 
 in quite the opposite direction. Just about the time when 
 the Franciscans began their work in the interior, a Spanish 
 slave ship, bound home from Guinea, freighted down with 
 Sambo slaves, was wrecked off the coast, and in the confu- 
 sion most of the negroes broke loose from their captors and 
 escaped to the shore. The Moscoes seemed very glad 
 to see these new-comers so suddenly thrown among 
 them ; so there the negroes remained, falling naturally into 
 the lazy sort of life the Moscoes led, and intermingling with 
 them very freely. This rather anomalous amalgamation of 
 
 *Calvo Traites, VI., 196-203. SquierCent. Amer. States, p. 631. Ban- 
 croft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 598. 
 
 t Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., pp. 447-450. Juarros Hist, 
 of Guatemala, pp. 346-359. 
 
39 
 
 two such distinct ethnic types could scarcely be productive 
 of any good results, and in fact there grew up from this 
 strange fusion of races a sort of hybrid tribe, since dubbed 
 the Mosquitos, though this name is also rather inaccurately 
 applied to all the Indians of the eastern coast. This Mos- 
 quito race assumed all the characteristics of the dominant 
 type, the Moscoes, but the fusion of negro blood seemed 
 only to degenerate them still further below their more 
 hardy neighbors. They multiplied very rapidly, however, 
 and soon spread over the whole low marshy coast, from 
 Cape Gracias down to the abode of the Ramas. Their 
 number, too, was further increased by many cimarrones, or 
 runaway slaves, who fled from their Spanish task-masters to 
 seek refuge with this happy-go-lucky tribe on the coast. 
 Living among the lagoons, with no fixed abode, sowing but 
 little and living mostly on the fish they caught, this Mos- 
 quito race had nothing in common with the other Indians 
 and grew up entirely apart from the rest of the tribes, 
 and for the most part antagonistic to them.* 
 
 Thus, in spite of the cruel aggressive policy of her con- 
 querors, in spite of her stringent laws and her organized 
 system of central control, and in spite of the noble work of 
 her missionaries, Spain really did not accomplish very much 
 in her Central American colonies during these first centu- 
 ries. True, she swept before her every vestige of the an- 
 cient civilization, and indeed fulfilled to the letter the re- 
 quirements of international law to complete her title to 
 the country from sea to sea, by establishing her colonies 
 along the Honduras coast and her port of entry at the San 
 Juan ; but after all, this did not amount to very much while 
 she was still cut o£E from the eastern coast of Nicaragua by 
 the hostile natives of the interior, and while she still allowed 
 
 * Bancroft Native Baces, Vol. I., pp. 713 and 794. Squier Central 
 Amer. States, p. 633. 
 
20 
 
 this entire coast line to remain under the sole control of a 
 lazy, good-for-nothing band of savages. 
 
 B. — 6. All this, it mnst be remembered, was just at 
 the time that the English, French and Dutch buccaneers 
 were roving the sea, in tacit league against their common 
 enemy, Spain, and watching every opportunity to rob her 
 of her wealth. Already they had driven the Spaniards 
 from the little island of Tortugas in the West Indies and 
 established headquarters there, and it was only natu- 
 ral, after having gained this point of advantage, that they 
 should turn their attention to the mainland to gain a 
 foothold there. Under the existing conditions the Mos- 
 quito coast practically invited their occupation ; and its 
 many lagoons and winding rivers they found very con- 
 venient vantage grounds, in which they could take refuge 
 after their raids on the Spanish galleys, divide their plunder, 
 and make their plans for further expeditions. Cut off en- 
 tirely from the interior, they were not disturbed by the 
 Spaniards, and as for the Mosquitos, they found them tract- 
 able enough, and soon began to use them as they would, 
 taking the men with them on their expeditions against the 
 Spaniards and using the women as their servants and mis- 
 tresses.* 
 
 7. Many of these buccaneers were Englishmen, and 
 though the English government refused to recognize them, 
 they were secretly connived at by the country at large, and 
 little determined effort was made to put an end to their 
 piracies. In fact England, like the other countries, was 
 very anxious to secure a foothold in the West Indies and 
 share in the enormous profits wliich Spain was securing for 
 herself, and was willing to make use of even the pirates 
 and freebooters to gain this end. 
 
 * Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., "Vol. II.. p. 598. Squier Cent. Amer. 
 States, p. 632. 
 
21 
 
 a. It was during these early years of the buccaneeriiifj 
 raids that the little island of St. Catilina, or Old Provi- 
 dence, as the English called it,* was occupied by the 
 Earl of Warwick sailing 'under letters of reprisal granted 
 to him by Charles the First against Spain, for dam- 
 ages received from Spanish subjects. The settlers he 
 established there immediately began to cultivate the 
 friendship of the Mosquito Indians of the mainland, and 
 even persuaded them to send their young prince to England 
 to be educated. "When the king of the Mosquitos died the 
 boy was brought back, and Iiis people, whom by this time 
 the English settlers had completely under their control, in- 
 duced him to abdicate to Great Britain the sovereign au- 
 thority over the country, and to receive the protection of his 
 majesty, the King of England. The young monarch con- 
 sented to this arrangement and in return was invested by 
 the settlers with a royal commission and a crown, which was 
 supposed to come directly from his brother King, Charles. 
 True, the commission was but a bit of paper, containing a 
 promise that his majesty, the King of the Mosquitos, would 
 treat kindly any Englishman who might come that way, and 
 the crown itself was but an old cocked hat ; still the young 
 monarch seemed entirely satisfied, and his people were 
 evidently very much pleased at these marks of considera- 
 tion from'so powerful a people.f 
 
 b. When Columbus landed on the coast of Honduras 
 
 * 13° 10' N. Lat., off Mosq. Coast. 
 
 t The maimer and form of this mock submission are doubtful, as the 
 only authority seems to be a memorial presented by the Mosquito king 
 to the Duke of Albemarle, governor of Jamaica in 1687, given in the 
 ' ' Mosquito Correspondence, ' ' laid before Parliament in 1848. See English 
 Accounts and Papers, Vol. LXV., July 3d, 1848, Doc. 966, Appendix B. 
 The fact seems to be authentic, however. See Sir Hans Sloane Hist, of 
 Jamaica, 1st Ed., 1707, Vol. I., p. 76. Churchill's Voyages, 3d Ed., 
 London, 1746, Vol. VI., pp. 297-302. Later historians, Bancroft and 
 Squier, do not mention this first submission to the English. 
 
32 
 
 lie found the islands which lie along the shore quite thickly 
 populated with Poyas and Xicaques, of the same tribes as 
 those along the shore ; but not long after this the Indians 
 emigrated to the mainland, to avoid the slave traders, who in 
 these early years were wont to swoop down upon the Indians 
 in the islands and along the coast and carry them away to 
 sell abroad. The Spanish colonists along the shore a little 
 later assumed control over these islands and gradually they 
 were repopulated and governed by the authorities at Trux- 
 illo. When the buccaneers began to harass the colonists, 
 however, and to set up their headquarters on the very main- 
 land itself, the Spanish authorities at Truxillo were forced 
 once more to depopulate the islands and leave them to the 
 mercy of the invaders, for they found they had all they 
 could do to defend their towns on the shore. The bucca- 
 neers then immediately pounced upon them and in the 
 seizure the English were fortunate enough to secufe both 
 Roatan and Guanaja as their lion's share. 
 
 Having thus firmly established themselves on these islands, 
 the English were able to cut off the commerce between the 
 kingdom of Guatemala and the mother country entirely, 
 and being so near the shore they were also able to make de- 
 scents upon the colonies themselves and plunder the strug- 
 gling little towns. These acts of aggression at last became 
 so serious that the authorities of the audiencia felt that 
 they must be stopped at any cost, so, calling on San Do- 
 mingo for aid, together they fitted out a powerful expedi- 
 tion, and succeeded in driving out the pirates completely 
 and regained control over the islands in 1650.* 
 
 The Spanish government was also trying in vain to put 
 a check on all these piratical depredations upon her colonies 
 at this time. Her minister in London made repeated re- 
 monstrances to the British government, but really nothing 
 
 * Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 648. SquierCent. Amer. 
 States, pp. 604-615. 
 
could be done against the organized system of piracy which 
 then existed. Great Britain, as she had always done, disa- 
 vowed the acts of her pirates ; but Just at this time Crom- 
 well assumed control, and in pursuance of his vigorous 
 foreign policy, he decided to defer any negotiations witli 
 Spain ]to put down the pirates until he could secure a 
 stronger foothold for Great Britain in the West Indies by 
 securing the island of Cuba. The expedition which he se- 
 cretly despatched in pursuance of this design failed, it is 
 ti'ue, to capture Cuba, but did succeed in snatching from 
 Spain the island of Jamaica in 1655. 
 
 c. Satisfied with this, the English themselves adopted 
 very stringent measures against the pirates and gradu- 
 ally broke up the entire system. The English free- 
 booters then, more thrifty than their fellows, finding their 
 old occupation gone, went back to tlieir Indian friends of 
 Central America in a new role, and establishing themselves 
 as before along the coast, they opened up a very profitable 
 trade in the splendid mahogany and dye-woods which grow 
 in such abundance in all that region. The shore of Yuca- 
 tan, or Belize, as it was called after Peter Wallace, a famous 
 old Scotch buccaneer who had landed there in the earlier 
 days, became the favorite resort of these woodcutters, as 
 there they found the best wood, and had no difficulty iu' 
 securing it, for this whole coast had also been abandoned by 
 the Indians at the time of the slave traders and never 
 repopulated by the colonists.* 
 
 8. The days of Spanish supremacy were on the wane 
 during these last years, and fearing lest the illicit traders 
 in her woods might form permanent settlements on her 
 mainland colonies, Spain was finally induced to enter 
 into a treaty with Great Britain, yielding to her the islands 
 
 * Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 623. Squier Cent. Amer. 
 States, p. 576. 
 
24 
 
 she had conquered in the West Indies, and defining for 
 the first time the rights of the two rival powers in the 
 new world. By the seventh article of this " American 
 Treaty," " it is agreed that the most serene king of Great 
 Britain, his heirs and successors shall have, hold, keep, 
 and enjoy forever, with plenary right of sovereignty, do- 
 minion, possession and propriety, all those lands, regions, 
 islands, colonies and places whatsoever, being or situated in 
 the "West Indies, or any part of America which the said 
 king of Great Britain or his subjects do at present hold and 
 possess."* 
 
 9. ]^ot content with their acquisitions in the West In- 
 dies, the English authorities from this time sought to in- 
 clude in the terms of this treaty the lands in Central America 
 which they considered were in possession of English subjects, 
 by virtue of the encroachments of the pirates, and the sub- 
 sequent occupation of the woodcutters. There had really 
 never been any question before this of Spain's absolute 
 right of dominion from sea to sea in Central America, as is 
 seen from the history thus far ; the only adverse possession 
 having been by piratical bands of different nations, whose 
 acts had been'distinctly disavowed by Great Britain ; while 
 Spain's title to the country, on the other hand, rested on the 
 paramount right of discovery and conquest. Even the Eng- 
 lish ambassador to the Spanisli court, Sir William Godol- 
 phin, who had himself negotiated the treaty of 1670, in 
 speaking of the rights of the woodcutters, admitted " the 
 Crowne of Spayne to hav§ as well too much right as ad- 
 vantage in these woods, not to assert the Propriety of 
 them, for though, perhaps," he continued, " they are not 
 all inhabited (which is not to be admired) or distinguished 
 into particular Tenements, but remaine in common, yet they 
 are in generall possessed by these People, who may as justly 
 
 ♦ American Treaty, or Treaty of Madrid, 1670, Article VII. 
 
25 
 
 pretend to make use of our Rivers, Mountains, and other 
 commons, for not being inhabited or owned by individual 
 Proprietors, as we can to enjoy any benefit of those woods. 
 And tliis is the sense of all the Spaniards, who esteeme 
 themselves in full possession of every part of that Province, 
 notwithstanding that it containeth much Territory unpeo- 
 pled, since (as I have said) to inhabit and possess are dis- 
 tinct, neither is the former essentiall to the latter."* 
 
 Little more need be said as to the true construction of the 
 American Treaty, with such contemporaneous evidence as 
 this from an English source, especially when viewed thus 
 in the light of the early history and the origin of the 
 English claim. 
 
 a. The Mosquito Indians themselves helped to further 
 advance this claim of the English in America b^' sending 
 Jeremy, their King, the son of Oldman, who had received 
 the crown and commission from the settlers of Providence 
 island, to the Duke of Albemarle, then Governor of Ja- 
 maica, with a memorial, asking that he, like his father, 
 be taken under British protection. According to Sir 
 Hans Sloane, who was then in Jamaica as family physician 
 to the governor, the Duke "did nothing in this matter, 
 being afraid it might be a trick of some people to set 
 up a government for Bucaniers or Pirats."f The later 
 English authorities, however, say that the request of the 
 Mosquito King was granted, and, strange to say, refer to 
 Sir Hans as the authority to establi^ the protectorate they 
 claimed. However this may be, it is certain, as the English 
 say, that Governor Lawes, of .Jamaica, in 1720, entered into 
 treaty relations with King Jeremy, but a mere glance at the 
 treaty will show that it was but a contract between the gov- 
 
 * Sir William Godolphin to Lord Ailington, May Jg, 1672. Copy to 
 be found in Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 72, 47th Cong. 1st sess. 
 
 t Sir Hans Sloane Hist, of Jamaica, 1st Ed., 1707, p. 76. Compare 
 Mosquito Corr., Appendix B. 
 
26 
 
 ernor and Jeremy, sealed with their private seals, by the 
 terms of which Jeremy was to receive money and arms, if 
 he supplied the governor with fifty men to hunt runaway 
 sla\es in Jamaica. This "treaty" was formally agreed to 
 and passed upon by the Assembly of Jamaica, Jeremy was 
 taken back to Mosquitoland on board a British war ship 
 with plenty of rum for the voyage, the fifty men were sent 
 to Jamaica, and on such negotiations the British have rested . 
 their claim of independent Mosquito sovereignty.* 
 
 10. Thus matters stood in 1739, when England once 
 more declared war against Spain and could again with 
 a free conscience renew her plans of encroachment. 
 It was considered useless to ravage the coast of Spain, 
 for by doing this, the English knew they would only 
 force the Spaniards to a peace without securing any mate- 
 rial advantage to themselves ; so the West Indies became 
 the centre of the conflict and the British hoped by gaining 
 Cuba, to bring about a peace very advantageous to them 
 and to secure also a firm hold on the mainland.:]: 
 
 a. Letters of reprisal were freely granted against the 
 Spaniards and the Governor of Jamaica was authorized to 
 annoy the mainland colonies in every way. Acting on this 
 advice, Governor Trelawney revived the old scheme to se- 
 cure the Mosquito coast, his idea being to gather together all 
 the English settlers there into one colony and to have them 
 encourage the Indians in a general revolt against the colo- 
 nists, hoping thus either to drive the Spaniards from Cen- 
 tral America altogether, or at least to cut them off entirely 
 from the sea.§ 
 
 *Doc. 13, Mosquito Corr., 1848 ; enclosing also Journals of House Of 
 Assembly of Jamaica, June, 1720, Vol. II., p. 330. 
 
 . i Sir WiUiam Pnltney, of the English Admiralty, to Admiral Vernon, 
 detailing the plan of campaign, Aug. 17, 1740. Not published, copy from 
 MS., in Sen. Ex. Doc, 194, p. 73, 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
 I Mosq. Corr. App. A, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 74 ; 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
27 
 
 With this inad end in view, one Robert Hodgson was sent 
 to the Mosquito shore with fnll instructions and everything 
 necessary to incite the Indians. The origin, cliaracter, and 
 tlie history of the British aggressions so far are so well 
 given by Mr. Hodgson himself that perhaps his report in 
 full is the best evidence that can be given of the character 
 and intent of Great Britain's second claim to her protecto- 
 rate. 
 
 Sandy Bay, April 8, 1740. 
 May it please Youb Excellency * * * 
 
 King Edward, being informed of my arrival, sent me word that he 
 would see me the next day, which he did, attended by several of his 
 captains. I read to him Your Excellency's letter and my own commis- 
 sion, and when I had explained them by an interpreter, told my errand, 
 and recommended to them to seek all opportunities of cultivating friend- 
 ship and union with the neighboring Indian nations, and especially such 
 as were under subjection to the Spaniards, and of helping them to recover 
 their freedom. They approved everything I said, and appointed the 16th 
 to meet the governor, John Briton and his captains, at the same place, 
 to hear what I had further to say. On the 16th they all came, except 
 Admiral DUly and Colonel Morgan, who were sick. General Hobby and 
 his captains were at too great a distance to be sent for, but their presence 
 not being material, I proceeded to acquaint them that, as they had long 
 acknowledged themselves subjects of Great Britain, the Governor of Jamaica 
 had sent me to take possession of their country in His Majesty's name ; 
 then asked if they had anything to object. They answered they had 
 nothing to say against it, but were very glad I was come for that purpose ; 
 so I immediately setup the standard, and reducing the sum of what I had 
 said into articles, I asked them jointly and separately, if they approved 
 and would abide by them. They unanimously declared they would ; so 
 I had them read over again, in a solemn manner, under the colors, at the 
 end of every article fired a gun, and concluded with cutting up a turf, 
 and promising to defend their country and to procure them aU the assist- 
 ance and instruction from England, in my power. 
 
 The formality all this was done with seemed to have a good influence 
 upon them, for they often repeated their desire of learning to read, and 
 said they must now mind their kings more than they had done, and do all 
 they could to help themselves and hurt the Spaniards, to whom I recom- 
 mended all the mercy that was consistent with their own safety ; but 
 they seemed not to understand me rightly, saying if they fight they must 
 kill. The articles I enclose, and hope Your Excellency will excuse so 
 
28 
 
 much ceremony, for, as I had no certain information whether the country 
 was ever taken possession of before or ever claimed otherwise than by 
 sending them down commissions, I thought the more voluntary and clear 
 the cession of it was the better. The governor came, attended with a nu- 
 merous guard, who behaved to him with much respect and silence. He 
 is a sensible old man and carries a good command. The king being very 
 young, I believe, not twenty, is not much observed, but was he to be 
 awhile in Jamaica or England, 'tis thought he would make a hopeiiil 
 monarch enough. * * * 
 
 The same day Admiral Dilly and Colonel Morgan sent me word they 
 were coming to wait on me. I immediately crossed the lagnne to meet 
 them, hearing they were sensible, clever fellows, and such I found them. 
 They had despatched a messenger to the governor to meet them the next 
 day, to hold a general and decisive council. 
 
 They all met on Sunday, the 23d, at Senock Dawkra (Mr. Whitehead's 
 house). The governor, being sick, tried our patience by making us wait 
 till the afternoon, but when he came made ample amends by the justness 
 of his sentiments. 
 
 He told the king and his captains, it was plain they had got a name and 
 the good opinion of the governor of Jamaica (whose success against the 
 rebellious negroes they had all heard of ), and if they did not keep it up 
 what would the world say of them ? 
 
 There was an officer now sent down by Your Excellency to observe 
 their manner of fighting, and if they did not do their best they should 
 lose the favor of the English. It was true they were but a small number 
 of people, compared to us, who had men to spare for sickness and the 
 sword, but if they showed themselves worthy, no doubt the king of Brit- 
 ain would send a force sufficient to get them all they wanted, besides 
 teachers to instruct them in what is right and good. He said General 
 Hobby had often talked about taking towns in time of peace, and called 
 the English cowards. Now it was war they must show they were not 
 such themselves ; then the English were the best judges when war or 
 peace was proper ; and none of them had any business to act otherwise 
 than they were directed by the governor of Jamaica. » * « 
 
 I find my counsel about sobriety had some weight with the old men, 
 but the young ones are got together there since with the women into 
 drinking bouts. They intoxicate themselves with a Uqnor made of 
 honey, pine apples and cassada, and if they avoid quarrels, which often 
 happen, they are sure to have fine promiscuous doings among the girls. 
 The old women, I am told, have the liberty of chewing the cassada be- 
 fore it is put in, that they may have a chance in the general rape as the 
 young ones. 
 
 I fell into one of them by accident last Monday, when I found Admiral 
 
29 
 
 Dilly and Colonel Morgan retailing my ad^dce among them, to little 
 effect, for most of them were too drunk to mind it, and so hideonsly 
 painted that I qnickly left them to avoid being daubed all over, which is 
 the compliment they usually pay their visitors on those occasions. 
 
 Those two captains complain much of their drinking, but say it has 
 been taught them by the English ; others say not, for how should the 
 English invent the pine and cassada drink ? Their resentment of adul- 
 tery has lost its edge, too, more than among other Indians ; that, I make 
 no doubt, they are obliged to us for. Their breach of promises in their 
 bargains I take to be a good deal owing to a sense of being defrauded by 
 traders, but through their ignorance of numbers and value, not being able 
 to tell how, they are apt to make improper reprisals. As for their lazi- 
 ness, the grand promoter of the rest, I really think it must have been 
 owing to their discontent at the usage they have received from privateers 
 and others, because I don't find it has been epidemical amongst them tUl 
 lately. * * * 
 
 I have disposed of several presents, but their returns bring chiefly in 
 visits to get more, or to drink punch, I have stopped my hand. The Lu- 
 beck duck, osnaburgs, powder, ball, flints, and shot I shall divide among 
 them at setting out, with a promise that they shall pay me according to 
 their behavior or their plunder. * * 
 
 RoBBKT Hodgson.* 
 
 The revolt in itself amounted to nothing, but Mr. Hodg- 
 son still remained among the Indians as a kind of superin- 
 tendent, and was further instructed to establish some form 
 of government for the country. To this end troops were 
 sent him from Jamaica, forts were erected about the Black 
 river, and emigration was freely encouraged.:]: 
 
 b. Beside these encroachments on the Mosquito shore, 
 the British also re-occupied the island of Roatan during this 
 maritime war and fortilied it strongly with materials they 
 
 * Contained in Vernon Wager MSS., copy in Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th 
 Cong., 1st sess., p. 74. 
 
 Note. — From their contact with the English and other foreigners the 
 Mosquitos assumed for themselves these English names. 
 
 } Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. 11., p. 602. SquierCent. Amer. 
 States, pp. 636-638. Mosq. Corr., Appendix A, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th 
 Cong., 1st sess., p. 76. 
 
30 
 
 gathered from the ancient town of Truxillo, which the 
 Dutch buccaneers had captured and pillaged (1643) in 
 
 c. the early raids and which the colonists had never rebuilt. 
 The Enghsh settlers in Belize, too, remained undisturbed 
 
 during the war, as the colonists were too busy defending 
 
 their coast from the attacks of the English fleet to pay any 
 
 attention to this northern settlement.* 
 
 H. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle, which was signed 
 
 and ratified at the close of the maritime war and the war of 
 
 the Austrian succession, which was being carried on at the 
 
 same time, did not affect the rights of England and Spain in 
 
 Central America to any extent, and though the Spanish 
 
 a. authorities remonstrated very vigorously against Mr. 
 Hodgson's doings now that peace was declared, and 
 
 threatened to expel the English settlers entirely, nothing 
 was done in the matter and the aggressions still continued 
 as before. The English authorities did indeed inform the 
 audiencia of Guatemala that Mr. Hodgson was only kept 
 on their coast .to restrain the Indians from attacking the 
 Spanish colonists, and though such an explanation could 
 scarcely have been satisfactory to the Spaniards, they still 
 took no active measures to assert their authority, contenting 
 themselves merely by sending a missionary among the In- 
 dian tribes. Fearing this new influence, Governor Trelaw- 
 ney soon had the poor prelate arrested as an imposter and 
 bundled him off to Jamaica. Serious trouble, however, was 
 averted for the time, as Governor Knowles just then suc- 
 ceeded Governor Trelawney, and considering the whole 
 Mosquito settlement a "job" and not worth contending 
 about, he sent the missionary back to Guatemala and 
 
 b. strongly advised his government to recall Mr. Hodg- 
 son.;]: 
 
 * Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., pp. 648 and 628. Squier 
 Cent. Amer. States, pp. 576 and 615. Mosq. Corr., Appendix A. 
 
 t Gov. Knowles to Sec. of State of English Govt., Mar. 26tli, 1753 
 Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., Ist sess., p. 77. 
 
31 
 
 Mr. Hodgson still staid on, iiowever ; the English settlers 
 
 still remained secure ia their fortifications on Roatan ; and 
 
 though the authorities of Gruatemala in 1754 made a 
 
 c. vigorous effort to dislodge the settlers from Belize, 
 
 they were badly defeated and were forced to retreat.* 
 
 So at last the plan of encroachment which the British had 
 adopted over half a century before had by this time become 
 pretty well carried out and the settlers were in actual pos- 
 session of the mainland and islands of Central America, 
 from the river Hondo in Yucatan, down to the Bluetields 
 lagoon on the Mosquito coast, though as yet the board of 
 trade in England refused to recognize any of these occu- 
 pations as regular English settlements.:]: 
 
 13. At the outbreak of the seven years' war, in 1Y56, 
 Pitt endeavored to soothe Spain's anger by offering to evac- 
 uate all these establishments on her coast, hoping thus to 
 induce her to join him in alliance against France ; but in 
 spite of the most delicate diplomacy these tentative negoti- 
 ations failed. Spain indignantly refused to listen even 
 so incensed was she at these continued British aggressions, 
 and ranged herself in the contest on the side of France. 
 
 England's naval strength, however, proved too much for 
 even this strong Franco-Spanish alliance, and at the close of 
 the war both France and Spain were obliged to give up 
 many of their American and West Indian possessions. In 
 the treaty of peace, however, it was provided for Spain that 
 " His Britannic Majesty shall cause to be demolished all for- 
 tifications which his subjects shall have erected in the Bay 
 of Honduras and other places in the territory of Spain 
 
 * Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 629. Squier Cent. 
 Am*. States, p. 615. Mosq. Corr., Appendix A. 
 
 t Report of Lords of Trade on Mosquito shore, Dec. 2d, 1763. Plant. 
 Gen. M., p. 311. See Squier Cent. Amer. States, Appendix D. Sen. Ex. 
 Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 76. 
 
32 
 
 in that part of the world."* So, after all, as far as Central 
 America was eonceraed, the war ended advantageonsly for 
 the Spanish canse. 
 
 13. The British authorities were very punctilious in 
 carrying out this clause of the treaty, the troops were with- 
 drawn and the fortresses about the Black River were de- 
 stroyed. The settlers, however, still remained and even 
 bought tracts of land in Mosquito from the Indians ; 
 a. thongh ever since the time of Governor Knowles, they 
 had been growing more and more dissatisfied with 
 Mr. Hodgson's arbitrary rule, and had addressed frequent 
 complaints to the home authorities. The matter had come 
 np before the board of trade a score of times, but nothing 
 had been done, so far ; bnt when the settlement in Mosquito 
 was thus definitely fixed on a more peaceful basis by 
 the treaty of Paris, it was very necessary to establish some 
 regular form of government there. In 1775, accordingly, 
 Mr. Hodgson was recalled and an entirely new system of 
 administration for the country was framed by Lord Dart- 
 mouth and put into execution by Sir Basil Keith, then gov- 
 ernor of Jamaica.:]; 
 
 b. The English settlers also continued in occupation of 
 Hoatan, after the treaty of Paris, and in Belize another reg- 
 ular settlement was established by the English anthor- 
 c. ities, like that in Mosquito, by virtue of a clause in the 
 treaty of Paris by which Spain was weak enongh to 
 concede to Great Britain an acknowledged right to cut wood 
 in her territory. Sir William Burnaby was sent ont to this 
 new settlement by the British authorities to settle the limits 
 in which the settlers should be allowed to cut the woods, 
 and to draw np a regnlar code of laws to govern them. It 
 is significant, however, to note that the English board of 
 
 * Treaty of Paris, signed Feb. 10, 1763, Art. 17. 
 t Mosq. Corr., Appendix A. 
 
33 
 
 trade was still very conservative in its opinions upon these 
 settlements in Central America, and insisted upon lookin_^ 
 on them as mere districts within which the British had ac- 
 quired certain usufructuary rights and refused to regard 
 them at all in the light of colonies.* 
 
 d. Even with this slight encouragement from the home 
 government, however, the settlers began again their old 
 policy of encroachment ; and, as if the the treaty of Paris 
 had never existed, they took up again their illicit slave trade 
 and smuggling with the Indians and extended their bound- 
 aries far beyond the limits laid down for them by their own 
 government. All this of course aroused the old antagonism 
 between them and the Spanish colonists, and by the time 
 Colonel Lawrie, the new governor appointed to succeed Mr. 
 Hodgson in Mosquito, reached his post, the trouble had al- 
 ready broken out into actual conflict, and on his arrival 
 he found the English settlers and their Indian friends very 
 much excited over the seizure of an English vessel by the 
 Spaniards in the Black River. This vessel, it appears, had 
 just landed at Cape Gracias two Mosquito princes, who had 
 gone to England the year before ostensibly to seek redress 
 for some injuries inflicted by the slave dealers, and were re- 
 turning to their people.:}: It does not appear that any official 
 attention was paid to this seizure and it accomplished little 
 more beside hastening the conflict which was sure to come 
 sooner or later. 
 
 14. The war of the American revolution broke out at 
 this time and only a few years passed before Spain was led 
 into the general conflict and took up arms again against 
 Great Britain on the side of France and the United States, 
 
 * George Chalmers' Notes for the Board of Trade. See Squier Gent. 
 Amer. States, Appendix D. Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 
 630. 
 
 J 1776, Mosq. Corr., Appendix A. 
 
34 
 
 according to the terms of her Bourbon alliance with France 
 at the time of the seven years' war.* 
 
 a. As soon as war was declared, in 1Y79, the Governor 
 of Yucatan was ordered to make a determined attack on the 
 English at Belize and drive them out entirely. A powerful 
 expedition was organized and the Spaniards succeeded in 
 driving the settlers from the district between the river 
 Hondo and the New river and inflicted much injury to the 
 wood cutters; but before they could proceed further, two 
 English war ships arrived from Jamaica and the Spaniards 
 were forced to retreat.f 
 
 The British then decided to strike a death blow to the 
 Spanish cause by seizing the San Juan itself. In this way 
 they hoped to bring the mainland colonies completely under 
 their control by cutting them directly in two. A large 
 force was accordingly fitted out in Jamaica and sent off to 
 Mcaragua, with Colonel Poison, an army officer, in com- 
 mand of the troops, and Lord Nelson, then a young post- 
 captain, in charge of the marine. The expedition proceeded 
 directly up the San Juan in small boats and soon captured 
 the little island of San Bartolome.:]: Here they were joined 
 by reinforcements of Mosquito Indians under the leader- 
 ship of the king, and together they then laid siege to the 
 Oastello Yiejo,§ which, after ten days, surrendered to them 
 unconditionally. Further than this, however, the English 
 forces were not able to go, for fever, then breaking out in 
 their ranks, so frightfully reduced their number that they 
 were obliged to abandon the undertaking and retreat to 
 Jamaica. || 
 
 ■ Family Compact of 1761. 
 
 tSept. 15th, 1779. Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 632. 
 Squier Cent. Amer. States, p. 577. 
 t Now Bartola. 
 
 ? In the present excavations for the canal some of Nelson's sheUa have 
 been unearthed. 
 
 II Nelson's Autobiography. Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol II 
 pp. 609-612. 
 
35 
 
 To further strengthen their position in Central America, 
 the English also sent armed ships to cruise along the coast to 
 defend their settlements there and intercept the Spanish 
 vessels plying between Guatemala and Cuba, and aided 
 again by their allies, the Mosquitos, they were able to cap- 
 ture the Spanish fort at Omoa on the Gulf of Honduras.* 
 
 c. These last attacks seemed to spur the Spanish colo- 
 nists on to a iinal effort to free themselves from the en- 
 croachments of the British, and gathering together all the 
 forces at his command, the President of Guatemala made a 
 determined attack on the English settlements. The English 
 were forced to retreat before this advance and the Spaniards 
 pushed on after them, securing again their fort at Omoa, re- 
 gaining possession of Roatan at last, and driving the English 
 even below Cape Gracias. 
 
 d. Hearing of this retreat of the settlers, the governor 
 of Jamaica then organized another expedition to help 
 them regain their lost settlements and despatched his 
 forces immediately to the scene of action. They landed at 
 Cape Gracias and were joined there by the settlers. The 
 entire force, then numbering about a thousand men in all, 
 marched north on the Spanish garrison left at the Black 
 river and forced the commander to capitulate^ on August 
 28th, 1782. 
 
 15. This was the last attack of the contest in Central 
 America, for the varied struggles of the revolutionary war 
 were then drawing to a close, and in the general adjustment 
 of the disputes at Yersailles in 1783, among other ques- 
 tions, these uncertain rights of English woodcutters and 
 Spanish colonists were finally settled by article six of the 
 treaty of peace between England and Spain. It was pro- 
 
 * Ibid, p. 646. 
 
 i Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. 11., p. 604. SqnierCent. Amer. 
 States, pp. 577-581, 616-618, 638-640. 
 
36 
 
 vided there that "the intention of the two high contracting 
 parties being to prevent as much as possible all the causes of 
 complaint and misunderstanding heretofore occasioned by 
 the cutting of wood for dyeing, or log-wood ; and several 
 English settlements having been formed and extended, un- 
 der that pretence, upon the Spanish continent ; it is ex- 
 pressly agreed, that his Britannic Majesty's subjects shall 
 have the right of cutting, loading, and carrying away log- 
 wood, in the district lying between the rivers Wallis, or Bel- 
 lize, and Rio Hondo, taking the course of the said two rivers 
 for unalterable boundaries, so as that the navigation of them 
 be common to both nations, to-wit : by the river Wallis, or 
 Bellize, from the sea, ascending as far as opposite to a lake 
 or inlet which runs into the land and forms an isthmus or 
 neck, with another similar inlet, which comes from the side 
 of Rio Nuevo, or New river, so that the line of separation 
 shall pass straight across the said isthmus, and meet another 
 lake formed by the water of Rio Nuevo, or New river, at 
 its current. The said line shall continue with the course of 
 Rio Nuevo, descending as far as opposite to a river, the 
 source of which is marked in the map, between Rio Nuevo 
 and Rio Hondo, and which empties itself into Rio Hondo ; 
 which river shall also serve as a common boundary, so far 
 as its junction with Rio Hondo, and from thence de- 
 scending by Rio Hondo to the sea." Commissioners were 
 to be appointed to plot out this district, and it was further 
 provided that " all the English who may be dispersed in 
 any other parts, whether on the Spanish continent, or in 
 any of the islands whatsoever dependent on the aforesaid 
 Spanish continent, and for whatever reason it might be, 
 without exception, shall retire within the district which has 
 been above described, in the space of 18 months, to be com- 
 puted from the exchange of tlie ratifications, and for this 
 purpose orders shall be issued on the part of His Britannic 
 Majesty, and on that of His Catholic Majesty, his governors 
 
37 
 
 shall be ordered to grant to the English, dispersed, every 
 convenience possible for their removing to the settlement 
 agreed upon by tlie present article, or for their retiring 
 whenever they shall think proper. It is likewise stipulated, 
 that if any fortifications should actually have been hitherto 
 erected within the limits marked out. His Britannic Majesty 
 shall cause them all to be demolished, and he will order his 
 subjects not to build any new ones," and finally it was ex- 
 pressly stipulated that "His Catholic Majesty assures to 
 them the enjoyment of all that is expressed in the present 
 article ; provided that the stipulations shall not be consid- 
 ered as derogating in any wise from his rights of sover- 
 eignty."* 
 
 16. The English settlers, however, paid little or no at- 
 tention to these commands and provisions, and continued to 
 occupy their settlements along the coast and in the islands, 
 in the face of the treaty. The Spanish authorities began to 
 complain of this infraction, and evident misunderstanding 
 of the treaty of settlement, and in order that there might 
 never arise any " shadow of misunderstanding " in the fu- 
 ture between the " subjects of the 2 monarchies " in distant 
 America, a new convention was signed on July 14th, 1786, 
 providing for all contingencies. By the terms of this in- 
 strument it was agreed that " His Britannic Majesty's sub- 
 jects, and the other colonists who have hitherto enjoyed the 
 protection of England, shall evacuate the country of the Mos- 
 quitos, as well as the continent in general and the islands 
 adjacent, without exception, situated beyond the line here- 
 inafter described, as what ought to be the frontier of the 
 extent of territory granted by His Catholic Majesty to the 
 English * * * and in addition to the country already 
 granted to them in virtue of the stipulations agreed upon 
 
 * Definitive Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and Spain, signed 
 at Versailles, Sept. 3d, 1783, Article VI. 
 
38 
 
 by the commissaries of the 2 crowns in 1783. The Cath 
 olic King, to prove, on his side, to the King of Great Britain 
 the sincerity of his sentiments of friendship towards his said 
 Majesty and the British nation, will grant to the English 
 more extensive limits than those specified in the last Treaty 
 of Peace : and the said limits of the lands added by the 
 present convention shall for the future be understood in the 
 manner following : The English line beginning from the 
 sea shall take the centre of the river Sibun, or Jabon, and 
 continue up to the source of the said river ; from thence it 
 shall cross in a straight line the intermediate land, till it 
 intersects the river Wallis ; and by the dentre of the same 
 river, the said line shall descend to the point where it will 
 meet the line already settled and marked out by the com- 
 missaries of the 2 crowns in 1783 ; which limits, following 
 the continuation of the said line, shall be observed as for- 
 merly stipulated by the Definitive Treaty."* 
 
 Besides thus increasing the boundaries of the settlement 
 in Belize, Spain also granted to the English the right to all 
 kinds of wood within the limits laid down, and also to 
 gather all other natural products of the earth there, provided 
 this grant should not be used as a pretext " for establishing 
 in that country any plantation of sugar, coffee, cocoa, or 
 other like articles : or any fabric or manufacture by means 
 of mills or other machines whatsover, since all the lands in 
 question being indisputable acknowledged to belong of right 
 to the crown of Spain, no settlement of that kind, or the 
 population which would follow, could be a11owed."f 
 
 All the provisions for Spanisli sovereignty over the whole 
 country, set forth in the Definitive Treaty were revived by 
 this treaty, aud,| in conclusion, " His Britannic Majesty 
 
 * CJonvention between Great Britain and Spain Belative to America, 
 signed at London July 14th, 1786, Art;icles I. and II. 
 t Ibid, Arty. III. 
 t Ibid, Art. VII. 
 
39 
 
 engages to give the most positive orders for the evacuation 
 of the countries above mentioned, by all his subjects, of 
 whatever denomination ; but if, contrary to such Declaration, 
 there should still remain any persons so daring as to pre- 
 sume, by retiring into the interior country, to endeavor to ob- 
 struct the entire evacuation already agreed upon. His Brit- 
 annic Majesty, so far from affording them tlie least succour, or 
 even protection, will disavow them in the most solemn man- 
 ner, as he will equally do those who may hereafter attempt 
 to settle upon the territory belonging to the Spanish Do- 
 minion," while, on the other hand, " His Catholic Majesty, 
 prompted solely by motives of humanity, promises to the 
 King of England that he will not exercise any act of severity 
 against the Mosquitos, inhabiting in part the countries 
 which are to be evacuated by virtue of the present conven- 
 tion, on account of the connections which may have sub- 
 sisted between the said Indians and the English, and His 
 Britannic Majesty on his part will strictly prohibit all his 
 subjects from furnishing arms or warlike stores to the 
 Indians in general, situated upon the frontiers of the Span- 
 ish possessions.* 
 
 IT. A very vigorous debate occurred on the ratification 
 of this treaty, in the House of Lords, brought up by a mo- 
 tion " that the terms of the convention of July 14th do not 
 meet the favorable opinion of this House." The oppo- 
 sition maintained that by ratifying this treaty Great Britain 
 was giving up a settlement of great value and importance 
 to which she had as good a claim as to the Island of Jamaica, 
 and was taking in exchange a mere slip of land in Yucatan, 
 and in thus deserting her Mosquito allies she was hanging 
 up her degradation in every court of Europe. The min- 
 istry replied that Great Britain was abandoning nothing, as 
 there neyer had been a regular government in Mosquito and 
 
 *Ibid, Art. XI. XIV. 
 
40 
 
 whatever rights tliey had ever possessed there had been 
 abandoned by the treaty of Paris. On the final vote the 
 ministry was sustained, so thus at last after so many years 
 of aggression, the so-called protectorate was definitely aban- 
 doned over the Mosquito country and the settlers for the 
 most part retired to within the limit of Belize, being com- 
 pensated for their lost possessions in damages by the British 
 government.* 
 
 Spain was thus left free once more to extend her authority 
 in Nicaragua from sea to sea, and though she made every 
 effort to accomplish this, she was only able to establish a 
 port of entry at the San Juan and build a custom house 
 there,f while the Mosquito Indians, far from coming under 
 her rule, became themselves the conquerors, and, in 1796, 
 once more gained possession of the fortifications on the 
 Black Eiver.:}: 
 
 18. The great Continental war also broke out in this 
 year, and, for a time, the treaty of 1786 became a dead let- 
 ter and, as if to demonstrate this more clearly, the English 
 a. authorities, finding the Caribs§ of the island of St. 
 Vincent,! too much attached to the French interests 
 and hence, troublesome to the English inhabitants there, 
 calmly deported them to Central America and placed them 
 on the island of Koatan to the number of about four thou- 
 sand. The colonists naturally looked upon this as an act 
 of aggression and were at first disposed to resent it ; but 
 the Caribs seemed so friendly disposed that instead they 
 invited them to the mainland. So there they established 
 
 * Parliamentary Eegiater, 1787, Vol. 22. 
 
 tl796. 
 
 t Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. II., p. 607. Mosq. Corr., 1848. 
 Doc. No. 18, enclosure No. 6. 
 
 i A negro race shipwrecked on this island long before aa the Sambos 
 on Mosquito shore. 
 
 II One of the Leeward Islands. 
 
41 
 
 themselves about Truxillo and have since grown up and 
 have spread over the whole north coast.* 
 
 h. England having thus taken the initiative in disre 
 garding the provisions of the treaty of 1786, the colonists 
 then decided to take matters in their own hands and make 
 one more effort to drive the English from their shores ; for, 
 during the last ten years they had learned, to their chagrin, 
 that the right to cut the woods meant far more than they 
 had ever imagined. The attack was worse than useless, 
 however, for the settlers were fully prepared, and, aided by 
 a British man of war, they prevented the Spaniards from 
 landing at all. 
 
 19. Little more remains to be said of the last years of 
 
 Spanish control in Central America. The Mosquito coast, 
 
 still unconqnered, was practically given up to the 
 
 a. Indians to rule as they would, with their high-sounding 
 titles and emblems of sovereignty, though Spain was 
 
 still worried about this district ; and, finding that the 
 audiencia of Guatemala had been unable to do anything to 
 conquer it, she turned it over to New Grenada in 1803, in 
 hopes that the authorities there might do better. The actual 
 transfer never seems to have taken place, however, and the 
 whole coast remained undisturbed as before.f The 
 
 b. islands of Honduras after the Caribs had been assimi- 
 lated by the colonists, remained quietly under Spanish 
 
 c. control ; while in Belize, the settlers, after they had 
 defeated the last attack of the Spaniards, encroached as 
 
 they would into Guatemala. This extension could hardly 
 be justified, however, for at the close of the Continental 
 war, Spain revived the old treaty of 1786 word for word in 
 the later treaty which she negotiated with England in 
 
 * Bancroft Native Eaces, pp. 713 and 793. Sqnier Cent. Amer. 
 States, pp. 241-247. 
 
 t Mosq. Corr.. 1848, Doc. No. 5, enclosures 1-7. 
 
42 
 
 1814,* which left the relative rights of the parties precisely 
 the same as they had been before the war. 
 
 * Treaty of Madrid, Aug. 28th, 1814. Additional article. 
 
43 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 A. — 30. The United States government paid little or 
 no attention to these early contests between Great Britain 
 and Spain ; but when the Spanish American colonies began 
 one by one to free themselves from the mother country, it 
 became quite a different matter and it was during these 
 years that our policy toward onr southern neighbors first 
 assumed definite shape. Mr. Clay, then Speaker of the 
 House during President Monroe's first term, proposed 
 that a mission be sent to South America to express the 
 sympathy of the United States toward the colonies there 
 which had declared their independence. Though rejected 
 at first, the motion was subsequently adopted and during 
 the president's second term, in 1823, the independence 
 of both the South American States and Mexico was 
 formally recognized.* Such recognition really included the 
 Central American States, for they too had secured their in- 
 dependence by this time, and were incorporated into the 
 young Empire of Mexico. At the death of Iturbide, how- 
 ever, they severed this connection and in July, 1823 united 
 themselves into the federal republic of the United Prov- 
 inces of Central America.^ 
 
 31. After this general recognition of the independence 
 of the revolted colonies, our policy was further defined by 
 Mr. Monroe through his famous message to Congress, 
 in which the United States government came out so 
 strongly before the world on the side of republican 
 institutions, and in protest against the doctrines of the 
 
 * Pres. Messages, 1789-1846, compiled by Edwia Williains, N. Y., 
 1846, Vol. I., pp. 541-62. See also, Momoe's Special Message, Feb. 25, 
 1822, 3,nd 7th Annual Message, Dec. 3d, 1823. 
 
 t Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. III., Chap. 11., III., IV., V. 
 
44 
 
 Holy Alliance. In regard to the Spanish American col- 
 onies the president was especially specific. " With exist- 
 ing colonies or dependencies of any European power," he 
 said, " we have not interfered and shall not interfere, but 
 with the governments which have declared their indpen- 
 dence and maintained it, and whose independence we have 
 on great consideration and just principles acknowledged, we 
 could not view an interposition for oppressing them, or con- 
 trolling in any other manner their destiny by any European 
 power, in anj- other light than as a manifestation of an un- 
 friendly disposition towards the United States," and speak- 
 ing of the American continent, he continued : " It is impos- 
 sible that the allied powers should extend their political 
 system to any portion of either continent without endanger- 
 ing our peace and happiness ; nor can any one believe that 
 our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it 
 of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, 
 that we should behold such interposition in any form with 
 indifference," but he concluded : " It is still the true policy 
 of the United States to leave the parties to themselves in 
 hope that others will pursue the same course.* 
 
 33. This truly American policy, so vigorously enunci- 
 ated by President Monroe, came up before the Senate and 
 House of Kepresentatives for definite ratification, during 
 the subsequent administration of President Adams. The 
 Central American Confederacy had since been recognized 
 and a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation had been 
 ratified between the new republic and the United States.f 
 
 The question then arose whether the United States should 
 accept the invitation to a congress proposed by the Spanish 
 American States, to be held at Panama, to counsel for mu- 
 
 * Monroe's 7th Annual Message, Dec. 3d, 1823. 
 
 t Dec. 9th, 1826. Since ahrogated. See Wharton's Int. Law Digest, 
 i 137 a, Ex. Doc. 75, 31st Cong., Istsess., p. 94. 
 
45 
 
 tual safety and independence. The debate in both Senate 
 and House was very bitter, but finally the Monroe doctrine 
 prevailed and the invitation was accepted, though the con- 
 gress itself amounted to nothing, and in fact tlie United 
 States representatives never reached their destination.* 
 
 B. — 33. Great Britain during these years held the 
 same views on the question as the United States, and in 
 fact Mr. Canning himself, the English Foreign, Secretary 
 after Castlereagh's death, expressed to Mr. Rush, the United 
 States Minister in London, the fears he entertained of in- 
 terference in America by the Holy Alliance, and suggested 
 that Great Britain and the United States unite in the 
 very expressions subsequently set forth in the Monroe 
 doctrine. Mr. Canning frankly told Mr. Rush that England 
 considered t}ie recovery of the colonies by Spain to be im- 
 possible, and that time and circumstances alone would de- 
 termine her recognition of their independence. He added, 
 too, that though Great Britain aimed at no possession of 
 any portion of them herself, and though she would throw 
 no impediment in the way of an amicable arrangement be- 
 tween the mother countrj'^ and her colonies, she would not 
 see any portion of them transferred to any other power 
 with indifference, t 
 
 British agents in Central America, however, were scarcely 
 acting in "harmony with these fair words of their foreign 
 secretary, for ever since the settlers in Belize had repulsed 
 Spain's last attempt to drive them out in 1798, they consid- 
 ered their title to the lands in Central America to rest no 
 longer on a mere treaty stipulation allowing tliem to cut the 
 woods, but rather on a paramount right of conquest. The 
 Spanish government of course had never allowed this 
 
 * Benton Thirty Years in United States Senate, pp. 65-70. 
 fMr. Canning to Mr. Bush, August 20, 1823, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th 
 Cong., 1st sess., p. 36. 
 
46 
 
 assumption of English sovereignty, and even the British 
 Parliament had admitted that the settlement in the bay 
 of Honduras was merely one "for certain purposes, 
 under the protection of his majesty, but not within the 
 territory and dominion of his majesty."* Nor in truth 
 did England advance any such claim against Mexico when, 
 after her independence, she claimed a right of sovereignty 
 over apart of Belize, but was quite satisfied in treating 
 with tho new empire, to secure the same usufructuary right 
 in the woods she had enjoyed in the days of the Spanish 
 rule, and to renew the terms of the treaty of 1186, word 
 for word.f 
 
 a. The settlers nevertheless had continued in their old 
 ways and had extended the limits of Belize further and 
 further to the south, way beyond even the disputed 
 boundary of Mexico, and even as far as the river Sarstoon, 
 in Guatemala.:]: They began also before long to take 
 up again their old protectorate over the Mosquito Indians, 
 adopting the same plans which had proved so successful 
 
 in the earner days. First they took George Fred- 
 b. erick, the heir to the throne, and his half-brother 
 
 Robert away from their country to be educated in 
 Belize and Jamaica, and when Prince George Frederick 
 succeeded to the throne in 1816 he was formally crowned in 
 Belize King of the Mosquito shore and nation, and conveyed 
 in a British war ship to Cape Gracias, there to assume au- 
 thority over the lands of his fathers. The young king's for- 
 eign travels, however, seem to have had little effect upon his 
 barbarous ways, beyond abnormally developing his inher- 
 
 * 57 Geo. III., p. 183. 
 
 t Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain 
 and Mexico, signed Dec. 20, 1826, Art. XIV. 
 
 t Diplt. Corr., 1865-66, Pt. I., p. 65, Pt. III., p. 360, 39th Cong., Ist 
 .sess. For. Relations, I. 656-61, 43d Cong., 1st sess. Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 
 Docs. 2 and 3, pp. 3-10. 
 
47 
 
 ited love of drink, and he was either murdered, or killed in 
 a drunken brawl in 1824. His half-brother Eobert suc- 
 ceeded him, but being found far too much under Spanish 
 influence, he was soon deposed by the British mentors of 
 the kingdom, and disregarding entirely the legitimate suc- 
 cessor, a good old Sambo was lifted to the royal throne and 
 dubbed king under the high sounding name of George 
 Frederick. "What became of this first monarch of the pure 
 Sambo line does not clearly appear from the chronicles of 
 the Mosquito kingdom. He only reigned a short time, 
 however, and was soon succeeded by a second Sambo king, 
 Kobert Charles Frederick. He too was taken to Belize and 
 crowned with imposing honors, dressed, it is said, in a Brit- 
 ish major's uniform and surrounded by his court of noble 
 lords.* 
 
 Kobert Charles Frederick was so impressed with the 
 dignities and powers of his position, that he began to 
 make royal grants of his lands to traders who came to the 
 shore, so he too was soon abducted from his domains by 
 the English and taken away to Belize, where he could not 
 be so easily influenced by the rum and gay cotton bribes of 
 the traders. The poor monarch pined away and died in 
 exile, but so grateful was he for the great kindness of his 
 English friends that in his will he appointed Colonel Mac- 
 donald, the superintendent at Belize, as regent during the 
 minority of his children, and provided that the United 
 Church of England and Ireland should be established in his 
 kingdom.f 
 
 As the first act of his regency Colonel Macdonald ap- 
 pointed Mr. Patrick Walker, his private secretary, to repre- 
 sent him in Mosquito and assume the reins of govern- 
 ment at Bluefields. Mr. Walker accordingly established a 
 
 * April 23d, 1825. 
 
 t This will, dated Feb. 25, 1826, given in fall in Mosq. Corr., Appen- 
 dix C. 
 
48 
 
 regular council of state, and though the farce of negro roy- 
 alty was still kept up, it soon became evident that the set- 
 tlers were now in full control of Mosquito, or Mosquitia, as 
 the land was now called. 
 
 c. Colonel Macdonald then declared that henceforth 
 British laws should be the laws of Belize, or British Hon- 
 duras, as it then became known, and assumed himself the 
 right of legislating and controlling the finauces* of this 
 British settlement, which was then assuming such vast juris- 
 diction, and included now beside Mosquitia and Belize, the 
 island of Roatan, which Macdonald had pounced upon+ also 
 in the name of the British crown in 18414 
 
 34. Little attention was paid to these aggressions 
 at first by the authorities of the Central American Confed- 
 eracy, but when they finally woke up to a full realization of 
 what this mock sovereignty in Mosquitia and the new gov- 
 ernment in Belize really meant, bitter complaints began to 
 be addressed to Great Britain, and the young republic in its 
 distress appealed also to the United States to aid them in 
 repelling these encroachments of the English. § 
 
 Finding that President Jackson deemed it inexpedient at 
 that time to comply with the request. Colonel Gulindo, the 
 Central American minister in Washington, had himself ac- 
 
 * Mar. 14th, 1835, Nov., 1840. 
 
 t May, 1830, and 1838. 
 
 t For an account of the events of these years see Young's Narrative of 
 a Residence on the Mosquito Shore, p. 147. Statistical Account and De- 
 scription of the Island of Eoatan, United Service Magazine, August, 1850. 
 Squier Cent. Amer. States, pp. 582-584, 618-623, 641-645. Bancroft 
 Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. III., p. 315. Letters and Docs, of English 
 Agents in Cent. Amer. , giving detailed account of their actions, found in 
 Mosq. Corr., 1848. See also, for English views. Pirn's Dottings in Pan- 
 ama, Nicaragua and Mosquito, 1868. 
 
 g M. Alvarez to Mr. Webster, Dec. 30, 1834. Col. Gulindo to Mr. 
 Webster, May 22d, June 1st and 3d, 1835, Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 32d Cong., 
 2d sess., Docs. 1-9, pp. 3-12. 
 
49 
 
 credited to London and proceeded there to lay the matter 
 directly before the English government ; but Colonel Gu- 
 lindo, unfortunately, was an Irishman by birth, and being 
 thus a British subject, the government refused to receive 
 him as a representative of a foreign power. This abortive 
 attempt to check the encroachment marked the last concerted 
 action of the Central American States against the English 
 government, for soon after this signal failure to maintain the 
 rights which had devolved upon them from Spain, the con- 
 federacy succumbed to the internal contentions and civil 
 strife which had so harassed its young life, and by 1842 
 nothing was left but a collection of five weak independent 
 states, intensely jealous one of the other, and each clamor- 
 ing to have its own rights settled and its own little claims 
 arranged to suit itself. 
 
 35. To complicate matters further, New Grenada also 
 appealed to the British government, setting up a claim to 
 the whole Mosquito shore, on the basis of the royal order of 
 1803 ;* so the question which was primarily a local dispute 
 between English settlers and the Central American authori- 
 ties, was rapidly becoming, as of old, one of international 
 importance. 
 
 36. The British government had foreseen all this, 
 however, and as soon as its attention was drawn to the 
 matter immediately assumed entire control. Jast as, so long 
 before, Mr. Hodgson was recalled, after carefully fnllfilling 
 his instructions, so now Colonel Macdonald was removed 
 
 (1843) by the home government from the scenes of his 
 a. conquests, and though with the new governor a chief 
 
 justice, a Queen's advocate, and other judicial append- 
 ages f were sent to Belize, . and though the boundaries of 
 
 * Order of San Lorenzo, Nov. 30, 1803, Ante 19 a. 
 t Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. III., pp. 314-316. Sen. Ex. 
 Doc. 194, p. Ill, 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
50 
 
 the settlement were exactly defined by the Secretary of 
 State for the colonies, as extending no further south than 
 the Sarstoon ; still Mr. Chatfield, the British agent in 
 b. Guatemala, was distinctly instructed to inform the 
 authorities of Honduras that the island of Roatan 
 had been seized by order of the British government.* 
 
 c. The only doubtful question that then remained was 
 tlie boundaries of the so-called Mosquito kingdom, but this 
 too had been pretty well decided for Great Britain by the 
 aggressive Colonel Macdonald before his recall. Though, 
 as has been seen, the lands of tlie Mosquitos never extended 
 south of the Bluefields lagoon into the territory of the Ea- 
 mas, it occurred to Macdonald that it would be a good idea 
 to so extend Mosquitia as to include the port of the San 
 Juan. So he entered the port on the British frigate Tweed, 
 followed by an armed sloop, sailing under the Mosquito 
 flag, and required the Nicaraguan commandant of the port 
 to recognize the Mosquito kingdom as an ally of Great 
 Britain. f When the commandant refused to do this and 
 protested against theee insults to his country, Macdonald 
 seized him and carrying him away on the Tweed, landed 
 him on a desolate point on the coast, some hundred miles 
 from the port.f 
 
 This last act of Macdonald's naturally called forth 
 another vehement chorus of protestation from Central 
 America, and the questions so raised as to the rights over 
 the San Juan were thus brought directly to an issue. Lord 
 Palmerston was then in the foreign office under the Kussell 
 ministry and on him devolved the onus of this dispute. His 
 first act was to write to the three British agents in Central 
 America,! Mr. Cliatfield in Guatemala, Mr. Walker at Blue- 
 
 * Squier Cent. Ajner. States, p. 621. 
 t August 12th-19th, 1841. 
 i Mosq. Corp., 1848, Docs. 14 and 5. 
 ? Jan., 1847. 
 
51 
 
 fields and Mr. O'Leary in Bogota, asking for information 
 concerning the boundaries of Mosquitia. In reply* to this 
 request these three gentlemen sent to the home govern- 
 ment copies of the charters, letters, grants, treaties, and what 
 not, which go to make up the chronicles of the Mosquito 
 Kingdom, treating the whole ridiculous affair in the most 
 serious way possible and speaking of the hybrid monarchs 
 all through as if tiiey were really scions of some old royal 
 house. , All three concluded, from the facts, that the Mos- 
 quito territory riglitly extended from the river Komanf to 
 the San Juan, and one of them even suggested that the 
 rightful dominion of the kingdom extended as far 
 south as the Chiriqui Lagoon ;:|: so Lord Palmerston on 
 the strength of this instructed Her Majesty's agents to 
 inform the authorities of the several states of Central 
 America "that the right of the King of the Mosquitos 
 should be maintained as extending from Cape Honduras 
 down to the mouth of the San Juan."§ 
 
 Mr. Chatfield accordingly notified the Central American 
 States of this claim advanced by Great Britain, taking the 
 precaution also to add on his own account that it must be 
 considered to be " without prejudice to any rights of the 
 Mosquito King south of the San Juan,"|| and strengthening 
 it all by concluding that Her Majesty's government would 
 not look with indifference on any encroachments by them 
 upon the boundaries so laid down. 
 
 The boundaries thus dictated were understood also to ex- 
 tend to the mountain ranges on the west,tt so practically, this 
 claim assumed for the Mosquito tribe, that once insignificant 
 
 ■ * April 15th, May 20th, Jxme 29th, 1847. 
 t At Cape of Honduras. 
 
 tMosq. Corr., Docs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, with enclosures, 
 g Mosq. Corr., Doc. 2. Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess. 
 IIMosq. Corr., Doc. 10, Sept., 1847. 
 
 ttEx. Doc. No. 75, Vol. X., p. 29 and 118 3l8t Cong., 1st sess., 
 1849-50. Mosq. Corr., 1848. 
 
52 
 
 race of the marshy shore, a jurisdiction extending over the 
 lands of the Poyas, Secos and Caribs and also included 
 the old lands of the Towkas, Cookras, "Woolwas and Eamas,* 
 with whom the Mosquitos had always been at war since the 
 days of the buccaneers and slave traders.f Of course, 
 Honduras and Nicaragua protested vehemently against such 
 a derogation of their sovereign rights, but in their weak- 
 ness they could do little more than expostulate ; so there the 
 question rested while Great Britain pushed on still further 
 her policy of aggression. 
 
 Hearing, through Mr. Walker,;]: that complaints were 
 being addressed to him by the British inhabitants at San 
 Juan, against the actions of the Nicaraguaii commandant 
 there, the British government issued orders to the Secretary 
 of the Admiralty to despatch a ship of war to Bluefields to 
 discuss the matter with Mr. Walker and form some plan to 
 force Nicaragua to recognize the Mosquito ilag. The 
 Alarm was accordingly sent, and on her arrival § a 
 formal council of the Mosquito nation was held, in which it 
 was decided that they should inform the Nicaragnan govern- 
 ment that the Mosquito kingdom intended to reassume its 
 authority over the San Juan with the aid of her ally. Great 
 Britain. The Mosquito King then turned over the admin- 
 istration to George Hodgson, his Chief of State, and em- 
 barked with Walker on the Alarm. After Mr. Hodgson 
 had made known the will of the Mosquitos to the Govern- 
 ment of Nicaragua,! the Alarm proceeded directly to the 
 port of the San Juan.|||| Here they found the flag of Nica- 
 ragua gaily waving, as usual, on the north bank of the 
 river ; so an ofiicer was sent ashore to inform the comraand- 
 
 * Ante 2 b. 
 
 t Ante 5. 
 
 t Letter written Sept. 21st, 1847. 
 
 i Oct. 23d, 1847. 
 
 II Oct. 25th, 1847. 
 
 nil Arrived eve of Oct. 26th, 1847. 
 
58 
 
 ant of the port that His Highness, the Mosquito King, was 
 on board the British vessel now lying in the harbor, and 
 that, accordingly, the flag of the Mosquito Kingdom must 
 be run up in place of the emblem of Nicaragua ; and, fur- 
 thermore, his Majesty insisted on being saluted as befitted 
 his royal dignity. 
 
 According to the English account, the commandant then 
 did as he was requested, but the commandant himself would 
 never admit this, and insisted tliat the British ran up their 
 own Mosquito flag and saluted it themselves.* However 
 this may be, England had gone too far in her assumptions 
 over the port now to retreat, so another council of the Mos- 
 quito nation was convened,f in which it was decided to 
 change the name of the town from San Juan to Greytown, 
 and ITicaragua was once more ordered to evacuate^ the port. 
 Finding protestation of no avail, Nicaragua then proposed 
 some amicable settlement of the affair, and Guatemala, too, 
 stepped in, offering to act as arbitrator in the question if the 
 British would suspend operations for four months. To all 
 this Mr. Ghatfield replied by denying entirely every right 
 which Nicaragua claimed to the port, and refused to enter- 
 tain any offers of arbitration from Guatemala. The most 
 he would do, he said, would be to submit to the home gov- 
 ernment any proposals which JSTicaragua might make. 
 
 Nicaragua had said, at first, that she would use no 
 force to uphold her rights ; but, exasperated now beyond all 
 measure, she gathered together her little army ^ to ward off 
 any blow which Great Britain might strike. All negotia- 
 tions for a settlement being thus nipped in the bud, the 
 British ship Yixen was sent to Blueflelds,§ and there taking 
 on board Mr. Walker and a detachment of Mosquito troops, 
 
 *Mosq. Corr., Doe. 11 and Doc. 16, enclosure 2. 
 t Dec. 8th, 1847. 
 
 t Army entered Grenada, 2 p. m., Nov. 6th, 1847. 
 § Dec. 31st, 1847. 
 
54 
 
 set sail foi' Greytown followed by the cutter which conveyed 
 the Mosqiiito King to the scene of action. In the face of 
 this formidable array the Nicaraguan troops retired to Sera- 
 piqui, while the British forces from the Vixen landed at 
 the port, hauled down the IS'icaraguan flag once more and 
 ran up the flag of the Mosquito kingdom in its place, which 
 was accordingly saluted with due deference by the guns of 
 the British war ships.* Some attempts were then made for 
 negotiations, but as the Nicaraguan authorities still refused 
 to recognize the Mosquito flag they were bundled one and 
 all out of the custom house and a Mosquito administration 
 was formally installed in their place. Nicaraguan, Mos- 
 quito and British officials then sat down to an entertainment 
 provided for the festive occasion ; but, as Mr. Walker in 
 all good faith, but rather laconically remarked, the Nicara- 
 guan officers seemed to act with constrained civility. 
 
 Leaving a small guard of British and Mosquitos behind 
 them, the Vixen and the cutter then sailed away; bat scarce 
 were they out of gun sliot when the Nicaraguan troops de- 
 scended the river and regained their port, making the 
 British and Mosquito guard their prisoners and running up 
 the Nicaraguan flag again in place of the Mosquito ensign. f 
 
 When this outrage on English sovereignty became known 
 to the home government Lord Palmerston wrote to Mr. 
 Ohatfield " that Her Majesty's Government considers that 
 the claim of the Mosquito nation extends as far as the 
 southern branch of the St. John, which bears the name of 
 the Colorado, but which is just as much a portion of the St. 
 John as either of the other two outlets of that river,";]: and 
 Nicaragua was notified that English war ships would be sent 
 to claim reparation for the wrong. True to this threat, the 
 Vixen and Alarm soon appeared in the harbor§ and a force 
 
 » Jan. 1st, 1848. 
 
 tJan. 10th, 1848. 
 
 X Mosq. C!orr., Doc. 22. 
 
 ?Feb. 8th. iS48 
 
55 
 
 of two hundred and sixty men proceeded in small boats up 
 the river to Serapiqui. Poor Walker, who had so ably pur- 
 sued the policy laid down by his early master, Macdonald, 
 was drowned here, before the actual attack was made, but 
 the troops pushed on under Captain Loch, of the Alarm, 
 and stormed the Nicaraguan fort. The Nicaraguan forces 
 then fled and the British, having destroyed the fort, pushed 
 on to Grenada. 
 
 37. Captain Loch there drew up a treaty of peace which 
 he informed the Nicaraguans he would have in no way 
 altered. The two parties then met on a small island in 
 Lake Nicaragua, the treaty was formally signed* and 
 next day ratified by the Assembly of Nicaragua, in 
 spite of the most bitter protestations of the Mcaraguans 
 against the terms of the instrument and the policy of duress 
 pursued in the matter. The terms of this treaty, ratified 
 thus really at the point of the bayonet, provided that the 
 prisoners and the flag of the Mosquitos seized by the Nica- 
 raguans should be given up to Captain Loch. Nicaragua 
 further agreed not to again disturb the inhabitants at Grey- 
 town nor establish a custom house there ; and in return for 
 this the British forces agreed to retire from the port.f 
 Captain Loch then appointed Captain Little to take the po- 
 sition left vacant by the death of Mr. Walker, and the Right 
 Hon. E. J. Stanley, Secretary of the Admiralty of Great 
 Britain, formally passed his approval on the affair for his 
 government and complimented Captain Loch and his men 
 for their splendid action in upholding the rights of their 
 country.:]: , 
 
 New Grenada's feeble claim to the shore was then sum- 
 marily dismissed by Lord Palmer8ton,§ and her right 
 
 • * March 7th, 1848. 
 t For treaty, see Mosq. Coir., Doc. 29, enclosure 11. 
 t April 29th, 1848. 
 I May -Ith, 1848. 
 
56 
 
 becoming thus sound and secure, Great Britain changed 
 her aggressive front entirely and assured Nicaragua that 
 slie desired only friendly relations with her and would 
 gladly receive her minister in London, provided only that 
 she should no longer persist in disregarding the rights of a 
 state under Great Britain's protection.* 
 
 Little need be added in comment to this account of the 
 British seizure, taken as it is directly from the official re- 
 ports of the officers engaged in the work, as the perfection 
 of such a systematic policy of encroachment is shown best, 
 perhaps, in its con'scientious fulfillment in every detail. 
 
 C. — -38. Although, throughout these despatches and 
 instructions sent by the British government to her agents in 
 Central America, the seizure of Greytown was in no way 
 spoken of as a plan to secure for Great Britain the key to 
 the inter-oceanic canal ; the inference is almost necessarily 
 implied from the facts of the seizure itself and from the exist- 
 ing state of the negotiations which the nations of Europe had 
 been carrying on so long with Nicaragua to secure the right 
 of transit. The idea of any inter-oceanic communication 
 across the Isthmus practically dropped out of view, it is 
 true, after the struggles of the early conquerors to gain the 
 Chagres river and the Freshwater Sea, until it was again re- 
 vived by Spain in the eighteenth ceiitury, when a survey 
 was made of the routes. Then, again, a period of inaction 
 followed, until the time of tlie Central American Confede- 
 racy, when the matter was presented before the Federal 
 Congress of the Kepublic in 1823. Late in 1824:f there was 
 a plan formed by an English company to open a canal 
 through the Isthmus by way of the San Juan, and during 
 
 * Ofacial reports from Walker and Loch form the aathority for this 
 svunmary of the British attack and seizure contained inMosq. Corr., 1-35. 
 See also Ex. Doc. 75, Vol. X., 31st Oong., 1st sess., pp. 1-91. 
 
 t September, 1824. 
 
57 
 
 the same year an armed brig was sent to Nicaragua* to 
 make a survey of the route and to settle upon some arrange- 
 ment with Central America. ISTothing came of these ten- 
 tative efforts, but in tlie following yearf the Central 
 American minister in Washington formally solicited the aid 
 and cooperation of the United States in tiie undertaking, on 
 the ground " that its noble conduct had been a model and a 
 protection to all the Americas " and entitled it to a preference 
 over any other nation, both in " the merits and advantages 
 of the proposed great undertaking." 
 
 Relying thus on the Monroe doctrine, Central America 
 also offered to enter into treaty relations with the United 
 States, "effectually to secure its advantages to the two na- 
 tions." Colonel Williams, then the United States charge 
 d'affaires in Central America, was especially instructed to 
 assure the autliorities there of the deep interest which the 
 United States took in the plan, and to make investigations 
 as to the facilities which offered themselves for the route of 
 transit, but no information on the subject seems to have 
 been recived and nothing more was done. During the 
 same year various proposals were addressed to Central 
 America from abroad, to form some plan to open the canal ; 
 so acting on this general spirit of confidence in the ultimate 
 success of the undertaking, the National Congress of Cen- 
 tral America passed a decree authorizing the construction 
 of a canal for the largest vessels through Nicaragua, and 
 making very liberal offers to any company willing to 
 undertake the work. Two bids were sent in answer to 
 this proposal, one by an English house and the other by 
 an American company of New 5rork. The New York bid 
 was accepted by the Republic, and a contract was accord- 
 ingly signed on June llth, 1826, the company formed for 
 this purpose being called "The Central American and 
 
 * December, 1824. 
 
 t Febraary 8th, 1825. Don Antonio Jose Canas to Henry Clay. 
 
58 
 
 United States Atlantic and Pacific Canal Company." The 
 contractors then appealed to congress for aid, and though 
 the matter was vigorously pushed it stuck fast in the com- 
 mittee stage, and the whole plan fell througli. This was 
 just at the time that it was finally decided to send delegates 
 to the Congress of Panama ; so Mr. Clay instructed them 
 to talk the question over with the Spanish American repre- 
 sentatives, and to urge a canal under American control, 
 though asking for no exclusive interest. As has been men- 
 tioned, the delegates from our government did not partici- 
 pate in the deliberations of this abortive congress, and no 
 farther action was taken for the canal until 1828, when the 
 Association of the Netherlands took the matter up. The 
 King of Holland granted his patronage to the undertaking 
 and an agent was sent to Guatemala to arrange for a con- 
 tract. A plan was agreed upon and ratified by the National 
 Congress of Central America on September 21st, 1830, but 
 the revolution in Belgium breaking out then, brought the 
 whole affair to an abrupt conclusion. 
 
 Mr. Henry Savage, the United States Consul in Central 
 America, then wrote to Mr. Van Buren (Dec. 3d, 1830) 
 "that all concur and every one now seems tacitly to look 
 forward to the United States for the completion of this 
 grand project. They say," he continued, " that the United 
 States, identified in her institutions with their government, 
 ought to have the preference." As a result of this the Sen- 
 ate, in 1 835,, passed a resolution requesting the president to 
 consider the expediency of opening negotiations with Cen- 
 tral America and New G-renada for the purpose of protect- 
 ing by treaty stipulations any individuals who should under- 
 take to build the canal, and of securing the free and equal 
 right of navigating such canal to all nations, on the payment 
 of reasonable tolls. A special agent was sent to inves- 
 tigate the facilities of the two routes and to collect such 
 documents as might prove useful from Nicaragua and Pan- 
 
59 
 
 ama, but he died soon after reaching Panama, leaving as a 
 legacy to canal negotiations only a partial report, saying 
 that the Panama route was impracticable. 
 
 Somewhat disgusted with the effect of her efforts so far 
 to secure the aid of foreign powers, Central America then 
 attempted to push the whole matter through herself (1837), 
 but the dissolution of the Republic upset this plan also. 
 
 Nicaragua and Honduras as separate states, next tried 
 to conclude arrangements with France, and then with 
 Rome, to help them in the work, but nothing could be done, 
 so once rqore the task reverted to American hands, and a 
 contract was signed between some citizens of the United 
 States and the Nicaraguan authorities, which provided for 
 the building of the canal, the establishment of a bank, and 
 also included a scheme of colonization on a large scale (1838). 
 When it was seen that this plan too was falling through, a 
 petition was addressed to congress by some citizens of New 
 York and Philadelphia, requesting that a large and power- 
 ful combination be formed and that judicious measures be 
 adopted to carry the plan into effect. This petition was 
 referred to a committee, which reported in substance in 
 about the same words as the senate resolution of 1835, and 
 as a result of this last agreement a treaty was signed and 
 ratified with New Grenada, by which the United States 
 guaranteed the neutrality of the Isthmus and New Grenada's 
 right of sovereignty over the same, receiving in return the 
 exclusive right of transit from shore to shore.* 
 
 In 1844, after the complete dissolution of the confeder- 
 acy, the Nicaraguan minister to France again endeavored 
 to interest that country in the undertaking, but failing in 
 this, he entered into a detailed contract with a Belgian com- 
 pany, organized under the auspices of the Belgian King, and 
 as if not satisfied with the prospects of this company, Mr. 
 
 * March 2d, 1839, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 40. 
 Under this treaty the Panama E. E. was organized. 
 
fiO 
 
 Marcoleta, the Nicaraguan charge d'affaires in Belgium, 
 made another contract on about the same terms with Louis 
 ISTapoleon Bonaparte, then a prisoner at Ham,* but like all 
 the rest, this plan too proved abortive.f 
 
 39. During these years of tentative negotiations the 
 policy initiated by Mr. Monroe and Mr. Clay rested practi- 
 cally quiescent, only now and then showing spasmodic signs 
 of life in the resolutions of congress and vague instructions 
 to Central American agents to uphold the American doc- 
 trine over against the rapid British aggressions. The actual 
 seizure of Greytown by the English and the acquisition of 
 California by the United States in the spring of the same 
 year, produced a great revulsion of feeling, however, 
 throughout the country, and instead of the apathy which 
 had existed ever since the first outburst of enthusiasm over 
 the Monroe doctrine, there now sprang up a widespread de- 
 sire for a canal under American control, accompanied natu- 
 rally by a general feeling of indignation against the British, 
 who had so quietly seized the very key of the situation while 
 others were prematurely negotiating for the construction 
 of the canal itself, and were themselves now negotiating for a 
 canal grant from l^icaragua.;!: The matter was really one of 
 serious importance to the United States at this time, per- 
 haps more so than at any time since, for the great tide of 
 emigration which was sweeping across the country to the 
 gold fields of the Pacific seemed to call peremptorily for 
 some better mode of communication to the newly acquired 
 
 * Canal of Nicaragua, or a Project to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans by means of a Canal, by N. L. B. (Napoleon Lonis Bonaparte), 
 London, 1846. (Not published.) Pamphlet in possession of J. W. Mil- 
 ler, of New York. 
 
 1 1846. For this summary of the early contracts with Nicaragua see 
 Squier's Nicaragua, Ee-vised Edition, 1860, Appendix, Chapter III. 
 
 t Feb. 16th, 1849, basis agreed upon on same terms as Belgian con- 
 tract, but never acted upon by Nicaragua. Squier's Nic, Appendix, 
 Chap. III., p. 679. ' 
 
61 
 
 lands than the toilsome drive across the plains, or the dan- 
 gerous voyage around the Horn. 
 
 30. In answer to the demand for some better mode of 
 transit, and to check in some way the aggressions of Great 
 Britain, which had become too palpable now to admit of 
 any doubt as to their ultimate aim, Mr. Elijah Hise was 
 despatched to Central America, with rather vague instruc- 
 tions, it is true, but with the general idea of upholding 
 the rights of the United States over against the encroach- 
 ments of Great Britain. In his instructions* to Mr. Hise, 
 Mr. Buchanan, then Secretary of State under President 
 Polk, called special attention, indeed, to the fact that it had 
 always been Great Britain's policy heretofore to seize every 
 valuable commercial point in the world which circumstances 
 placed in her power, and pointed out besides that it seemed 
 now her evident purpose, by assuming the title of protector 
 over a " miserable, degraded and insignificant tribe of In- 
 dians, to acquire an absolute dominion over the vast extent 
 of sea coast" in Nicaragua, and to obtain control of the route 
 for a railroad and canal between the Atlantic and Pacific 
 oceans. This was all very well, as far as it went, and 
 showed that the United States was no longer blind to the 
 objects of Great Britain's policy; but when it came to any 
 definite policy to be pursued by the United States, Mr. Bu- 
 chanan was very vague, contenting himslf by once more 
 setting forth the already trite phrase that the government 
 would not look with indifference upon any interference by 
 European nations in the domestic affairs of the American 
 republics, and adding "that the government of the United 
 States has not as yet determined what course it will pursue 
 in regard to the encroachments of the British government."t 
 
 * Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Hise, June 3d, 1848, Ex. Document 75, Doc. 
 6, p. 92, Ist sess., 31st Cong, 
 t Ibid. 
 
62 
 
 On his arrival in Central America Mr. Hise soon saw the 
 broad scope of the policy the British had already pursued 
 there, and so impressed was he with the importance of se- 
 curing the right of transit for his own government that he 
 in some way conceived that he was really authorized, from 
 the instructions he had received, to open negotiations directly 
 with Nicaragua to secure this end,- though he had been 
 strictly ordered to negotiate no treaty at all with that state. 
 Nicaragua, bruised and crestfallen from her recent defeat at 
 the hands of the British, naturally seized with avidity this 
 offer of aid from so powerful a nation as the TJmted States, 
 seeing, no doubt, in this offer a means of regaining her lost 
 seaport, and a way of restoring her right of sovereignty. 
 The treaty which was then agreed upon by Mr. Hise and 
 the Nicaraguan commissioner was certainly unique, and 
 considering the state of affairs, a truly remarkable instru- 
 ment. True, by the terms of the convention the United 
 States gained a perpetual right of way through the country, 
 and any company chartered by her, it was agreed, might 
 construct a railroad or canal from ocean to ocean, and for 
 this purpose might occupy such lands and take such mater- 
 ials as should be necessary ; but it was further provided 
 that the United States should erect fortifications along 
 the entire line of the canal and at the free cities to be estab- 
 lished at either extremity, and in return for Nicaragua's 
 favors Mr. Hise agreed that the United States would pro- 
 tect and defend Nicaragua forever in her sovereign rights 
 and dominion over the coasts, ports, lakes, rivers and terri- 
 tory justly under her jurisdiction.* 
 
 In this form the treaty was signed and sent on to the 
 United States for approval ; but in the meantime, the ad; 
 ministration at Washington had changed hands. Mr. Polk 
 had stepped down to allow General Taylor, fresh from his 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 41, treaty given in full. See also, Ex. Doc. 75, 
 1st sess. 31st Ctoug., pp. 92-117. 
 
63 
 
 successful Mexican campaign, to take tlie executive chair, 
 and among the other responsibilities of office, this Central 
 American tangle was bequeathed to the new administration 
 as a parting legacy from the old. 
 
 31. One of the first acts of tlie new administration was 
 to recall Mr. Hise from the scenes of his diplomatic va- 
 garies, and Mr. Clayton, whom President Taylor had chosen to 
 assume the duties of the state department, was then fairly 
 launched on his career of diplomacy, which has resulted in 
 such a continuous succession of disputes and misunderstand- 
 ings. The question certainly was an intricate one, with 
 American rights amply secured on the one side by the Hise 
 treaty, and on the other, British guns frowning down on 
 any threatened disturbance of her claims to the San Juan 
 and the key to the canal ; but Mr. Clayton's policy seems 
 to have been as anomalous in the matter as the situation was 
 delicate. 
 
 The opening of the diplomatic campaign was marked by 
 a bold outburst of Americanism, and in his instructions to 
 Mr. Squier, the agent appointed to take Mr. Hise's place, 
 Mr. Clayton, after very effectually disproving Great Brit- 
 ain's pretensions over the Mosquito shore, gave vent to a 
 fine display of enthusiasm, the gist of which was, that what- 
 ever other nations might do, the United States had no idea of 
 tamely allowing her interest in the free right of traffic from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific to be threatened by any preten- 
 sions of Great Britain. In the more definite instructions 
 which followed, however, Mr. Clayton went on much more 
 moderately to define the views the administration then 
 entertained in the matter, authorizing Mr. Squier to enter 
 into treaty relations with Nicaragua to secure the equal 
 right of transit for all nations through a canal which should 
 be hampered by no restrictions, either from the local 
 government or the company which should undertake the 
 
64 
 
 work, but "not to involve tliis country in any entangling 
 alliances or any unnecessary controversy.''^* All this was 
 very sensible, as there was a general feeling at that time 
 that European aid would be necessary to complete the work, 
 and on this account, that tlie canal sliould be under the ex- 
 clusive control of no one power. 
 
 On his arrival in Nicaragua Mr. Squier found an agent 
 there who was endeavoring to secure a contract with the) 
 government in behalf of some New York gentlemen who 
 wished to undertake the construction of a canal through the 
 country. Following, as he imagined, his instructions to the 
 letter, Mr. Squier assured the New York agent and the 
 Nicaraguan authorities that the United States government 
 was willing to extend its guarantees to any charter of a 
 proper character which might now be granted. 
 
 Assured by this expression of confidence from the United 
 States, a definite contract was then signed and ratified f be- 
 tween the parties, by the terms of which the New York 
 company, under the name of the American, Atlantic and 
 Pacific Ship-Canal Company, secured the right of construct- 
 ing a ship canal from the port of San Juan, or any more 
 feasible point on the Atlantic, to the port of Eealejo, or to 
 any other point within the territory of Nicaragua on the 
 Pacific. The company also secured an exclusive right to 
 navigate the waters of the state in steam vessels, and 
 Nicaragua further conveyed to it, all public lands neces- 
 sary for the canal itself and for its buildings, and also eight 
 stations or sections of land, each six miles long and six miles 
 broad, to be located along the banks of the canal where the 
 company should see tit, to facilitate the colonization of the 
 country.:]: In accordance with his instructions, that the 
 
 * Letter of instruction, given in Squier's Nicaragua, Appendix, Chap. 
 III. Ex. Doc. 75, 1st sess. 31st Cong., pp. 118-130. 
 t Signed Aug. 27, 1849. Ratified Sept. 23, 1849. 
 t Contract given in fall. Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 49. 
 
65 
 
 canal should be under no exclusive control, Mr. Squier in- 
 sisted tha^ an article should be incorporated in the contract 
 providing " that the citizens, vessels, products and manu- 
 factures of all nations shall be permitted to pass upon the 
 proposed canal through the territories of Nicaragua, subject 
 to no other nor higher duties, charges or taxes than shall be 
 imposed upon those of the United States ; provided, always, 
 that such nations shall first enter into the same treaty 
 stipulations and guarantees respecting said canal, as niAy be 
 entered into between the State of Nicaragua and the United 
 States."* 
 
 Simultaneously with the execution of this contract Mr. 
 Squier negotiated a treaty f with the government of Nica- 
 ragua, in which, after the usual stipulation for amity, com- 
 merce, etc., he caused to be inserted an article to supersede 
 the convention which his predecessor, Mr. Hise, had seen 
 fit to negotiate, and to form the basis for the rights of the 
 United States in the proposed canal. Though it sought no 
 exclusive control for the United States, this article did pro- 
 vide that the ports and harbors of Nicaragua should be free 
 to the citizens, vessels and merchandize of the United 
 States ; that the right of transit also should always be free 
 and open to the government and her citizens for all lawful 
 purposes ; and that no charges nor tolls of any kind should 
 be levied on them by Nicaragua for taking advantage of 
 this right of way, nor any import duties levied on the goods 
 or merchandize intended merely for transit through her 
 territory. It was further agreed between the two countries 
 by this article that, inasmuch as a contract had been entered 
 into by the government of Nicaragua and a body of United 
 
 * Article XXXVI. of above quoted contract. 
 
 t Signed Sept. 3d, 1849. Ratified by Legislative Chambers of Nicara- 
 gua, simultaneously vrith Canal Contract, Sept. 23d, 1849. Given in full 
 in British and Foreign State Papers, 1850-51. Vol. XL., p. 953, Doc 62. 
 Ex. Doc. 75, 3lBt Cong., 1st sess., pp. 118-185. 
 
66 
 
 States citizens, called " the American, Atlantic and Pacific 
 Ship-Canal Company, and in order to secure the construction 
 and performance of the great work thereby contemplated, 
 both high contracting parties do severally and jointly agree to 
 protect and defend the above named company in the full 
 and perfect enjoyment of said work from its inception to 
 its completion, and after its completion, from any acts of 
 invasion, forfeiture or violence, from whatever quarter the 
 same may proceed ; and to give full effect to the stipulations 
 here made and to secure for the benefit of mankind the un- 
 interrupted advantages of such communication from sea to 
 sea, the United States distinctly recognizes the rights of sov- 
 ereignty and property which the State of Nicaragua possesses 
 in and over the line of said canal, and for tbe same reasons 
 guarantees positively and eflSciently the entire neutrality of 
 the same so long as it shall remain under the control of citi- 
 zens of the United States, and so long as the United States 
 shall enjoy the privileges secured to them in the preceding 
 section of this article."* To offset the exclusive nature of 
 this agreement, however, it was agreed, in conchision, that 
 all the rights, privileges and immunities thus guaranteed 
 to the United States should accrue also to any other nation 
 which should enter into the same treaty stipulations for the 
 defense and protection of the canal route, as had been en- 
 tered into by the United States. 
 
 This treaty Mr. Squier considered entirely in accordance 
 with his instrutions and drawn on the true basis of American 
 rights. It would certainly seem as if he were justified in 
 the belief, for the instrument fully granted to all nations 
 the rights the United States secured, and as for guaranteeing 
 Nicaragua's right of sovereignty to the port then under 
 British control, it was, after all, merely putting under seal 
 what the United States had always maintained and insisted 
 that she always would maintain. The treaty, in short, up- 
 
 * Article XXXV., ? 2. 
 
6V 
 
 held all the rights secured by the Hise convention, and yet 
 did away with the exclusiveness of that instrument, and 
 instead of binding the United States to protect and defend 
 the whole territory of Nicaragua, it merely provided that 
 the United States with such other nations as wished to, 
 should guarantee the inviolability of the canal itself and 
 the company which should operate it. 
 
 D. — 32. When sent ou to Washington, however, this 
 treaty and the Hise convention, which preceded it, drew 
 forth the bitter antagonism of Great Britain, and from that 
 moment iier diplomacy was turned toward defeating these 
 claims of the United States and regulating the opening of 
 the canal in a manner wliich should not disturb the rights 
 she had assumed in Nicaragua. It seems strange, aftfer all 
 that had gone before, that Mr. Clayton should have given 
 up the struggle as he did, even before it was really begun, 
 especially as he held in his hand from the outset two such 
 powerful levers as these two treaties formed to uphold 
 American rights against British aggressions. Such was the 
 case, however, and from the very beginning of the dispute 
 it was clearly seen that compromise was to be the watch- 
 word of our diplomacy. Some excuse, however, may be 
 found for Mr. Clayton's course in the fact that President 
 Taylor's adminstration was without a majority in the 
 senate, and with popular sentiment all over the country so 
 bitterly opposed to the British claim, and crying out all the 
 time for the assertion of American rights, Mr. Clayton knew 
 full well that if the Hise treaty* ever came up for ratifica- 
 tion, the opposition leaders in congress and the press of the 
 country would make the most of the opportunity to embar- 
 rass the young administration, by either forcing it into open 
 conflict witli Great Britain, or by accusing it of pusil- 
 lanimity in abandoning the splendid advantages gained 
 
 * The Sqnier treaty had not been sent to the senate as yet. 
 
68 
 
 for the United States by the treaty. For these reasons 
 Mr. Clayton decided to come to an agreement with the 
 British authorities immediately, and thus by keeping the 
 whole question aloof from public discussion, to save his 
 : party from defeat and avert any threatened outbreak on 
 G^reat Britain's part.* 
 
 33. Having adopted this plan, Mr. Clayton opened 
 communication with Mr. Crampton, the British Minis- 
 ter, stating the case frankly and plainly to him, even 
 explaining the dilemma in which the administration found 
 itself, and asking Mr. Crampton to give his assistance in 
 straightening out the difiBcnlty on a basis agreeable to both 
 governments. As a solution of the question Mr. Clayton 
 offered to abandon the Hise treaty entirely, and then to co- 
 operate with Great Britain in such treaty relations with 
 Nicaragua as should confer an exclusive right on neither, 
 but which should guarantee the safety of any company to 
 which Mcaragua should grant a charter. Mr. Clayton also 
 assured Mr. Crampton that the United States sought no ex- 
 clusive advantage in the matter and rather wished the canal 
 to be a bond of peace between the two countries than a sub- 
 ject for jealousy. On this first communication the real 
 foundation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was laid, which has 
 since developed into such an unsightly structure ; and natu- 
 rally, too, for the whole agreement seems to have been 
 founded on the makeshift of a young and weak administra- 
 tion, rather than on long standing and well recognized 
 principles of American diplomacy. 
 
 Mr. Abbott Lawrence, who had just been appointed min- 
 ister to England, was still in Boston when Mr. Clayton 
 wished to broach the subject to Great Britain ; so Mr. Eives, 
 the newly appointed minister to France, was instructed to 
 stop on his way and lay the plans of the administration di- 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 56, 47tb Cong., 1st sess. 
 
69 
 
 rectly before Lord Paltnerston, and learn his views on the 
 question. Lord Palmerston of course responded very 
 frankly to these liberal offers of Mr. Clayton explaining 
 that, as England had treated the Mosquito Indians as 
 an independent state from a very early period, she had 
 driven the Niearaguans from Greytown in 184:8 because she 
 considered that in occupying that town they were encroach- 
 ing on Mosquito territory to which they had no right. To 
 make matters worse, Lord Palmerston continued, Nicaragua 
 had since concluded a treaty with the United States, grant- 
 ing a right of transit directly through the very territory 
 from which she had been expelled ; and though Great Brit- 
 ain, he said, had no intention of planting a colony in that 
 district, nor of holding the point as a key to the interoceanic 
 canal, still she could never recognize Nicaragua's present 
 claim. Lord Palmerston was then frank enough to admit 
 that, by well known doctrines of international law, savage 
 races are never considered to have any national title over 
 against their conquerors and the settlers of the land ; but he 
 insisted, for some reason or other, that the case of the Mos- 
 quito Indians was sui generis, and could be governed by no 
 precedent. Having thus once more aired Great Britain's 
 well known views on the general question. Lord Palmerston 
 expressed himself very favorably disposed toward Mr. Clay- 
 ton's idea of co-operation, and insinuated that Her Majesty's 
 government would look with favor on any plan to make the 
 canal the common highway of the world.* 
 
 From this time the Mosquito question became a side issue 
 entirely, and though it was very vigorously debated by the 
 two governments,t as will be seen, it never really influenced 
 the final agreement in the least, for both countries were too 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess., Doc. 3, pp. 18-23. Brit, and 
 Foreign State Papers, p. 953, Vol. XL., Doc. 5. 
 
 t For the letters that passed hfetween the two governments, see Sen. 
 Ex. Doc. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess., Sen. Ex.. Doc. 194. 47th Cone.. "ist f^ess. 
 
YO 
 
 well fixed iu their views to be changed by any argument on 
 the matter; and since by the terms of the compromise, which 
 Mr. Clayton had offered and Great Britain had so readily 
 accepted, tlie whole question was to be put aside, it really 
 made no difference whether Great Britain maintained her 
 position or not, so long as she remained content with the 
 half share in the canal which she had gained so far by her 
 policy of aggression, and did not seek next to crowd the 
 United States out also. 
 
 Having been practically presented with the Hise treaty. 
 Great Britain then began to complain about the Squier con- 
 vention and its exclusive provisions.* Mr. Clayton was 
 equally tractable in this however, and immediately informed 
 Mr. Crampton that the United States would suspend 
 their decision on this treaty also until they had learned 
 Great Britain's views ; and should Great Britain decide to 
 accept the offer of joint action, Mr. Clayton further added 
 that the United States would modify the contract with the 
 American, Atlantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company so 
 that it should no longer contain any exclusive provisions; 
 and, as a final sop, Mr. Clayton saw fit to add that he did 
 notintend to be guided by the policy of the Monroe doctrine 
 in his actions.f 
 
 34. While the negotiations were progressing thus 
 smoothly at home, Mr. Chatfield and Mr. Squier, the 
 agents of the two governments in Central America came 
 directly into collision, and it seemed for a time that even 
 Mr. Clayton's best laid plans were to be entirely upset. 
 Soon after he had negotiated his treaty with Nicaragua, Mr. 
 Squier deemed himself warranted in incorporating into a 
 general treaty | of commerce, which he was then negoti- 
 
 *Brit. and Foreign State Papers, Vol. XL., Doe. 7, p. 953. 
 fBrit. and For. State Papers, Vol. XL., Docs. 3-13, p. 953. 
 } Sept. 28, 1849. 
 
71 
 
 ating with Honduras, some provisions for acquiring land as 
 naval stations for the United States on Tigre Island* and 
 on the continent in its vicinity — as it was then thought the 
 best route for the canal lay along the Estero Eeal — and by a 
 protocol of the treaty, bearing an even date therewith, Hon- 
 duras formally ceded this island to the United States, pend- 
 ing the ratification or rejection of the original instrument. 
 At the same time Mr. Chatfield was vigorously pushing an 
 old British claim against Honduras, alleged to be due for 
 money lent to that government by Her Majesty's subjects 
 long before. Early in October British war ships came to 
 Truxillo and there formally demanded the amount due and 
 the long accruing interest. Honduras could only pay a small 
 portion of the amount, so accepting this on account, the war 
 ships sailed away, firing a volley on the old Spanish town as 
 a parting tribute. Unsuccessful in this first demand, Mr. 
 Chatfield decided to try some pressure on the Pacific coast ; 
 so, on October 16th, with the help of other British ships, he 
 forcibly seized upon Tigre Island, as indemnity for the debt 
 due to his government, and hoisted the British flag there. 
 Mr. Squier immediately informed Mr. Chatfield that he was 
 encroaching on United States territory and politely re- 
 quested him to leave ; but this Mr. Chatfield declined to do, 
 so Mr. Squier then informed him that if he did not 
 evacuate the Island in six days the United States would 
 consider it an act of aggression and would act accordingly.f 
 This last seizure of the British forces practically secured 
 for Great Britain the entire control of the situation, for 
 Greytown, the only possible entrance to the canal on the 
 Atlantic, was already completely in her power, as lias been 
 
 * In the Bay of Fonseca. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess. Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 
 Istsess., p. 156. Sen. Doc. 43, p. 1-26. H. Jonmal, 1739-1801. 31at 
 Cong., 2d sess. Brit, and For. State Papers, Vol. XL. p. 953, Doc. 14-17. 
 Ex. Doc. 75, 31st Cong.. 1st sess., pp. 290, 313-220. 
 
72 
 
 seen, and by seizing now this island directly in front of the 
 proposed entrance on the Pacific, she was in a position to 
 block the entire work and manage the project to suit herself. 
 
 As soon as he learned of the seizure Mr. Clayton in- 
 structed Mr. Lawrence to inform Lord Palmerston of the 
 actual state of affairs, and to ask for a disavowal of the act 
 from the British government, and to add in conclusion that, 
 if the act were not disavowed the Squier treaty would be sub- 
 mitted to the senate and ratified without delay. Seeing the 
 position in which his government was placed toward the 
 United States, and fearing lest the negotiations, which had 
 been progressing thus far so favorably for him, would be ut- 
 terly disrupted by this act of aggression and the Squier treaty 
 again brought up. Lord Palmerston lost no time in disavow- 
 ing Mr. Chatfield's act. So, once more the agent was made 
 the scapegoat and the storm was as quickly quieted as it had 
 suddenly broken over the calm of these formal negotiations, 
 the only result of the threatened rupture being that the rep- 
 resentatives of the two great powers in Central America 
 were instructed to follow the same spirit of harmony to each 
 other as was actuating the governments themselves. 
 
 Mr. Squier, it is true, was reproved later for entering into 
 such a treaty without instructions from the department, 
 and his convention with its provisional articles was never 
 even laid before ;he senate for ratification ; but it certainly 
 was a most fortunate thing that this important little island 
 was under United States control at this critical time, and 
 for once at least Great Britain was forced to recede from a 
 position of advantage in Central America.* 
 
 35. All this time the two governments were keeping 
 up an active discussion on the Mosquito question, though, 
 it would seem, merely for form's sake, as the real issue was 
 
 * Brit, and For. State Papera, Vol. XL., p. 953. Doc. 14-18. Sen. 
 Ex. Doo. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess. 
 
turning on far less vital points. The position taken by the 
 United States toward the question had been from the very 
 outset one of denial of tlie British claim entirely, for the 
 very conception of the matter was enough to bring tliein to 
 this conclusion, as it was preposterous to suppose that the 
 United States government would ever admit a claim of do- 
 minion gained by one foreign country by assuming a pro- 
 tectorate over Indian tribes dwelling within the jurisdiction 
 of another. Though, as has been said. President Jackson 
 declined to interfere in Centi-al America's behalf, in her first 
 troubles with Great Britain ; still from the very beginning 
 the United States had declined to recognize any of these claims 
 which Great Britain was assuming over the Indians, and 
 had followed in all her instructions to the diplomatic agents, 
 both in Central America and England, the main lines of the 
 policy laid down under the Monroe administration and so 
 strikingly exemplified in the proposed Panama Congress. * 
 So, when at last the question came up directly between the 
 United States and Great Britain, the American doctrine 
 was pretty well defined, and the ultimate justice of it all 
 only became the more clearly demonstrated to the govern- 
 ment as the discussions of the year went on. 
 
 The English diplomatists, on the other hand, insisted that 
 these Indians had never been conquered, and hence were 
 never under Spanish jurisdiction at all ; and with this posi- 
 tion as their vantage ground, they went on to show the ex- 
 istence of a British protectorate. They relied on three facts 
 to support this claim. f First, the submission of the Mos- 
 quito King to the Duke of Albemarle, Governor of Jamaica 
 in 16S7, founded, as they said it was, on the former submis- 
 
 * See Mr. Webster to Mr. Murphy, Aug. 6th, 1841, Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 
 32d Ctong., 2d sess., Doc. 11, p. 12. Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Hise, JuneSd, 
 1848. Ante 30. 
 
 t Lord Pahnerston to M. CasteUon, July leth, 1849, Sen. Ex. Doc. 
 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., 78. 
 
T4 
 
 sion to the Earl of Warwick, durinj^ the reign of Charles the 
 First ;* secondly, the " treaty" which Governor Lawes had 
 ratified with King Jeremy in 1720 ;t and thirdly, the pro- 
 ceedings in Jamaica which had resulted in establishing the 
 new form of government in Mosquito in 17754 As for 
 the treaties she had entered into with Spain to regulate these 
 matters, Great Britain held they were of no binding force 
 after the colonies had freed themselves from the mother 
 country, and she further insisted that Mosquitia, at the dis- 
 solution of the confederacy, had as much right to form a 
 separate nation as had Nicaragua, Honduras, or the other 
 States, and this Great Britain maintained she had done. 
 
 In reply to these claims the United States simply tra- 
 versed the fundamental proposition of the British, and 
 pointed out to them that the whole history of the country 
 negatived their assumption that Spain was never in control 
 of the coast. For, said Mr. Clayton, in speaking of the mat- 
 ter, England often at the request of Spain relinquished her 
 attempts at colonization there, " and." he continued, " it is 
 impossible to believe that at the periods of her treaties with 
 Spain she doubted the territorial rights of tiie latter in the 
 Mosquito shore."§ In acknowledging the independence of 
 tlie Central American Confederacy, the United States fur- 
 ther argued, Great Britain made no reservations, and though 
 of course she might reserve impliedly the same rights as she 
 claimed under Spanish rule ; still even this would not in. 
 elude the port or river of San Juan, and beside all this. 
 Great Britain by recognizing Nicaragua as an independ- 
 ent state, and by treating with her as such, was precluded 
 from questioning the fact that she had succeeded to all 
 
 * Ante 7 a. 
 t Ante 9 a. 
 t Ante 13 a. 
 
 g Mr. Clayton to Mr. Lawrence, Oct. 20, 1849, Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, pp. 
 24-34, Doc. 19, 32d Cong., 2d sess. 
 
(0 
 
 V 
 
 the rights that the mother countrj', Spain, had possessed 
 before.* 
 
 So, as a result of these discussions, the countries were 
 drawn even further apart in their views of the Mosquito 
 question than before. Great Britain, on her side, would not 
 move a jot from her high handed claim, and the United 
 States, on the other hand, had become even more confident 
 in the justice of her position, and had come to the conclu- 
 sion, to quote the woi-ds of Mr. Lawrence, " that whenever 
 the history of the conduct of Great Britain shall be pub- 
 lished to the world it will not stand one hour before the bar 
 of public opinion without universal condem nation. f 
 
 E. — 36. Mr. Clayton evidently felt at this juncture that 
 any discussion on the Mosquito question was only wasting 
 valuable time and drawing the attention of the two govern- 
 ments away from the points of real importance to his policy 
 upon which they had virtually decided so long before ; so, 
 in order to bring the matter directly to an issue, he instructed 
 Mr. Lawrence to ask Lord Paluierston whether the British 
 government intended to occupy or colonize Nicaragua, Costa 
 Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, 
 and whether Great Britain would unite with the United 
 States in guaranteeing the neutrality of a ship canal, rail- 
 way, or other communication to be open to the world and 
 common to all nations.;}: Lord Palmerston replied that Her 
 Majesty's government had no intention of so colonizing or 
 occupying any part of Central America, and though there 
 had existed a close political connection between the crown 
 
 * For the letters containing, this dispnte, see Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 32d 
 Cong., 2d sess. Ex. Doc. 75, 31st Cong., 1st sess., pp. 202-339, for dis. 
 pnte between Great Britain and Nicaragua. 
 
 t Mr. Lawrence to Mr. Clayton, April 5th, 1850, Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 
 32d Cong., 2d sess.. Doc. 34, p. 73. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 194. p. 59, 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
 1 
 
76 
 
 of Great Britain and the state and territory of Mosquito, 
 the British government claimed no dominion there. He 
 also informed the United States that Great Britain 
 would gladly co-operate with them in opening such a canal 
 or roadway, provided that it should be accessible to the 
 trade of all nations on equal terms. Speaking further in re- 
 gard to Greytown, Lord Palmerston added, " Her Majesty's 
 government would freely undertake to obtain the consent 
 of Mosquito to such arrangements as would render that 
 port entirely applicable, and on the principles above men- 
 tioned to the purpose of such a sea to sea communication,"* 
 and in conclusion he said that England wou'd also join with 
 the United States in an endeavor to heal the troubles that 
 existed between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 
 
 Mr. Clayton expressed his satisfaction at this reply from 
 Great Britain, contenting himself with giving voice to a 
 mere formal objection to the idea of Mosquito independence 
 contained therein,f and from this moment the negotiations 
 went on very rapidly to their ultimate conclusion. Sir 
 Henry Bulwer had meanwhile succeeded Mr. Crampton as 
 Her Majesty's minister in Washington, and Mr. Clayton 
 and he then assumed the whole burden of the discussions 
 and worked the matter out to suit themselves. Sir Henry 
 soon grasped the situation, and, knowing that his govern- 
 ment was quite willing to follow in the steps of Mr. 
 Clayton's policy, he had little difficulty in arranging a 
 settlement. He very soon informed Lord Palmerston 
 that, from his observations, he felt sure that the inter- 
 est manifested by the United States in the Nicaraguar 
 Mosquito dis]5ute merely arose from the fact that Nica- 
 ragua had granted her charter to an American company 
 
 * Lord Palmerston to Mr. Lawrence, Nov. 13th, 1849, Sen. Ex. Doc. 
 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess., Doc. 23, enclosure, p. 46. 
 
 t Mr. Clayton to Mr. Lawrence, Dec. 10, 1849. Sen. Ex. Doc. 27, 
 32d Cong., 2d sess.. Doc. 26, p. 51. 
 
7Y 
 
 for the canal, and inasmuch as England was as desirous ag 
 the United States to have the canal established, it seemed 
 to him best to remove the discussion entirely from the 
 claims of Nicaragua and Mosquito, on which the two gov- 
 ernments would never agree, and to establish a conven- 
 tion with the United States which, without bringing in the 
 Mosquito question at all, should " confer upon American 
 commerce all it can desire to obtain, in a manner corre- 
 sponding with the dignity and honor of Great Britain and 
 the disinterestedness of her protectorate over tlie Mosquito 
 territory.* 
 
 So confident was Sir Henry that his government would 
 agree to such a plan that, when Mr. Clayton plainly con- 
 fessed to him that, owing to the critical position he was in 
 he could not wait for any further formalities, but must 
 either come to an agreement immediately with Great 
 Britain or accept his defeat and deliver the whole question 
 up to popular discussion for decision ; he decided to help 
 Mr. Clayton out of the difficulty by taking the whole 
 responsibility on his own slioulders and to go on with the 
 treaty without waiting for a reply from Lord Palmerston.f 
 
 Mr. Clayton was none too soon in obtaining this favor 
 from Sir Henry, for every day tiie dissatisfaction in regard 
 to the administration's policy was growing more widespread. 
 The Squier troatv, which had been sent to the senate after 
 the British seizure of Tigre Island had not, as yet, reached 
 the hands of the Committee on Foreign Relations ; but, on 
 January 28th tlje senate had adopted resolutions requesting 
 President Taylor to send the papers on tiie subject to the 
 senate, if compatible with public interest. In view of the 
 negotiations going on between Sir Henry and Mr. Clayton, 
 the President i-efused to send tlie papers to the senate ; so 
 
 * Sir Henry Bulwer to Lord Palmerston, Jan. 6th, 1850. Sen. Ex. Doc. 
 194, p. 60, 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, p. 61, 47th Cong., 1st sess. 
 
78 
 
 Mr. Clayton was left free to carry ont his policy to the end. 
 There was no difficulty after this, for when Sir Henry was 
 assured by Mr. Clayton that the Squier treaty would be al- 
 tered to suit the new arrangement, they soon agreed upon a 
 preliminary project which they then sent to Lord Palmers- 
 ton for approval. Even then, before the treaty was made 
 up, some of Mr. Clayton's colleagues urged upon him 
 the necessity of avoiding future disputes by definitely ad- 
 justing the Indian claims and setting at rest the British 
 protectorate before the treaty was signed ; but it was too 
 late, Sir Henry said, as Lord Palmerston had sent the 
 formal approval of Her Majesty's government to the project 
 as it was, and had transmitted to him fnll power under the 
 great seal to proceed with the negotiation of the formal 
 treaty on the lines laid down.* 
 
 As a result of it all, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was ac- 
 cordingly signed on April 19, 1850, as follows : 
 
 The United States of America and Her Britannic Majesty, being desir- 
 ous of consolidating the relations of amity which so happily subsist be- 
 tween them, by setting forth and fixing in a convention their views 
 and intentions with reference to any means of communication by ship- 
 canal which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceana 
 by the way of the river San Juan de Nicaragua and either or both of the 
 Lakes of Nicaragua or Managua, to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean, 
 the President of the United States has conferred full powers on John M. 
 Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Britannic 
 Majesty on the Right Honorable Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, a member of 
 Her Majesty's most honorable privy council, knight commander of the 
 most honorable Order of the Bath, and envoy extraordinary and minister 
 plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States, for the 
 aforesaid purpose ; and the said plenipotentiaries having exchanged their 
 full powers, which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to the 
 following articles : 
 
 Aetiole I. 
 
 The Governments of the United States and Great Britain hereby de- 
 clare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for 
 itself any exclusive control over the said ship-canal ; agreeing that neither 
 
 *Brit. and For. State Papers, Vol. XL., p. 953, Docs. 19-32. 
 
will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same or in 
 the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exer. 
 cise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any 
 part of Central America ; nor will either make use of any protection 
 which either affords or may afford, or' any alliance which either has or 
 may have to or with any state or people, for the purpose of erecting or 
 maintaining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying or coloniz- 
 ing Nicaragua, Costa Eica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central 
 America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same ; nor will 
 the United States or Great Britain take advantage of any intimacy, or 
 use any alliance, connection, or influence that either may possess with 
 any state or government through whose territory the said canal may pass, 
 for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the cit- 
 izens or subjects of the one, any rights or advantages in regard to 
 commerce or navigation through the said canal which shall not he offered 
 on the same terms to the citizens or subjects of the other. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Vessels of the United States or Grreat Britain traversing the said canal 
 shall, in case of war between the contracting parties, be exempted from 
 blockade, detention, or capture by either of the belligerents ; and this 
 provision shall extend to such a distance from the two ends of the said 
 canal as may hereafter be found expedient to establish. 
 
 Abticle III. 
 
 In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the contracting 
 parties engage that if any such canal shall be undertaken upon fair and 
 equitable terms by any parties having the authority of the local govern- 
 ment or governments through whose territory the same may pass, then 
 the persons employed in making the said canal, and their property used, 
 or to be used for that object, shall be protected, from the commencement 
 of the said canal to its completion, by the governments of the United 
 States and Great Britain, irom unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, or 
 any violence whatsoever. 
 
 Akticlb IV. 
 
 The contracting parties vfill use whatever influence they respectively 
 exercise with any state, states, or governments, possessing or claiming 
 to possess any jurisdiction or right over the territory which the said canal 
 shall traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable thereto, in 
 order to induce such states or governments to facilitate the construction 
 of the said canal by every means in their power. And furthermore, the 
 United States and Great Britain agree to use their good offices, wherever 
 or however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the establish- 
 ment of two free ports, one at each end of the said canal. 
 
 / 
 
80 
 
 Aeticle v. 
 
 The contracting parties farther engage, that when the said canal shall 
 have been completed, they will protect it from interruption, seizure or 
 unjust confiscation, and that they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, 
 so that the said canal may forevej. be open and free, and the capital in- 
 vested therein secure. Nevertheless, the governments of the United 
 States and Great Britain, in according their protection to the construc- 
 tion of the said canal, and guaranteeing its neutrality and security when 
 completed, always understand that this protection and guarantee are 
 granted conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both governments, or 
 either government, if both governments, or either government, should 
 deem that the persons or company undertaking or managing the same 
 adopt or establish such regulations concerning the traffic thereupon as are 
 contrary to the spirit and intention of this convention, either 'by making 
 un&ir discriminations in fiivor of the commerce of one of the contracting 
 parties over the commerce of the other, or by imposing oppressive exac- 
 tions or unreasonable tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, mer- 
 chandise, or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw the 
 aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving six months' notice 
 to the other. 
 
 Abtiole VI. 
 
 The contracting parties in this convention engage to invite every state 
 with which both or either have friendly intercourse to enter into stipu- 
 lations with them similar to those which they have entered into with each 
 other, to the end that all other states may share in the honor and advant- 
 age of having contributed to a work of such general interest and import- 
 ance as the canal herein contemplated. And the contracting parties 
 likewise agree that each shall enter into treaty stipulations with such of 
 the Central American States as they may deem advisable, for the purpose 
 of more efiectually carrying out the great design of this convention, 
 namely, that of constructing and maintainiug the said canal as a ship 
 communication between the two oceans for the benefit of mankind, on 
 equal terms to all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree, that 
 the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested by the other, 
 in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such treaty stipulations; and 
 should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory 
 through which the said canal shall pass between the states or govern- 
 ments of Central America, and such dififerences should in any way impede 
 or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the governments of the United 
 States and Oreat Britain will use their good offices to settle such differ- 
 ences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, 
 and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between 
 the contracting parties. 
 
81 
 
 AirncLB VII. 
 It being desirable that no time should be mmecessarily lost in com- 
 mencing and constracting the said canal, the governments of the United 
 States and Great Britain dermine to give their support and encourage- 
 ment to such persons or company as may first offer to commence the same, 
 with the necessary capital, the consent of the local authorities, and on 
 such principles as accord with the spirit and intention of this convention ; 
 and if any persons or company should already have, with any state 
 through which the proposed ship canal may pass, a contract for the con- 
 struction of such a canal as that specified in this convention, to the stip- 
 ulations of which contract neither of the contracting parties in this con- 
 vention have any just cause to object, and the said persons or company 
 shall moreover have made preparations, and expended time, money, and 
 trouble, on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed that such per- 
 sons or company shall have a priority of claim over every other person, 
 persons, or company to the protection of the governments of the United 
 States and Great Britain, and be allowed a year from the date of the 
 exchange of the ratifications of this convention for eonclueing their ar- 
 rangements, and presenting evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to 
 accomplish the contemplated undertaking; it being understood that if, at 
 the expiration of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not 
 able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprise, then the govern- 
 ments of the United States and Great Britain shall be free to afford their 
 protection to any other persons or company that shall be prepared to com- 
 mence and proceed with the construction of the canal in question. 
 « 
 
 Aeticlb VIII. 
 The governments of the United States and Great Britain having not 
 only desired, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a particular 
 object, but also to establish a general principle, they hereby agree to 
 extend their protection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable 
 communications, whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which 
 connects North and South America, and especially to the interoceanic 
 communications, should jthe same prove to be practicable, whether by 
 canal or railway. Which are now proposed to be established by the way of 
 Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint protection 
 to any such canals or railways as are by this article specified, it is always 
 understood by the United States and Great Britain that the parties con- 
 structing or owning the same shall impose no other charges or conditions 
 of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid governments shall approve of as 
 just and equitable; and that the same canals or railways, being open to 
 the citizens and subjects of the United States and Great Britain on equal 
 terms, shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and subjects of 
 
82 
 
 eyeiy other state which is willing to grant thereto snch protection as the 
 United States and Great Britain engage to afford. 
 
 Article IX. 
 The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged at Washington 
 within six months from this day, or sooner if possible. 
 
 In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed 
 this convention, and have hereunto affixed our seals. 
 
 Done at Washington, the nineteenth day of April, anno Domini one 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty. 
 
 John M. Clayton. [l.s.] 
 
 Heney Lytton Bulweb. [l.s.] * 
 
 37. The senate, it is true, approved the treaty in this 
 form, hut just before the final ratifications were exchanged, 
 Sir Henry made a formal statement to the State Department 
 to the effect tliat he was instructed to inform the United 
 States government that Her Majesty did not " understand 
 the engagements of that convention to apply to Her Majes- 
 ty's settlement at Honduras or its dependencies.' f Mr. 
 Clayton, on his own part, was fully satisfied that the treaty 
 was not intended to interfere with British rights in British 
 Honduras,:}: as they had been admitted all through the nego- 
 tiations, but in order, as he said, " to leave no room for a 
 charge of duplicity against our government,"§ he wrote to 
 Mr. King, then chairman of the Committee on Foreign Re- 
 lations in the Senate, asking his permission to add to Sir 
 Henry that the true understanding had been explained by him, 
 as chairman of Foreign Eelations, to the Senate, before the 
 vote was taken on the treaty. To this Mr. King replied 
 that " the Senate perfectly understood that the treaty did 
 not include British Honduras. Frankness becomes our gov- 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 82-85. 
 
 t Declaration to Dept. of State, June 29, 1850, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th 
 Cong., 1st sess., p. 87. 
 
 i Belize ante 23 c. 
 
 ? Mr. Clayton to Mr. King, July 4, 1850, Cong. Globe, Vol. XXVI., 
 p. 250. 
 
83 
 
 eminent," he continued, "but you should be careful not to 
 use any expression which would seem to recognize the right 
 of England to any portion of Honduras."* 
 
 Mr. Clayton then informed Sir Henry that he perfectly 
 understood that tlie treaty was not intended to include 
 British Honduras or its dependencies, but at the same time 
 declined to affirm or deny the British title to their settle- 
 ment there or to its alleged dependencies. f After these 
 mutual explanations Sir Henry and he proceeded to ex- 
 change the ratifications in due form. Having been assured 
 by Mr. King that the senate understood the matter, the 
 treaty was not sent back to that body for approval with this 
 last quasi amendment, but was ratified in its original form 
 and proclaimed by the President on July 5th, the only 
 record of the mutual understanding being a memorandum 
 to that effect put on file by Mr. Clayton in the State De- 
 partment. 
 
 * Mr. King to Mr. Clayton, July 4, 1850, ibid. 
 tSen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 87. 
 
84 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 A. — 38. President Taylor's death occurred only a week 
 after the promulgation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and 
 in the change of administration under President Fillmore, 
 Mr. Webster once more assumed the portfolio of the State 
 Department ; so, on him finally devolved the duty of carry- 
 ing into practical effect the policy instituted .by his prede- 
 cessor. Sir Henry Bulwer, in the meantime, even after his 
 treaty with Mr. Claytonjiad been ratified and formally pro- 
 claimed, evidently did not consider his mission fulfilled 
 until he had succeeded in having the Squier treaty 
 39. either buried out of sight altogether, or at least so es- 
 sentially modified as not to interfere with the English 
 protectorate. To this end he worked most assiduously and 
 Mr. Webster, being practically estopped by Mr. Clayton's 
 former promises and b.y the very terms of the Clayton-Bul- 
 wer treaty itself, from maintaining many essential points in 
 Mr. Squier's convention, and wishing, furthermore, to carry 
 out the policy formally adopted by the United States and to 
 bring about a definite settlement of Central American affairs; 
 finally promised Sir Henry that he should recommend the 
 senate to do nothing further for the present in respect to 
 Mr. Squier's treaty.;): Congress adjourned soon after this 
 and the American Treaty was buried in oblivion never to 
 be resuscitated. How well its place has been filled by Mr. 
 Clayton's substitute it is the purpose of the following pages 
 to show. 
 
 t Sir Henry Bulwer to Lord Palmerston, Sept. 29, 1850. C!orrespond- / 
 
 ence with the United States respecting Central America, pp. 70, 71, 
 printed by order of Parliament, 1856. Brit, and For. State Papers, Vol. "* 
 
 XL., p. 953, Docs. .59-62, 1850-51. Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., Ist , 
 sess., Doc. No. 1, p. 4. 
 
•85 
 
 B. — 40. During these months also, Great Britain still 
 maintained her dominion over Greytown and her protecto 
 rate over the Mosquitos, and when Nicaragua protested 
 against this occupation as in direct violation of the Glayton- 
 Bulwer treaty, the British authorities replied through Mr. 
 Chatfield that, far from putting an end to the Mosquito 
 protectorate, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, by mentioning the 
 Mosquito coast separately, not only distinctly acknowledged 
 the Mosquito sovereignty but also expressly denied Nicara- 
 gua's right over the coast ; and besides, Mr. Chatfield said, 
 Nicaragua, by her treaty with Captain Loch in 1848 had 
 agreed not to disturb the status quo of Greytown. To fur- 
 ther demonstrate her interpretation of that hopeless first 
 article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, the British government 
 then sent a war ship, the Indefatigable, under command 
 of Captain Smart, to Greytown, withorders to remain there, 
 to show to the world that her Majesty had not surrendered 
 the port by the terms of the treaty, nor the Mosquito pro- 
 tectorate, but had merely agreed with the United States to 
 mutually guarantee the proposed canal. Finally, to leave 
 no shadow of doubt as to their intentions, the British forces 
 once more occupied the town, and Mr. Chatfield again de- 
 clared to Nicaragua that his government considered the 
 Mosquito kingdom to extend, from the southern boundary 
 of Honduras to the borders of Machuca in the river San 
 Juan.* 
 
 Such, then, was the first result of the Clayton-Bulwer diplo- 
 macy. The Mosquito question, which was to have been put 
 aside was still in the front and even a trifle more invigorated, 
 by what Great Britain considered its formal recognition by 
 the United States. Article one, of the treaty, which had 
 been ratified by the United States, with the understanding 
 that Great Britain would thereby gracefully retire from 
 
 *Brit. and For. State Papers, Vol. XL., p. 953, Docs. 61 and 62. Sen. 
 Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Docs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, pp.-5-16 and 21. 
 
86 
 
 her protectorate in favor of the canal company, was now in- 
 terpreted by the English to mean a distinct acknowledgment 
 from the United States government of their right to the San 
 Juan ; and though, in the abstract, it would seem impossi. 
 ble that two such utterly divergent interpretations could be 
 placed on any one article, agreed to and ratified by both 
 parties, a mere perusal of the article itself, in this case at 
 least, would thoroughly convince one of the dangers of ab- 
 stract thought applied to reality. To a layman it would 
 seem that almost anything could be made out of that tangle 
 of words, and even to those most learned in the law it has 
 proved an insurmountable barrier to any lucid interpre- 
 41. tation. By the time the matter really came up between 
 the contracting parties, however, the whole question of 
 the San Juan at least, had worked itself out in the most 
 natural way imaginable and on lines approved by the most 
 modern theories of political science. It became simply a case 
 of the state behind the constitution pronouncing its final 
 decision against the existing form of government. When 
 the canal company began its operations, its agents, contractors 
 and laborers, and a heterogeneous set of emigrants from all 
 countries who had followed in their wake, knowing little of 
 the reasons of the British protectorate and probably caring 
 less, simply took matters into their own hands and ran 
 things to suit themselves. The guns of the British war 
 ships might frown on them as they pleased, and the emblem 
 of Mosquito royalty might float ever so proudly from the 
 staff, but the American genius for self government was not 
 to be smothered by any such forms as these, and soon, di- 
 rectly under the nose of the guns and under the very shadow 
 of the flag a flourishing town sprang up with a regular sys- 
 tem of municipal government, under an American mayor 
 named Martin. f 
 
 One last attempt of the British to keep up their lament- 
 fSen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess. Doc. No. 40, p. 84. 
 
87 
 
 able farce and all was over. One of the British vessels, the 
 Express, had the impertinence to demand some custom 
 dues lawfully belonging to Great Britain since her assump- 
 tion of the custom house in Greytown, from the American 
 vessel Prometheus. This, of course, raised a hue and cry 
 from the self-constituted authorities of the port, at this in- 
 sult to the American flag. Mr. White the agent of the 
 canal company appealed to Mr. Webster, and he in turn 
 laid the matter before the British government. Lord Gran- 
 ville, who had succeeded Lord Palmerston as foreign secre- 
 tary, replied that the commander of the Express had acted 
 without orders, and formally disavowed the act. So, thus 
 the British claim to the San Juan became a thing of the 
 past, and though the forms of Mosquito sovereignty were 
 still kept up over the port, Greytown from this moment se- 
 cured the high privileges of a free city, in fact, at least, if 
 not in name.* 
 
 C. — 43. While these events were going on in Nicara- 
 gua, Mr. Webster was hard at work in Washington, prepar- 
 ing to carry out the promises of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
 and arrange for some settlement of affairs in Central Amer- 
 ica. Some time before, Mr. Lawrence had learned from Mr. 
 Marcoleta, then accredited by Nicaragua as her minister in 
 London, that his government would gladly give up Grey- 
 town to be a free town, if the United States and Great Brit- 
 ain should agree upon a plan to construct a canal through 
 that port, and further that neither Nicaragua nor Honduras 
 cherished any animosity toward the Indians, and would wil- 
 lingly make them citizens should Great Britain agree to 
 abandon her protectorate. From Mr. Molina, Costa Eica's 
 Minister in London, Mr. Lawrence learned that the report 
 that Great Britain had negotiated a treaty with that country 
 for the canal was erroneous, and finally he was further in- 
 
 *Brit. and For. State Papers, Vol. XL., p. 953, Docs. 01-63, 8?-87. 
 
formed that both Nicaragua and Costa Rica would willingly 
 submit their boundary disputes to the arbitration of citizens 
 of the United States and Great Britain.* Such was the 
 favorable state of opinion when the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
 was signed ; but the subsequent action of the British in 
 Greytown induced very naturally a great revulsion of feel^ 
 ing on Nicaragua's part, and when Mr. "Webster came to 
 take up the questions he found them once more in a hope- 
 less snarl. 
 
 43. In these last troubles with Great Britain, Nicara- 
 gua, as before, literally cast the burden of the entire affair 
 upon the United States. Relying on the contract she 
 had granted to the canal company, and on the promises Mr. 
 Sqaier had made to her, she laid the whole matter before 
 Mr. "Webster through her Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. 
 Salinas, complaining bitterly against the action of the Brit- 
 ish, insisting upon her inalienable right of sovereignty from 
 sea to sea, and protesting finally against the transfer of 
 Greytown to Costa Rica, as had been proposed as a solution 
 of the difficulty. Mr. Marcoleta was then transferred to 
 Washington and empowered by Nicaragua to negotiate any 
 treaty there he saw fit, for a settlement of the vexed ques- 
 tions.f 
 
 44. Not to be outdone by Nicaragua, Costa Rica also 
 presented her claims to Mr. Webster, and appealed to him 
 to see that her rights in the proposed canal route were not 
 overlooked. Mr. Molina, who had also been transferred to 
 "Washington, assured Mr. Webster that Costa Rica was anx- 
 ious to do all in her power to favor the work of the canal, 
 but insisted that her participation in the work was really nec- 
 
 *Sen. Ex. Doe. 27, 32d Cong., 2d sess., Doc. 39, p. 102, Doc. 40, p. 
 105. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Docs. 4, 5 and 6, pp. 12-18. 
 
essary, as on the authority of original charters* she claimed 
 " as frontier the whole course of the river San Juan and the 
 shore of tlie lake Nicaragua from the place where that river 
 issues from the lake to a point opposite the mouth of the 
 river La Flor, on the Pacific, including of course in this 
 demarkation the district of Guanacaste, otherwise called 
 ISTicoya," and further " an equal right with Nicaragua to the 
 navigation of the aforesaid river San Juan, and of the lake, 
 and to the dominion of port San Juan."f These old 
 documents, which Mr. Molina had gone to such lengths to 
 obtain from the Spanish archives, in themselves produced 
 quite an imposing effect, but Mr. Molina seemed to entirely 
 forget that Costa Rica in her own constitution^ only claimed 
 as far north as the Colorado river, on the Atlantic, to the 
 mountains which in those parts drain northward into the 
 San Juan and lake Nicaragua, and to the Rio Salto,§ on the 
 Pacific. Although by a decreet of the Federal Con- 
 gress of the Confederacy a little later, the district of Guan- 
 acaste was separated from Nicaragua and annexed to Costa 
 Rica, to give her a more adequate representation in the Con- 
 gress until the boundaries of the several states were defi- 
 nitely settled according to Article VII. of the Constitution ; 
 still, as the boundaries were never so fixed during the life 
 of the ConfederacyTf, it was only natural that when Nicaragua 
 resumed hei independent position she should reclaim her 
 lost territory and insist on the maintenance of the old boun- 
 
 * Ante 4 a. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Doc. 16, p. 50. 
 
 t Costa Eica Constitution, Chap. II., Art. 15, dated June 31, 1825, 
 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1888, p. 461. 
 
 § Called also the Alverado. 
 
 II Dec. 9, 1825, ibid. 
 
 '1[ Sqnier's Cent. Amer. States, p. 446. Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., 
 Vol. III., p. 252. American Whig Bemew, November, 1850, "The Great 
 Ship Canal Question." 
 
90 
 
 bary lines. So in answer to the pretensions which Mr. Mo- 
 lina now set up for Costa Rica, Nicaragua replied that she 
 claimed as her own as far south as a line drawn from a point 
 on the Atlantic, midway between the port of San Juan and 
 Port Mathina, to the Eio Salto, on the Pacific, and included 
 in her territory the entire district of Nicoya, or Guanacaste. 
 
 45. To further complicate this boundary dispute, Nic- 
 aragua then granted permission to the canal company to 
 separate from its original grant, the privilege of exclusive 
 steam navigation on the waters of the river and lake, and 
 after the members of the company had formally incorporated 
 themselves into a sort of secondary company, to be known 
 as the Accessory Transit Company, she issued an additional 
 charter,* giving them an exclusive right to operate a tem- 
 porary route of transit through her territory by means of 
 steam vessels on her waters. By this last grant the canal 
 company was enabled to establish a present mode of transit 
 across the Isthmus and secure to themselves an immediate 
 income, by providing for the great tide of emigatioh which 
 was then at its heiglit. There was some doubt at first in the 
 minds of the joint guarantors of the company, whether this 
 new company would not practically take the place of the 
 old ;f but as Colonel Childs, their engineer, was then actively 
 engaged in the final survey, according to the terms of the 
 Clayton-Bulwer treaty (Art. VII.), and was reporting favor- 
 ably on the feasibilty of a regular canal route, it was thought 
 best not to interfere, though in truth, as will be seen, these 
 fears were only too well grounded. 
 
 D. — 46. Mr. "Webster had already sent a special agent, 
 Mr. Kerr, to Nicaragua, with instructions also to visit the 
 
 * Dated Aug. 14th, 1851, given in full, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th C!ong., 
 Ist seas., p. 88. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess. , Doc. 19, p. 56. 
 
91 
 
 other states of Central America, and do what he could in 
 straightening mattei's out ;* but day by day the questions 
 were becoming more involved, for besides this boundary 
 trouble, Costa Rica on the one side was complaining 
 against Nicaragua's actions in granting sections of land to 
 the canal company in her territory, and Nicaragua, on the 
 other, was protesting against the grants of land in and about 
 Gteytown, which had been so freely given by the English- 
 Mosquito magnates there.f Matters dragged along in this 
 way for some months, until the British government finally 
 authorized Mr. Crampton, who had resumed his old post at 
 Washington, to open negotiations with Mr. Webster, in pur- 
 suance of the promises the two governments had made in 
 the Clayton-Bulwer treaty (Art. VI.), and to agree upon 
 some basis of settlement of the disputed points. Unfortu- 
 nately Nicaragua was in a very unsettled state at this time, 
 being engaged with Honduras and Salvador in one of their 
 periodic attempts at union, and had already entered into 
 treaty stipulations providing for the establishment of a con- 
 federacy, to be known as " The National Representation of 
 Central America ;" so Mr. Marcoleta, being credited by Nic- 
 aragua as an independ'^.nt state, could not be invited to join 
 in the proposed negotiations as an agent of the confederacy. 
 Mr. Molina, as Costa Rica's representative, was asked to 
 join in the basis, but he made such exorbitant and absard 
 demands for indemnity to his government for the grants of 
 land which had been made to the canal company on the 
 south bank of the San Juan, that Mr. Webster and Mr. Cramp, 
 ton were obliged to reject his suggestions entirely and pro- 
 ceed alone to some agreement as to the points at issue be- 
 tween them, and adopt such recommendations as should 
 seem just to them to submit to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, 
 to settle their boundary dispute.:]: 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Boc. 25, 34th Cong., lat sess., Doc. 13, p. 49. 
 
 t Ibid, Docs. 20-26. pp. 56-64. 
 
 X Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Docs. 27 and 28, pp. 64, 65. 
 
92 
 
 41. While Mr. Webster and Mr. Orampton were still 
 debating over their project of settlement, Mr. Marcoleta 
 wrote that all hopes of establishing a confederacy being for 
 the present abandoned, he could act again in his true ca- 
 pacity as Nicaragua's representative ; and not being repre- 
 rented in the present negotiations up to this time he took 
 the liberty, he said, of offering some suggestions from his 
 government as to the best way of settling the questions then 
 pending. As to the port of San Juan and the Mosquito 
 country, Nicaragua proposed that the port be restored to 
 her, and that she in return should accept such limits as 
 Gi'eat Britain had proposed for the Mosquito country. On 
 such a basis Nicaragua expressed her willingness to exe- 
 cute a treaty with Great Britain on the same terms as that 
 discussed between the United States and Nicaragua.* To 
 secure all these rights, Nicaragua finally proposed that Great 
 Britain and the United States should mutually guarantee 
 the integrity- of her territory, especially that part to be 
 occupied by the canal. In regard to the boundary ques- 
 tions, Nicaragua was, indeed, most exacting. She offered 
 to yield to Costa Eica, it is true, the district of Guanacaste, 
 but in return she demanded that Costa Eica should desist 
 from her pretensions to the right bank of the San Juan, and 
 regard that river as forming an integral part of Nicaragua. 
 If Costa Eica should agree to this, Nicaragua promised to 
 insure to her, absolute freedom and immunity for the im- 
 portation and exportation of her merchandize and products 
 through the rivers San Juan and Sarapiqui, and should 
 Costa Eica request it, Nicaragua promised to cede to her 
 enough land for a wagon road, custom houses and revenue 
 stations in this district. In return for all this, however, 
 Costa Eica was to formally renunciate all pecuniary claims 
 which she considered herself entitled to from Nicaragua, 
 and should these bases prove agreeable, Nicaragua finally pro- 
 
 * Sqnier treaty. 
 
93 
 
 posed that she and Costa Rica immediately negotiate a 
 treaty of peace, amity and commerce embodying these 
 agreements.* 
 
 48. These one-sided proposals from Nicaragua, of 
 course, could not influence Mr. Webster and Mr. Crampton 
 in their final decisions, coming as they did so late in the 
 day, and in a short time they themselves agreed upon a ba- 
 sis for the settlement of all the disputes, f By the terms 
 of their agreement a certain district was to be set apart for 
 the Mosquito Indians, extending from the river Segovia 
 down to the river Raina and running west from the Carib- 
 bean sea to meridian of 34:° 30' west longitude from Green- 
 wich. All the rest of the territory to the south and west, 
 claimed by the Mosquitos, including Greytown, was to be 
 ceded to Nicaragua, provided she would pay to the Mosquitos 
 for three years, ten per cent, of the ad valorem duties col- 
 lected at Greytown. Nicaragua was also to agree not to 
 molest the Indians in their reservation and to respect all 
 grants of land, attended with residence or possession, made 
 by the Indians since January 1st, 1848 in the territory 
 ceded to Nicaragua, provided those grants did not interfere 
 with the operations of the canal company and did not in- 
 clude territory needed by Nicaragua for forts or public 
 buildings. None of these stipulations, however, were to be 
 considered as precluding the conclusion of some voluntary 
 compact between Nicaragua and the Indians, whereby the 
 latter should be incorporated in the state of Nicaragua and 
 become Nicaraguan citizens ; and, though Nicaragua was to 
 hold the municipal authority at Greytown, it was agreed in 
 the project that she should lay no duties on goods coming 
 there but intended only for transit across the Isthmus. 
 
 Then, in regard to the boundary dispute,. Mr. Crampton 
 
 *Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Doc. 29, pp. 66-70. 
 t April 30, 1852. 
 
94 
 
 and Mr. Webster proposed that the boundary line between 
 the two countries should begin on the south bank of the 
 Colorado river at its conilence with the sea, and should run 
 thence along this river's bank to its confluence with the San 
 Juan; thence along the south bank of the San Juan to its 
 source in Lake Nicaragua ; thence along the south and west 
 shores of the lake to the point nearest the mouth of the 
 river La Flor ; and thence by a direct line drawn from that 
 point to the mouth of the said river in the Pacific Ocean. 
 Costa Rica, however, was to retain, in common with Nica- 
 ragua, the right to navigate these rivers and the lake, ex- 
 cepting, however, the right of steam' navigation, as this had 
 already been granted exclusively to the canal company. 
 Costa Rica was also to agree to allow the canal company to 
 locate four of the eight sections of land granted to it in its 
 charter,* on the south bank of the San Juan. Both govern- 
 ments were expressly to stipulate, finally, to do nothing in 
 these rivers, nor in the lake, nor in the harbor of Greytown, 
 which might in any way obstruct the free operations of the 
 canal company. 
 
 Following then the proposals of the Clayton-iJulwer 
 treaty,! Mr. Webster and Mr. Crampton agreed, in conclu- 
 sion that in ease of war between Great Britain and the United 
 States, vessels of the belligerents should be exempt from block- 
 ade, detention or capture, when within twenty-five miles of 
 either entrance of the canal ; and they also agreed to give 
 the American, Atlantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company 
 another year within which to comply with the stipulations 
 which, it was agreed in that instrument,! if complied with, 
 should give a company the right of protection of the two 
 governments ; and to the Accessory Transit, they agreed by 
 this instrument, to grant the protection of their respective 
 
 * AjQte 31. 
 t Article II. 
 II Article VII. 
 
95 
 
 governments, provided such protection should not interfere 
 with the construction of the real canal. 
 
 Of conrse, these propositions, as far as they concerned 
 Nicaragua and Costa Rica, were only advisory and recom- 
 mendatory, they not being represented in the negotiations ; 
 but Mr. "Webster and Mr. Crampton warned the two gov- 
 ernments in so many terms at the close of the project, that 
 if they did not promptly concur in the general basis of the 
 arrangement and adopt proper measures for carrying it out. 
 Great Britain and the United States by themselves 
 would jointly adopt such measures as they should deem ad- 
 visable to carry into execution tl e Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
 and accomplish the design contained therein, of an inter- 
 oceanic canal between the two oceans by way of the river 
 San Juan and Lake Nicaragua.* 
 
 E. — 49. In order to further facilitate matters and to 
 insure a prompt decision on the questions, Mr. Wyke, the 
 English consul general in Central America, was given full 
 power to bring the matter before the governments for Great 
 Britain, and for the United States, Mr. Webster appointed 
 Mr. Robert Walsh a special agent to communicate the pro- 
 posed arrangement to Costa Rica and authorized Mr. Kerr 
 to perform the same office in Nicaragua.^ 
 
 By the terms of this basis the Mosquito question was at 
 last really put aside and every provision of the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty carried out. The whole question now rested 
 on the amount of influence the two great powers were able 
 to exert in Central America, for on the acceptance or re- 
 fusal of this new basis, really hung the ultimate fate of the 
 Clayton-Bulwer policy. Either it would be sustained and 
 the canal company made secure in its rights, or else there 
 
 * The fall text of this basis may be found in Senate Ex. Doc. 25, 34th 
 Cong., 1st sess., Doc. 30, p. 73. 
 t Ibid Doc. 30 and 31, p. 73-76. 
 
96 
 
 must result the overthrow of the whole structure of diplo- 
 macy. Everything possible in the treaty Mr. Webster had 
 provided for and now the policy had to be left to stand 
 or fall on its own merits. 
 
 50. Mr. Walsh was very successful in his mission to 
 Costa Kica. He explained the justice of the agreement and 
 pointed out that Costa Kica, in acquiring Guanacaste, was 
 more than recompensed for losing the right of steam navi- 
 gation in the San Juan and the lake. He showed, too, that 
 Nicaragua had first introduced steam navigation on her 
 waters, believing she possessed the right of sole navigation, 
 and now that the company to which she had granted this 
 exclusive right had laid out a large amount of capital on the 
 faith of the grant, it was only just that they should continue 
 in the rights they had gained. Costa Uica at fii'st advanced 
 her old claims for indemnity, but seeing they would not be 
 listened to, she reluctantly signed and approved the basis as 
 it stood, though at the same time recommending many 
 changes.* 
 
 51. Costa Rica's consent being thus gained (June, 
 1852), all eyes were turned toward Nicaragua, for now on 
 that fickle little state depended the fate of the Clayton-Bul- 
 wer policy. Nicaragua, however, was in no mood to be 
 dealt with at this time, for the constant difficulties she had 
 encountered ever since the earliest days of her independence 
 had made her at last sulky and suspicious. Her indepen- 
 dence itself had cost her very dear, and the desperate con- 
 flicts of that time between the revolutionists and aristocrats 
 had left her weakened and Unfitted to take her rightful po- 
 sition in the confederacy which followed. Partisan strug- 
 gles had increased during the short lived confederacy, and 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Docs. 39, 40 and 41 pp 83- 
 98. 
 
97 
 
 even after Nicaragua was thrown entirely on her own re-r 
 sources, she was still ever in a state of ferment through in- 
 ternal disturbances and tlie conflicts of rival factions. In 
 such a condition, and with no real national spirit to shape 
 her policy, Nicaragua was next plunged into the conflict 
 with Great Britain, as has been seen, and, in spite of her 
 frantic protest, she had been compelled to see hef dearest 
 rights invaded, and her only seaport on the Atlantic actually 
 taken from her, and held in the name of her own Indians. 
 It was small wonder, then, that in her hopeless condition 
 Nicaragua grasped so eagerly the helping hand which the 
 United States held out to her, through Mr. Squier and the 
 canal company. At first, indeed, she was most grateful for 
 the preferred help, and willing to oblige in every way ; 
 but during these last few years the idea of her own import- 
 ance seems to have increased most disproportionately, fos- 
 tered no doubt by the interest the great nations were now 
 showing in her affairs. While at first she had thrown her- 
 self upon the United States government and implored their 
 aid, now, as has been said, she was actually dictating terms 
 for the basis of settlement, and arrogantly protesting against 
 foreign interference. 
 
 The Accessory Transit Company were in full operation 
 by this time ; steamers had been brought down and were 
 now plying in Nicaragnan waters, but this only proved 
 another source of trouble, for in spite of contracts and char- 
 ters, disagreements and actual conflict had followed. The 
 cause of it all was a certain deed given in the name of the 
 Accessory Transit Company to a man named Wiener, for 
 land near one of the old Nicaraguan forts on the river. . The 
 house which Mr. Wiener built on the land, formed a nucleus 
 for the Americans, and according to the Nicaraguan account 
 they had built edifices on the platform of the old fort, and 
 had even gone so far as to build a hotel in the very fort 
 itself, and were selling liquors there (a right which belongs 
 
98 
 
 exclusively to' the government in ^Nicaragua). Nicaragua 
 also accused the Americans of mounting a gun on the fort, 
 and when the Nicaraguan sailors came to establish a govern- 
 ment custom house there, they found that the foreigners had 
 thrown broken glass in the stream to keep them from land- 
 ing- 
 Mr. Kerr saw the delicacy of the situation and immedi- 
 ately promised the Nicaraguans he would do all in his power 
 to put an end to these unwarrantable aggressions. He then 
 gradually laid the proposed arrangement for a settlement be- 
 fore them and attempted to show them the justice of it all. 
 It was worse than useless, however, and only added fuel to 
 their anger. Behind the plausible phrases of the agreement, 
 they saw their old enemy England backing Costa Rica in 
 her claims, and would listen to no arguments on the subject. 
 Having, as they contended, an inalienable right to the Mos- 
 quito coast and Guanacaste, they would not have this right 
 tampered with by any foreign powers. Not content with 
 refusing the basis entirely Nicaragua iinally issued a formal 
 decree, protesting against the use of force to restrain her will 
 and her rights and against all foreign interference in her 
 affairs.* 
 
 Such childishness on Nicaragua's part exhausted even the 
 patience of the United States government, and Mr. Conrad, 
 — then temporarily in charge of the state department until 
 Mr. Webster's successorf had been appointed — wrote to Mr. 
 Marcoleta, calling attention to the fact ; that it was at Nicar- 
 agua's own request that the United States had been induced 
 to interpose their good offices in her behalf, and now that 
 they had done their be&t, Nicaragua had not only rejected 
 the basis for a settlement, but had taken pains further to 
 issue a decree of formal protest against foreign interference. 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Docs. 43, 44, 47 and 48, pp. 
 93-106. 
 
 t Mr. Webster's death occurred in October, 1852, but Mr. Everett was 
 not appointed until November. 
 
9*9 
 
 If Nicaragua were a powerful nation, Mr. Conrad contini 
 ued, the United States would certainly refuse to enter into 
 any further negotiations with lier after such unjust eensurei, 
 but considering the importance of the issues at stake, Mr. 
 Conrad offered to listen to such modifications as Mr. Marcoi- 
 leta should propose for his government.* 
 
 58. In answer, Mr. Marcoleta apologized most humbly 
 for his country's action, and said that the decr&e of protesta- 
 tion had been induced by an irresistible force of public 
 opinion, wrought up to that pitch by foreign acts of aggres- 
 sion in ITicaragna. As for the refusal of the basis, Mr'. 
 Marcoleta said that Nicaragua had refused to accept it be- 
 cause ; though recommendatory, it was intimated in the last 
 article that, should the basis be rejected. Great Britain and the 
 United States would proceed to carry out the stipulations of 
 the Clayton-Bulwer treaty themselves ; and this Nicaragua 
 looked upon as a threat, and in contradiction to the preamble 
 of the basis. Besides, Mr. Marcoleta added, in these bases 
 Nicaragua saw all through England's old principle of thfe 
 protectorate cropping out again and again, and insisted that 
 she would not admit Great Britain's right of conquest by 
 paying money to be relieved therefrom. Under the name 
 of modifications, Mr. Marcoleta then laid before the United 
 States what was practically an entirely new basis of settle- 
 ment, overturning rather than modifying the essential terms 
 of the original "Webster-Crampton agreement. By the terms 
 of this instrument, which Mr. Marcoleta so naively called 
 modifications, Nicaragua claimed as her right, the Mos- 
 quito country, the port and river of San Juan, and even 
 Guanacaste ; merely granting to Costa Kica the right of navi- 
 gating her waters in vessels not propelled by steam.f 
 
 53. Such claims as these, of course stirred up Costa Eica 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Doc. 51, p. 122. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doe. 25, 34th Cong., 1st sess.. Doc. 52, pp. 123-129: 
 
100 
 
 once more, and she too began to lay her claims before the 
 United States ; insisting that in return for the right of way, 
 the privilege of navigation, and the sections of land she had 
 yielded to the canal company under the terms of the basis, 
 the United States should insist upon the boundary lines be- 
 ing maintained as laid down in that instrument.* 
 
 F. — 54. So, in spite of all Mr. Webster had done, the 
 condition of affairs was as bad, if not worse, than before ; 
 and Nicaragua, as if not satisfied with her work of destruc- 
 tion thus far, added one more act of folly to her already 
 tottering foreign policy, by drawing up herself a project of 
 a treaty with G-reat Britain, and even presented it in London. 
 By thfe terms of this instrument Nicaragua proposed to have 
 Great Britain formally cede to her the Mosquito country by 
 treaty stipulations, and even appealed to the United States 
 to co-operate with her in inducing Great Britain to accede 
 to the terms. Nothing more, of course, could be done after 
 this ridiculous act of admission on Nicaragua's part. The 
 United States could only refuse on her side, at least, to ad- 
 mit Great Britain's right to the Mosquito country, and deny 
 her aid to a treaty which would virtually admit the claim 
 that both Nicaragua and the United States had thus far so 
 justly and consistently repudiated.f 
 
 55. Colonel Childs, meanwhile, had finished his survey 
 and had presented a favorable report on the feasibility of 
 the canal. His report was then sent to England, and re- 
 ceived there the approval of the two English engineers ap- 
 pointed by the British government to pass their decision on 
 the question.:]; This final decision of the engineers of both 
 countries, coming as it did, just after the two governments 
 had reached a final agreement through their representatives, 
 
 » Ibid, Doc. 53, pp. 129-132. 
 
 t Sen. Ex Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 1st seas., Docs. 62 and 63, pp. 143-146. 
 
 t Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., Ist aesa., p. 97. 
 
161 
 
 Messrs. Webster and Crampton, on all the pending diplo- 
 matic questions, seemed to make the canal already an as- 
 sured fact ; but just as the policy of joint action had failed 
 so ignominiously when brought to an actual test in Central 
 America, so it met with another defeat when the final at- 
 tempt was made to induce a joint action between the capi- 
 talists of both countries. In short the British capitalists 
 refused to embark on the enterprise, in spite of the earn- 
 est solicitation of the United States projectors. It will be 
 remembered that the need of English capital was the main 
 reason advanced • for abandoning the policy of exclusive 
 control, and for joining with Great Britain in carrying out 
 
 the undertaking; so, as was only too natural, after 
 56. these two hard blows the downfall of that structure 
 
 of diplomacy, so carefully planned by Mr. Clayton, 
 was complete, and, buried in its ruins, lay all present 
 prospects for the canal. A rickety enough structure it 
 was, one might answer now in the light of subsequent 
 events, and planted on too unstable a foundation to last 
 any time, under however favorable circumstances. No 
 doubt this is true, but the edifice was reared as best it could 
 be on the lines laid down, and lacked only Nicaragua's con- 
 sent and the British capitalists' approval, as key-stories to 
 make it complete. These were not ready, however, and so 
 the whole building collapsed, and in fact the very founda- 
 tion was undermined, for not only had the walls fallen in, 
 but the vei-y ground underneath was shifted and changed. 
 All that remained of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty were the first 
 and eighth articles, which like two lone chimneys still re- 
 mained as rigid as ever, standing out in threatening relief, 
 a menace to all who should attempt to build a stronger 
 structure on the same ground. 
 
102 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 IstA. — 57. Useless as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
 had become after this succession of defeats, it still remained 
 a bitter bone of contention between the United States and 
 Great Britain ; and now that all attempts to smooth over the 
 controverted points had so signally failed, the old question 
 of interpretation was once more opened. Then, as if to 
 widen still further the gulf which lay between the two gov- 
 ernments, Great Britain issued a formal proclamation, con- 
 stituting Roatan and the islands about it, a regular British 
 colony, under the name of the " Colony of the Bay Islands," 
 but annexed to the superintendency of Belize. This proc- 
 lamation was made, in answer to a petition by the English 
 inhabitants of Roatan, who, ever since the seizure of the 
 island by Colonel Macdonald in 1841,* had lived along in a 
 haphazard sort of way, not knowing really whether they 
 were under the authority of Belize or not ; and in view of 
 the disturbed condition of Central America, now wished to 
 put themselves directly under the protection of Great Brit- 
 ain. f The English inhabitants of the island seein to have 
 been in the minority, however, for at the very time they 
 made their request Roatan was under the control of a citizen 
 of the United States, William Fitzgibbon, who had been 
 regularly elected one of their chief magistrates by the 
 islanders themselves. Mr. Fitzgibbon protested against this 
 new occupation by the British, as the islands had practi- 
 cally become free from their control by this time; but 
 British influence, backed by the guns of a British war ship 
 sent there from Jamaica, was too powerful to be resisted, 
 
 * Ante 23 c. 
 
 t Warrant allowing the erection of the colony, dated March 20, 1852. 
 Squier Cent. Amer. States, p. 625. Proclamation dated July 17th, Sen. 
 Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., Ist sess.. p. 97. See also, United Service Maga- 
 zine, August, 1850. 
 
103 
 
 and the inhabitants one and all consented to the new order 
 of things. 
 
 B. — 58. According to the interpretation which the 
 United States had already placed upon the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty, this last act of G-reat Britain's was in flagrant viola- 
 tion of article one, unless, indeed, these islands might be 
 considered as included in that indefinite division, "British 
 Honduras and its dependencies." The matter was soon 
 brought up before Congress* and during the debate which 
 followed in the senate, the doubt and obscurity which had 
 hung about the Clayton-Bulwer negotiations were at last 
 cleared up. Senators who had voted for the Clayton-Bulwer 
 treaty, now for the first time learned of the quasi amend- 
 ment which had been so quietly agreed to. They had voted 
 for the ratification of the treaty, they said, because they un- 
 derstood that Great Britain agreed thereby to give up her 
 claims in Central America ; and now they found that Mr. 
 Clayton had practically handed back the country to Great 
 Britain by a tacit understanding. The debate on the ques- 
 tion was long and bitter, but when at last the letters were 
 laid before the senate, it became very clear that, even with 
 the amendment, Great Britain could not justly claim the 
 Bay Islands as part of Belize, as the whole history of the 
 claims negatived such a union ; and in the course of the dis- 
 cussions the old American doctrine again began to take 
 shape. Eesolutions were presented condemning any fur- 
 ther European colonization on this continent, and stating 
 once more the principles of the Monroe administration. 
 These more vigorous doctrines when applied more directly 
 to Central America, were very forcibly expressed in a report 
 from the Committee on Foreign Relations who, after a 
 thorough examination of the whole question, concluded 
 that the Bay Islands constituted a part of the territory of 
 
 *Dec. 2, 1852. 
 
104 
 
 Honduras and therefore part of Central America, and that 
 in consequence the present British occupation of them was in 
 direct violation of the Claytou-Bulwer treaty. This report 
 was adopted by the senate, and once more the United States 
 came out before the world fairly and squarely, prepared to 
 stand or fall on the priticiples she had always contended 
 for.* 
 
 C. — 59. Just at this juncture President Pierce's admin- 
 istration was installed,f and with the policy of the country 
 thus clearly laid down Mr. Marcy, his Secretary of State, 
 at once opened the diplomatic campaign with Great 
 Britain. Mr. Buchanan was sent to London, fully informed 
 as to the views of the government on the question and 
 empowered to negotiate a treaty of settlement ; though no 
 ultimata were laid down, at first, until it could be learned 
 how much Great Britain would concede and how much 
 would have to be contested. After a little skirmishing the 
 demands of the two government became pretty clearly de- 
 fined, but to bring the questions more directly to 
 a. an issue, Mr. Buchanan prepared a formal statement 
 for Lord Clarendon, summing up the disputed points 
 and setting forth his government's views.^ In substance 
 he informed Lord Clarendon that, though the United States 
 would not dispute the rights which Great Britain had ac- 
 quired for certain purposes in Belize or British Honduras, 
 they would insist that, according to the express terms of the 
 Clayton-Bulwer treaty, she should withdraw her protec- 
 tion from the people and territory of the Mosquitos, and 
 deliver up the Bay Islands to Honduras to whom they 
 
 * Cong. Globe, Vol. XXVI. , pp. 158, 199, 204, 226, 235, 237, 246, 259, 
 265, 266, 330, 338, 392, 403, 420, 502, 529, 609, 849 and Appendix under 
 " Clayton-Bulwer " and " Colonization in North America." 
 
 t Mar. 4, 1853. 
 
 t Jan, 6th, 1854. 
 
105 
 
 rightly belonged, as they were not excepted in the treaty as 
 dependencies of Belize.* 
 
 b. Tn reply Lord Clarendon also made a long statement, 
 in which he took the ground that the Olayton-Bulwer treaty 
 made no provision against the protectorate, but merely pro- 
 hibited colonization in Central America ; and as for the Bay 
 Islands, he of course maintained that they were dependencies 
 of Belize, and therefore expressly excepted from the terms 
 of the treaty.f 
 
 Both Mr. Buchanan and Lord Clarendon embellished 
 these statements with many arguments and references to 
 the history and origin of the claims ; but the divergence of 
 the views of the two countries was so complete, and their 
 points of view were so different that, far from settling any 
 of the disputed points, these statements had rather the effect 
 of drawing the two governments even further apart. The 
 United States, on the one side, having discovered^ what a 
 failure the compromise policy had proved, once more rested 
 on the doctrines of President Monroe ; while Great Britain, 
 on the other, simply refused to accept the Monroe doctrine 
 as an international axiom, and declined to be questioned as 
 to her original rights in Central America. 
 
 60. Any prospects for treaty stipulations on the ques- 
 tion were of course utterly hopeless, and the question be- 
 came even more serious through the general excitement 
 induced by the action of the British government in recruit- 
 ing soldiers m the United States to serve in the East against 
 Russia.:]: The two governments had gone so far in their 
 
 * Correspondence between Great Britain and the United States in Be- 
 lation to Cent. Amer. Affairs, 34th Cong., 1st sess., to be found in " Cen- 
 tral American Affairs and Enlistment Question," pp. 18-27. 
 
 t Ibid pp. 43-46. 
 
 I Correspondence and Papers relative to the Enlistment of troops with- 
 in the United States by the Agents of Great Britain. Communicated, to 
 the Senate, 34th Cong., 1st sess., Feb. 97, 1856. See Cent. Amer. Afi&irs 
 auJ Enlistment Question, Washington, 18.56, printed as House Document. 
 
106 
 
 statements that there was no room for another compromise ; 
 so Great Britain as a precautionary measure augmented her 
 naval forces on the West Indian station and the United 
 States followed her example. 
 
 61. At this critical juncture, however, Honduras her- 
 self stepped in and solved the question by magnanimously 
 assuming the burden of the whole dispute. She informed 
 the British government, through her minister, Don Victor 
 Herran, that the interests of Honduras were paramount 
 to all others in the matter, and formally demanded the sur- 
 render of the Bay Islands. 
 
 Great Britain was only too glad to accept this solution of 
 the question, as it was all along rather a question of national 
 honor to her than one of the intrinsic worth of the islands 
 in dispute, and in August* she signed two conventions with 
 Honduras. By the first of these, Great Britain agreed to 
 have the Bay Islands constituted a free territory under the 
 sovereignty of Honduras, and by the second she abandoned 
 all the pretensions she had maintained over the Mosquitos 
 within Honduras territory, only providing that the Indians 
 should be provided with a reservation under the sovereign 
 rights of Honduras. 
 
 62. Mr. Buchanan had meanwhile withdrawn from his 
 mission in England (April, 1856), and by the time Mr. 
 Dallas, his successor, arrived, the whole situation had 
 changed, of course, and Great Britain was very anxious 
 to enter into treaty stipulations with the United States, 
 to lay at rest the troublesome questions that had arisen from 
 the Clayton-Bulwer convention, and further cement the basis 
 of settlement she had made with Honduras. Mr. Dallas and 
 Lord Clarendon soon came to agreement, as there no longer 
 remained any cause for dispute, and on the 17th of October 
 
 *Augnst27, 1866. 
 
107 
 
 a treaty was signed, providing for the withdrawal of the 
 British protectorate over the Mosquitos entirely, whether in 
 Honduras or Nicaragua, and for an arrangement in their 
 behalf agreeable to the United States. The treaty also set 
 the limits of the Belize settlement, in which Great Britain 
 could exercise lier possessory rights, and finally provided 
 for the cession of the Bay Islands, as agreed upon with 
 Honduras.* 
 
 So at last the American doctrine had prevailed in every 
 point, but there still remained a last stumbling block which 
 was destined unfortunately to wreck the whole agreement ; 
 for though she had abandoned all her claims. Great Britain 
 had still insisted in inserting a clause in the treaty, to the 
 effect that the cession of the Bay Islands should be depend- 
 ent on the ratification by Honduras of the former treaty 
 she had signed with that country. 
 
 a. When the Dallas-Clarendon convention came up be- 
 fore the Senate for ratification, this clause was dropped and 
 the article was so amended as simply to provide for the 
 cession, and a joint recognition on the part of Great Britain 
 and the United States of the sovereign rights of Honduras 
 over the islands in question. In its amended form the treaty 
 was then sent back to London, but Great Britain refused 
 to ratify it, as the treaty with Honduras had meanwhile 
 been sent back for modifications, and in the confusion Great 
 Britain did not feel safe in going on any further on 
 b. the same lines. So throwing aside the Dallas-Clarendon 
 instrument, she offered a new basis to the United States 
 for a treaty of settlement, providing for the recognition of 
 the Bay Islands as part of Honduras " whenever and as 
 soon as the republic of Honduras shall have concluded and 
 ratified a treaty with Great Britain, by which Great Britain 
 shall have ceded, and the Republic of Honduras shall have 
 
 * Dallas-Clarendon Treaty, Oct. 17, 1856, not ratified. See Wharton's 
 Digest of International Law, Vol. II., pp. 197-200. 
 
108- 
 
 accepted the said islands, subject to the provisions and con- 
 ditions contained in the said treaty."* The United States 
 df course rejected this proposition, for as Mr. Buchanan, 
 who had since been elected president, very tersely put it in 
 one of his messages : '• After the senate had refused to rec- 
 ognize the British convention with Honduras of the 27th 
 August, 1856, with full knowledge of its contents, it was im- 
 possible for me, necessarily ignorant of the ' provisions and 
 conditions' which might be contained in a future convention 
 between the same parties, to sanction them in advance.§ 
 
 Seven years had now passed, fraught with proposals and 
 counter proposals, with conflicting interpretations and gen- 
 eral misunderstandings ; and once again the two governments 
 were thrown back on the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, so beset 
 with difficulties. Almost unconsciously, however, one great 
 advance had been made in the American position, for after 
 these last tentative negotiations there could scarcely arise 
 again any further question of the rightful interpretation of 
 article one ; since by offering to negotiate on the terms she 
 did, Great Britain was henceforth practically estopped from 
 denying the justice of the American view. 
 
 3d. — 63. In Central America, also, during these years 
 things had been going from bad to worse. After the failure 
 of his mission in Nica,ragua Mr. Kerr had returned to the 
 United States, and in the change of administration under 
 President Pierce, Mr. Borland, a member of congress, was 
 sent in his place. It was just at this time that the United 
 States policy was being remoulded by the debates in con- 
 gress and Mr. Buchanan's negotiations in London ; so, in 
 harmony with these more vigorous ideas, Mr. Borland was 
 especially instructed to insist upon the Clayton-Bulwer 
 
 * Amendments presented by Gieat Britain to DaUas-Claremdon treaty. 
 For whole discussion see Pres; Bnchaoan's Message to Congiees, Dec 8, 
 
 1857, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 120. 
 
109 
 
 treaty as a still subsisting contract, but to " regard it as 
 meaning what tlie American negotiator intended when he 
 entered into it, and what the senate must have understood 
 it to mean when it was ratified, viz. : tliat by it Great 
 Britain came under engagements to the United States to 
 recede from her asserted protectorate of the ilosquito Jn,- 
 dians and cease to exercise dominion or control in any part 
 of Central America."* 
 
 Mr. Borland had no opportunity, however, to carry out 
 any such instructions, for he had only been in ^Nicaragua a 
 short time when more immediate troubles broke out at 
 Grey town, between the self-constituted town authorities and 
 the Accessory Transit Company. The quarrel arose frona 
 certain concessions wliich the local government demanded 
 from the company and which it refused to grant. It hap- 
 pened at the same time that a negro was shot by a Captain 
 Smith of the Transit Company', and this only increased, the 
 antagonism. To make matters worse, Captain Smith was 
 given up to Mr. Borland by the company, and when the 
 town officers of justice demanded his surrender, Mr. Borland 
 refused to give him up and insisted that the citizens of 
 Greytown had no jurisdiction over him. A mob then at- 
 tacked the residence of the United States Consul, Mr. Fabens, 
 in which Mr. Borland and Captain Smith had taken refuge, 
 and while endeavoring to expostulate, Mr. Borland was cut 
 by a bottle thrown by one of the mob. Mr. Fabens then left 
 the house and succeeded in boarding a United States vessel, 
 The Northern Light, and, after a consultation with the 
 American passengers on board, they decided to send a com- 
 mittee ashore and demand the surrender of Mr. Borland. 
 As the committee approached the shore, however, they were 
 fired upon and forced to return to the ship. Next morning 
 Mr. Borland escaped from the consulate and came aboard 
 
 * Mr. Marcy to Mr. Borland, Dec. 30, 1853, Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th 
 Cwg., 1st sess., p. 99. 
 
110 
 
 The Northern Light also. Then another consultation was 
 held, and it was decided to enlist a guard at the expense of 
 the United States and leave them in Greytown to protect 
 the Transit Company. This was accordingly done, and Mr. 
 Borland and Captain Smith sailed away to Washington 
 on The Northern Light. Shortly after Mr. Borland had 
 leportfed in Washington, the United States sloop-of-war 
 Cyane, under command of Captain Hollins, was sent to 
 Greytown to protect the Transit Company, as the United 
 States had promised. On his arrival Captain Hollins noti- 
 fied the inhabitants that he was going to bombard the town, 
 and ojBfered them all safe transport to Punta Arenas, where 
 the Transit Company was stationed. On the following 
 day, July 9th, 1854, Captain Hollins carried out his inten- 
 tion, and completed the work of destruction by landing a 
 force of marines and burned what remained of the village 
 after the guns had done their work. And so ended the 
 short-lived free city of Greytown.* 
 
 64. During all the years of her diplomatic difficulties, 
 Nicaragua had also been continually beset with internal dis- 
 sensions. Ever since the early days of her independence, 
 as has been remarked, there had continued a bitter rivalry 
 between the two parties, the conservatives and the liberals, 
 and during the last few years matters were slowly reaching 
 a crisis. At the time of the burning of Greytown the con- 
 servatives were the party in power, and were already con- 
 cocting a plan, whereby they should establish a real republic 
 in the land and do away with the rival personal govern-, 
 ments which had existed heretofore. 
 
 On the 28th February, 1854, they issued a decree to this 
 effect and elected Ohamorro, the Supreme Director then 
 in power, their first president. The liberals opposed this 
 change and instituted a revolution under the leadership of 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 9, Ist sess. 35th Cong., contains the letters concerning 
 the bombardment. 
 
Ill 
 
 Castellon, a former Supreme Director. In the civil war 
 which followed the liberals at first were able to secure 
 control over the whole country except Grenada, but the 
 conservatives soon regained their lost ground, and even re- 
 fused to listen to the overtures for peace which the liberals 
 then made. 
 
 65. The liberals in their distress appealed to Gen- 
 eral "Walker, the famous adventurer, and entered into a 
 contract with him to help them retrieve their lost cause. 
 General Walker gladly accepted a call so fraught with 
 excitement and adventure as this, and then followed all 
 the stirring events of that famous fillibustering expedi- 
 tion which resulted finally in the establishment of a new lib- 
 eral government in October, 1855. Patricio Eivas was tlie 
 nominal president of this new government, but General 
 "Walker, as commander-in-chief of the troops, really exer- 
 cised entire control as a sort of military dictator. 
 
 a. While Walker was thus engaged in the interior, an- 
 other fillibuster named Kinney, who had in some way got 
 hold of some of the many grants of land made by the Mos- 
 quito kings, landed at Greytown with a band of followers, 
 and attempted to rebuild the town and establish another 
 free city there. He succeeded in having himself appointed 
 military governor, but was not at all successful in carrying 
 out his designs, and was ultimately banished from the 
 country by his successful rival fillibuster. General Walker.* 
 
 b. The actions of these fillibusters naturally called forth 
 a storm of indignation from the other states of Central 
 America, and the legitimate government of Nicaragua. 
 Guatemala and Costarica openly accused the United States 
 of breaking the neutrality laws in allowing these expeditions 
 to leave her ports, and even intimated that the United 
 
 * Bancroft's Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. III., Chapts. 16, 17. W. V. 
 Wells' Walker Expdt. 
 
112 
 
 States was not acting in good faith in the matter.* To 
 make matters worse, Colonel John H. Wheeler, who had 
 succeeded Mr. Borland as United States minister in Nica- 
 ragua, acting entirely on his own authority, formally recog- 
 nized the Rivas government ; and in response to this overture, 
 President Rivas sent Colonel Parker H. French, an Amer- 
 ican who had joined General Walker's forces, as Nicaraguan 
 minister to Washington. Mr. Marcy, however, informed 
 Colonel French that the president could not receive him, 
 until he had learned whether the people of Nicaragua had 
 really acquiesced in this new government; so Colonel 
 French was recalled, and in retaliation President Kivas re- 
 fused to hold any further intercourse with Colonel Wheeler. 
 
 All diplomatic retations being thus cut off with Nica- 
 ragua, the Transit company was left to shift for itself; 
 aiid indeed, it fared but badly at the hands of General 
 c. Walker. Claiming that the company had not paid the 
 annual sum due to Nicaragua by the contract, Presi- 
 dent Rivas, at the instigation of General Walker, issued a de- 
 cree on the 18th of February, suppressing the company entire- 
 ly, and appointing commissioners to ascertain the amount of 
 its indebtedness and attach its property. f The company 
 appealed to the United States, denying the indebtedness and 
 calling upon the government to save their steamers and 
 other valuables. Owing to the existing state of diplomatic 
 relations the United States could not interfere, and so the 
 company was again thrown on its own resources. 
 
 d. Costa Rica also refused to recognize the Rivas gov- 
 ernment and in consequence was soon drawn into a war 
 with General Walker's forces. Being successful in the first 
 
 *Yri8arri to Mr. Marcy, December 3d, 1865. Mr. MoUna to Mr. 
 Marcy, April 8th, 1856. Copies given in Wells' Walker Expd., App. I. 
 and VI. 
 
 tFeb. 18th, 1856. See Sen. Ex. Doe., 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., for 
 decree in fall. 
 
113 
 
 engagement, Costa Rica pushed on into Nicaragua itself as 
 far as Virgin Bay and San Juan del Sar.* Here a desperate 
 battle took place in which both sides clainaed a victory.f 
 Tho Costa Eican army, at any rate, was left in posses- 
 sion of the iield, and it was President Mora's idea to push 
 on the advantage he had thus far gained, and secure 
 the whole southern part of Nicaragua. His first act was 
 to seize the steamers of Transit company, which Gen- 
 eral "Walker liad been using to such advantage as trans- 
 port ships, and having issued a further decree against 
 the company, he then prepared to attack General Walker 
 in his stronghold at Grenada. Honduras and Salvador 
 were ready to help him in the work, but cholera at 
 that time broke out in the ranks and he was forced to 
 abandon the project. Fearing, too, that some conspiracy 
 was being hatched against his authority at home, President 
 Mora returned to Costa Rica and was soon followed by 
 his army. 
 
 e. Colonel Wheeler, though no longer recognized as the 
 United States minister, still remained in Nicaragua, taking an 
 active part in the movements there, acting always as a strong 
 partisan of General Walker. His report:j: on the battle at 
 Virgin Bay, or the Virgin Bay massacre, as he called it, ac- 
 cused Costa Rica of inhuman cruelty and wanton destruc- 
 tion of American life and property ; so acting on this report, 
 and on Costa Rica's decree putting a stop to the transit of 
 the steamers, Mr. Marcy informed Costa Rica that he would 
 expect her to adopt satisfactory measures to punish those 
 involved in the massacre, and to provide for the families of 
 the Americans who had been killed ; and that, further, the 
 
 * On west coast of Nicaragua, jnst west of Lake Nicaiagaa. 
 t Compare Bancroft Hist, of Cent. Amer., Vol. III., Chap. 16, and 
 WeUs' Walker Expedition, pp. 175-78, 245-47. 
 
 t Report Wells' Walker Expedition, Appendix XVI. 
 
114 
 
 United States could never acknowledge Costa Rica's decree 
 against the Transit Company.* 
 
 f. After this battle the tide of public opinion in the 
 United States seemed to completely change its course, and 
 General "Walker, instead of being accused of fiUibustering) 
 in speeches and in letters, was lauded to the skies for his 
 bravery. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed over the sup- 
 posed victory he had gained over the Costa Ricans, and the 
 definite establishment of his government. The feeling here 
 became pretty wide-spread, too, that General Walker, far 
 from fighting as a mere adventurer, had in reality been con- 
 tending for the cause of American freedom and the Monroe 
 doctrine, against a gigantic British plot to gain Central 
 America and control the canal. A very strong case was 
 made out by the Walker partisans, beginning way back in 
 the Mosquito protectorate and the seizure of Greytown ; 
 and they even declared that Kinney and his band were 
 really agents sent by the British to found a colony in Grej'- 
 town in opposition to General Walker. They maintained, 
 also, that some letters intercepted by the Rivas government, 
 showed conclusively that Great Britain was furnishing arms 
 and help to Costa Rica to drive the fillibuster from the conn- 
 try and seize upon the canal route. f 
 
 All this only added to the general flood of indignation 
 which was then running so strongly against Great Britain 
 on account of the outrages of the enlistment policy and the 
 seizure of the Bay Islands, and on all sides arose the cry for 
 the abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. Official oppo- 
 sition to General Walker was also greatly abated ; and follow- 
 ing the trend of public opinion, Father Augustin Vigil, the 
 priest accredited by President Rivas as minister to the 
 
 * Mr. Marcy to Mr. Hine, U. S. Consul in San Jose, April 11th, 1856, 
 ibid, XIII. 
 
 t Speeches, letters, &c., collected by W. V. Wells, in his Walker's 
 Expedition, pp. 22.'5-236. Bancroft's History, Vol. III., p. 348. 
 
116 
 
 United States, was formally received by President Pierce 
 on May 14th, 1856. As a reason for this change, the 
 president said it was according to the general policy of 
 the United States to receive representatives from even de 
 facto governments ; and it was more over especially necessary 
 at this time to resume diplomatic relations with Nicaragua 
 as it was of pai-amount importance, that the differences 
 which had arisen between the new government and the 
 Transit Company, involving as they did the rights of United 
 States citizens, should be inquired into ; and also as all inter- 
 oceanic communication by way of Nicaragua had been 
 stopped, there were many personal and propei-ty claims 
 which had to be adjusted.* 
 
 g. At the same time, however, public opinion in Nicar- 
 agua was rumning in an exactly opposite direction, and 
 even the liberals, who had called General "Walker to their 
 aid, were now growing tired of his arbitrary rale. General 
 Walker also distrusted his liberal allies, and wished to brush 
 them aside and become president himself. In June matters 
 came to a crisis. President Rivas broke away from the 
 Walker influence, denouncing the general as an usurper 
 and traitor, and deprived him of his rank and the command 
 of the army. Walker in turn deposed E.ivas and forced the 
 people to elect him president. Colonel Wheeler immedi- 
 ately recognized the new Walker government on the part 
 of the United States, President Rivas protested, and, all was 
 confusion once more § 
 
 To make the antagonism more bitter, General Walker's 
 first act as president was to issue a decree annulling the fed- 
 eral law which had abolished slavery in the country ; thus at 
 last showing that the real plan and object of this fillibuster- 
 ing expedition, as so many conservatives had asserted from 
 
 * President Pierce's Message to the Senate, May 15th, 1856. 
 § Mr. Salinas, Minister of Foreign Afifairs of Nicaragua, to Mr. Marcy, 
 Aug. 12th, 1856. Bancroft, Vol. III., p. 350. 
 
116 
 
 the outset, was to cater to the southern slaveholders, and 
 h. make their influence still more impregnable. This de- 
 cree called forth the opposition of all the Central Amer- 
 ican States and, in response to President Rivas' invitation to 
 unite and drive out the invader, on the 18th of July they 
 signed a treaty of defensive alliance, recognizing Rivas as 
 the legitimate president of Nicaragua, and agreeing to co- 
 operate to expel the adventurers.* The allied troops then 
 tered Nicaragua and opened an active campaign. The 
 fighting was very severe, but Walker held out for a long 
 time, still using to great advantage the Transit Company's 
 steamers for the quick transportation of men and supplies. 
 The Costa Eican president, backed by the old Transit Com- 
 pany, determined to deprive "Walker of these facilities, and 
 late in December captured four of the steamers, and held 
 the old fort Castillo Viejo, on the San Juan. General 
 Walker being thus deprived of any means of transportation 
 was forced to recede to the district of Rivas.f Here he was 
 penned in and subjected to a seige by the allied forces. 
 i. The United States corvette Saint Mary's, sent to the 
 scene of action, had been lying off San Juan del Sur for 
 some time ; and now General Walker, rather than surrender 
 to his Central American enemies, capitulated with Charles 
 H. Davis, the commander of the corvette, and with the 
 consent of Central Americans, he and sixteen of his officers 
 were taken aboard and conveyed to Panama, together with 
 four hundred of his followers, and Commander Davis for- 
 mally delivered the city of Kivas to the besieging forced 
 on May 1st, 1857. 
 
 j. Walker at last was safely landed in the United States, 
 but no settlement could be reached in Central America, as 
 
 * Bancroft, p. 350, for synopsis of this treaty. Nicaragua Ofllcial Bul- 
 letin, Aug. 21, Sept. 10, 1856, for farther account, 
 t On the Pacific coast, west of the lake. 
 t Belly le Nicaragua, p. 287. Bancroft, Vol. III., p. 361. 
 
m 
 
 Costa Eica had secured the Transit company's steamers, 
 and was actually in possession of the route itself. Costa 
 Rica also declared that her boundaries rightly extended to 
 the lake. Nicaragua, of course, disputed the fact, and war 
 was once more declared between the two powers in October.* 
 
 66. Now that the dispute with Great Britain was 
 practically concluded and the rule of the fiUibuster was 
 at an end in Central America, Mr. Buchanan felt it ex- 
 tremely important to resume the old friendly relations 
 with Nicaragua, which had been so shattered by the events 
 of the last few years. Owing to the disrupted state of 
 her government after the capture of "Walker, Nicaragua 
 had no minister accredited to Washington at this time ; 
 but as she had authorized Mr. Yrisarri, the minister 
 accredited by Guatemala and Salvador, to act for her until 
 she could reorganize her internal affairs. General Cass, 
 President Buchanan's Secretary of State, opened negotia- 
 tions with him for a treaty of settlement ; and on November 
 16th, 1857, they came to an agreement and signed a formal 
 convention. This treaty, generally known as the " Cass- 
 Yrisarri treaty," was most comprehensive in its terms, and 
 in all very like the old Squier instrument. It provided for 
 perpetual peace and amity between the two governments 
 and their respective citizens ; it arranged a basis for recip 
 rocal freedom of commerce, with mutual rights of the most 
 favored nation ; and provided for the rights of citizens and 
 property by mutual grants and promises. Beside these 
 general provisions, the treaty also conceded to the United 
 
 * In connection with these events vide Bancroft's History of Cent. Amer- 
 ica, Vol. III. Belly le Nicaragua. Walker Expedition, W. V. Wells. 
 Harper's Mag., XXL, 693. U. S. Govt. Docs, as follows : H. Ex. Doc. 
 24 and 26, H. Journal 165, 1302, 1368, Sen. Ex. Doc. 13 and 63 of the 
 35th Cong., 1st seas., Cong. Globe, 1857-8, 1858-9, under" Cen. Amer.," 
 "Paulding," "Walker," "Neutrality Laws," "Clayton-Bulwer." 
 Stout's Nicaragua, p. 211. 
 
ns 
 
 States the right of transit between the two oceans by every 
 way of communication, either then existing or which might 
 ever exist ; the United States in return extending her pro- 
 tection to all such routes and agreeing to guarantee the 
 neutrality of the same, and to use her influence with other 
 nations to induce them to guarantee such neutrality and 
 protection. Two free ports were to be established at either 
 end of the route of communication, and no tonnage duties 
 were to be imposed upon the vessels or the merchandize of 
 the United States or of any other country, intended for 
 transit across the route, and not for consumption within 
 Nicaragua. 
 
 The United States also acquired the right to carry troops 
 and munitions of war to either of the said free ports, and 
 was entitled to their conveyance between them without ob- 
 struction by the authorities of Nicaragua, and without any 
 charges or tolls whatsoever for their transportation on the 
 route. Should it become necessary at any time to employ 
 a military force for the protection of persons or property 
 passing over the route, Nicaragua agreed to employ a requi- 
 site force for that purpose ; but should she fail to do this 
 for any cause whatsoever, it was agreed that the United 
 States, after giving notice to Nicaragua, should be allowed 
 to employ such force herself ; such force, however, to be used 
 for this purpose alone, and to be withdrawn when the ne- 
 cessity ceased. 
 
 It was arranged, also, that the United States, in granting 
 her protection and guarantee, did so conditionally, and 
 might withdraw it at any time on giving six months' notice 
 to Nicaragua ; should she think the company undertaking or 
 managing the route was establishing regulations of traffic 
 contrary to the spirit of the treaty. Nicaragua agreed, fur- 
 ther, that, in any grant she might make in the future or had 
 already made in reference to the interoceanic routes, these 
 concessions to the United States would be fully protected 
 
119 
 
 and reserved ; and it was finally agreed that nothing in the 
 treaty should be so construed as to affect the claim of Costa 
 Rica to a free passage by the San Juan river to and from 
 the sea.* 
 
 * For full text of this treaty, see Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st 
 ss., p. 117. 
 
120 
 
 Chapter Y. 
 
 A. — 67. While these negotiations were going on be- 
 tween Genera] Cass and M. Yrisarri ; Lord Napier, the British 
 minister in Washington, who had been watching the course 
 of events very critically since the failure of the Dallas-Clar- 
 endon treaty, at last seemed to make up his mind that the 
 American policy was really once more on its feet. He im- 
 mediately informed his government of his impressions, 
 a. and learned in reply that Her Majesty had seen fit, 
 now that peace had been restored in Central America, 
 to appoint Sir William Gore Ouseley to be her representa- 
 tive in that country, with instructions to settle definitely by 
 treaty stipulations with those states, all matters in regard to 
 which the United States and Great Britain were still at 
 variance.* 
 
 All the aggressive spirit seems to have completely died out 
 iu Great Britain by this time. Lord Napier, at least, both 
 in his letters to his own government and in his talks with 
 the American statesmen, exhibited a most engaging spirit 
 of frankness and conciliation ; and seemed only too anxious 
 to settle all the questions on the lines laid down so long be- 
 fore by the United States. He only asked in return — a!id 
 more as a favor from President Buchanan — that lie would 
 refrain from saying anything in his next message, which 
 might tend toward a resolution of congress to abrogate 
 the Clayton Bulwer treaty ; for " such a step," Lord Napier 
 said, " would not only frustrate the purposes of Sir William 
 Ouseley's mission, but would have a calamitous influence on 
 the future relations of England and America."! In reply 
 the president remarked that he had fully intended to state 
 
 * Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., let sess., pp. 112, 114. 
 
 t Lord Napier's report of the interview, to Lord Clarendon, Sen. Ex. 
 Doc. 194, 47th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 114-117. 
 
121 
 
 the position of affairs between the two countries, and 
 feared that such a statemeat would of necessity show up 
 Great Britain in rather an unfavorable light ; but, he added, 
 if Great Britain really intended to carry out the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty as the United States had interpi-eted it, and 
 if Lord Napier could definitely assure him of the fact before 
 congress opened, he would very gladly announce the fact 
 in his message and that nothing would give him greater 
 pleasure than to add the expression of his sincere and 
 ardent wish for the maintenance of friendly relations be- 
 tween the two countries. 
 
 Sir William Ouseley then arrived in Washington, but be- 
 fore proceeding to his post in Central America, he presented 
 to General Cass a summary of the instructions he had re- 
 ceived from his government foi- the basis of the proposed 
 settlement. In regard to Belize and its boundaries, he was 
 to arrange all this by treaty stipulations with Guatemala. 
 As for the Bay Islands, he was instructed to provide foi- 
 their complete transfer to Honduras by a further treaty with 
 that state ; and in framing stipulations, finally, for the com- 
 pensation, the government and the preservation of the 
 Mosquito Indians under the sovereignty of Nicaragua, he 
 was ordered to follow the provisions of the unratified Dallas- 
 Clarendon treaty.* 
 
 b. So genuine was Great Britain's desire to bring about 
 a definite settlement, that she further proposed to the United 
 States that they should submit the controverted points of 
 the Clayton-Bulwer treaty to the free arbitration of any 
 European power the United States mi^ht select, should the 
 plan of Sir William Ouseley's mission not prove agreeable ; 
 so relying on these proposals and the evident sincerity of 
 them all. President Buchanan fulfilled his promise to Lcfrd 
 Napier wken congress opened, and contented himself by 
 'setting forth in his aimual message, the causes of the failure 
 
 * Ibid, p. 125. 
 
122 
 
 of the Dallas-Clarendon treaty, and concluded with the hope 
 tliat the present overtures would prove successful.* 
 
 Just at this time General Walker eluded the vigilance of 
 the United States authorities and landed again inNicaragua, 
 intending to take advantage of the continued war between 
 Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and again assume control over 
 Central America. The prompt action of Commodore Pauld- 
 ing, of the United States navy, in seizing the fillibnster be- 
 fore he could do more damage, secured the hearty approval 
 of the British government, however, and no disturbance of 
 the friendly negotiations ensued. Lord Napier further in- 
 formed General Cass, that his government would not con- 
 sider the treaty which the United States had seen fit to 
 negotiate with Mr. Yrisarri, any obstacle to the fulfillment 
 of Sir William Ouseley's mission, and was ready to sanction 
 his departure, if the United States preferred this arrange- 
 ment to the plan of arbitration proposed. 
 
 c. While the matter was still under the consideration of 
 the president. Great Britain added one more stroke to her 
 policy of conciliation, by offering to abrogate the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty entirely by joint agreement, if the United 
 States should prefer this plan to either of the other two al- 
 ternatives. This offer was made by Lord Clarendon and 
 further sanctioned by Lord Malmesbury, his successor in the 
 foreign office ; but it was presented to the United States in 
 an entirely unofficial way, the British government not deem- 
 ing it wise to have the proposal issue from their side, and 
 not wishing to interfere in any way with the president's de- 
 cision in regard to the two former alternative8.§ 
 
 68. With these three broad avenues opened for nego- 
 tiations, it seemed at last as if everything were on a fair 
 
 * President Buchanan's Message to Congress, Dec. 8, 1857. Ibid, pp 
 126-128. ' * 
 
 ^ Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 47th Cong., Istsess., pp. 129-132. 
 
123 
 
 way toward a speedy settlement. A most unaccountable 
 delay followed, however, and it was not until the end of the 
 year that the petty difficulties were straightened out, and the 
 plan of Sir "William Ouseley's mission finally adopted. This 
 delay seems to have been only due to a general misunder- 
 standing as to the question of alternatives. The United 
 States, on her side, thinking she had sufficiently expressed 
 her approval of Sir William's mission, was only waiting 
 to hear the plan more in detail ; and as Great Britain was so 
 engrossed then with affairs in India, she did not deem it 
 best to push the matter. Great Britain, on her side, did 
 not understand that the United States had given her deci- 
 sion, and not hearing any further from her. Lord Malmes- 
 bury concluded that she had declined his offer of arbitration 
 and was taking no interest in Sir William's mission. At 
 last the whole niatter was cleared up, however, and Lord 
 Malmesbury buried the last remnant of dispute by express- 
 ing his satisfaction at the high appreciation displayed by 
 the United States, of the importance of terminating the irri- 
 tating discussions in which the two countries had been so 
 long involved. § 
 
 B. — 69. The general feeling of relief which so natu- 
 rally followed this happy settlement of all the troublesome 
 questions, was even further enhanced by the welcome news 
 that Costa Rica and Nicaragua had at last come to a definite 
 agreement in their vexing boundary dispute, and had con- 
 cluded a treaty of settlement. It will be remembered that 
 in October, 1857, the position of the two countries was far 
 from amicable, with Costa Eica still in possession of the 
 transit and Nicaragua clamoring for her rights. Strange 
 to say, however, the irrepressible Walker was really the 
 cause of the final adjustment, though most unconsciously on 
 
 ? Lord Malmesbury to Lord Napier, Dec. 8, 1858. Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 
 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 146. 
 
124 
 
 bis part ; for after Commodore Paulding had seized the ad- 
 venturer, the Central American States seemed to realize 
 what a narrow escape they had had, and bent on freeing 
 themselves once for all from any further fillibuster rule, 
 they came to the conclusion that the best plan would be to 
 avoid all chance of future dispute. With this commendable 
 end in view, Guatemala, Honcjuras and Salvador, brought 
 all their pressure to bear on Nicaragua and Costa Kica, and 
 as a result the Canas-Jerez treaty was signed on the 15th 
 April, 1858. By the terms of this instrument it was agreed, 
 that the line of separation between the two countries should 
 begin at the extreme end of the Punta de Oastilla, at the 
 mouth of the San Juan river, on the Atlantic, and thence 
 run westward along the right bank of the river to a point 
 three miles below the old fort of Castillo Viejo. At this 
 point, it was agreed, that the boundary line should follow 
 the arc of an imaginary circle, formed by sweeping a radius 
 of three miles from the Castillo Viejo as a centre until it 
 reached a point two miles from the San Juan, and of course, 
 three miles above the fort ; thence the line was to run par- 
 allel to the river, keeping two miles distant therefrom 
 until it reached a point two miles distant from Lake Nicar- 
 agua ; thence it was to follow the right shore of the lake, 
 still keeping two miles distant therefrom, to the Sapoa 
 river, and thence along an astronomical line to the central 
 point of Salinas Bay, on the Pacific.§ This seemingly fair 
 adjustment of the conflicting claims, was formally ratified by 
 the two states on the 26th April, approved by the constitu- 
 ent congress of Nicaragua on the 28th May, and published 
 to the world by her president on the 4th June. 
 
 70. With the boundary dispute thus definitely adjusted, 
 with the last vestige of the old English protectorate swept 
 
 ? Canas-Jerez Treaty, Art. II. Foreign Eelations of United States, 
 1888, pp. 460-464. 
 
125 
 
 away, and with the Cass-Yrisarri treaty all ready to bring 
 the United States and Nicaragua once more into relations 
 of friendship and confidence, it did seem at last as if all 
 troubles and disputes were at an end ; and the path finally 
 cleared^of the diplomatic obstacles which for so many years, 
 had effectuUy blocked the way of any practical work on 
 the canal itself. In these comforting calculations of secur- 
 ity, however, one very variable quantity had been entirely 
 overlooked, namely : Nicaragua herself, or more strictly 
 speaking, the inhabitants of that fickle little state. Just as be. 
 fore, Mr. "Webster's carefully matured paper plans were blown 
 to the winds by the squall of indignation against the Tran- 
 sit company ; so now the Nicaraguans considered themselves 
 entirely justified in repudiating this last arrangement which 
 Mr. Yrisarri and General Cass had made. The cause of 
 it all lay in a silver-tongued Frenchman, a Monsieur Belly, 
 who had shrewdly taken advantage of the reactionary feel- 
 ing against Americans, which so naturally followed General 
 Walker's fillibustering rule, to advance his own cause. This 
 clever diplomat succeeded in superseding the Americans en- 
 tirely in the hearts of the Nicaraguans, and obtained from 
 their provisional dictatorf a new concession for the canal. 
 Even Yankee ingenuity could not compete with the splendid 
 promises of this " Knight of San Maurice and Lazarus ; " 
 who, in a public manifesto, boldly declared that "hitherto, 
 all the official agents of the United States in Nicaragua, 
 have been accomplices and auxiliaries of fiUibusters," and 
 promised that now Nicaragua would be " placed under the 
 guarantee of the three powers which had guaranteed the 
 Ottoman Empire, England, France and Sardinia." So Nic- 
 aragua immediately dropped the helping hand of the United 
 States, that she had grasped so eagerly in her troubles with 
 
 t Belly le Nicaragua. Carte d'Etnde, pour le Trac6, et le Profil du 
 Canal de Nicaragua, par Thom^ de Gaumond Precede de documente Puti- 
 lies sur cette Question pas M. Felix Belly, Paris, 1858. 
 
126 
 
 Great Britain, and seized with avidity this rather visionary 
 offer so strangely and unexpectedly extended to her across 
 the sea. 
 
 The United States on her side, took it all very philosophi- 
 cally ; and, in fact, it made very little difference one way or 
 the other at that time ; for, with the failure of English capi- 
 tal to aid in the undertaking, all hopes for the J^icaraguan 
 canal had practically disappeared, and now that the Transit 
 company, too, had succumbed to adversity, it became the 
 general opinion that, after all, the Panama railroad was suffi- 
 cient for the time, and that, inasmuch as the disputes with 
 Great Britain were being rapidly laid at rest by her present 
 policy in Central America, it was scarcely worth while to 
 stir up new dissensions by taking M. Belly's dreams in a seri- 
 ous way. General Cass, however, informed Nicaragua that, 
 though the United States sought no exclusive interest in 
 the canal, nor did she object to M. Belly and his associates 
 forming such contracts for the work as they wished ; still 
 she would not allow any such contracts to interfere with 
 engagements already entered into with American citizens ; 
 and she would further insist that, whoever built the canal, 
 it must be a free and safe transit for vessels of. all nations, 
 and controlled by no one. One extraordinary stipulation in 
 M. Belly's contract, however, the United States definitely 
 informed Nicaragua that she could not and would not allow ; 
 namely, a clause to the effect, that the French government 
 should have the right to keep two ships of war stationed in 
 the canal or in Lake Nicaragua, for the entire duration of 
 the works.f In conclusion General Cass took care to leave 
 no doubt in Nicaragua's mind that the United States gov- 
 ernment, lienceforth, would be most exacting in upholding 
 the rights of her citizens and would call Nicaragua strictly 
 to account for auy infringement of the same.§ 
 
 t Belly Contract, Article XXVI., id. p. 21. 
 
 § General Cass to Mr. Lamar, July 25th, 1858. Sen. Ex. Doc. 194, 
 47th Cong., 1st sess., p. 133. 
 
127 
 
 '71. Great Britain all this time, was carrying out her 
 new policy in Central America most conscientiously. Sir 
 Charles Lennox Wyke had assumed the duties of the 
 mission in place or Sir William Ouseley, and, as a result of 
 his negotiations, three important treaties were soon 
 a. signed and ratified. In the first treaty Great Britain 
 and Guatemala catne to terms, agreeing "that the 
 boundary between the republic and the British settlement 
 and possessions in the Bay of Honduras, as they existed pre- 
 vious to and on the first day of January, 1850 and have 
 continued to exist up to the present time, was and is as fol- 
 lows : Beginning at the mouth of the river Sarstoon in the 
 Bay of Honduras and proceeding up the mid-channel there- 
 of to Gracias a Dios Falls, then turning to the right and 
 continuing by a line drawn direct from Gracias a Dios 
 Falls due north until it strikes the Mexican frontier."! 
 
 b. Sir Charles next turned to Honduras and there picked 
 up the threads of the negotiations which had been dropped at 
 the failure of the Dallas-Clarendon treaty, and was soon able 
 to make a suitable basis of settlement. The treaty then 
 signed was very like the former treaty which had failed. 
 By its terms Great Britain definitely ceded the Bay Islands 
 to Honduras and withdrew from her protectorate over such 
 Mosquito Indians as lived in Honduras territory, while 
 Honduras agreed never to convey the Bay Islands to any 
 other power, and promised to set apart a reservation for the 
 Indians and pay them a certain indemnity. f 
 
 c. By the last treaty Great Britain and Nicaragua put 
 an end to their long standing disputes and finally settled 
 the Mosquito question. Great Britain at last recognized 
 Nicaragua's right of sovereignty from sea to sea and witli- 
 drew from her protectorate, only stipulating, as with Hon- 
 
 II Signed Apr. 30, 1859. For treaty in full, see Sen. Ex. Doe. 194, 
 47th Cong., 1st sess., pp. 146-148. 
 
 t Signed Nov. 28, 1859. Ibid, pp. 148-151. 
 
128 
 
 duras, that a reservation be set apart for the Indians. " Such 
 district," it was agreed, "shall be comprised in aline which 
 shall begin at the mouth of the river Rama, in the Carib- 
 bean sea : thence it shall run up the mid-course of that river 
 to its source, and from such source proceed in a line due 
 west to the meridian of 84 deg. 15 min. longitude west from 
 G-reenwich ; thence due north up the said meridian until it 
 strikes the river Hueso, and down the mid-course of that 
 river to its mouth in the sea, at about latitude from 14 deg. to 
 15 deg. north, and longitude 83 deg. west from the meridian 
 of Greenwich ; and thence southerly along the shore of the 
 Caribbean sea to the mouth of the river Rama, the point of 
 commencement."* "Within this reservation the Indians were 
 to govern themselves as they would, though under Nicara- 
 gua's sovereignty, and Nicaragua, it was agreed, should pay 
 them an annual indemnity for ten years, though nothing in 
 the treaty was to be " construed to prevent the Mosquito In- 
 dians at any future time from agreeing to absolute incorpo- 
 ration into the Republic of Nicaragua on the same footing 
 as other citizens of the republic, and from subjecting them- 
 selves to be governed by the general laws and regulations of 
 the republic instead of by their customs and regulations."§ 
 Greytown, it was agreed, should henceforth be a free 
 port under the sovereign authority of Nicaragua, and it was 
 further agreed that " all bona fide grants of land for due 
 consideration, made in the name and by the authority of the 
 Mosquito Indians since the 1st of January, 1848 and lying 
 beyond the limits of the territory reserved for the said In- 
 (Jians, shall be confirmed ; provided the same shall not exceed 
 in any case the extent of 100 yards square, if within the 
 limits of San Juan or Greytown, or one league square if 
 witliout the same ; and provided that such grant shall not in- 
 
 ' * Treaty between Great Britain and Nicaragua, signed Jan. 28, 1860, 
 Ibid, pp. 151-154, Article II. 
 I Ibid, Art. IV. 
 
129 
 
 terfere with othef legal grants made previously to that date 
 by Spain, the Eepublic of Central America, or Nicaragua ; 
 and provided further, that no such grant shall include terri- 
 tory desired by the government of the latter state for forts, 
 arsenals, or other public build ings."§ Adequate arrange- 
 ments were also made to provide for commissioners, arbi- 
 trators and umpires to settle all the troublesome questions of 
 land grants ; and in a subsequent declaration it was agreed 
 that no grants made by the Indians west of 84 deg. 30 min. 
 of longitude would be allowed, but all land so acquired 
 bona fids should be replaced by tliose within the limits de- 
 iined. 
 
 73. So at last Great Britain returned to the rightful 
 owners the three districts which her buccaneers and settlers 
 had seized upon so long before. The project of the Nicara 
 gua canal, which first gave the United States an opportunity 
 to interfere in behalf of the Central A merican States against 
 the aggressions of the English, had indeed dropped almost 
 entirely out of sight ; but it had accomplished a great work, 
 and martyr-like, had perished in the good cause. Through 
 its influence the little states, after two hundred years of en- 
 croachment, were left free to work out their own ends and 
 provide for the great highway of interoceanic communica- 
 tion in any way they would. How they have done all this 
 is a matter of later history. True, there have been disputes 
 since these days. Nicaragua and Gosta Kica have only a 
 year or so ago had their boundary question definitely settled 
 through the arbitration of the United States, and the eighth 
 article of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, too, has proved a con- 
 troverted point between the United States and G-reat Britain 
 in regard to the guarantee of the Panama Canal, but all this 
 is very familiar from newspaper accounts, and need not be 
 
 \ Ibid, Art. VIII. 
 
130 
 
 treated of here. Nothing more has been attempted be- 
 yond giving some account! of the origin and course of the 
 early diplomatic difficulties, to show as clearly as possible 
 the reasbns of them all and the effects they have produced. 
 
 Finis.