92, AVES ISLAND. 



No. 1. 



44 South Street, New York, 



January 11, 1856. 

 Sir : A few days since I saw a notice in tlie Herald, of this city, 

 signed by yourself and tlie officers of a guano company in Philadel- 

 phia about the guano islands of the Caribbean Sea, under the jurisdic- 

 tion of your government. Propositions having been made to me to 

 send a vessel forthwith to what is called Shelton's Isle, or Aves, or 

 Bird Island, in that sea, for guano, under authority of Mr. P. S. 

 Shelton, of Boston, and fearing that the island he claims may possibly 

 be included in your notice, and desirous to avoid difficulty before dis- 

 patching the vessel, I would respectfully request you to inform me if 

 your government and the Philadelphia Guano Company claim said 

 island, or exercise jurisdiction over it or the guano upon it^ and whether 

 there is any objection to my going there under Mr. Shelton's authority. 

 I have just been informed that the Venezuelan government had a gar- 

 rison there, and that the Philadelphia company were engaged in ship- 

 ping the guano from it ; if so, please inform me, and also what price 

 per ton the Philadelphia company or your government charge for 

 guano collected on it or other islands. 

 Eespectfully yours, 



MOSES TAYLOK. 

 Jose A. Keefe, Esq. 



Consul of Venezuela, PliiladelpMa. 



No. 2. 



Consulate of the Kepublic of Venezuela, 



PliiladelpMa, January 12, 1856, 



Dear Sir: I have received your favor of the 11th instant, and noted 

 its contents, and in reply beg to inform you that the Island of Aves 

 or Bird Island, of which you write, is in the possession and under the 

 jurisdiction of the Kepublic of Venezuela, and has a military force 

 upon it sufficiently large to protect it from any depredations. No ves- 

 sels are permitted to touch at it other than those sent thither by 

 authority of the " Philadelphia Gruano Company,'' who have ratified a 

 contract with my government, granting them the sole right to remove 

 the guano deposits from the said island, and all others in the Carib- 

 bean sea belonging to Venezuela. 



Under these circumstances, and in view of the official notifications 

 given at the instance of my government, I should deem very injudicious 

 and extremely hazardous on the part of any person to dispatch a ves- 

 sel to the island referred to, or any of them, without a proper authori- 

 zation first being obtained, as all vessels found touching at the guano 

 islands, without a duly authenticated permit from the company here, 

 will be seized and held liable for the penalty fixed for a violation of 



