AVES ISLAND. 113 



VII. When you landed first on Shelton's Isle, had you ever been 

 informed of its being previously inhabited, or possessed, or occupied, 

 or claimed by any person or government, or that any government 

 exercised jurisdiction over it; and particularly, had you, or not, heard 

 of such claim by Venezuela? Please state fully all your knowledge 

 oji this subject and any facts connected therewith, of which you have 

 been informed. 



VIII. When you visited said isle in April, 1854, did you, or not, 

 examine it with reference to making an estimate of the guano thereon, 

 as to quantity and quality, and if so, v^^hat was your estimate? Please 

 state particularly and fully, and also refer to any authenticated facts 

 within your knowledge in confirmation or corroboration of your esti- 

 mate ; and please also state if you have heard any reports in relation 

 to said guano, difiering therefrom, and whether or not they have 

 affected your opinion as to your estimate ; and state if you had, or had 

 not, experience in respect to gathering guano ? 



IX. Were you, or were your not, visited on the 13th day of Decem- 

 ber, 1854, by a schooner of war of the Venezuelan government ; and 

 if so, state fully what occurred then and there, and all that passed 

 between you and the officer commanding her ? Kelate all the particu- 

 lars as fully as you can recollect the same, and particularly as to a 

 certain paper sta,ted to have been signed by said ofiicer and yourself 

 and Charles H. Lang, and how the same was given, and whether you 

 knew the purport and contents thereof; and say also whether or not 

 you were subsequently visited by an additional military force ; and, 

 if so, when, and whether or not you were evicted and dispossessed of 

 said island and guano by said force, and of the property of your em- 

 ployers there ; and if you were, state all the circumstances particu- 

 larly and fully. 



X. If you were compelled to abandon the property of your em- 

 ployers at the isle, state the kind of property and value as particularly 

 as you can, and what you think was the cost and value to them of said 

 isle, and answer particularly and fully. 



XL Have you seen a copy of the statement of the claim of the said 

 claimants presented to the State Department, consisting of three 

 items : one of $312,500, one for $20,000, and a third for $8,500 ; in 

 the aggregate $341,000? If so, please say whether the same is, or is 

 not, in your judgment, exorbitant or extravagant; and state anything 

 in your knowledge having relation thereto, and showing whether the 

 same is just or unjust, reasonable or unreasonable. State fully. 



XII. Have you, or have you not, any interest in said claim, direct 

 or indirect, immediate or remote, in any wise ? How were you em- 

 ployed by claimants ? Have you any feeling in the case ? and state 

 fully and particularly ; and state also, in answer to this interrogatory, 

 the names of any persons you may recollect that were with you at the 

 isle in 1854. 



H. S. SANFORD, 

 Attwney in fact for Claimants. 



New York, April 2, 1856. 



Ex. Doc. 10 8 



