122 AVES ISLAND. 



copy, which he had made out in Spanish, andrwhich he had also 

 signed, and said that he desired it to he signed loj myself and Mr. 

 Lang, (Lang & Delano's agent,) merely to show to his government 

 in due form what he had done. I unequivocally and emphatically 

 refused to sign anything. I did not, as I have before said, under- 

 stand Spanish, nor was there any one of my company who did. Dias 

 professed to interpret and translate the paper to me. He said if I 

 signed it he would leave the isle, the ten soldiers and officer already 

 landed to remain there; and that the only thing that he asked of 

 me, and that was in the paper_, besides his orders not to molest me, 

 was a statement that I would assist his soldiers with my men and can- 

 non, and other arms, if occasion should arise, to keep oif all intruders. 

 He pretended to explain it word for word to me, and declared that 

 there was not in it any acknowledgment of the right of Venezuela, nor 

 anything whatever that could prejudice, or compromise, or affect the 

 rights of my employers. I still refused, when he changed his course, 

 and declared that unless I did sign it he would not leave the isle till 

 he had driven me and my vessels away, and that he would forthwith 

 resort to military force to prevent me from working, and to expel me 

 at all hazards ; and that if I resisted, he would resort to extreme meas- 

 ures ; and that if the forces he had at the isle were not sufficient, he 

 would soon have such forces when the expected vessels got there ; and 

 he even boasted that he might carry all of us and our vessels to Vene- 

 zuela for trial for having violated her laws and stolen her property, and 

 the like. He then again assured me, on his honor as an officer and a gen- 

 tleman, that he had interpreted the paper he wished me to sign truly ; 

 that it was a mere copy of his ''permit," as he called it, that he had 

 signed and given to me, and that it contained nothing conflicting with 

 the views I had expressed to him, and not a word admitting the title 

 of Venezuela in any way. Finally, after consulting with some of my 

 company and the American captains of the vessels there, after several 

 hours delay, by my refusal^ I concluded to run the risk of relying on 

 his word, and signed the copy, as did also Mr. C. H. Lang, as agent 

 for Lang & Delano, and Dias kept it. Dias then said he would leave, 

 a,nd I was appealed to to provide his soldiers with some provisions and 

 with water till he came back, or till the other Venezuelan vessels-of-war 

 arrived, as they were short of both ; and pretty much as a matter of 

 charity and humanity, I consented to do so, and he left. Some of the 

 persons on the isle aided him with boats and sailors in going to and 

 from his schooner, as he was badly off as to both. I did not antici- 

 pate any further trouble, and continued my work. During all this 

 time we kept the United States flag flying by day on the isle on two 

 liberty polls, and also on our vessels. Dias^, whilst there, did not 

 attempt to haul it down. I fed the soldiers, and they did not molest 

 us, and I took the officer into my house, and fed him also, and I em- 

 ployed some of the soldiers to collect guano and paid them in cloth- 

 ing and provisions. I feel bound to say that, notwithstanding Dias' 

 menaces and threats, and his apparent demonstrations of an intention 

 to fulfill them, I did not sign the paper from any apprehension of per- 

 sonal consequences to myself, if I persisted in refusing, or 'because I 

 had any fear that with the force he had then at the isle he could have 



