124 AVES ISLAND. 



hoisted in its stead by tlie soldiers, and continued flying till we left, 

 and a salute with cannon was fired by the Venezuelans on the occa- 

 sion, from the isle and from the schooner. The officer in charge, 

 whose name I do not recollect, (but it was not Dias, who had not re- 

 turned,) refused to pay any attention to Bias's paper, and imperiously 

 and imperatively ordered, under menaces and threats, and demon- 

 strations of a violent character of the employment of military force, 

 that all the persons belonging to our parties and their vessels should 

 leave the isle and its vicinity within twenty-four hours, and he refused 

 to allow us a reasonable time to get our implements, water, provis- 

 ions, and other movable property on board of our vessels, and would 

 not permit such vessels to approach to the wharves ; and we were 

 constrained, as he had a superior force, all armed, and acting in the 

 name and under the authority of a government recognized by our own, 

 to yield obedience to his commands, or engage in a combat which 

 would have resulted in bloodshed. There was a British brig-of-war 

 at the isle at the time, the name of which I do not certainly recollect ; 

 I believe it was the Mariner, or Marine. The commander left the 

 isle, and said he intended to go to Laguayra, and find out by what 

 right the Venezuelans so acted, and he said I might be certain my 

 government would look into the matter and demand satisfaction. 



TO THE TENTH. 



In consequence of what I have stated, I was compelled to abandon 

 on the isle a large amount of property, including provisions and 

 water and other stores belonging to my employers, some of which the 

 Venezuelans positively refused to allow me to take away, and then 

 took possession of it themselves for their own use, as they had little 

 else there for their troops, as they admitted, and none of which was I 

 allowed time to bring away, and was, therefore, obliged to abandon, 

 and all of which I have since been informed they appropriated to their 

 own use. It is impossible for me to specify all this property, but I 

 will state some of it. With the wharves and houses and sheds, there 

 were a large number of shovels and spades, and hoes, and hatchets, 

 and axes, picks, and other implements, and wheelbarrows and wheel- 

 ing plank, baskets, buckets, and tubs, and tools, and water casks and 

 tanks, and hogsheads and barrels, and a large amount of provisions 

 and stores of various kinds, and water in casks or tanks, and two 

 large launches or long-boats and their appurtenances, the aggregate 

 cost of all of which to my employers at said isle (and the aggregate 

 value thereof to them was much greater if they had been unmolested 

 in their business) was, according to the best of my judgment, (and I 

 had a general knowledge of such costs and of their value, derived 

 from my superintendence of said business,) more than ten thousand 

 dollars. I verily believe that by a fair and just valuation it would 

 have amounted to a larger sum, for they kept pretty much all that we 

 had on the isle, and we were abundantly supplied. The residue of 

 the property of my employers, of similar character, on board their 

 vessels sent to said isle for use there, and Avhich was rendered com- 

 paratively valueless by reason of said expulsion, was not less than 



