AVES ISLAND. * 185 



tlie eviction, forced tliem to sacrifice it. I liave liearcl, liow- 

 ever, it brought between $23 and $30, (the account of sales 

 will show,) but tlie expenses were great^ as we were just 

 starting the establishment, and the profits afterwards would 

 if we had been allowed to go on, have been pretty much 

 clear gain." 



5. Mr. Eichard Thornell, in his written deposition, 

 made May 7, 1856, (Ex. Doc, above cited, p. 78,) trans- 

 mitted to the U. S. State Department May 10, 1856, con- 

 curs fully in respect to the quantity, quality, and value of 

 the guano on the isle, with the other above-named witnesses, 

 showing that claimants' charge is much less than what they ' 

 might rightfully have charged. 



6. Mr. Joseph Herbert, who was also several months at 

 the isle, in his deposition made in August, 1856, trans- 

 mitted to the United States State Department by claimants, 

 in August, 1856, corroborates the statements of the other 

 witnesses, proving that claimants' charge for the guano is 

 just and reasonable and below the true quantity and fair 

 value at the isle. 



. Every one of these witnesses was on the isle several 

 months and engaged in gathering guano. None of them 

 are interested in the claims of Mr. Shelton and Sampson 

 & Tappan. No proofs have been adduced, so far as we 

 have been informed, to impeach their testimony, or in con- 

 tradiction of the verity of their statements or correctness of 

 their estimates. Evidence is on file in the State Depart- 

 ment of their respectability and credibility, and also on the 

 files of the United States Senate. (See Ex. Doc. above 

 cited, pp. 76-78 for some of said evidence.) 



7. The printed pamphlet, published in 1856 by the Phila- 

 delphia Guano Company, whose agents occupied the isle 

 under authority of Venezuela after our eviction. The 

 names of the directors of the company are appended to it, 

 one of whom is Don Jose J. Keefe, the consul of Venezu- 

 ela, at Philadelphia. For value and quality of guano at 

 the isle, see page 9, (an extract from page 95 of Agricultu- 

 ral Keport of United States Patent Office of 1854, and other 

 publications there quoted and adopted ;) and see also page 

 15, where the wholesale price of this guano in the United 

 States, is stated to be from $25 to $40 per ton. See also 

 ibid, ut passim for the quantity and value, generally, of the 

 guano on the isles in the Caribbean Sea. The Venezuelan 

 government cannot gainsay these statements of their sub- 

 stitute, without self-stultification or self-crimination. Seve- 

 ral copies of this pamphlet were sent to the United States 

 State Department in the spring of 1856, to be used as 

 evidence in this case. 



8. An official letter of Don Jose J. Keefe, consul of the 

 Kepublic of Venezuela, addressed to Moses Taylor, Esq., of 

 New York, dated January 12, 1856, in which he states 



