AVES ISLAND. 231 



ernment, lie intended to return to tlie United States, and had settled 

 on the 9th of June next as the period of his departure. 



The undersigned tenders to Mr. Eames renewed assurances of his 

 distinguished consideration. 



JACINTO aUTIERKEZ. 

 Hon. Charles Eames, 



Minister Besident of the United States. 



Legation of the United States, 



Caracas, 3Iay 29, 1857. 



Sir: The undersigned, minister resident of the United States, has 

 the honor to acknowledge the note, under date of yesterday, of the 

 honorable minister of foreign relations, by which he is informed that 

 the testimony of two Venezuelan naval officers will be taken to-morrow, 

 before the proper military authority, in relation to certain points in- 

 volved in the Aves question, and this information is given in view of 

 the possibility that the undersigned may desire to witness the proceed- 

 ings. 



The courtesy of the Hon. Mr. Gutierrez in making this communica- 

 tion is properly appreciated ; but, as the proceedings seem to be, in form 

 at least, a mere military inquiry touching the conduct of the officers 

 in question, the undersigned does not perceive any special inducement 

 to be present on the occasion. In fact, both the undersigned and his 

 government regard the facts of the case as having been already fully 

 develo]3ed and abundantly proved. 



The honorable minister of foreign relations in the same note reiter- 

 ates the expression of the opinion that the discussion of the Aves claim 

 did not commence "formally" till the 20th of December last. The 

 point as stated, turning as it does upon a mere verbal distinction, is 

 not, in the judgment of the undersigned, of the slightest importance in 

 its iDearing upon the present critical aspect of the case ; but the state- 

 ment, when presented by the Hon. Mr, Grutierrez, as exonerating the 

 Yenezuelan government from the responsibility of undue and perilous 

 delay in this matter, can by no means be accepted by the undersigned 

 as an accurate or just appreciation of the facts. These are of record 

 and speak for themselves. 



Two entire months have now elapsed since the undersigned, by 

 express order of his government, upon rendered reasons and in the most 

 decisive manner, in its name, made known to the government of Vene- 

 zuela that this case of the Aves was, in the deliberate judgment of the 

 government of the United States, a clearly proved, grave, and wholly 

 unjustifiable outrage upon its citizens, inflicting on them great loss and 

 injury ; that further procrastination in the due adjustment of their claim 

 for reparation could not be regarded with indifference ; and that, there- 

 fore, the determination of the government of Venezuela in the matter, was 

 required, in view of those modes of redress recognized in treaty stipu- 

 lations between the two governments as proper and applicable in cases 

 of proved injury, and of the refusal or unreasonable delay of just redress. 



