AYES ISLAND. 273 



had, on tlie 20tli of December, in some degree anticipated its directions, 

 and had submitted a formal and urgent request that the action of Ven- 

 ezuela with reference to it might no longer be delayed. But on the 

 31st of March, yon renewed the demand for redress in the very lan- 

 guage of the department, replying, conclusively, at the same time, to 

 the only communication on the subject in which Venezuela had ever 

 noticed the reclamation since it was first brought to her attention in 

 March, 1855. To this demand no reply has been received, except an 

 acknowledgment of its receipt on the 28th of May, and a statement 

 that it required time for consideration ; while the long forbearance of 

 the United States to make it in a formal and peremptory manner, is 

 most unreasonably urged as a justification for further delay. It is 

 true that you were also informed in this reply that an examination of 

 the two officers who were chiefly concerned in the Aves expedition ^ 

 was to be had on the subject the next day, and that you were at lib- 

 erty to attend. But since these ofiicers had been the mere agents of 

 the Venezuelan government in the transaction complained of, had 

 been constantly within its reach for consultation, and had ofticially 

 reported their proceedings on their return, without any appearance of 

 disapproval by their government, it is difficult to see why any delay of 

 the case was necessary in order to receive their formal testimony. 



Nor is it readily perceived, in view of those facts concerning it 

 which are not controverted, how the justice of the Aves claim can be 

 shaken by any testimonv whatever. It is not denied that the island 

 in question was on the 13th of December, 1854, in the peaceable and 

 open possession of American citizens, and had been so for at least six 

 months. It is not depied that they had first discovered that it con- 

 tained a valuable deposit of guano ; that they had erected buildings 

 upon it ; that they had hoisted the flag of their country as evidence of 

 their citizenship ; and that they were engaged with all the necessary 

 materials and arrangements which they had procured and established 

 at great cost in shipping the guano which they had discovered to the 

 United States. It is not denied, but appears clear, on the contrary, 

 from the evidence and the correspondence, that these facts were all 

 brought to the knowledge of Venezuela. It is beyond controversy, 

 that with this knowledge in its possession, and without any previous 

 notice whatever to the United States or its minister at Caraccas, the 

 Venezuelan government sent out an armed force to take possession of 

 the island and drive out the American citizens who were its rightful 

 occupants. It is undisputed, of course, that this force accomplished 

 precisely what it was sent to do, and evicted the occupants of the 

 island under circumstances of indignity to the flag of their country, 

 which no American could witness without emotion, and with a degree 

 of violence which they were unable to resist. It is certain that, in 

 consequence of these proceedings, Mr. Shelton and his associates, 

 without having committed any fault or violated any law, sustained 

 loss and damage to a very large amount, while he himself was reduced 

 from affluence to a condition of comparative want. It may be added, 

 moreover, that the armed expedition of Venezuela seems to have been 

 undertaken with a view to divide with others the very profits of an 

 enterprise which rightfully belonged to Mr. Shelton and his associates, 

 Ex. Doc. 10 18 



