B22 AVES ISLAND. 



acted without any authority of any kind, and therefore he could not 

 bind the government by his act. [!] Besides this, from the moment 

 that the government became informed of what had been done, it un- 

 conditionally disapproved it, and stood free from all co-responsibility 

 with its delegate, that had arrogated to himself functions which did 

 not belong to him. Still, this notwithstanding, his error grew out of 

 an excess of forbearance, and even of kindness, for the Americans, 

 not to mention the stress in which he found himself from shortness of 

 provisions for his garrison, with which the Americans offered to supply 

 him. Gruilty though they were, and deserving of an entirely different 

 proceeding, seeing that it was not adopted, they ought to have been, 

 as indeed they were, grateful at the time, to him who treated them 

 with such consideration. In spite of the evident nullity of the permit 

 to which allusion has been made, there can be no obstacle thrown up 

 against the incontestable validity of the voluntary acknowledgment 

 of Lang and Gibbs, made on the spot, that the island belonged, not to 

 them, but to Venezuela. This voluntary acknowledgment they car- 

 ried out by confirming in writing what they had stated in words, and 

 made it every way ample to give a correct insight into their notion as 

 to the proprietorship of the island. Let the paper permit be called 

 ^'agreement," or whatsoever you please, it will still bear upon its face 

 the clear and unequivocal proposition that Aves Island belongs to 

 Venezuela. 



They were, certainly, characterized as mere copies, those rejected 

 depositions which Mr. Eames produced with his note of the 20th of 

 December, 1856, and this because it is the proper name for transcripts 

 of documents the authenticity of which is vouched for by no signature 

 at the bottom, whether in the Department of State or in the American 

 legation in Caraccas. Nothing of the kind is given to understand in 

 even the official note which describes them. 



When the question of proofs, as admitted in Venezuela, is spoken 

 of, and when she is called on for no less a task than that of assuming 

 a great burden upon herself, it is thought proper that they should at 

 least accord with the provisions of her laws. According to those laws, 

 ^'documents are public and private : public documents are instruments 

 acknowledged before a register, or any other competent public officer, 

 the acts of courts, duly authenticated, and all acts of public functiona- 

 ries^ and transcripts, copies^ or certificates of said instruments of writ- 

 ing and said acts, legalized in the form prescribed by law. 



'' Extrajudicial statements of witnesses, or anticipatory certificates 

 or vouchers shall not be admitted, unless those who have signed or 

 certified them shall make appearance and publicly and judicially con- 

 firm the truth of their contents, in which case it shall be the right of 

 the parties to cross-question those who have signed the documents. 

 From this are excepted those declarations and proofs made by virtue 

 of citation on the adverse party, on account of the impending departure 

 of a witness, or of such persons as are called on to depose, or on account 

 of malicious delay on the part of the plaintiff to come to trial, to be 

 proved in the manner provided for by this code." (Code of Practice, 

 4th law, tit. 1, art. 13 and 16.) 



It will be seen from the above, that the remark that the declarations 



