AVES ISLAND. 325 



siicli^ and the act by which they signed the document which speaks 

 against them, bearing all the characteristics of a voluntary one, that 

 they should now allege that it is of no value, because it was the result 

 of force and fraud, with the hope" that it will be believed on the 

 strength of their words, is a pretension which cannot be admitted, 

 unless we would, at the same time, authorize man to sport with the 

 most sacred acts and laugh at his fellow beings. In no case can 

 a document be invalidated, under a plea of fraud and violence, by the 

 mere say of him who signed it, and who, in spite of that say, is met 

 by the best grounded presumptions. 



The reasons assigned by those individuals for their conduct are not 

 the same, neither do they accord with those which ajce assigned for it 

 by what is termed the eye-and-ear-witnesses of the act, who were par- 

 ticipants in it by the fact of consulting together in that act. Let us, 

 however, cursorily examine their declarations, and ascertain whether 

 it be or not possible to find in them some likelihood of error: 



''Joshua F. Spofford, master of the bark Carlo Mauran, loading 

 with guano on Aves Island, for account of Tappan and Philo S. Shel- 

 ton^ of Boston, says that a Venezuelan armed schooner arrived on the 

 13th of December, 1854, landed an armed force, and took possession 

 of the island, lowering the American flag and hoisting in its place the 

 banner of Venezuela, threatening, at the same time, every American 

 there with expulsion from the island. Finally Colonel Dias drew up 

 a document in Spanish, which he said was a permit for them to go on 

 loading the guano provided they put their armament under his au- 

 thority ; that he was present when the tenor of the document was ex- 

 plained to Captain Gribbs, said Gribbs not understanding the Spanish 

 language; that, according to the way in which it was explained to 

 him, it was merely that Gibbs and Lang had to assist the garrison 

 left on the island with supplies of water and provisions, and he was 

 assured, in the most positive manner, that the document contained 

 nothing that went to establish the existence of a title to the island in 

 behalf of Venezuela ; that he positively knows this fact, because Cap- 

 tain Gibbs asked him his opinion about it. Besides this, he certified 

 that Dias insisted, if they did not sign the document, that they should 

 have to leave the island forthwith ; that Captain Gibbs, under these 

 •circumstances, was compelled to sign the document, with the hoj)e 

 that by doing so they would be allow^ed to load the vessels that were 

 there, as well as those which they were expecting ; that Gibbs then 

 told the witness that if the document contained anything difierent 

 from what had been explained to him, he did not suppose that a paper 

 signed under such circumstances could be considered to be one of bind- 

 ing force." This declaration is dated ''Boston, June 20, 1855," and 

 acknowledged before Justice of the Peace Charles Horner. 



This witness makes no mention of the employment of force, but he 

 does of threat ; nor does he speak of any reluctance on the part of the 

 signers, or of any indicationsof resistance or opposition. He positively 

 knew that the paper contained no admission of the title of Venezuela, 

 because he was present when it was explained to Gibbs, and because 

 he consulted him as to what he should do. He does not refer to Lang, 

 and he was the only one who was consulted. 



