AVES ISLAND. 366 



His excellency the President of Venezuela hopes that his excellency 

 the President of the United States will stand in this exjDCcted position, 

 under an abiding trust that he will not overlook these considerations 

 when he will have come to weigh in the scales of his eminent and 

 impartial judgment, all and each one of the reasons scattered through 

 this note. 



The documents used herein are marked by the letters A, B, C, D, 

 E. The first embraces the measures taken previous to the declarations 

 of Colonel Domingo Dias, First Lieutenant Pereira, and First Com- 

 mander Manuel Cotarro, together with the declarations themselves. 

 The four following letters refer to official communications of the min- 

 ister of war and of the navy, and of Messrs. T. Leon Coronado and 

 P. S. Laroche, commanders of the national armed vessels to which 

 they refer. Finally, the letter F looks to the royal order of his 

 Catholic Majesty, given at Aranjuez, on the 13th of June, 1*786, which 

 constitutes Venezuela's title to Aves Island. 



The undersigned, Secretary of Foreign Kelations of Venezuela, 

 avails himself of the present occasions to tender renewed assurances 

 to the Secretary of State of the United States of his most distinguished 

 consideration. 



JACINTO GUTIERREZ. 



His Excellency The Seceetaey of State 



of the United States. 



A. 



[Translation.] 



SECRETARYSHIP OF STATE IN THE OFFICE OF WAR AND I\IARINE, DIVISION OF 



MARINE. 



Caraccas, May 15, ISST. 

 To the Commanding General of the Province : 



Under elate of the 13th instant the Secretary of Foreign Relations 

 says to me what follows : 



" The executive authority, having agreed to the recommendation of 

 the council of government on the subject of the reclamation made by 

 the legation of the United States in behalf of the Americans who 

 were taking guano from the Island of Aves, has determined that 

 Colonel Domingo Dias and the subordinate officers who accompanied 

 him thither, or who remained there until the 31st of December, 1854, 

 shall depose before the competent authority, and with due solemnitj'-, 

 in reference to the points contained in said report, which says : 



'"The council of government has made itself acquainted with the 

 statement of reclamation made by the minister resident of the United 

 States in behalf of the Americans who set about taking guano at the 

 Island of Aves ; and one of the principal points of that statement 



