AVES ISLAND. n 363 



stance ; whether they had already any guano piled up ready to be 

 shipped ; whether they shipped it in virtue of the permission which 

 was given them to continue doing so, or it remained on the island? 

 He replied that, for the removal of the guano on the Island of Aves, 

 no preparation was necessary, except to take a little sand from the 

 top, to place the guano in the carts, and to ship it, an operation which 

 is performed with the shovels^ and consequently there were no prepar- 

 atory labors ; that there was no guano piled up, because it was not 

 necessary, as may be understood from what he has already stated ; 

 that, accordingly, they went on taking guano, and went on shipping 

 it in virtue of the permission which had been given to them. 



Question, What is the size of the Island of Aves^ and what are its 

 productions and its capacity for habitation ; and is it easy to approach 

 it and to land ? He replied that he did not know its exact size, but 

 that it is some five hundred varas from the northeast to the southwest, 

 which is its greatest length, and some hundred and fifty varas wide 

 at the center, which is its greatest breadth ; and that it is from about 

 eleven to thirteen feet high ; its latitude 15° 40' 20" north, and its 

 longitude is found in the meridian of Isla Blanca ; its only production 

 is guano ; it has no capacity for habitation, because it lacks water and 

 is washed by the sea in storms, a thing which happens every year at 

 the equinox ; it has a cove to the west southwest, which is very dan- 

 gerous when the winds are from the north, and everywhere else it is 

 surrounded with reefs which render a landing impossible. 



Question. Whether on the arrival of Colonel Dias at the Island of 

 Aves, and before signing the document to which the second interrog- 

 atory relates, there were anchored at the island any American vessels, 

 of those which were loading with guano, on board of which might 

 have embarked not only Charles H. Lang and thirty laborers, which 

 he says he had, but also all the other Americans who were on the 

 island? He replied, that there were three vessels there of heavy ton- 

 nage, as he has before said, and that one of them alone was sufficient 

 to carry eighty men, according to Spanish regulations, for the vessel 

 measured eight hundred tons, as he was informed by her own captain 

 and Mr. Lang ; that there was another measuring five hundred tons, 

 which was the bark Corcor, belonging to the firm of Lang & Delano ; 

 that, as to the third, he does not know how many tons she measured, 

 but she was also a vessel of large size ; that the first-mentioned vessel 

 was called the Amazon, and her captain spoke Spanish ; that this 

 statement in regard to the captain refers to article four, or the fourth 

 interrogatory of those which he has already replied to, and that, in 

 consequence of what he has already stated in regard to the capacity of 

 the vessels, he thinks that all of them could have embarked, with all 

 their goods and chattels, if they had so desired. 



On this, his deposition being read to him, he said that what he has 

 stated is the truth, that he has nothing to add or take away from it, 

 and that he ratifies and signs it. 



MANUEL CALA, General. 

 NICHOLAS PEREIRA, Deponent. 

 0. JOSE MENESES, Secretary. 



