364 AVES ISLAND. 



On the fiftli of June, of the same year, appeared before this com- 

 mand Captain Manuel Cotarro, forty years of age, an officer, with, an 

 invalid's certificate ; and he having been sworn in legal form to state 

 the truth in answer to what he should be asked, the commanding gen- 

 al proceeded to address to him the eleven interrogatories mentioned in 

 the letter of the Secretary of State in the offices of war and marine, 

 dated the 15th of May last, which begins the papers in this record. 



To the first interrogatory he' said, that on the 12th day of Decem- 

 ber, 1854, he arrived at the Island of Aves, and landed on it on the 

 13th, at six o'clock in the morning, by direction of Colonel Dias; that 

 he found on the island some eighty Americans^, who had three vessels 

 at anchor ; that these individuals were employed in taking guano and 

 in shipping it ; that they had there a kind of wharf, which consisted 

 of some wooden beams of a wrecked vessel, fragments of which still 

 remained on the shore ; that they had also about a dozen small houses 

 or shanties, which were constructed of old timber, perhaps of wrecked 

 vessels ; that the Americans stated to them that they were on the 

 island in search of guano, as they had been on other islands of Yene- 

 zuela with the same object ; that they did not oppose the landing of 

 the Venezuelan force, but on the contrary, sent them launches in order 

 to land the soldiers, the water, provisions, and a four-pounder cannon, 

 with its corresponding ammunition, as a defense for the guard ; that 

 they did not allege any right to the island, but, on the contrary, after 

 making known the reason of their being there, which was to seek for 

 guano, they said they might be permitted to finish loading their ves- 

 sels, as they wanted to compensate themselves for the damages they 

 had sustained by the loss of some of their vessels, expenses of the 

 enterprise in which they were engaged, and labor on the small houses 

 and a kind of wharf which has been mentioned ; that these represen- 

 tations were made in such a supplicating manner that nothing less 

 could be done than to yield to their request ; that the Americans re- 

 ferred to were all men, no women or children being seen among them, 

 were clad in the dress of sailors, and belonged to two companies, at 

 the head of which appeared two gentlemen named Lang and Gibbs. 



The second interrogatory being addressed to him he said : That on 

 granting them the favor to finish loading the vessels, as already men- 

 tioned, the Americans demanded that the permission should be given 

 to them in writing, in consideration that they might meet Yenezuelan 

 vessels and have to prove their right to the cargo they were carrying ; 

 that on this account the document mentioned was granted to them, in 

 which was specified the concession made to them, and the reason for 

 it; and the national vessels-of-war were prohibited from preventing 

 said persons from finishing their loading ; that, besides said document_, 

 the Americans asked for an order to the officer who remained on the 

 island in charge of the guard, to the end that the vessels mentioned 

 should not be prevented from continuing to load. 



The third interrogatory being addressed to him he said: That the 

 deponent acted as interpreter to explain the document in conjunction 

 with Lang, an individual who understood Spanish. 



The fourth interrogatory being addressed to him he said: That, 

 besides Mr. Lang, he remembers that there were two persons from the- 



