AVES ISLAND. 401 



island, any desert territory never trodden by human foot, of wliich 

 there is so much in Spanish America. This island or territory has an 

 owner ; but filibusters consider it as a derelict domain. They invade 

 and establish dominion over it. The rightful possessor thereof repels 

 the aggressor, who, in his turn, assumes the character of the party 

 aggrieved, and with that arrogance which always accompanies bold 

 injustice, exclaims : " This island, this territory, is not yours ; what- 

 ever you may aver to the contrary, I disregard ; you must produce the 

 proofs, for the simple reason that I choose to constitute myself both 

 judge and party in this matter." Common sense suffices to show how 

 untenable such a supposition would be. 



If the claimants, the Secretary of State, Mr. Marcy, and the minis7 

 ter resident at Caraccas, Mr. Eames, have alleged that the proof on 

 the question appertains to Venezuela, it is because they have supposed 

 as unquestionable the identical matter in controversy ; that is to say, 

 ''.'that Isla de Aves, up to July, 1854, had no owner; for, being unin- 

 habitable, it was never taken possession of by any government." So 

 true it is that such a proposition has only jDroceeded from mere suppo- 

 sition, that Mr. Marcy, without sufficient knowledge of the case, and 

 on the claim being presented to his department, decides upon the ques- 

 tion, in January 24, 1855, in these terms : 



"Aves Islands have been known probably more than three hundred 

 years, but have ever been regarded uninhabitable and valueless. No 

 nation has deemed them of sufficient importance to be reduced to pos- 

 session. As we understand the case, Aves Islands were not embraced 

 within the sovereignty of any power, but were derelict." (Official note 

 from Mr. Marcy to Mr. Eames. Documents respecting Aves Islands 

 referred to the Committee of Foreign Relations of the Senate, Jan- 

 uary 20, 1857.) 



It would have been natural to expect that Mr. Marcy, in view alone 

 of the unquestionable fact of the discovery of Isla de Aves three centu- 

 ries ago, had deduced and recognized its occupation by some govern- 

 ment, and abstained from officially countenancing the claim introduced 

 by Shelton and his associates. He would thus have respected the 

 principle in virtue of which Spain, about the year 1679, expelled from 

 the desert islands of Providence those Englishmen who had unlawfully 

 occupied it; the same principle which the United States invoked in 

 favor of the Oregon question with Great Britain, and the very identical 

 principle which Mr. Dobbin, a colleague of Mr. Marcy during Mr. 

 Pierce's administration, left untouched in his instructions of October 

 20, 1855, which, in relation to an uninhabited island in the Pacific 

 ocean said to have been discovered by an American citizen, he (Mr, 

 Dobbin) gave to Commodore Mervine, directing him to abstain from 

 occupying it, and to confine himself to acquiring information, should 

 he find that island had been discovered by other people. 



Notwithstanding such valuable precedents, Mr. Marcy overlooked 



the fact of previous discovery when the subject of Isla de Aves was 



brought up ; and not only did he overlook that fact, but even allowed 



himself to suppose that it remained abandoned and without an owner, 



Ex. Doc. 10 26 



