402 AVES ISLAND. 



at the time of transmitting the claim of Shelton and his associates to 

 the United States legation at Caraccas. 



Mr. Eames replies, however, "that the island had alwa5^s heen con- 

 sidered by all governments as derelict, is, perhaps, not quite so certain," 

 and he proved it by the pretensions which Holland was about inter- 

 posing thereto. (Note from Mr. Eames to Mr. Marcy, Caraccas, April 

 26, 1855 — document aforesaid.) 



But afterwards this doubt was removed from the mind of Mr. Eames,' 

 establishing, as unquestionable, a controvertible spoliation in order to 

 deduce therefrom the liability of Venezuela, notwithstanding the addi- 

 tional strong reasons he had for such doubt, arising out of the formal 

 claim presented by Holland. 



From the above premises, it clearly results that Venezuela is not 

 bound to furnish the proofs. Nevertheless she has already adduced 

 them, because she has justice on her side, and loses nothing thereby. 



The complete justification of Venezuela results from the following 

 propositions, all of which are set forth in the note of the Hon. Jacinto 

 Gutierrez, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, dated October 31, 1857, to 

 which reference is made in this memoir, the object of which is to fur- 

 nish a condensed statement of the arguments in said document, and to 

 present some additional ones of importance: 



1st. Isla de Aves was discovered and taken possession of by Spain. 



2d. Isla de Aves was incorporated under the captain generalship of 

 Venezuela at the time of her emancipation from Spain^ and is, there- 

 fore, at the present day an integral portion of the republic of Vene- 

 zuela. 



3d. Even if Isla de Aves did not belong to the republic of Venezuela, 

 it could not be regarded as derelict in July, 1854, since Holland still 

 persists in asserting her claim, however unjustly, to the ownership 

 thereof. 



4th. Supposing that Isla de Aves was derelict in July, 1854, which 

 is the ground taken by the claimants, Venezuela as a nation should, 

 in competition with private citizens, be considered the rightful occu- 

 pant according to international law. 



5th. The government of the United States itself recognized the 

 sovereignty of Venezuela over Isla de Aves when, in September, 1855, 

 it interposed an energetic demand in favor of the Pickreil claim. 



6th. Venezuela has in no manner whatsoever incurred any respon- 

 sibility towards the United States by her prohibition to export guano 

 from Isla de Aves, imposed on American citizens who, in 1854, had 

 occupied it. 



PROPOSITION FIRST. 



Isla de Aves was the property of Spain. — The history of discoveries 

 shows that Spanish navigators visited all that group called the Wind- 

 ward Islands, extending from St. Domingo in a semi-circular direction 

 to the coast of Guayana, in Venezuela, as well as all others of the littoral 

 of that republic. The very name of Isla de Aves plainly shows the 

 nation which discovered it in the ocean. 



The Compilation of Indies contains a law prescribing the formalities 



