VENEZUELA. 





toquit those regions with nothing Imt what he could 

 carry with him tin- colony would still lie at least 

 i i.Odi I richer for its invasion of the territory 

 claimed by Venezuela. 



Tlie English case was prepared by Sir Frederick 

 Pollock. Professor of International Law at Oxford 

 University, and was first presented to Parliament 

 in the form of blue books. The historical argu- 

 ment, drawn from evidence in the Spanish and 

 Dutch archives, was that from Nils to 17!Mi the 

 Hutch were in uninterrupted pos-r<-jon of the en- 

 tire coast line from the. river Corentin to Barium, 

 and during this period explored the upper portions 

 of nearly all the rivers, and to a considerable extent 

 made settlements in the adjacent districts:: that 

 prior to 17',':J there wa< no Spanish settlement in 

 the territory in question except San Thome de la 

 Guayana, which was twice removed to higher 

 points on the Orinoco : that between 1724 and 170(5 

 the Capuchin missions were established south of 

 the Orinoco, and gradually extended southward and 

 eastward toward the Dutch territory, the farthest 

 point occupied being the village of Tumeremo. 

 founded about 1788: that before 1700 Dutch settle- 

 ments had existed far up the Cuyuni. while a Dutch 

 fort was established near the river Vnruari. and 

 that the Dutch had full control of the basin of the 

 Cuyuni : and that with the exception of the settle- 

 ment of San Thome de la Guayana and the mis- 

 sions the Spaniards had exercised no authority or 

 dominion whatever over the territory now in dis- 

 pute. From reports of English and Spanish offi- 

 cials to their respective governments, the conclu- 

 sion was drawn that Great Britain, on succeeding to 

 all the rights of the Dutch, extended its settlements 

 and continuously exercised over the territory origi- 

 nally claimed by the Dutch all those rights by which 

 nations usually indicate their claim to territorial 

 possessions, while neither Spain nor, after the dec- 

 laration of independence, Venezuela had either pos- 

 n or dominion over the territory in question. 

 Since 1846. while maintaining her just rights and 

 insisting that its just claims would embrace prac- 

 tically the whole watershed of the Essequibo, 

 Cuyuni. Yuruari. Pomeroon. Waini. and Barima. it 

 is represented as having consistently shown a de- 

 sire to make a fair arrangement with Venezuela as 

 to the boundary: and it is further argued that the 

 claim of Venezuela that its boundary extends to 

 the river Essequibo has been based upon conten- 

 tions that are in no way supported by the facts and 

 can not be justified upon any reasonable grounds 

 namely, upon the original discovery and first ex- 

 ploration of the South American Continent by 

 Spain, which are clearly irrelevant ; upon the bull 

 of Pope Alexander VI. which can not be considered 

 as having any real bearing on the question ; upon 

 an allegation that the occupation by the Dutch was 

 in violation of the treaty of Minister, which allega- 

 tion is shown to he unfounded : upon the possession 

 by the Spaniards of the territory south of the Ori- 

 noco, including the rivers Barima. Maruca, and 

 Pomeroon. whereas the only Spanish settlements at 

 any time were San Thome de Guayana. situated on 

 the south bank of the Orinoco, which was moved 

 farther up the river a< it was destroyed by the Brit- 

 ish and the Dutch successively, and the Capuchin 

 settlements, between the Orinoco and Tumeremo: 

 and upon the assumption that the Dutch never had 

 any possessions north of the Essequibo, which is 

 shown to be equally erroneous. 



A parliamentary paper was issued in consequence 

 of the finding of discrepancies and mistranslations 

 in the blue book, one of which made a secret report 

 to the Spanish Government before the treaty of 

 MHnster say that the Dutch settlements extended 

 from close to the Amazon as far as the Orinoco, 



whereas in the original they were -aid to : 

 at least a> far 



tary blue 1 k <:ave documents p-lair 



Dutch and Spanish settlements prior to 17!. tin- 

 post holders and the jurisdiction e\erci-ed by them, 

 trade relations with the Indian tribes, and bounda- 

 ries purporting to show that the Dutch exp 

 the main streams and tributari.- of all the prin- 

 cipal river- thai flow into the Atlantic Ocean be- 

 tween theAmaxon ami the Orino. it|,.. 

 nients at variou.- plaees in the interior, in-titii' 

 regular system of trading with the Indian tl 

 and with their Spanish neighbors, their p"-t holders 

 having special functions in com rolling su.-h t 

 that they i--ued pa ports, and in other v, 

 lished their control over the district, and entered 

 into relations with the native tribes, many of which 

 owned allegiance to them : and that subsequently to 

 1745 the boundaries were on varioi.- 

 subject of discussion. and both Dutch and Spaniards 

 considered the territory embraced in the watersheds 

 of the Essequibo, Mazaruni, and Cuyuni and of tin- 

 other rivers flowing into the Atlantic between the 

 Corentin and the Orinoco belonged to the Dutch. 

 The conclusions drawn from the documents were 

 that fora period of upward of two hundred 

 the Dutch had control of the whole coast extend- 

 ing from the Corentin to the Orinoco and of all the 

 rivers flowing direct into the- Atlantic : that they es- 

 tablished settlements at various points on the coast 

 and in the watersheds of the rivers notably, far up 

 the Cuyuni.in close proximity to the territory after- 

 ward occupied by the Capuchin missions: that they 

 controlled the trade of the whole district between 

 Barima and the Corentin. and established local offi- 

 cers to protect that trade: that the native tribes 

 throughout substantially the whole district entered 

 into friendly relations "with the Dutch, regarded 

 them as their protectors, were to a large extent 

 under their control, and combined with them to 

 resist the Spaniards; that at a very early date the 

 Dutch had a post at Barima. which district and its 

 trade and inhabitants remained throughout under 

 the control of the Dutch: that the Spaniards r 

 nized the authority of the Dutch as extending to 

 the right bank of the Barima: that ultimately the 

 Spanish authorities recognized the junctions of the 

 rivers Uruan and Corumo with the Cuyuni as being 

 on the frontiers of the Spanish possessions, and the 

 Dutch colony of Essequibo as extending to those 

 points: and that beyond San Thome de Guayana 

 and the Capuchin missions the Spaniards had no 

 settlement of any kind in the territory in question, 

 had no control over the trade, were opposed by and 

 were hostile to the Indians, and exercised no do- 

 minion or authority whatever. 



British Activity in the Disputed Territory. 

 The richest of the gold fields, and the one in which 

 the most capital has been expended in development 

 work is the Barima district. A regular service of 

 steamers has connected it with Georgetown, and two 

 railroads have been begun, running from the landing 

 to the site of the mining operations. Morawhan- 

 na. near the mouth of the Barima river, was made 

 the seat of government, and from this place roads 

 were built in various directions into the interior. 

 By this route the gold fields on the Cuyuni are 

 most easily reached. In the Barima district crush- 

 ing machinery has been erected for treating rich 

 quartz deposits. Several companies were floated in 

 the colony, and London capitalists subscribed money 

 for the development of some of the claims. In March 

 Sir Augustus W. L. Hemming succeeded Sir Charles 

 Cameron 1. ernor of British Guiana. 



A road from Bartica to the British frontier 

 at Uruan was begun in March, 1896. Another read 

 ailt from Cartabo Point between the Mazaruni 



