BOLIVIA. 



Cl 



cnrato survey of tbo harbor of Now York. In 

 1819 ami tin- \. ar following, ho made tho first 

 ; of tho I'.aliaina Hanks, and the shoals of 

 ami Naiiturkrt, ami in 1824 surveyed 

 tin- entrance of New York harbor from Barno- 

 gat to Fire l.-laml. In 1825 and 1820 ho ran 

 the line of K-vel-. from the river San Juan to tho 

 1'aciiic O<van, for the purpose of building a 

 canal on the Nicaragua route. From 1827 to 

 1830, as a private enterprise, he surveyed Long 

 Island Sound from New York to Montank 

 Point, the Government up to that period having 

 taken no steps toward developing a knowledge 

 of tho coast of the United States. On the or- 

 ganization of the United States Coast Survey in 

 1832, he was appointed assistant, holding that 

 position up to the time of his death. In 1855 

 and 1850 he furnished tho points to determine 

 the exterior lino of New York harbor. While 

 on the Coast Survey, his attention was directed 

 to the inferiority of the lights in the American 

 light-houses, and he was the proposer and advo- 

 cate of the introduction of Fresuel's system of 

 signal-lights, which has since contributed so 

 largely to render our light-house system tho 

 best in the world. He was also a mechanic 

 of great inventive genius, as is evinced by the 

 dividing-engine, built from his plan and under 

 his direction. 



BOLIVIA, a republic in South America. 

 Provisional President, Mariano Melgarcjo (since 

 I Kvember, 1804). The frontiers of the republic 

 not being yet regulated, the area is differently 

 estimated from 22,500 to 39,038 geographical 

 square miles. The population was, in 1858, es- 

 timated by J. Ondarza, a Bolivian geographer, at 

 1,742,352, exclusive of 245,000 savage Indians; 

 making a total of 1,987,352. The army consists 

 of about 2,000 men, besides the national guard. 

 The receipts of the republic amounted, in 1804, 

 to 2,471,000 piastres, and the expenditures to 

 2,435,000. The civil war, which disturbed Bo- 

 livia throughout the year 1805, was brought to 

 a close by the decisive victory of President 

 Melgarejo over his opponents at Viacha, near 

 La Paz, in January, 1806. Bolivia joined the 

 alliance of Chili and Peru against Spain, and, 

 like her allies, expelled all the Spanish resi- 

 dents from her territory. "When the secret 

 triple alliance concluded, in 1805, between Bra- 

 zil, the Argentine Republic, and Uruguay be- 

 came known, Bolivia deemed it her right to 

 enter an energetic protest, as tho treaty assigned 

 to both the Argentine Republic and Brazil a 

 piece of territory which has always been 

 claimed by Bolivia. Tho following are the 

 most important portions of this protest : 



OFFICE OF FOREIGN AFFAIBS (Bolivia). ) 

 LAJA, July 6, 1866. f 



SKXOR: * * * It appears strange to the Bolivian 

 Government that the high allied powers, in settling 

 the basis as to what extent of territory they are to 

 take from the republic of Paraguay, their common 

 enemy, should comprise therein a large portion of 

 Bolivia, as they actually do in the sixteenth article 

 of said treaty, which assigns to the Argentine Con- 

 federation that vast extent of country embraced on 

 the west bank of the Paraguay, in what is known as 



the Gran Cliaco, all of which ia exclusively and un- 

 questionably Bolivian by right. At the name time 

 they recognize in a manner most offensive to the 

 nation and Government of Bolivia a right in favor 

 of Brazil to the possession of that strip of country 

 comprised between the Bahia Negra and tho river 

 Jauru. on the right bank of the aforesaid I arairuav 

 Kiv.T. * * 



The Government of Bolivia, owinjr to its bonnden 

 duty to maintain and defend the dignity and integrity 

 of the nation, cannot pass unnoticed an act of such 

 great and such weighty consequences as this unheard- 

 of violation of tho public law of nations. But it can- 

 not be persuaded that the governments making this 

 treaty could have wished to present to the whole 

 civilized world so scandalous an example as is given 

 in these articles which sanction as jiut the uae of 

 force as well as usurpation. 



The Government of Bolivia unhesitatingly asserts 

 its belief that said treaty may have a false and spu- 

 rious origin. Under this supposition his excellency 

 the Provisional President of the republic, who is 

 anxious to have official information concerning the 

 falsity or authenticity of the said treaty, has ordered 

 that I should address your excellency on the sub- 

 ject ; and I hope that this request will be received 

 as a new proof of the uninterrupted good relations 

 that unite both governments. I take occasion, etc.. 

 JOSE RAYMONDO TABORGA. 



To Sefior Jost ANTONIO SABAIVA, Minister for For- 

 eign Affairs of the Empire of Brazil. 



Bolivia maintains that her eastern limits reach 

 to the Paraguay River, and run from the mouth 

 of the Jauru, through tho centre of the main 

 channel of the Paraguay in the dry season, fol- 

 lowing its course through the swamps do los 

 Jarayes, far to the southward of the Bahia 

 Negra (Black Lake, or Lake Negro, as our 

 atlases call it). From the mouth of the Janru, 

 the line runs directly northwest until it meets 

 the waters of the Guapor6 at a point opposite 

 the mouth of the Sarard. 



The long dispute with Chili concerning the 

 southwestern frontier which, for twenty-three 

 years, had threatened the peace between these re- 

 publics, was settled, in 1806, by a treaty. Dur- 

 ing the past few years the conflict had assumed 

 a very threatening aspect. Some Frenchmen 

 had discovered that the land was rich with 

 guano, and desired to work it ; but in the dis- 

 puted state of the title they could not get pos- 

 session with any certainty of being able to work 

 it long enough to realize a fair return. They, 

 therefore, offered to lend to Bolivia three mil- 

 lions of dollars for the right, and furnish arma, 

 etc., the money thus loaned to be expended in 

 purchasing ships for the defence of the coast 

 of Mejillones. General Santa Cruz, an enemy 

 of Chili, was at that time Bolivia's representa- 

 tive at Paris, and ho agreed to tho transaction. 

 The deposits were to be worked on the joint 

 account of the French firm and Bolivia. Thus 

 matters stood when the war with Spain broke 

 out. Bolivia concluded to join the alliance of 

 Chili, Peru, and Ecuador against Spain. A re- 

 sult of this alliance was that a treaty has been 

 drawn up between the two countries, by which 

 the boundary line is definitely settled at 24 

 south, thus dividing the disputed territory and 

 the deposits at the same time. The French 

 firm, Arnaud by name, agreed to advance 



