MOSQUITO KINGDOM. 125 



Soon after the conquest of California by the North 

 Americans in 1848, Lord Palmerston made another attempt 

 on that country, and succeeded. San &quot;Juan del Norte and 

 part of the river San Juan were taken possession of, by the 

 English, who changed the name of San Juan del Norte into 

 that of Grey town. 



In the name of the King of Mosquito, they administered 

 it for several years ; but ultimately, in 1850 and 1854, it was 

 occupied for a while by the North Americans, and lastly 

 returned to Nicaragua. 



In 1851, an Englishman called Samuel Shepherd was 

 still living in Greytown. He was one of the two brothers 

 with whom Robert Charles Frederick, the third Mosquito 

 King, had exchanged a considerable extent of land for 

 brandy. But part of that land belonging to Nicaragua, this 

 Republic protested. 



The real or imaginary acquisition of title deeds con 

 firming that purchase was the base of the speculations of 

 Colonel Kinley, who wished to annex the Kingdom of 

 Mosquito to the United States. Several members of that 

 Republic were at first in favour of the scheme, but they 

 changed their mind soon afterwards. Colonel Kinley took 

 part in the successive events of Nicaragua as the rival of 

 Walker, but his attempt failed. 



In 1851 Samuel Shepherd was about 80 years old, a fine 

 robust and active man yet, he had lived on the Mosquito 

 Coasts since his youth, and considered that country as one of 

 the finest and healthiest of all America. When speaking of 

 Mosquito, he used to say, That country is all mine. He 

 was certainly a man of character. 



But the facl remains that the Mosquito Kingdom has 

 always been a very poor one, scarcely inhabited, and far from 

 being healthy. Its capital, Blue-fields, consists of miserable 

 huts, inhabited by several hundreds of Indians. The best of 

 it consists in its central position with the river Escondido and 

 its tributaries, partly navigable, and giving access to the rich 

 provinces of Matagalpa and Chontales. 



