NICARAGUA. 



547 



favor by the natives nor by the American banana 

 planters or other capitalists, who had secured 

 concessions, grants, and allotments of land. 

 Diversity of race, language, customs, and, above 

 all, religion, for the Mosquitos are strong Prot- 

 estants and Sabbatarians, separated them from 

 the Spaniards or Nicaraguans, as well as their 

 independent political organization, over which 

 Nicaragua, according to the treaty of Managua, 

 concluded between Great Britain and Nicaragua 

 on Jan. 28, 1860, had no control, though recog- 

 nized as the sovereign power. The Clayton- 

 Bulwer treaty, while preventing the country 

 from becoming a British colony, like Belize, se- 

 cured to her a joint protectorate over the pro- 

 jected Nicaragua canal, providing that neither 

 Great Britain nor the United States should "erect 

 any fortifications or occupy or fortify or colo- 

 nize or assume or exercise any dominion over 

 Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast or 

 any part of Central America, or make use of any 

 protection which either affords or may afford or 

 any alliance which either has or may have to, or 

 with any State or people for any of the above 

 purposes." The treaty of Managua provided 

 that the Mosquito Indians should have their 

 country as a permanent reserve and the right of 

 self-government, but should be required to ac- 

 knowledge allegiance to the Republic of Nica- 

 ragua. They were permitted to have a flag of 

 their own, which must bear some emblem de- 

 noting their submission to Nicaragua. The 

 Nicaraguan Government was required to pay a 

 pension of $5,000 a year in gold to the heredi- 

 tary chief. Nicaragua was forbidden to inter- 

 fere in any way with the commerce of the Mos- 

 quito Indians, or to impose taxes on imports or 

 exports. By this treaty Great Britain renounced 

 all claims to a protectorate over the Mosquito 

 Indians and their country. 



When Nicaragua, at the time when the com- 

 merce of Bluefields assumed considerable dimen- 

 sions, established a -customhouse there the chief 

 objected, and the dispute was referred to the 

 decision of the Emperor of Austria, who, on 

 July 2, 1881, decided that the treaty of 1860 had 

 been violated, and that Nicaragua had no right 

 to collect duties or to interfere with the lands 

 of the reserve, as they belonged wholly and ex- 

 clusively to the Indians, but had sovereign rights 

 and authority, and could, through commissioners 

 or other officers, exercise such authority, and 

 had the right to preserve the peace. 



The granting of patents for extensive and 

 valuable lands by the Mosquito Government to 

 American citizens excited the jealousy and ap- 

 prehension of the Nicaraguan authorities, who 

 threatened to interfere and prevent the mis- 

 government of the Indians and the squandering 

 of their resources by Jamaica negroes. An 

 American company that had a patent for the 

 mahogany forest on the upper Escondido or 

 Bluefields river first called forth active meas- 

 ures. The Nicaraguan Government, claiming 

 that a large part of the lands that were being 

 worked lay outside the Mosquito boundary, sent 

 a governor who took possession of Rania, the 

 town built up by the Americans, collected duties 

 on the logs extracted, and annulled some of the 

 leases, granting the lands to Nicaraguan citi- 

 zens. Another governor was appointed for the 



district of the upper Rio Grande. The next 

 step was to seize the islands of the coast, planted 

 with cocoanut trees, and the fisheries of the bays. 

 So far the Nicaraguans had acted only within 

 what they claimed to be their territorial limits. 

 They scouted the claims made by Americans for 

 compensation for improvements at Rama and 

 for the canceled leases. During the war be- 

 tween Nicaragua and Honduras (see HONDURAS) 

 they took a step that alarmed the native officials 

 and their supporters. After it had been reported 

 that the Honduranian forces had taken posses- 

 sion of Cape Gracias-a-Dios, a point at the north- 

 eastern extremity of Nicaragua, above the north- 

 ern limit of the Mosquito Reserve, Gen. Carlos 

 A. Lacayo, who had been appointed commis- 

 sioner to the reserve from Nicaragua, arrived 

 at Bluefields with a staff of officers on Nov. 2. 



1893, and built barracks and offices on a strip of 

 sand at the mouth of the river and a wharf run- 

 ning out into the lagoon. Duties were collected 

 on bananas coming down the river, most of 

 which were said to be the produce of the reserva- 

 tion. Troops were forwarded to Cape Gracias- 

 a-Dios by way of this new station, and after 

 they had sailed another force was sent for by 

 the commissioner and apparently quartered 

 permanently at Bluefields. The Nicaraguan 

 authorities represented that it was to guard 

 Bluefields from a threatened attack of the ene- 

 my. They had information that the Americans 

 and Creoles in Bluefields were prepared to assist 

 the Honduranians in an invasion of Nicaragua 

 through the Mosquito territory. The Mosquito 

 officials feared that the intention was to occupy 

 their territory and incorporate it with Nicaragua. 

 A party of the Mosquito Indians, disgusted with 

 the corruption and oppression of the negroes, 

 had requested the intervention of the sovereign 

 power. Chief Clarence questioned the commis- 

 sioner as to whether he respected the treaty of 

 Managua and the award of the Emperor of Aus- 

 tria and protested against the presence of Nica- 

 raguan soldiers in the streets carrying arms in 

 violation of the municipal law. The diplomatic 

 quarrel seemed likely to lead to a physical 

 struggle, and on the plea of guarding against 

 insurrection Gen. Lacayo and Gen. Rigoberto 

 Cabezas, the Nicaraguan governor, on Feb. 12, 



1894, took possession of Bluefields, proclaimed 

 martial law, and hoisted the flag of Nicaragua. 

 They appointed new officials, mostly foreigners, 

 while Robert Henry Clarence, the hereditary 

 chief, a young man of twenty-one years, and 

 some of the native officials fled to the woods. 

 The customhouse collector, a British subject, 

 was evicted from his office by force, and the 

 members of the council and judges were re- 

 moved from office. The Americans, 160 in 

 number, disputed the authority of the Nica- 

 raguans, and refused to vacate their lands or to 

 pay duties. The local authorities appealed to 

 Great Britain, and the "Cleopatra" arrived, 

 with H. F. Bingham, British consul, on board, 

 on Feb. 26. The British representatives ar- 

 ranged with Gen. Lacayo that the Mosquito 

 flag should be hoisted "alongside the flag of 

 Nicaragua, and martial law be discontinued 

 within a specified time, and demanded a written 

 guarantee that Chief Clarence and his officials 

 should not be molested, but did not insist that 



