548 



NICARAGUA. 



they should be restored to office. A force of 50 

 marines with 2 Gatling guns was landed and 

 posted on the bluff to prevent disturbances, and 

 the " Cleopatra " sailed away to cable for in- 

 structions from London. 



The United States Government ordered the 

 " Kearsarge " to the spot, and when that vessel 

 was wrecked on the voyage another was dis- 

 patched. Meanwhile the United States ambas- 

 sador in London asked for information from the 

 British Government regarding the landing of a 

 British force, and learned that it had been done 

 without special instructions, with the result of 

 restoring tranquillity pending an understanding 

 as to the questions involved. Lord Kimberley 

 reaffirmed Lord Salisbury's note of March 7, 

 1889, to the effect that " no protectorate over the 

 Mosquito Indians, in substance or in form, nor 

 anything in the nature of a protectorate, is de- 

 sired or intended by the British Government." 



A collision occurred between the natives and 

 the Nicaragua!! soldiers in Bluefields, who num- 

 bered about 400, in the night of March 5. In 

 attempting to make arrests 2 of the soldiers 

 were killed. The British troops were brought 

 into the town in the morning. A conference 

 was held between the British, the Nicaraguans, 

 and the Mosquitos, the result of which was that 

 120 of the Nicaraguan troops embarked on the 

 British war ship " Cleopatra," for Greytown. 



The British force was increased to 200, and 

 other conferences took place, the outcome of 

 which was that a provisional government was 

 constituted, consisting of a council of 5 men, 3 

 of whom were selected by Gen. Lacayo and 2 by 

 the United States consul. The latter appointed 

 Samuel Weil and Samuel Lampkin. Gen. La- 

 cayo appointed Nicaraguans, who could reach 

 no agreement with their American colleagues. 

 The council, therefore, disbanded, while the Eng- 

 lish, who had arrested Nicaraguan troops that 

 remained and seized their arms, patrolled the 

 city. The Americans refused to recognize the 

 authority of the Nicaraguan commissioner, and 

 the British commander, Capt. Assheton G. Cur- 

 zon Howe, assumed control of the government, 

 as far as any government existed. The Presi- 

 dent of Nicaragua, who had directed Gen. La- 

 cayo to place 50 men in the streets to serve as 

 police, offered to send 1,000 men, but Gen. La- 

 cayo, warned by the British commander, declined 

 to receive them. The British force was finally 

 withdrawn, and the " Cleopatra " steamed away 

 on March 18, Gen. Lacayo being left in charge 

 of affairs. Chief Clarence and his attorney- 

 general, a British Creole, were conveyed away on 

 a British steamer. When Gen. Lacayo brought 

 soldiers down from Rama, the Americans and 

 Creoles, to the number of 1,000, armed them- 

 selves and threatened to exterminate the Nica- 

 raguans. The American consul, S. C. Braida, 

 induced Gen. Lacayo to disarm the soldiers and 

 keep them in his house, the Americans promising 

 to confine themselves to passive resistance pend- 

 ing the action of their Government, They sent 

 Vice-Consul B. B. Seat, Samuel Weil, and an- 

 other to Washington to present their case. 



On March 22 an American, William Wilson, 

 in an altercation, was shot and killed by the 

 Nicaraguan governor at Rama, Aguello. The 

 governor general at Bluefields appointed a new 



governor with orders to arrest Aguello, who 

 nevertheless was allowed to escape. He was 

 afterward arrested, but was not tried, and soon 

 escaped from prison. The new governor was 

 removed to give satisfaction to the United States 

 after the fugitive had got away into Colombia. 

 The Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs ar- 

 rived at Bluefields as special commissioner, and, 

 in consultation with the British vice-consul, E. 

 D. Hatch, endeavored to reconcile the people 

 and the planters and traders to incorporation, 

 guaranteeing existing property rights, religious 

 liberty, and exemption from military service, 

 extending the reciprocity treaty with the United 

 States to the reserve, and restoring the taxes to 

 what they were before. He proposed to install 

 a provisional government, offering 2 places in 

 the council of 7 members to Americans, but re- 

 served the right to appoint the customs officers 

 and to veto any act of the provisional govern- 

 ment deemed to conflict with the Constitution 

 and laws of Nicaragua. Although the increase 

 of 33J per cent, in the duty on bananas was re- 

 mitted, still the Americans were not willing to 

 accept his proposals. Gen. Lacayo, whose meas- 

 ures vexed the American residents, was recalled 

 by the Nicaraguan Government, and Gen. Cabe- 

 zas appointed commissioner. Suddenly an in- 

 surrection broke out in the town on July 5. 

 Some Jamaicans who were employed as police- 

 men demanded their pay from the commissioner, 

 and attacked him when he offered them scrip 

 instead of money. The whole police force 

 was joined by the other Jamaicans of the town 

 in an attack upon the Nicaraguan soldiers, who 

 had been summoned from the bluff by Gen. Ca- 

 bezas, and fighting continued through the night. 

 There were only 14 soldiers left at the bluff. A 

 party of 60 men armed with rifles landed from a 

 steam launch in the middle of the night and at- 

 tacked the unsuspecting Niearaguans as they 

 were lounging around the camp. Another body 

 of Jamaicans fired from an ambush as they fled, 

 and the survivors threw down their arms and 

 ran into the forest. The attacking party gath- 

 ered up the stores and arms, including a Krupp 

 gun, and went down into the town. A meeting 

 of residents was called, and Clarence was de- 

 clared to be reinstated chief of the reserve. 

 Capt. O'Neill, of the United States ship " Mar- 

 blehead," landed 60 sailors and marines to pro- 

 tect United States citizens and their property. 

 He refused to interfere when requested to do so 

 by Gen. Cabezas, but arranged a compromise 

 whereby the latter remained as commissioner 

 after sending away the troops. A few days later, 

 yielding to threats, he and the rest of the Nica- 

 raguans took refuge in Rama. The arms cap- 

 tured by the insurgents were delivered over to 

 the United States naval authorities for safe 

 keeping. .The Nicaraguans supposed the whole 

 affair to have been planned by the Americans 

 residing in Bluefields, and that the arms placed 

 in the hands of the Mosquitos and Jamaicans 

 were imported by them for the purpose. The 

 leaders of the attacking party were said to be 

 Americans. Chief Clarence issued a proclama- 

 tion declaring that he had assumed his right- 

 ful authority, and calling upon all law-abiding 

 residents to obey his authority and that of his 

 office as Chief of Mosquito. A force of 150 



