Venezuelan International Law. 59 



" a fort for the defence of the limits, and that for this 

 " reason the spot sele6led must be a convenient one for 

 " the ere6lion of this fort, so that the advantages of 

 " the ground shall further secure it against the enemies 

 " who may attempt to attack it." 



So little, in fa6t, did the Governor General of Vene- 

 zuela, in 1779, know of the territory in question, that, in 

 the last paragraph of his Mandate, he admits the im- 

 possibility of laying down certain and sure rules on so 

 important a subje6l, about " an unknown country." 

 Mark the words, " an unknown country^ 



The officer commissioned to survey this terra incognita 

 was Jose Felipe de Inciarte. He reported on the 

 27th of November 1779, (pp. 84 to 89). Of course, 

 Inciarte was unable to report the presence of any 

 Spaniards in the Barima distrift. He mentions, how- 

 ever, fa6ts which show that, a few years before, a Dutch- 

 man had made himself at home on the Aruka, a tributary 

 of the Barima. These are his words ; — 



" Entering the aforesaid branch of Aruco, one meets 

 " at a distance of one league, the first hill, which was 

 " inhabited a few years ago by a Dutchman from Esse- 

 " quibo called Mener" (Mynheer) " Nelch and by 

 " several Indians of the Caribbean tribe. At the foot of 

 " this hill, in a small creek, I found the hulls of a large 

 " pirogue and of a boat, which an Indian assured me had 

 •' belonged to the aforesaid Dutchman. On the hill we 

 " found portions of coffee, anonoe (?) and orange trees. 

 " I omit further details having entered them in a diary 

 " which I have commenced and to which I refer." 



Mynheer Nelch, from Essequibo, had not only lived 

 among the Caribs, the allies of the Dutch, but had 



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