Venezuelan International Law. 7! 



on the 26th of January 1887, " the acquisitions of other 

 " Powers within those limits were not valid until they 

 " were made lawful by the posterior consent of said 

 *' Monarch.' {Vejteziielan International Law, pp> S40 

 to 5^9/) 



If the consent of the Spanish Sovereign was not given 

 to the colonizing of the Dutch in Guiana, that Monarch, 

 nevertheless, gave official recognition to those Colonies, as 

 is shown by documents published by the Venezuelan 

 Government. On page 126, will be found treaties be- 

 tween Spain and Holland, in 1797, for the supply by 

 Spain, at the expense of the Dutch, of troops to garrison 

 Surinam, to prote6l that colony and adjacent places from 

 Foreign aggression. Surely, recognition could not be 

 of a more valid nature, than the supplying of a Spanish 

 Force for maintaining those possessions for the Dutch ! 

 Then, there is the Treaty of Aranjuez, on the 23rd of 

 June, 1 791, by which fugitive slaves and soldiers were to 

 be returned, when they escaped from the Spanish "estab- 

 lishments" on the Orinoco and the Dutch "Colonies," 

 Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice, and Surinam. This, by 

 the way : for the Dutch had really no need for " thepos- 

 " terior consent of said monarch" of Spain. 



This brings us to what the Dutch " held and possessed " 

 in connedlion with the Essequibo, and to what the 

 Spanish " held and possessed " in connection with the 

 Orinoco. The Spanish fortified outpost in Guiana was 

 San Thome, or Angostura, about 240 miles up the 

 Orinoco, on its right Bank. In those days of sailing ves- 

 sels, SanThome was about 5 to 15 days' journey goingdown 

 to Barima Point, and 20 to 25 days' going back. Moruca, 

 on the other hand, would be a day or two's sail to Barima 



