] 06 THE A XGL 0- VENEZ UELA X B UN DA R Y DISP L TE 



zuela \)y which neither is at liljerty to encroach upon or occuj)y 

 territory claimed by Ijoth. 



This map. compiled from official sources and with an explicit state- 

 ment that it shows the Schomburgk line, was accepted as the official 

 map of the colon}'. When the geologists, Hawkins and Brown, made 

 a geological surve}' and map of the colony' they carried their work 

 to the boundary' line shown on this map. and stopj^ed there. 



In 1S8C) or 1887 another edition of this map appeared. There is 

 nothing in its appearance, however, to indicate that it is a second or 

 dilferent edition : the title is unchanged and the date is still 1875, as 

 helbre; hut the note as to the boundary has disap|)eared and in place 

 of the old line a new boundary, dift'ering materially from the old one, 

 appears, a boundary which enlarges British Guiana and contracts 

 Venezuela. The change, made at the instance of the government, 

 may be regarded as a first i)ublication of the line submitted Vjy 

 Schomburgk in 1840. It is, jierhaps, needless to comment on the 

 anger aroused in Venezuela by this publication, or to wonder at their 

 designation of the caprichosa linea de Schomburgk. Early in the his- 

 tory of the United States Commission on the Venezuelan Boundary a 

 jnece of elastic was sent in bearing the printed words Scliomlmrgk line. 



Thus much for Schomburgk and his line, of which little was said 

 in the arguments of counsel for Venezuela at the arbitration. What- 

 ever temptations the story offered for unkind words, those temi)ta- 

 tions were resisted, and the arguments were maintained upon a i)lane 

 commensurate with the great cause and the great tribunal designated 

 to tr}' it. 



Diplomatic Correspondence. — The story of the correspondence be- 

 tween the governments touching their boundary is too long and 

 tangled for recital here. Suffice it to sa}' that there were proposals and 

 counter-proposals, all of which proved fruitless. No agreement was 

 reached. Several times Venezuela ))roposed arbitration, and several 

 times Great Britain refused arbitration. In October, 1886, the Brit- 

 ish Governn)(Mit inserted in the Loudon Gazette a notice reciting that 

 information had come that Venezuela had made grants of land in 

 the disputed territory, and declaring that such grants would not be 

 recognized. The notice continued as follows : 



"A map showing tlie boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela, 

 claimed b}' Her Majesty's Government, can be seen in the library of the Co- 

 lonial Office, Downing .Street, or at the office of tlie government secretary 

 Georgetown, British Guiana." 



