374 BRITISH OCCUPY THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. [1834. 



Sandwich Islands would prove a most valuable acquisition, as it 

 would afford the means of controlling the trade and fishery of the 

 North Pacific, and of exercising a powerful influence over the 

 destinies of the north-west coasts of America and California. The 

 United States, claiming the north-west coasts, and conducting 

 nearly the whole of the fishery and trade of the North Pacific, are 

 deeply interested in all that may affect the independence of these 

 islands ; and, having neither the power nor the will to establish 

 their own authority over them at present, it is the policy and duty 

 of their government to oppose, at almost any hazard, the attempts 

 of other nations to acquire dominion or influence in this important 

 archipelago. 



It will be proper here also to notice, as connected with the history 

 and probable destinies of North- West America, the fact of the oc- 

 cupation of the Falkland Islands by Great Britain, in 1833. After 

 the overthrow of the Spanish supremacy in America, these islands 

 were claimed by the government of Buenos Ayres, as having 

 formed part of the territory under the direction of the viceroy 

 of La Plata ; and attempts were made by that government to 

 exercise dominion over them, which produced, in 1831, a collision 

 between its authorities and the naval forces of the United States. 

 In the month of January, 1833, the British took possession of the 

 whole group, which they have ever since occupied ; and, a repre- 

 sentation on the subject having been addressed to that government, 

 by the diplomatic agent of Buenos Ayres at London, Lord Pal- 

 merston, the British secretary for foreign affairs, in reply, main- 

 tained* the exclusive right of his nation to the islands, on the 

 ground of first discovery and occupation — thus entirely disre- 

 garding the sixth article of the Nootka convention of 1790, 

 according to which, no settlement could be . made, either by Great 

 Britain or by Spain, on any part of the coasts of South America 

 or the islands adjacent, "situated to the south of those parts of 

 the same coasts, and of the islands adjacent, which are already 

 occupied by Spain," although his government had, in 1827 

 supported the subsistence of that convention with respect to the 

 north-west coasts of North America. 



In 1841, the Sandwich Islands, and the coasts of Oregon and 

 California, were visited by the exploring ships of the United 

 States, under the command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who 



* Letter from Lord Palmerston to Senor Moreno, dated January 8th, 1834. See 

 Memoir, historical, political, and descriptive, on the Falkland Islands, by Robert 

 Greenhow, published in the New York Merchants' Magazine for February, 1842. 



