APPENDIX. 
271 
munication must pass, having been granted to colonists, it is natural that 
they will allege their rights as proprietors against those I have acquired 
by my engagements. These colonists, however, having neither cultiva- 
ted nor peopled the lands which had been ceded to them for such pur- 
poses, have, according to the laws of the country, lost their right to the 
property — a fact which I request the Supreme Government, in justice to 
myself, will make public by a decree, lest I be involved in disputes and 
litigations after the outlay of large sums. 
Jos. de Garay. 
Mexico, February 9, 1843. 
To his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
(No. 4.) 
Official communication from his Excellency the Minister of Foreign Af- 
fairs to Don Jose de Garay, inclosing a copy of the orders given to the 
Governors of Oaxaca and Vera Cruz, to place the untenanted lands at 
his disposal, and thai every measure be taken to prevent his agents from 
suffering any obstacle in their operations. 
Office of Foreign Affairs. 
Sir — I subjoin a copy of the communications addressed this day to 
their Excellencies, the Governors of the Departments of Oaxaca and Vera 
Cruz : " Most Excellent Sir — On the first of May of last year, the Pro- 
visional President published a decree granting to Don Jose de Garay an 
exclusive privilege to open a communication between the Pacific and At- 
lantic Oceans, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ; ceding to him, by Article 
the 5th, the possession of the untenanted lands that lay within ten leagues 
on each side of the projected road, and promising, by Article 7th, to ren- 
der him every assistance in carrying on both the survey and the works. 
The survey is so far advanced as to allow the commencement of the 
works and other operations, without which a project of such magnitude 
would be thrown into jeopardy, greatly to the detriment of the Republic. 
His Excellency the Provisional President, having present these considera- 
tions, and others which spring from the same decree, and wishing to ren- 
der effectual the solemn promises made, has been pleased to direct me to 
inform your Excellency of the above, that your Excellency may give the 
necessary orders for the fulfilment of the 5th Article of the decree, by 
which Don Jose de Garay is to be put in possession of the untenanted 
lands that lie within ten leagues of both sides of the line of road, request- 
