FALKLAND ISLANDS. 



219 



the rights claimed by this republic to be " un- 

 questionable/* and also having in a communi- 

 cation to the consul subsequently made (viz. 

 on the 9th of the same December) , expressed 

 the wish of his government, that the consul 

 would refrain " from persisting in the protest 

 which he had made against rights which had 

 been, and were, in possession of this govern- 

 ment, and which (said the minister), until this 

 time, nobody has questioned. And inasmuch 

 as, in a proclamation issued by the delegate 

 government on the 14th of February last, the 

 Falkland Islands are claimed as a " colony 99 of 

 this province, and in a circular issued by the 

 same delegate government to the provinces, 

 Don Luis Vernet is styled the political and 

 military governor of the Falkland Islands, &c. ; 

 and inasmuch as this government now detains 

 the American schooner, Harriet, captured by 

 virtue of this assumed power. 



The decree of June 10, 1829, the procla- 

 mation of February 14, 1832, and the circular 

 to the provinces, and the process against the 

 schooner, Harriet, have never been commu- 

 nicated officially to the American government 



