42 



Doc. No. 75. 



These facts being established, it remains for me only to state that — the 

 limits of the States of Nicaragua and Honduras being the same which 

 existed when they were provinces of the old kingdom of Guatemala — ■ 

 the State of Honduras extends from the State of Guatemala on the west 

 eastward to Cape Gracias a Dios, and south and southeast, and from the 

 Gulf of Couchaqua, on the Pacific ocean, to the Atlantic on the east, 

 northeast, and north, including also the coasts and adjacent islands on 

 both seas; while Nicaragua is bounded on the east by the Caribbean sea, 

 on the north by Cape Gracias a Dios, which separates it from the State 

 of Honduras, on the west by the Gulf of Couchaqua, on the south by 

 the Pacific ocean, and on the southeast by the State of Costa Rica. 

 These boundaries are all declared by the respective constitutions, so that 

 no grounds are left for the supposition that they could have acknowledged 

 as an independent territory what is called, agreeably to the old nomen- 

 clature, the Mosquito country, to the civilization of which those States 

 have begun to devote themselves, as the condition in which that country 

 is placed does not allow it to be regarded as an independent State, nor 

 even as a mere settlement, it being as well known without a government 

 or authorities or laws requisite to constitute? an organized community, 

 as required by the principles of international law. 



Such are the grounds upon which stand the rights of the States of Hon- 

 duras and Nicaragua to the possession of the so-called Mosquito country; 

 and upon these I rest my hope that the spirit of rectitude and moderation 

 which directs the government of her Britannic Majesty will induce it, not 

 only to admit and respect those rights, agreeably to the usages of nations 

 which value and observe the maxims of equality and justice as the most 

 important supports of their security and tranquillity, but likewise to afford 

 proper protection, and to see that the rights are equally respected by others, 

 so as to leave the States in the enjoyment of what so justly belongs to 

 them. 



I pray your lordship to place what I have here exposed before the eyes 

 of her Majesty the Q,ueen of Great Britain, and to communicate to me 

 the resolution which she may think proper to adopt with regard to it, as 

 soon as may be convenient. 



^^I avail myself of this occasion, with the utmost satisfaction, to assure 

 your lordship of the sincere and respectful feelings which animate me, 

 and with which I have the honor to be your lordship's most obedient ser- 

 vant.'* 



Having made the above communication, and desiring furthermore to 

 secure the well founded rights of the said States of Honduras and Nica- 

 ragua to the above-mentioned territory against the measures taken by the 

 British officers and agents in Central America, notwithstanding the at- 

 tempts already made by the British to appropriate that country to them- 

 selves, by establishing in various parts, taking advantage of the deplorable 

 condition of the States, or by encouraging the chief of the savages inhab- 

 iting the country in the idea of his sovereignty, as the independent mon- 

 arch of an independent State, in alliance with, and under the protection 

 of, her Britannic Majesty, I have conceived it my duty, as most condu- 

 cive to these ends, to protest, as I now protest, in the most solemn and 

 formal manner, before all the governments of Europe, and especially be- 

 fore that of his Majesty the King of against all the acts of vio-. 



