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Doc. No. 75. 



have bad, either before or after that time, any puWic or private estabHsh- 

 ment there, but, far from it, have always kept away from that point, and 

 wandered only about Cape Gracias a Dios to the north of San Juan; 

 lOthly, that this right gives her an indisputable title to keep such posses- 

 sion until reasons shall be given, according to international custom, to 

 prove the contrary; and that the having deprived Nicaragua of it by force, 

 continuing the amicable and conciliatory measures which were ])roposed, 

 is an offence which demands a just reparation, according to international 

 law; llthly, but notwithstanding all, the government of Nicaragua was 

 disposed to leave the Mosquito question in the state it was in on the 1st of 

 January, 1848, and to recognise their inde))endence as soon as the princi- 

 pal nations of Europe and America should do so, provided the port of San 

 Juan was returned to her. l^ord Palmerston has hitherto given no answer 

 to my despatch; but, provoked by a communication which I addressed to 

 his lordship on the 9th of February last, demanding the observance of 

 the statu quo of the first of January, 1848, imtil the decision of the ques- 

 tion, with the object of preventing the distribution of land at San Juan, 

 and the execution of other projects intended by the British commandant of 

 that port against the rights of Nicaragua, he answered me on the 17th of 

 the same month, ^' that however desirous her Britannic Majesty's gov- 

 ernnient might be to cultivate the most friendly relations with Nicaragua, 

 they could not do anything that could be interpreted as admitting a doubt 

 thai Grey town belonged to Mosquitos." I hereupon again addressed his 

 lordship on the 5th of March following, reminding him that my despatch 

 of the 9th of February referred to San Juan, and not to Greytown, which 

 name, according to information I had privately received, was given to 

 the estabUshment of Biuefields, against which I had protested, in the 

 name of Nicaragua, on the 25th of September, 1844, at which time they 

 showed intentions of occupying that coast; but that if Lord Palmerston gave 

 that name to San Juan de Nicaragua, I was obliged to declare that I 

 could not consent to this modification, and still less that the port of San 

 Juan should belong exclusively to the pretended King of the Mosquitos, 

 unless an impartial arbiter, thoroughly acquainted with the affair, should 

 decide so. In proposing this measure, I offered to Loi-d Palmerston to 

 accept any other that, without affecting the honor and dignity of my 

 country, might lead to a satisfactory termination. In the meanwhile a 

 letter appeared in the Globe of the 14th of May last, written from San 

 Juan de Nicaragua, and dated the 27th January, in which it was said, 

 Istly, that thenceforward that port was to be called Greytown, a name 

 more proper for it since the British arms had recognised it for the King of . 

 the Mosquitos; 2dly, that the British consul, Mr. Christie, acting under 

 the authority of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, had designated the Ma- 

 chuca rapids (thirty miles above the junction of the Serapique) as the 

 limits between the territories of Nicaragua and Mosquitos; 3dly, that the 

 said Mr. Christie had arranged with the governor of Jamaica for the 

 transportation of convicts to San Juan for the works to be there soon 

 commenced, as likewise a police force for its security; 4thly, that a Mo- 

 ravian mission was soon to arrive there, exclusively dedicated to die edu- 

 cation of the Indians; and concluded by manifesting a desire to know what 

 might be the result of my mission, after the refusal of the Nicaraguan 

 government to treat with Mr. Christie in his character of consular agent 

 at Mosquitos. This publication induced me to address to his lordship 



