Anglo-American Isthmian diplomacy, 1815-1915

Front matter

BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE

SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND

THE GIFT OF

Preface

Though the diplomatic relations of England and the United States over the Central American isthmus have received frequent consideration of a general character by writers on American diplomacy, no exhaustive study of the subject appears to have been before attempted. It is the aim of the following essay to present the result of a detailed investigation into Anglo-American isthmian diplomacy, from the first emergence of Central America as a subject of diplomatic interest between the two countries down to the immediate present.

The work here presented is to a large extent based upon new material. Part of this is in the form of printed sources, drawn upon to some degree by previous writers but by no means exhausted. The most important writings of this class are the British Parliamentary Papers and the United States Documents. But a much larger and more valuable contribution was made by the manuscript archives for the period 1815 to 1 86 1, found in the Public Record Office in London and in the Department of State at Washington. Only a comparatively small portion of the archives bearing upon the subject of this study have been printed, and the unprinted material has hitherto been entirely untouched by research students.

Chapter I, which is merely introductory, makes no pretense at being an original contribution. The authorities upon which it is founded, however, have largely

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viii PREFACE

the character of sources, and these have been used critically with a view to ascertaining the facts behind the conflicting statements of various contemporary writers. Chapters II to VIII, inclusive, which are based to a considerable but varying degree upon previously unused material, are the most original part of the essay. Access to manuscript archives made possible not only a presentation of many hitherto unknown facts, but also led to a new, and, it is believed, more accurate, interpretation of numerous phases of the subject considered by previous writers. Chapter IX, which covers a period subsequent to that for which the archives are open, presents some fresh viewpoints resulting from the new light thrown upon preceding events. The period covered by chapter X is too recent for a satisfactory treatment ; hence, this chapter aims primarily to present in broad outline the latest phases of the general subject, in their proper relations. The concluding chapter, XI, summarizes the result of the whole study.

Certain irregularities appearing in connection with the bibliographical citations may need an explanation. In some instances more than one authority has been cited for a given statement. This has been done with two purposes in view: (i) to strengthen by a multiplication of witnesses statements based upon nondocumentary writings — generally in the nature of travel sketches, largely made up of personal observations and reports from hearsay evidence; (2) to aid the reader who may wish to make a further study of the point in question. The authority believed to be the most reliable has been placed first on the list. Throughout the study, writings of a generally untrustworthy

PREFACE ix

character have been used only in a supplementary manner. References to manuscript sources are in every case as definite as possible. Wherever despatch or page numbers exist they have been given. "Letters in the archives from important diplomatic or consular agents are as a rule numbered, but those from less important agents — particularly those written from Central America — are frequently unnumbered. Drafts of correspondence are generally unnumbered, as are also private letters from officials, while letters from private individuals are always without numbers.

This study was originally written as a thesis under the direction of Professor Ephraim D. Adams, in connection with my candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Leland Stanford Junior University. For his painstaking supervision of my work and for his stimulating interest in it, I am especially indebted to Professor Adams. My gratitude is also due to Professor Henry L. Cannon of Stanford University for many suggestions which were of value in the later revision of the manuscript. Through the friendly interest of Mr. Hubert Hall, Assistant Keeper of the Public Records, in London, I secured access to the British manuscript archives, the most valuable part of my source material. My sister. Miss Edle Carolyn Williams, gave much assistance in the preparation of the accompanying map.

Mary Wilhelmine Williams.

Wellesley, Massachusetts, May 20, 1915-

Contents

PAGE

Preface vii

CHAPTER I. The British in Central America before 1815 . i

CHAPTER n. .

British Aggressions; American Interest Awakened, 1815-1850 26

CHAPTER in.

The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, April 19, 1850 . 67

CHAPTER IV.

Attempts at Readjustment under the New Treaty, 1850-1852 no

CHAPTER V.

The Bay Islands Colony and the New Interpretation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1852-1854 . 139

CHAPTER VI.

American Defiance of British Claims, 1853-1855 . 168

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xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER VII.

The Crisis, 1855-1856 ; Signs of British Retreat . 196

CHAPTER VIII.

Adjustment in accordance with American View, 1856-1860 224

CHAPTER IX.

Development of American Opposition to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 1860-1895 ; End of Mosquito Reserve, 1894 270

CHAPTER X.

The New Canal Treaties, and New Conditions in Central America 300

CHAPTER XI.

General Resume 321

MAP.

Central America, 1850- 1860, showing disputed territory. Facing page .... 198

CHAPTER I.

The British in Central America Before 1815.

For more than a century before the governnlent of the United States came into existence, the subjects of Great Britain had been actively interested in that part of the North American continent which, geographically, is included under the term " Central America ".' By various and fluctuating degrees of political control their government protected them, and, in consequence, there gradually developed a close relationship between Great Britain and certain parts of Central America. It was the existence of this British connection with the isthmus and the fact that the connection was timehonored when the attention of the United States was first seriously attracted to the region that rendered subsequent British- American isthmian relations so compUcated and difficult of adjustment. Shortly after the United States had become a rival of the British in Central America, so delicate had the situation grown that the American government, despairing of any other peaceful settlement, for the first and only time in its history compromised with the Monroe doctrine and made an agreement with Great Britain which later came to be known as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. This instrument, instead of removing the difficult)^ as had

^ This account assumes a general knowledge of Central American history on the part of the reader. Bancroft's three-volume work is the best and most comprehensive history of Central America; Fortier and Ficklen's Central America and Mexico gives a good brief account. 2 I been hoped, only magnified it to an alarming degree and brought into being the long-lived and vexatious " Central American question ".

These early British interests were divided between three different portions of Central America: Belize Settlement, the Bay Islands, and the Mosquito Shore. For the purpose of making clear the subsequent chapters, a brief account of the early English connections with the places named is here given.

Belize Settlement.

The British settlement of Belize was a direct outgrowth of the buccaneering era in the Western World. At an early date the exclusive commercial policy of Spain tempted the subjects of other nations to acquire a share in her prosperity by irregular and violent methods. During the long and frequent wars they operated as privateers; in times of peace they were undisguised freebooters, or buccaneers. As time passed, the West Indies became the chief centre of operations for these " brethren of the coast " ; and from here they made daring and profitable attacks upon Spanish vessels homeward bound from the colonies." With the conquest of Jamaica by Cromwell, in 1655, the strength of the English buccaneers increased ; for the early governors of the island as a rule not only connived at the marauding expeditions, but at times even shared in the plunder." Indeed, Captain Morgan, notorious for sacking and burning many cities on the

* For a detailed account of the buccaneers see Haring, Buccaneers in the West Indies', Burney, Buccaneers of America; Johnson, General History of the Pyrates; Esquemeling, Buccaneers of America.

'Johnson, Pyrates, I, 25; Long, History of Jamaica, I, 300; Squier, Notes on Central America, 369.

coasts of Spanish America, as well as for preying upon Spanish vessels, was knighted by the British government and made lieutenant-governor of Jamaica.*

At first, when attacking Spanish ships, the freebooters aimed primarily to rob them of the wealth carried from the mines ; this accomplished, the vessels, which frequently carried mahogany or logwood, were set afire and abandoned. Almost by accident a shipload of logwood was spared and taken to London, where the ready market which it commanded quickly revealed its value to the buccaneers. After this, logwood-laden vessels were eagerly captured for the sake of their cargoes."

When Spanish prizes became scarcer the freebooters gradually took to cutting their own logwood on the thinly-settled portions of the Spanish coast." This change began a few years after the English took possession of Jamaica.' The new enterprise was favored by Modyford, the governor of the island, as plundering Spanish bottoms had come to be frowned upon by the home government." Spain was now too weak to do more than partially police her coasts and to seize the vessels containing plunder from her forests ; consequently, for a time the British Council for the Plantations approved of the connivance of Modyford's successor.'

*Cal. St. P., Col., Am. and W. I., i6ts-i6^6, 343; Long, Jamaica, I, 301; Haring, Buccaneers, 20s.

' Dampier, Voyages, II, pt. 2, p. 47; Gibbs, British Honduras, 24.

^Haring, Buccaneers, 208-209; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish-American Republics ", 3.

^ Haring, Buccaneers, 209.

Naturally, log-cutting settlements grew up with the development of this new British industry. One of the earliest establishments of this sort was made in Yucatan, on the Belize River, in 1662.'° As logwood was plentiful on this part of the coast, the settlement prospered and was soon on a firm basis.

The reprisals of the Spanish upon the English logwood cargoes continued, however, in spite of precautions;" therefore in 1670 the British government attempted to secure by treaty a sanction or defense of the actions of its subjects. The seventh article of an agreement made with Spain in this year reads :

It is agreed that the most serene King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, shall have, hold, keep and enjoy forever with plenary right of sovereignty, dominion, possession and propriety, all those lands, regions, islands, colonies, and places, whatsoever, being or situated in the West Indies, or any part of America, which the said King of Great Britain or his subjects do at present hold or possess."

Though the clause appears to have been inserted in the treaty ostensibly and primarily for the purpose of settling a dispute over the possession of Jamaica," the British negotiators evidently aimed to secure a wording which might include the British log-cutting settlements on the Belize and on other parts of the Spanish

""L. L., " Balize ", in Nouvelles Annates, C, 52; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, "Spanish-American Republics", 13; Gibbs, British Honduras, 26. This was probably not the first British settlement in the region, for it seems that as early as 1638 a number of shipwrecked British sailors established themselves there. Ibid., 26; Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies, II, 297; Trendell, Her Majesty's Colonies, 347,

" Haring, Buccaneers, 211.

" Hertslet, Treaties between Great Britain and Foreign Powers, II 196-197.

BRITISH IN CENTRAL AMERICA BEFORE 1815 S

coast." This interpretation was attempted by the governors of Jamaica and by the Board of Trade/" but the Spaniards had no intention of acknowledging that such concessions had been made; therefore they continued to capture the logwood vessels of the British, and repeatedly destroyed their log-cutting settlements ; " Belize suffered like the rest, and in about the year 1732 the settlers were driven away and their homes demolished. They promptly returned, however, and defeated all further expeditions sent against them."

Belize was occupied by the British under the equivocal title of 1670 until the formation of the peace of 1763, which concluded the Seven Years' War. Whether or not the negotiators of this treaty were ignorant of the terms of that made in 1670 and of its possible application to Belize is not apparent." In any case, by the later treaty England agreed to demolish all fortifications erected by British subjects in the Bay of Honduras ; but the Spanish government permitted the log-cutters to remain, and guaranteed them protection, though, obviously, Spain still held full sovereignty over the settlement."

Again, in 1779, when Spain had allied herself with the revolting English colonies, the Spaniards returned to Belize. This time the settlement was pillaged and many of its inhabitants taken as prisoners to Havana.

" Long, Jamaica, I, 341 ; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish- American Republics ", 13; Gibbs, British Honduras, 27.

"Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, "Spanish-American Republics", 14: Burney, Buccaneers, 99-100.

"Wafer, New Voyage to America, 34; Long, Jamaica, I, 341; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish- American Republics", 13-14-

" Bancroft, Central America, II, 625-628.

" Long, Jamaica, I, 342.

" MacDonald, Select Charters, 26s.

But in the following year Omoa, in Honduras, was captured by British officers, who, by convention with the Spanish authorities, arranged for the redemption of the " Baymen ", as the settlers were called/"

By the treaty of 1783, which concluded the American Revolution, Belize still remained under Spanish sovereignty, and by this treaty definite boundaries were for the first time agreed upon for the settlement. The boundary line was given in great detail, but, generally speaking, the northern limit of settlement was to be Rio Hondo, and the southern, Belize River/'

Notwithstanding the stipulations of 1783, the British continued to spread; therefore a treaty made three years later extended the southern boundary as far as the Sibun River. Besides this extension of territory, the new agreement gave the settlers additional privileges within the district. Not only were they permitted to cut and carry away logwood, but they were also allowed to take mahogany and all other woods, as well as to gather and sell all other uncultivated products ; but it was definitely agreed that no plantations were to be made or factories of any sort to be established, since the undisputed possession of the territory by Spain precluded the right of the English to form settlements of that kind." A Spanish commissioner, in company with one representing the English government, was to be admitted to the settlement twice a year to examine into the condition of affairs.""

^ Ann. Reg., 1780, "History", 212-214; Pari. Papers, 1S47, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish- American Republics", 15; Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 5-7.

For many years the Spanish government held the settlers rigidly to the terms specified. Commissioners made regular visits for this purpose, and saw that the boundary limits were not exceeded, as well as that the other agreements were complied with. Repeatedly they uprooted and destroyed young plantations started by the residents.'*

The jealous vigilance of the Spanish authorities was shared by the rival Spanish wood-cutters. This jealousy, and the fact that the British settlers tried constantly to exceed the terms of the treaty, led to repeated threats of hostilities on the part of the Spaniards. The Baymen, who were not permitted to erect fortifications, were alarmed at these demonstrations, and appealed to their government for protection. In response, Colonel Barrow was sent to the place with both military and civil commissions, and took charge of affairs as superintendent, January i, 1797."

In 1798, when England and Spain were again at war, a determined attempt was made to drive out the settlers. A combined expedition was sent from Campeachy and Bacalar, under Governor O'Niel of Yucatan. The Baymen, however, prepared for a desperate resistance. They burned the houses on Saint George's Cay, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy, and met the invaders at sea.""" With the aid of a small naval force under Captain Moss in the Merlin,

^ Crowe, Gospel in Central America, 196; Gibbs, British Honduras, 50.

" Trendell, Her Majesty's Colonies, 348.

^ Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 8 ; Crowe, Gospel in Central America, ig6; Lucas, Historical Geography, II, 307. The population at this time, white and colored, was probably not more than six or seven hundred. Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 85.

they drove off the Spaniards after two days' fighting." This appears to have been the last attempt of the Spanish actively to interfere with the Belize settlement. During the remainder of the period previous to 18I5 the same relations prevailed between the British government and Belize as formerly.^ By at least three treaties in this period England virtually acknowledged that the settlement was upon the basis established in 1786. The third article of the peace of Amiens of 1802 reads :

His Britannic majesty restores to the French republic and its allies, viz. his Catholic majesty and the Batavian republic, all the possessions and colonies which respectively belonged to them, and which have been either occupied or conquered by the British forces during the course of the present war."

The only exceptions mentioned are the island of Trinidad and the Dutch possessions in Ceylon." Again, in 1809, Great Britain and Spain formed an alliance in which the two powers agreed upon " an entire and lasting oblivion of all acts of hostility done on their side in the course of the late wars " in which they had been engaged against each other." The last and most important of these treaties was that of 1814; it confirmed the first article of the treaty of 1786.'"

In view of what has just been said, there seems to be absolutely no basis for the statement made by more

" Bird, " Sketch of the East Coast of Central America ", in Jr. Roy. Geog. Soc.j XI, 8i; Bancroft, Central America, II, 63s: Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 8; Crowe, Gospel in Central America, 196-197.

^ L. L., " Balize ", in Nouvelles Annates, C, 54.

» Ibid.

'"Hertslet, Treaties, II, 24s, 271.

BRITISH IN CENTRAL AMERICA BEFORE 1815 g

recent writers, that the victory won by the Daymen in 1789 was a conquest of the Belize territory, and the event which led directly to the extension of full British sovereignty over the region." The victory seems really to have attracted but little attention from the home government, and it was not until after a lapse of more than fifty years that enlarged claims were made in consequence of it. In 181 5, and for many years subsequent to that date, as will be shown later, the British government merely regarded Belize as a settlement of British subjects upon soil the sovereignty of which rested in Spain.

The Bay Islands.

In the Bay of Honduras, close to the shores of the Honduran republic, lie the Bay Islands, a group of some half dozen islands, of which Ruatan " is by far the largest and most important. This island is about thirty miles long and eight or nine broad, and is possessed of excellent harbors, easily defended.'"

While on his fourth voyage, in 1502, Columbus discovered and took possession of Ruatan and another island of the group, now generally known as Bonacca, in the names of the Spanish sovereigns." The ownership of Spain was not disputed until towards the middle of the seventeenth century, when the buccaneers swarmed in the western seas." The advantages

^ See Gibbs, British Honduras; Egerton, British Colonial Policy; Keane, Central and South America; Woodward, Expansion of the British Empire.

" Also written Roatan or Rattan.

"Long, Jamaica, I, 333; Roberts, Central America, 276; Alcedo, Dictionary of America and the West Indies, IV, 334.

^''Roberts, Central America, 27s; Squier, Notes on Central America, 369. The name of Bonacca is sometimes rendered ** Guanacca ".

" Squier, Notes on Central America, 369; Travis, ClaytonBulwer Treaty, 3; £dg:ington, Monroe Doctrine, 65.

offered by the islands as a rendezvous early appealed to the freebooters, who landed on them in 1642." The Indians, who were apparently the only inhabitants at the time, made no resistance and the intruders established themselves on the islands. From this retreat, and particularly from the sheltered harbors of Ruatan, attacks were made upon the Spanish.™

The bishop of Comayagua, however, soon became much concerned over the injurious effect of the heretical British upon the religion of the natives, and helped incite the Spanish authorities to action against the usurpers. A strong force was organized under the leadership of various colonial officials, and in August, 1650, the buccaneers were dislodged." But no attempt was made to guard Ruatan or the other islands against future seizure by the British. The few natives, whom the pirates had spared and enslaved, were too frightened to remain, and were therefore removed to the adjoining coast and allotted lands by the government."

From this time until 1742, when war existed between Spain and England, the Bay Islands appear to have had no permanent inhabitants." During this struggle, however, the English planned to gain control of the whole Atlantic coast of Guatemala. They captured and f ortined several important places on the mainland, and later

"* Strangeways, Mosquito Shore, 42; Juarros, Guatemala, 318; Crowe, Gospel in Central America, 184.

^^ Juarros, Guatemala, 319; Crowe, Gospel in Central America, 184; Squier, Notes on Central America, 370.

** Juarros, Guatemala, 319-321; Crowe, Gospel in Central America, 184-185; Gibbs, British Honduras, 25.

** Squier, Notes on Central America, 370; De Bow's Review, XXVII, 555-556.

'"Long, Jamaica, I, 335; Juarros, Guatemala, 321; Squier, Notes on Central America, 370.

took possession of Ruatan." Following this, they made a strong effort to colonize the island, but after the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle the settlements were broken up and the inhabitants removed." Spain then tried to encourage colonization, but her efforts failed ; and for some time the islands, though recognized as Spanish territory, seem to have been practically deserted."

Later, however, a few British appear to have settled upon the islands, but when war again broke out, in 1780, they were driven away by the Guatemalans," and the treaty of 1783 definitely stipulated that all English settlers should, without exception, retire from the Spanish continent and its dependent islands." These terms appear to have been evaded, but a supplementary convention, formed three years later, containing more definite stipulations to the same effect,'" resulted in British evacuation of the coveted territory."

Yet when war again existed in 1796, they once more returned. British officers transported Caribs from

*' Juarros, Guatemala, 321; Squier, Notes on Central America, 370-371.

** Long, Jamaica, I, 335.

*' Ibid., 335-336. Long, in his history, published in 1774, repeatedly urged (I, 334, and passim), the acquisition and settlement of Ruatan by England. He stated (p. 333), that two Jamaica traders had patents for grazing mules on the island.

Squier, Notes on Central America, 371, and Trendell, Her Majesty's Colonies, 348, give the impression that during this whole period the islands were definitely held by the British; the latter states (p. 348), that the government of Ruatan and Bonacca was connected with that of Belize, and that the administrative officers had their residence on Ruatan. With regard to this point, however, Long seems to be the best authority.

^'Long, Jamaica, I, 333; Squier, Notes on Central America, 371.

^ Squier seems uncertain upon this point, Notes on Central America, 371; but Juarros gives a clear impression that the English abandoned the islands, Guatemala, 321.

Saint Vincent and the Leeward Islands to Ruatan and made that place a penal settlement. A guard of 2,000 negroes was stationed there for the defense of the islands. As soon, however, as these encroachments became known to the Spanish colonial officials, steps were taken towards the reconquest of the place ; and in May, 1797, the Indians and negroes surrendered to a Spanish naval commander, after which the Spanish flag was hoisted and the territory formally declared a possession of Spain."

After this, as long as Spain retained her dominion over Guatemalan territory, she remained in undisputed possession of the Bay Islands. About the year 1804 Captain Henderson, the superintendent of Belize, landed upon Ruatan, and, in writing of the incident, stated definitely that the island belonged to Spain."' Moreover, as has already been stated," a treaty made between Spain and England in 1814 confirmed the first article of the treaty of 1786, which referred to British settlers on Central American territory. Therefore, if at any time previous Spanish control of the islands had lapsed, it was revived at this time and distinctly recognized by the British government.

The Mosquito Shore.

During the period considered in this chapter the term " Mosquito Shore " was applied in a vague way to the east coast of the captain-generalcy of Guate-

"Juarros, Guatemala, 321; Squier, Notes on Central America, 371; Gibbs, British Honduras, 52; Galindo, " Notice of the Caribs in Central America ", in Jr. Roy. Geog. Soc, III, 290.

"1 Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 168; Squier, Notes on Central America, 372.

" See above, p. 8.

mala, but particularly to that part lying between Cape Honduras and the mouth of the San Juan River."

The name was derived from the Moscos, or Mosquitos, the semi-nomadic population which inhabited the district." These people were a mixture of at least three races. Those to whom the term Mosquito was originally applied were American aborigines, partly composed of Caribs who invaded the coast from the West Indies."" To these was added, probably in the early part of the seventeenth century, an Ethiopian element through the wreck of an African slaver somewhere upon the coast." Because of this infusion of negro blood, the name " Sambos " was at times applied to the population of the region, or at least to the more negroid portion of it." As time passed, traders and buccaneers who frequented the shore contributed a Caucasian strain to the earlier mixture ; " and more African blood was occasionally added by fugitive slaves from the adjoining settlements."

The aboriginal inhabitants of the shore were never completely subjugated by the conquerors of Guatemala;" but the cruel treatment which they suffered

** Long, Jamaica^ 1, 314; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns,, LXIV, " Spanish- American Republics", 27; Kemble Papers, II, 419, in N. Y. Hist. Soc, Colls., 1884.

" Squier, Notes on Central America, 48; Keane, Central and South America, II, 237; Churchill, Voyages, VI, 287; Kemble Papers, II, 419.

"> Keane, Central and South America, II, 235.

" Churchill, Voyages, VI, 293 ; Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 216; Strangeways, Mosquito Shore, 328; Bonnycastle, Spanish- America, I, 172.

"Kemble Papers, II, 419; Roberts, Central America, 152-153; Strangeways, Mosquito Shore, 239; Bonnycastle, Central America, I, 172.

" Scherzer, Travels in Central America, II, 30-31; Squier, Notes on Central America, 208; Keane, Central and South America, II, 236.

*• Cal. St. P., Col., Am. and W. I., 1669-1674, 303 ; Alcedo, Dictionary, III, 347; Long, Jamaica, I, 315, 317; Roberts, Central America, 54.

H ANGLO-AMERICAN ISTHMIAN DIPLOMACY

from the would-be conquerors bred in them a deep hatred for the Spanish people and their government." This feeling was shared by the EngUsh buccaneers who infested the coast and worked harm to the Spaniards ; " and they found it to their interest to foster it in the natives. But while encouraging opposition to the Spaniards, the freebooters themselves cultivated friendly relations with the Indians. They taught them the use of firearms and won their favor in various ways ; and the Mosquitos in return helped the English in their attacks on the Spanish settlements."" Other adventurers came to the shore, especially from Jamaica, and traded with the Mosquitos for the natural products of the region." With the aid of the Mosquitos as middlemen, they also exchanged British goods for the gold of the Spaniards, within the Spanish settlements." The Mosquito coast was thus made a sort of " underground railroad " connecting the Spanish colonies, commercially, with the outside world.

As time passed, the freebooters and other British subjects made permanent settlements on the shore at Cape Gracias a Dios, Bluefields, and other points ; " and thus the British influence grew. Shortly after the

"* Dampier, Voyages, 1, 8; Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on MSS. of Mrs. Stopford-Sackville, II, 289; Henderson, British Settlement of Honduras, 212, 225; Roberts, Central America, 153.

"^ Churchill, Voyages, VI, 286, 289, 291; Bard, Waikna, 337; Keane, Central and South America, II, 237.

"Long, Jamaica, I, 315, 317; Churchill, Voyages, VI, 287; Dampier, Voyages, I, 8, 10.

"Churchill, Voyages, VI, 286; Long, Jamaica, I, 319-320; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish-American Republics '*, 29.

"Long, Jamaica, I, 317; Kemble Papers, II, 428; Pari. Papers, 1847, Corns., LXIV, " Spanish-American Republics ". 29.

" Pari. Papers, 1847, " Coms.", LXIV, " Spanish-American Republics ", 36; Bonnycastle, Spanish-America, I, 172; Bard, Waikna, 337.

English conquest of Jamaica this influence was much increased, for Oldman, the chief of the Mosquitos, was taken to England, where he formed some sort of alliance with the English government," in consequence of which the Mosquitos regarded themselves as subjects of the King of England." After some years, however, the alliance seems to have been forgotten by the English government, for when Jeremy, the heir of Oldman, came into power he was sent to Jamaica, evidently at the instigation of British residents of the shore, to ask for British protection for his people." Whether the request was granted at this time is not certain;™ but at some subsequent date the governors of Jamaica adopted the plan of appointing justices of the peace for the shore, who in addition to their regular duties were empowered to decide commercial questions of contracts and debts .'^