No. 306.
Mr. Seward to Mr. Mantilla.

The undersigned, Acting Secretary of State, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of Senor Don Antonio Mantilla, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain, in regard to the American whaling-vessels Ellen Rizpah and Rising Sun. The undersigned notes with gratification the statement of Mr. Mantilla that the “Government [Page 529] of Spain is disposed to satisfy the complaints which, in regard to this matter, the United States may feel like making, even before they are formulated, and to prevent any cause for similar ones arising from the same causes.”

The narrative of the incidents of the visitation and examination of these vessels by the master of the skiff Veloz, as they have been presented to the knowledge of the Spanish Government, has been read and carefully considered. It differs in some details from the accounts which have reached the Department of State.

In the explanation thus given by the minister of Spain, the Veloz is described as a small boat or skiff, auxiliary to one of the gunboats that watch the southern coast of Cuba, and her master is referred to as a “subaltern auxiliary” of the Spanish navy, whose rank is equivalent to that of a cockswain in the Navy of the United States, and whose errors were committed, through misunderstanding or excess of zeal. It is understood, therefore, that Mr. Mantilla disavows the proceedings complained of as not having been adopted pursuant to any orders of the Spanish navy, or of the authorities of Cuba, or of the Government of Spain.

In the absence of detailed and precise statements of the damage or injury sustained by the Ellen Rizpah and the Rising Sun, their crews or their owners, the Government of the United States reserves for the present the question of the amount of claims for such damages, or the expression of any opinion in regard to them. Meanwhile, however, the undersigned does not hesitate to express his gratification in receiving the assurance of Senor Mantilla that as soon as the government of His Catholic Majesty had received by telegraph information of the affair of the Rising Sun, as well as of the Ellen Rizpah, it hastened to order by telegraph the governor-general of the island of Cuba to again charge upon the general commander of the station strict fulfillment of the treaty of 1795, and that the said governor-general issued the proper orders to this effect, under date of the 19th of July last. The Government of the United States also received with especial satisfaction the assurances of the Government of Spain that hereafter the stipulations of article 18 of the treaty of 1795 shall be strictly observed, even by the smallest vessels of the Spanish navy in the vicinity of Cuba, toward American vessels that may be found along its coasts and within Spanish maritime jurisdiction.

Cordially sharing in the desire to maintain the friendly relations between the two governments, the undersigned avails himself of this occasion to offer to Senor Mantilla a renewed assurance of his high consideration.

F. W. SEWARD.