I lost no time in procuring an office and commencing a careful investigation
into the condition of affairs as they exist at this time. I first invited
the most prominent and intelligent citizens of the place, embracing natives,
Creoles, Jamaicans, officers and ministers of the Moravian, mission, and
American and other foreign business men, to call upon me, either singly or
in pairs. These men willingly responded to my invitation, to all my
questions in search of information, and in many ways contributed to my stock
of knowledge as to the recent past and the present condition of affairs in
the Mosquito Reservation. I have rigidly examined 21 of the most intelligent
and trustworthy citizens of this place, and had several of them prepare for
me brief communications in writing upon special points or phases, copies of
which communications will accompany this dispatch.
This is a prosperous community from Bluefields to Rama, a distance of 60
miles, a remarkably thrifty community for Central America—the most
prosperous, I think, within the five Central American States. The trade is
considerable already, has been rapidly growing until it received the recent
violent check, and is substantially all with the United States.
Its most enterprising business men are chiefly Americans. The town is
American to the core. There is no semblance of the slothful, indolent, and
filthy habits so conspicuous in the interior towns. The houses are clean and
handsomely painted; the women dress neatly, and are not made beasts of
burden; the men are busy at useful occupations and do not devote their time
to petty politics, cockfighting, and parading with muskets. The community
has been peaceable throughout. No
[Page 274]
soldiers existed, for none were required. The civil power has always had
full sway, and justice has generally been secured through the courts.
I will invite your attention to the fact that all Spanish or Nicaraguan
towns, however small, are governed by military governors; military barracks
are the most conspicuous buildings of the respective towns, and the marching
of armed men, the beating of the drum, and the screeching of the fife are at
all times before the eyes and filling the ears of the citizens. The majority
of the men spend their time in places of resort, discussing politics,
plotting revolutions and the like, while the women earn the living.
Several places—such as Rama, Cape Gracias á Dios, and Corn Island—were
formerly prosperous communities under the mild rule of the authorities of
this reserve. They now have their military governors and are ruled by
autocratic military power. The former prosperity of these places has
departed; their former enterprising citizens have been driven out, their
business ruined by crushing taxation and the lack of security to life and
property.
There is a distinctively antagonistic feeling among the Spanish Nicaraguan is
toward Americans. The former are jealous of the enterprise and prosperity of
the latter. This is in marked contrast with the sentiments and actions of
the ruling elements in Costa Rica. There Americans are heartily welcomed.
The Nicaraguans say that Americans come here, get rich in a few years, and
then carry their wealth to the States. The fact is to the contrary; the
Americans spend money liberally in improvements which add to the prosperity
of the country.
2. There are a large number of Americans in business—agriculture, mining,
lumbering, and in commercial enterprises—who have acquired titles to lands.
Many have expended large sums of money in improving and developing their
lands.
3. Substantially everybody—business men and laborers—in this reserve use the
English language and they know no other. The Nicaraguans insist that the
Spanish language must be used in all business and public affairs, in the
courts, etc. This would be a grievous hardship to the citizens.
4. It is proposed by the Nicaraguan Government here to sell to a company of
favorites, partly composed of foreigners but not Americans, an exclusive
concession for the navigation of this river of Bluefields, which stream has
had free navigation always heretofore, and upon whose waters a commerce of
several millions of dollars annually are carried, some twelve or fourteen
ocean steamers going up as far as Rama—60 miles—per month, to gather bananas
and other produce. To compel all these steamers now to pay a private company
for the privilege of prosecuting the business which they have been many
years in building up, by thus destroying the free navigation of this river—a
river which has rightfully been as free as the oceans—would be an injustice,
and would destroy the prosperity of the entire valley.
5. No American here has denied to Nicaragua the sovereign power over this
territory, but they do believe they have a right to appeal to the Government
of the United States with confidence that that Government will use its best
offices with the Government of Nicaragua for the protection of their vested
rights in this territory, and for securing
[Page 275]
to them a local government which shall protect them
and their families in their persons and property.
6. The feeling between the natives and foreigners on the one hand, and the
Nicaraguans on the other, is such, that until the Government of the United
States shall secure from Nicaragua, by treaty or otherwise, the protection
of the former in all their vested rights, ah outbreak may be provoked by the
insolence of Spanish officials at any time; therefore, it will be necessary
for a United States man-of-war to remain as close to this harbor as
possible, until the two Governments come to an amicable understanding by
which American residents will be protected.
7. The natives of every shade are in full accord with the Americans. The
Nicaraguans, being of different blood, speaking a strange language,
possessing radically different ideas of methods of government, * * * can not
assimilate, with the English-speaking people here—one or the other must
remain dominant; the other will, either gradually or suddenly, get out.
8. Accompanying another brief dispatch, No. 262, of even date, I send several
inclosures. For a history of events leading up to the present condition of
affairs, I respectfully refer you to a paper furnished me by Judge J. O.
Thomas, who was for many years a judge of the supreme court as well as a
member of the executive council of the reserve, which accompanies this,
marked Inclosure No. 1; and for a succinct account of the recent happenings,
I desire that the official dispatch to the Navy Department of Capt. J. C.
Watson, U. S. S. San Francisco, dated April 16, and
his dispatch to the same, dated April 28, be read in connection with
this.
I have patiently verified every fact set forth in both these dispatches, but
have not deemed it necessary to travel over the same ground in making my
report to the State Department.
9. For a synopsis of the laws upon which the land titles in this reserve
rest, I respectfully refer to Inclosure No. 2, furnished me by the Messrs.
Hodgson and Ingram. These gentlemen are all men of learning in the law, one
of them has been a judge in the supreme court, and a land commissioner,
another one clerk of that court, and the third a member of the executive
council.
Inclosure No. 3 is a statement from the two chief officials of the Moravian
mission in this territory.
I had conversations with these men, and I am impressed with their
intelligence, sincerity, and with their extensive knowledge of the
people—the natives of this country.
I will remain here probably two weeks yet, leaving for Grey Town about the
18th of May. It is possible that I may be compelled to return via Colon, as
the transportation on the San Juan River is of the most difficult character;
but do not send mail to me at this point, as it can not reach me.
The special commissioner from Nicaragua, Mr. José Madriz, late minister of
foreign affairs, returns to Managua by the first steamer, to present his
report and recommendations to his Government.
The British minister, Mr. Gosling, arrived at Managua shortly after I left
there.
[Inclosure 1.]
Mr. Thomas to Mr.
Baker.
Mosquito Reservation,
Bluefields, April 28,
1894.
Honored Sir: It gives me pleasure to see you in
Mosquito. The circumstances actuating your visit may not be a pleasant
one, but as your calling will bring you on the platform to witness such
occurrences and events as the one now pending between the Mosquito
Reservation and the Republic of Nicaragua, I am glad you have undertaken
the long journey and have arrived here safe, where I sincerely hope you
may be able to lift the curtain and see and hear for yourself.
I arrived here (I mean in Bluefields) in the month of September, 1859. I
made this visit for the purpose of seeing the country and in prospecting
its natural resources. I had some capital, and was willing to invest in
any new country where I would have the prospect of locating and rising
with the country as it might be developed from time to time. After
spending some money in prospecting the coast and the interior of the
Mosquito country, I found, to my great satisfaction, that the lands were
some of the best for the cultivation of the sugar cane, coffee, cocoa,
anatto, rice, cotton, Jamaica ginger, cocoanuts, and all other tropical
fruits, including the banana, which was just then finding its way into
the United States markets at very remunerative figures.
I found that the forests abounded in mahogany, cedar, rosewood, pitch,
pine, and other hard woods of value. On the coast there was a good
supply of turtle-shell, hides, skins, canoes, cocoanuts, etc. I then
turned my attention to the customs, laws, and government. Of course I
knew the country was under the protection of England, and thus, with
what I had seen of the people, I was satisfied that such a people, with
such a country, and with the aid of the inhabitants of the outside
world, would in time rise to some significance. I also found that the
two languages spoken were English and Mosquito, and, as English was the
commercial language, that some day it would be the language of the land.
But, best of all, I observed to my great joy that the Protestant
religion was the religion of the land, and that the good old English
translation of the Bible was the principal book of the schools, and that
the Mosquito children and all the other children were taught to read and
write English. I felt myself and capital safe, and with all that I had
seen was satisfied.
You will excuse me if I go over the historical events of this country by
leaps and bounds, as it would take up too much time to speak of all in
the past of this country’s history from 1859 up to the present time.
You will remember that in 1860 Her Britannic Majesty’s Government entered
into treaty relations with the Republic of Nicaragua touching the
Mosquito coast. This treaty, as you are well aware, is known as the
treaty of Managua, which was ratified at London 2d August, 1860. After
the ratification of the treaty the then hereditary chief of Mosquito,
George Augustus Frederick, at a public convention of the headmen of the
Mosquitos and of the mixed population, on the 12th day of September,
1861, at Bluefields, Mosquito Reservation, addressed the audience in the
following words (in Mosquito and then in English):
Gentlemen: I am happy to meet you, and
trust that you will be satisfied that in calling you together I
am acting for the best interests of the people who are now or
may hereafter inhabit or become residents within the Mosquito
Reservation. All communities of persons should have a definite
and regular form of government, by which the interests, of each
and every person should he fully and legally protected
[Page 277]
in life, liberty,
and-property Having lately made and entered into treaty
engagements with the State of Nicaragua, through the good
offices of Her Britannic Majesty’s Government, wherein the
extent of the reservation and the civil and political rights of
all persons within the said reservation are defined, I am
desirous of forming a government adapted to our wants. For that
purpose I have called you together in public convention to
assist me in thus forming a government, and I hope that those
persons who shall be recommended by you and appointed by me as
the members of the general council will enter upon their duties
with a firm determination to act in good faith and for the best
interests of all. My wish and desire is to place the people
residing upon the Mosquito Reservation—natives and foreigners—in
the best possible condition as regards their present and future
welfare, and you may depend that I shall be always ready to act
with you for that purpose with the utmost good faith and
sincerity, hoping by so doing to place our future government
upon a firm and solid basis. And now, gentlemen, I am ready to
appoint the council from and among those whom you may recommend
to me for that purpose. I hope the appointment of the general
council will give satisfaction to all and confidence for the
future.
You will by this first convention perceive the drift of the government,
and that this reservation or territory, as set apart by the several
conditions of the aforesaid treaty, and as mapped out by Great Britain
and Nicaragua, and particularly described by the two contracting
parties; from the Mosquito country, as a state of free men who are to
govern themselves—not as an unsettled horde of wandering savages not yet
formed into a civil society; not as a voluntary association of robbers
or pirates; but as members of this country or state they were already
accustomed to give to their sovereign a habitual obedience as their
superior, and faithfully acknowledged the power vested in him.
The members of the Mosquito state had their fixed abode, and all who are
acquainted with the history of America, and that of Mosquito, must admit
that the Mosquito Indians, and all persons residing among them before
the treaty of Managua, enjoyed, occupied, and governed a definite state
belonging to them and exercising an internal as well as an external
sovereignty, and were ever ready to punish evil and uphold good. The
treaty stipulations, taking from the Mosquito country a large portion of
territory and retaining to the Mosquitoes and all who may live among
them a reservation conceding to them their right of self-government,
made it incumbent on the Mosquito chief, his headmen, and all those that
may live among them, to adopt a constitution.
This constitution was drawn up and adopted by the chief and
vice-president and the members of the general council, and subsequently
approved by both contracting parties. Up to this time there were no
Spaniards within the Mosquito Reservation, to the exception of one man,
a Colombian, who resided at the mouth of the river “Walpa Sixah,” and
having a Mosquito woman as his wife. The Spaniards were universally
hated by the Indians, while the British and all other foreigners were
loved and respected.
I am not aware if you are acquainted with the constitution of the
Mosquito Reservation, and as you may not be posted, I take pleasure in
copying for your consideration articles 1, 2, 3, 4. (See also 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Mosquito Code, p. 12.)
- Art. 1. The official name of the
government shall be “The Municipal Authority for the Government of
the Mosquito Reservation.”
- Art. 2. The boundaries of the said
reservation are and shall be as fixed and set forth in the second
article of the treaty of Managua, dated the 28th of January, 1860,
as follows: (See article 2, treaty of Managua.)
- Art. 3. The municipal authority shall be
vested in and consist of the general council and an executive
council.
- Art. 4. That conformably with an act of
the Mosquito council, dated October, 1846, entitled an act
confirming the establishment of the laws of England as the same are
now, or may hereafter be, known and acknowledged, shall be, and the
same are
[Page 278]
hereby, made the
laws of the municipal authority of the Mosquito Reservation, so far
as the same can be made applicable to the present and future
position, circumstances, and form of authority, and when the same
shall not be inconsistent and at variance with the sovereignty of
Nicarauga.
There are established within the Mosquito Reservation four courts: (1)
the court of impeachment; (2) the supreme court; (3) the local
magistrate’s court; and (4) the court of arbitration. All these courts
regulate the civil and criminal laws.
Grand juries are not considered necessary; therefore no grand jury is
summoned or impaneled.
There is trial by jury in the supreme court, both criminal and civil. Ail
trials of criminal cases are tried by a panel of six. The jurors are
chosen from the most respectable citizens of the reservation, natives
and foreigners. All persons accused of crime may at time of trial object
to any juror whom he may not approve to sit on the trial; if so, another
juror is called. As a rule, all foreigners are tried having an equal
number of foreigners and natives as jurors. In civil eases the same
number of jurymen are impaneled. Defendants and plaintiffs have option
to demand a special jury to try their causes if they deem it necessary,
or, if agreeable to both parties, may desire the judges to settle the
case without a jury. New trials are allowed in civil matters in the
snpreme court.
The supreme court possess the jurisdiction of a law and equity court.
There may be appeals from the magistrate’s court to the supreme court,
but the decisions of the supreme court are final.
Both foreigners and natives are prompt to answer the call of the judges
when summoned by the clerk of the supreme court for the trial of
causes.
Although there are a great many strangers arriving within the past five
years, yet it can not be said that crime is on the increase up to our
last court.
To discard from your mind any prejudices that may be impressed on you by
unprincipled newspaper writers, who would lead the public to believe
that the government of the Mosquito Reservation is wrested from the
Mosquitos by Jamaica negroes who are British subjects, etc., you will
permit me to lay before you the names of the persons who represent the
executive council of the Mosquito Reservation.
His Excellency Robert Henry Clarence, chief and president, native
full-blooded Indian; Hon. Charles Patterson, vice-president, native of,
Pearl Lagoon, quadroon; Hon. J. W. Cuthbert, attorney-general, Jamaican
mulatto, British subject; Hon. John Taylor, judge supreme court, native
Corn Island, quadroon; Hon. Sa. Hodgson, judge supreme court, native of
Bluefields, black; Hon. John O. Thomas, judge supreme court, Jamaican
British subject, mulatto; J. W. Cuthbert, junior secretary, native of
Pearl Lagoon, mulatto; J. S. Hodgson, native of Blue-fields, mulatto; G.
A. Hodgson, native of Bluefields, black; H. C. Ingram, native of
Bluefields, mulatto; J. W. Howel, native of Bluefields, black; J. A.
Peterson, American citizen, white; H. U. Hodgson, native Bluefields,
mulatto; Benjamin Ellis, native of Pearl Lagoon, black; Edward McCray,
native Rama Key, full-blooded Indian; Gus Daniel, native Rama Key,
full-blooded Indian; David Benjamin, native Rama Key, full-blooded
Indian.
There is also a general council of the above persons and twenty-eight
Mosquito Indians, all of whom are chosen and elected by the Mosquito
Indians and other persons who may live among them. The term of office is
five years, when new elections take place at the expiration of the
term.
[Page 279]
You will now see by careful inquiry and by the above list that there are
only two Jamaicans who are British subjects in the general and executive
councils, and these two are J. W. Cuthbert and John O. Thomas.
After the ratification of the treaty of Managua “conflicting views on the
proper interpretation of the treaty commenced between the two
Governments, and Her Majesty’s Government, finding it impossible to
reconcile the Government of the Republic,” consented to allow the points
at issue to be decided by arbitration. The Government of Nicaragua being
willing, the Emperor of Austria was selected, and in 1881 the Emperor
decided. It was in 1879 the questions in dispute were agreed upon by
both Governments to be settled by arbitration. (See Award Emperor of
Austria, pp. 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.) It is sad to
say that before the arbitration was concluded—nay, just when it was
about to be submitted—the then young chief, William Henry Clarence, the
nephew of George Augustus Frederick, a young man, intelligent and bold,
being well educated, and who would be a help to his country, was
murdered in this town by a Nicaraguan Spaniard. This man was captured,
tried, and, being condemned, was hung in Bluefields.
There have been two other chiefs, Hendy and Jonathan, who have died since
W. H. Clarence, and the present young chief, Robert Henry Clarence, is
the son of the murdered William H. Clarence.
Immediately after the arbitration the inhabitants of the reserve, feeling
that the landbands of Nicaragua was somewhat weakened by the award of
the Emperor of Austria, a new enterprise was started, and the
long-cherished desire of tilling the soil came into operation by the
cultivation of bananas.
We commenced in good faith, under the conditions of the treaty of
Managua, to expend our capital, and invited foreign friends to take
part, feeling assured that the lands were well adapted, and that, the
markets of the Southern States being near at hand, we would be sure of
success. Under the clear and strong conditions of the treaty we invested
our moneys and worked hard to carry out the new undertaking. In 1882
bananas were the theme, and the banks of the Bluefields River were made
noisy by the ax of the woodman. Plantation after plantation sprung up,
and in 1883 the planters were able to make a commencement in shipping
about 2,500 bunches per month, or about 30,000 that year. Now, with all
the disadvantages of a jealous and unscrupulous people, the reservation
in about ten years has reached an exportation of millions of bunches of
bananas that find a ready market in the United States.
This great success drew large capital and capitalists from the United
States to come and settle in the reservation, and to-day, if it was not
for the high-handed outrage committed by Carlos A. Lacayo, the said
commissioner to the reservation, and one Rigoberto Cabezas, I am
confident that hundreds of Americans and other foreigners would find
their way to us, and the next year would have found us mounting the
ladder, and, instead of ten or twelve steamships, as we now have here
per month, the country would bring forth her extra millions of bunches
of bananas, and our harbor, while capable of affording shelter for the
extra ships, their return cargoes would gladden the hearts of our
friends in the United States, and the merchant, the man, and the
Government of the Mosquito Reservation would receive a fair share as
compensation for the prosperity of the land.
Mr. Carlos A. Lacayo came to the Mosquito Reservation sometime
[Page 280]
in the month of November.
Shortly after his arrival Admiral Benham arrived in the San Francisco. Mr. Lacayo said he came to
Mosquito as the commissioner to the reserve. He brought a letter from
the governor of Grey Town, but showed no credentials from his Government
or President. He was not officially acknowledged when the admiral
arrived here, but the day on which the admiral was welcomed Lacayo was
also welcomed. Up to that time he had not shown his credentials, nor has
he shown them to the chief yet.
Shortly after his arrival he affirmed that he came to incorporate the
reservation, and this he made no secret of. In the month of January he
got together, a large body of soldiers, principally Honduranians, a few
Nicaraguans, and some Americans, and attempted to land arms and
ammunition, and did land arms and ammunition. Mr. H. U. Hodgson, one of
the magistrates, told him that he was wrong, and informed him that he
could not allow it. The chief was then informed, and a few days after
more troops came from Rama, and reports were all over town that Lacayo
had said he was about to capture the town of Bluefields. The people
became quite alarmed and excited, and appealed to the chief; the chief
then protested and informed Lacayo that he could not allow the soldiers
about town armed, as they were creating an excitement among the people,
and that there may be trouble.
Lacayo then said that they were to be sent away for the coast of
Honduras. They were sent away with the understanding that they were
bound for Truxillo, but they never went further than the cape—many of
the officers returning and leaving the men—the officers reporting that
they had a great battle with a body of Honduranean troops, which body
were only a few Honduraneans. In the fight three of the Nicaraguan men
were killed, but no Honduraneans, as both parties ran from each
other.
On the return of the officers from Cape Gracias most of them left for the
interior. Cabezas, who was thwarted in his attempt, threatened Lacayo,
and then Lacayo, prompted by Cabezas, sent for the next lot of troops
intentionally to invade the reservation and capture Bluefields. Lacayo,
who can not keep his tongue, made this known to many persons, and it
appears that it was known in Grey Town. On Friday the steamship Miranda arrived, bringing troops. The
commissioner told a merchant that he had on board 250 men and a piece of
artillery, and that if he was opposed in landing the men he would
bombard the town. This news of the troops went like wildfire through the
town, and much alarm was caused, Lacayo seeming to take pleasure to
torture the weaker minds by his malicious reports of large numbers, etc.
The chief, seeing the danger, called together his advisers, and we
concluded to invite this commissioner and speak over the matter. Two
gentlemen were sent to Mr. Lacayo, and soon after Lacayo and the
gentlemen came up to the council chamber, and many questions were put to
him touching the reported bombardment, his position as commissioner,
etc. He replied in the affirmative or negative, as he deemed
prudent—assured the chief that it was only on account of the
Honduraneans that he had sent for the troops, so as to protect the
inhabitants.
The chief, the commissioner, and members of the council then spoke over
the future—the planting of coffee, cocoa, etc., in the reserve, and the
benefits they would prove to the country. On leaving he asked for a copy
of the questions. A copy was given at his request. He was not
displeased, and the gentlemen went back with him to his residence. Later
on in the day more reports sprung up and the people were excited. Some
time after Lacayo sent a very insulting note to
[Page 281]
the chief. We then tried to quiet the fears of the
people by giving them the best advice and assurances. They got somewhat
assured with the hope that all would be well. Still, by what the chief
had received and the threats which were told to some reliable persons
who felt that evil was intended, we, too, felt alarmed. However, we
could not show our anxieties, as we (I mean members of the council) were
aware that the people were watching us, and that the least show of
excitement on our part may cause trouble. The troops, 160 men, were
landed on the night of Friday, the 10th, shouting as they went along the
streets, “Vive Nicaragua!”
On Saturday a delegation of Americans waited on the chief, warning him of
the impending danger, stating that Lacayo is premeditating acts of
violence, and if active measures were not taken that the inhabitants
would suffer. We saw the truth in what our American friends asserted, as
we ourselves were well informed, but we had concluded beforehand that
the only safe and right step would be to keep the people quiet, come
what may. All that we could gather was that in case of resistance there
should be a general slaughter of natives and foreigners and the burning
of the town. Seeing that we were placed in such a critical position, and
that the women and children could not escape, and as we had so many
strange women and children, as well as native women and children, within
the town, we fully concluded that the great object was to save life, and
to suffer insult rather than see one woman or one child murdered by the
hands of so base a bandit and their more depraved leaders. We then used
our best influence over the minds of the people, as we could perceive
that the great object was to force them to rebellion, so that they (the
Spaniards) may with force and cruelty exterminate the inhabitants, that
they may occupy and plunder. On the night of Sunday, near the morning of
Monday, the first attack was made. The inhabitants of the town were
hushed in sleep when the premeditated crime was committed, and the last
spark of manhood had left Lacayo. It was an inhuman crime committed by
the commissioner when at midnight he turned out an armed force and
compelled a quiet, peaceable, and defenseless people to surrender just
rights—the very soldiers that Lacayo said were brought to protect lives
and property, “as he was, or his Government was, responsible to other
nations for the lives of their people.”
These were the very unwashed and irresponsible men that were led against
the town, and at midnight took the property of the people of the
municipal government. These were the soldiers who were offered as bounty
(should resistance be made by the inhabitants) to burn and sack the city
of Bluefields. Early on Monday morning the people were here and there
gathered, looking on in sadness, and these soldiers were pushing them
off with the point of the bayonet, forcing them to resist so that they
may accuse the peaceable people of rebellion, but we have much cause to
thank Almighty God that the people took the advice given, and all
natives and foreigners kept their hands from shedding human blood. For
it was quite clear that if the first shot was fired, natives and
foreigners would have made common, cause to protect their wives and
children. A large body of Spanish troops again arrived from Rama; this
gave more cause to the soldiers to grow bold and insolent, and the
captain of the band, Cabezas, tried his utmost to stir the people to
revolt by surrounding the flagstaff of the Mosquito Government, and
hoisting the Nicaraguan flag. Without necessity, and without authority,
without any cause to suppress rebellion, but to gratify malice, and by
tyranny and caprice, the commissioner, Carlos A. Lacayo,
[Page 282]
and his accessory, Cabezas, exercised over
the peaceable and defenceless inhabitants of Bluefields a lawless
violence by proclaiming martial law, and kept up day by day without
necessity, so as to carry out and to coerce the Mosquito Government, and
to serve their own malicious ends.
This state of things was imposed on the people with all its terrors of
the situation and made the more terrible by the insults of the half-clad
and half-civilized soldiers who were anxious for a riot so that they
might have an opportunity to plunder. During this time of unnecessary
martial law the civil law was violated. A soldier, said to be a
Colombian, was, on a simple cause of offense, flogged cruelly, and died
within thirty-six hours from the effects of the flogging and other
cruelties. The wife of the British vice consul was insulted; young girls
who were on their way to school were insulted; Mr. J. P. Moody was
insulted, assaulted, and plundered; the chief, Robert Henry Clarence,
was twice attempted to be assassinated; Mr. G. S. Hodgson was arrested;
Mr. S. A. Hodgson was arrested; H. U. Hodgson’s life was sought, his
house entered and robbed; an attempt was made on the person of J. W.
Cuthbert. The taking possession and appropriating the guns of the
police; bursting open the prison doors and letting loose on the
community felons and other prisoners; staying the proceedings of the
supreme court while in sitting; letting loose certain prisoners who were
just sentenced, they being Nicaraguans, and the crimes being against
American citizens; the taking charge of the Mosquito revenue and
collecting and appropriating the same to their own use; the giving to
the families of the reservation unnecessary sleepless nights and anxious
days; the unnecessary causing, through fear, hundreds of women and
children to sleep in the bushes without shelter, exposing infants and
mothers to damp, dew, rain, and mud; causing some mothers to be sick,
children to be sick, and some infants have sickened and died; the
employing men during martial law to enter at midnight the homes of an
already distressed and uneasy people with guns, bayonets, bowie knives,
and revolvers, and, under the pretense of searching for arms with the
point of the bayonet, strive to ravish the women, and discharging their
guns and revolvers at the men in their very homes and wounding; and
numberless other outrages and petty larcenies committed by the soldiers
on the persons of private individuals under the plea of searching for
arms—these were acts of Lacayo and Cabezas, and these were the soldiers
they brought to protect the inhabitants from Honduranean invaders. All
this was done, and more sufferings were endured than can be here
expressed against the inhabitants unmercifully by the malicious and
cruel men.
While all this was going on, natives and foreigners were leaving the
country by every available opportunity—some in such small vessels and in
such numbers that should any accident happen, and having no boats to
save life, all must have perished.
The situation day by day grew more alarming; persons who did not leave
became very anxious for their families, as no one could tell what the
next moment would bring forth. The fears, anxieties, wailings, and
pleadings of wives to their husbands caused men—fathers and husbands—to
think, and many sleepless nights were spent in watching over the safety
of our homes and families. Yet we hoped, and hoped in God for help. We
expected war ships, American and English. The American ship was sent for
first by Americans, and, being near, all here, natives and foreigners,
looked with anxious hearts, but no ship. The British vice-consul and
British subjects had appealed for help, but this
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being later on, we could scarcely expect an early
arrival; yet we did expect, as is the case with all anxious hearts. The
British vice-consul, Mr. Hatch, and Consul Bingham seem to have worked
nobly and energetically and humanely. While anxiously waiting to see the
American ship, as we had seen by the papers that she was ordered down to
these waters, you may very well picture the dismay of all suffering
hearts when the news reached us that the good old Kearsarge was wrecked on the Roncador. The Americans were much
troubled, as many were feeling more and more the dishonorable actions of
the Spaniards, and the situation was growing worse. At the loss of this
ship the Spaniards grew bolder, while numbers of the inhabitants became
more distressed; all believed that, irrespective of nationality, there
would be shown to a suffering and peaceable people humanity.
All British subjects felt confident that the thing could not last long,
and we cheered and comforted one and the other, knowing that, Consul
Bingham was always prompt, and that our noble Government would not, and
never did, allow undue means to be exercised over her loyal and loving
subjects longer than it could be helped. It was Sunday morning we saw
the work of righteousness. Early in the morning of Sunday, the 25th of
February, reports reached this town that a war ship was lying outside
the bluff. All hearts felt joy, and you may fancy the shout that went up
to heaven when the brave captain jumped from his cutter and landed
safely in this town, leaving his boat with the British ensign gently
Heating in the wind at the stern of the cutter. Captain Howe walked up
to the British vice-consul and, after a short interview with Vice-Consul
Hatch, the captain left for the residence of the commissioner.
On his way back he was invited by the Americans at the American Club.
After a short stay the captain left the club, and on the way back he
heard a great noise; women and children were screaming, and the
Nicaraguan soldiers and officers howling. This was brought about by the
landing of the captain. A great many persons (for joy), men, women, and
children were walking along in the rear of the two English officers.
This annoyed the Nicaraguans, and seventy or eighty armed men were
ordered to charge on them, and with loaded guns and fixed bayonets the
soldiers charged the people while the officers flourished their loaded
revolvers and whooped and yelled, “Vive Nicaragua! Vive Lacayo! Vive
Castin!” Then the soldiers joined in, each trying to bawl louder than
the other, shouting “Vive Nicaragua! Vive Lacayo!” pressing the bayonet
on the bodies of the people while the officers brought their revolvers
near to the heads and faces of the men. All this was done in the
presence of the captain, who quietly remarked, “I see I am not an hour
too soon.” The first work of Captain Howe was to relieve the situation
and to restore confidence by immediately having martial law to be taken
off. This was just and right to all the citizens of the reservation,
foreigners and natives, as there was no necessity, Lacayo, Cabezas, the
soldiers and officers having revolted against the chief of the Mosquito
Reservation and against “The municipal authority for the government of
the Mosquito Reservation.” It was Lacayo and Cabezas who rebelled, and
the undue means used by them against the people of Bluefields in
proclaiming martial law was an abuse of the power of the Commissioner
Lacayo, who, to gratify malice, committed an act or acts of tyranny.
The names of 0apt. A. G. C. Howe and Lieutenant Colmore will long be
remembered by natives, Indians, Americans, and British subjects, who
were eyewithesses and sufferers together.
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These kind and noble-hearted gentlemen worked hard, and that night and
day, to restore order and confidence to every home and homestead,
irrespective of nationality. Every precaution was used to protect life
and property, and, although every order was carried out with boldness
and firmness, yet all were tempered with the greatest kindness. Ladies
and children soon felt it was good to indulge in the open air, and again
we commenced to see the smiles of our women and children. Fruit and
flowers were lavished on the British blue-jackets in token of gratitude,
and men, women, and children—natives, Americans, and British
subjects—felt sorry when the gallant captain and his beloved lieutenant
and the men of the Cleopatra left the shores of
Bluefields and waved their last good-bye.
At present things seem quiet, but we know that there is a strong
undercurrent, and should the war ships leave us, and leave us in the
hands of Lacayo and all the unprincipled men who planned the revolt and
the capture of Bluefields, it is beyond a doubt that as soon as such
withdrawal is made the lives and property of the inhabitants will be
sacrificed.
I would ask you to view the case in all its particulars. The Nicaraguans
have no sympathy for the inhabitants of the Mosquito Reserve. They are
jealous of the prosperity of the reserve. We do not speak the same
language, we do not profess the same religion, and our institutions and
laws and manners and customs are not agreeable to them, and their manner
of life and mode of government are obnoxious to us; and both Indians and
foreigners within the Mosquito Reservation are unwilling that these men
shall have the rule over us. The acts of Lacayo as commissioner to the
reserve show plainly that there is no honor, no truth, nor confidence in
the Spanish element, and if left alone our lives and the lives of our
families and our hard-earned properties will not be sacred in their
hands.
I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant,
