The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-05-14

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,udiencia Of san Domingo excited by these appre-
,n. and the complaints Of the priests that the neo
-. y the country were in danger OF being peffer'ed
~ bsresies OF their invaders, made common cause IA
y ling the enemy The governor of Havana despatched
a, ~ four small yesses-of war under the command
n Francisco de Yallalya Toledo, TO sAi directly of
sI,J ~ Tuatan with the view Of surprising the Eng
"a .h, A sentinel on the English Notifications dis
r The troops as they were disembarking from the
at upder cover Of the night and gave the alarm Val
, the CAPTAIN Of the feet, foled IN strategy mace
attack at the head Of all his men on the parapets
bicb were however, successfully defended ny the
son He Withdrew TO his ships as soon as The night
81, and with the excuse of a scarcity Of ammu
% he Immediately set sail for the port Of San Tomas
a. C.sa where he expected to obtain an ample supply
Isr and ball The ancient chronicles of the expe
,i m on with the extreme minuteness Of mere crcuin
-, corpled with the grandest and most exaggerated
I,s "a the issues Of the contest style so eharlc-
- Of the old Spanish isoriographers 70 relate how
a, kingdom Of Guatemala responded 10 aliaiSa re-
- Cor assistance in discriminating the English pirates
"a Fjlilusters in Ruatan and how council OF war was
allied who voted supply OF fifteen kegs OF powder ana
- ouintals Of shot TO the rnada, which consisted Of
tuo small vessels, carrying nifty men each This acces-
io however to vallalyas forces made up quite re-
,n.able figure amounting in all to four hundred and
s men The expedition sailed early in the year 1850,
.nj dembarked in Of the harbors OF Ruaan, which
odleen fortified by the English The Spanish met with
Gallant resistance but succeeded in making breach IN
t works by their artillery and after bloody contest
tin the lines the garrison was totally routed The
S.,n Immediately continued to advance on the English
i,lsncnt ar town in the interior They detained,
- travelling over the island without guides for
.rsxl days and when they arrived at the town they
u search Of they found that il had been abandoned
=, a. r,,lsb who had escaped from the island in their
Us THE town was given to the flames. General Val
H. vt nroceeded to collect board of his ships the
t Indian population OF the island, and he settled
t AZ te port OF San Tomas de Castillo where he dis
embarked in triumph.
The island of Ruatan remained uninhabited until near
ptury later In I742 it again seized by the Eng
nm who Immediately proceeded to forty its harbor with
.r,,s brought from the ruins of the city Of Tuxo.
tn ,,na;n.d in possession until 1880, when they
rlIed by an expedition from Guatemala; and IN 1856
- ,aty was finally concluded by Spain with England, re-
uirinp her to eDaIe he country Of ne Aosgafcs, as 4
m h, ,gaya IN oeaerl and dc islands adjacent, 'rlaoa e.
oga But with unweaTied rapacity the English made
third attempt on the island and having seized u Ia
the year 1896 they left gang OF two thousand negroes
and Caribs brought ST. Vincent 10 retain possession
If It As soon a intelligence Of the invasion com
erpeiiton was sent out under command Of Don Jose
Pj gu who was instructed to obtain information Of
,e condition and circumstances Of this unauthorized set
tment and according to his report to take convenient
measures to recoDquer the island On arriving the
north coast Of Ruatan Rossi went ashore alone and prof
fsred capitulation which instantly accepted with
every demonstration of JOY and ppas for the King OF
Span and he concluded the third expedition by raising
the Spanish flag without any opposition from the negro
republicans or from the CARDS. who inhabited portion
Of the island TO the south.
The English however were not induced by repeated
fure to abandon their design of seizing the island In
her eaty with Spain in the yezr 1914 which revived The
provisions already referred to, of the treaty OF 1885, Eng
land relinaused her claim to Ruatan In disregard Of
This reaed out-clam OF England in the premises, and
notwithstanding the fact that since her evacuation in 1896
Honduras had maintained military post and kept up
establishment ON the island 1t seized again in lsil
ly Col Macdonald acting by order of the British govern
ment, and under the protest Of Honduras and it has
since been settled BY British subjects who came over in
manuding expeditions from the Belize.
After series Of wise DELAYS Characteristic Of the terri
toa policy of England and in the expectation that her
successive aggressions might have meowed by time into
color OF right the final act Of usurpaton OF the island
was contaminated quietly if ii had been known as
British territory to all the world On the goth March,
1852 the Queens warrant issued, constituting Rna
tan and the adjacent insular group including Banaoca
formerly called Guanaja Uta Barbaretta Helena. and
Morat a British colony under the Of the " Bay
Islands the appointments to rest with the government
of Jamaica.
There has been evidently particle OF right even
toerae pretex for the claim D. the British government
occupy and colombo these islands, unless admit
such the late explanation given by Lord Clarendon that
Ruaan had been poa,aacopay occupied by British sub
jects To dispose summary Of this and all other pos
tle pretexts we have only 70 remind ourselves that
Ruatan never could have been properly considered
abandoned property as Honduras had never failed to
m her right to the island, which, besides VIGOROUSLY
matter Of political geography belonged to her and that
the deoens Of Macdonald could have conferred any
right title Of sovereignty made they in time Of
peace, and under the distinct protest Of Honduras
II may be aided with reference to any possible claim
to Ruatan as dependency Of Belize that any such pre-
tension must lie regarded utterly absurd and hopeless
after the recent publication at the call Of the House OF
Commons OF an official letter addressed the 23d No
vember 1885, by Sir George Grey, then underSecrctay
Of the Colonies to Mr. Coke defining by its boundaries
the territory claimed by the British crown belonging
to the British settlements in the Bay Of Honduras
These boundaries given to he rom the river Hondo
on the north TO the river sarstoon the south and
far west Gabutts Falls the river Belize and line
parallel to strike the river Hondo the north and the
river Sarsoon on the south the British crown claims,
Also the waters, islands, and cays lying between the
coast defined and the meridian Of the easterrmost point
o. Lighthouse reef The Bay Islands situate si1y
H' to the eastward Of the meridian Of Lighthouse reef
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