The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-24
Portrait of His Majesty George Frederick Albert Handy


I fatty refused to disburse further This
announcement has caused a fiutter in
British Honduras, and it is highly
probable that trouble like that OF 1891
when a war was only averted by skill
full diplomacy-may ensue. Meanwhile
/ the king of the Mosquito coast has, as
has been said, been welcomed to ia
maica by England, and there enjoys a.
British allowance of $3.50 per diem, on
which ne manages TO have a good time.
1t is popular belief that since the
star OF Imperialism Paled in republican
Brazil. no monarch has reigned in all
America-that from Boring straits 70
TERRA del Fuego every royal throne on
the continent has been swpt away. And
yet on American soil at the present day
there dWellS and rules a king, the heir
of a line of potentates which extends
far beyond the ken of the chronicler-
This sovereign is almost ignored in
American Biographies. but in England
and throughout Europe generally ne is
described as his majesty. George Will
liam Albert, king Of the Mosquito
coast"
Mosquito coast" sounds uncomfort-
ably 1t suggests torridity-and mos
quitoes. AS matter Of fact the little
nation over which King George Will
liam Albert rules is no better or no
worse than any other Central Amer
lean state. The kingdom lies to the
eastward of Nicarag ua-which country
exercises over it a protectorate. 1t IS
q narrow strip of territory, about 200
! miles in length. stretching along the
Caribbean sea from north to south be-
/ tween latitude Is degrees and latitude
IL degrees. The population at present
comprises 1000 souls, 500 of whom re-
side in the canital town of Bluefields.
To the westward. the Nicaraguan
mountains divide it from the republic
of Nicaragua.
Before the white man came with his
two destructive agents. gunpowder and
firewater, the ancestor of King George
was indeed mighty monarch He
ruled all the Mosquito Indians, whose
happy hunting grounds extended from
Mexico on the north, far into South
America. The only Indian tribes which
the Spaniards We're unable to subdue
were the Arucanians of Chill and the
Mosquitoes. The latter continued in abb
Solute independence, Pizarro and other
great captains Notwithstanding. In the
days of the Buccaneers, those dare
devil rangers of the deep found preca-
rious shelter along the Mosquito coast;
and 10 their seductive TASKS may be
traced the first downward tendencies
of the warlike Mosquito.
During the early portion of the last
century q Spanish slave ship was
wrecked near Bluehelds. The Indians
slew all the white men, but the negro
slaves they welcomed as brethren.
These Africans settled down among
them and married Mosquito wives.
Hence the mixed negro and Indian
blood of the present Mosquitoes, among
whom very few of pure descent from
the primeval red man can be found.
The first white man whom the In
dams permitted to dwell among them
was Robert Handy, shrewd Yorkshire
.tylSe, who had gone thither prospect
ing for mahogany. The Princess Chu-
Guiza, heiress Of the ancient Mosquito
royal house, fell in love with and mar
ried Handy. Their eldest son, George
Handy. became king of Mosquito coast,
and. as such, was recognized by Eng
land and Spain His son in turn. Rob
ert Charles Frederick Handy was ia
ken TO Belize in British Honduras, and
there solemnly crowned by the English
governor in 1926. This browning and the
attempt to form a British protectorate
over the MOSQUITO coast. first called
forth from President James Monroe
that famous declaration of United
States responsibility in American af-
fairs, known as the Monroe doctrine.
Thus the little kingdom OF the Mos
quitoes must always remain associated
with the memory of a great president
and a great principle.
The United States carried the day
and England resigned her Mosquito
protectorate. Nicaragua was thereupon
appointed suzerain over King Robert
ereign was permitted to retain his