The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-06-30
ONLY N
The Monarch Of the Mosquito Coast
George Frederick Albert Handy.

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George Frederick Albert Handy.
The King of the Mosquito Coast has
lost his pension, and now Americas
only monarch has no visible ear of
support. A few weeks ago the Mica
raguan Republic, which holds suzer-
ainty over his majesty on condition OF
the annual payment of a pension,
finally withdrew this needful allow
ance.
As a result, the king complained to
his old friend, the British Govern
ment and temporarily abandoned his
dominions, to s~ojourn in Jamaica, un-
der the protection of John Bull. There
he enjoys a British allowance of $3.50
per diem, on which he manages to
have a good time.
It is q popular belief that, since the
star Of imperialism paled in republic
can Brazil, no monarch has reigned in
all America-that from Boring Straits
to Terra del Fuego every royal throne
on the continent has been swept away.
And yet on American soil at the pres,
ent 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 he is described as "His
Majesty, George William Albert, King
of the Mosquito Coast"
mosquito Coast" sounds uncom-
fortably. It suggests torridity-and
mosquitoes. As a matter of fact the
little nation over which King George
William Albert rules is no better or
no worse than any other Central Amer
lean State. The kingdom lies to the
eastward of Nicaragua-which coun-
try exercises wei it q pr~otectorate. It
is a narrow strip of territory. about
200 miles in length, stretching along
the Caribbean sea from north to south
between latitude fifteen degrees and
latitude eleven degrees. The popula-
ton at present contains 1000 souls,
500 of whom reside in the capital
town of Bluefelds. 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 frewater, the ancestor of King
George was indeed a mighty monarch.
He ruled all. the Mosquito Indians,
whose happy hunting grounds extend
ed from Mexico on the north far into
South America. The only Indian
tribes which the Spanish were unable
to subdue we're the Arucanians, Of
Chile, and the Mosquitoes.
The first white man whom the Indi-
ans permitted to dwell, among them
was Robert Handy, q shrewd York.
shire "tyke," who had gone thither
prospecting for mahogany. The ,Prin-
cess Chuquiza, heiress of the ancient
Mosquito royal house, fell in love with
and married Handy. Their eldest SON,
George Handy, became King of the
Mosquito Coast, and, as such, was
recognized by England and Spain.
His son in turn, Robert Charles
Frederick Handy, was taken to Belize,
in British Honduras, and there SOL
EMMY crowned by the English Gov
ernor in 1926. This browning and the
attempt to form a British proteetorate
wei 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 Doc
trine." Thus the little kingdom of
the Mosquitoes must always remain
associated with the memory Of a great
President and a great principle.
The United States carried the day,