THE SAMBOES IN A REAL ESTATE OPERATION.

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to discover the sources of the Belize and the Sibun. The said Commissioner published, on his return to Belize, permission to the English settlers to enter upon the new district, agreeable to the late treaty with Spain, viz.: 1786. July 7, 1787, Colonel Lawrie, late Superintendent on the Mosquito Shore, arrived at Belize in His Majesty's ship Camilla, Captain Hull, and the Mosquito shore was completely evacuated, conformably to treaty.

July 10th, 1787, David Lamb, Surveyor, was employed by the Superintendent to lay out lots fifty feet by one hundred, to be ballotted for, on the south point of Belize River mouth. August 2d, 1787, the ballot took place, and the Superintendent in person delivered possession to those who drew them; chiefly amongst the settlers from the Mosquito Shore. November 19th, 1791, two hundred and seventeen revolted negroes from St. Domingo were disembarked on English Key, distant seven leagues only from Belize, by the French ship, L'Emanuel, Captain Colmin, he having been prohibited from selling them by the magistrates.

The legal territory for Great Britain, hence, was Belize and its dependencies, as described. It was to this point, then, that this power induced the Mosquitoes to flock, where they employed themselves in fishing among the Keys, particularly for the hawksbill, a species of turtle, which are plentiful, and from which is obtained the tortoise-shell. For this they re

ceived from six to seven dollars per pound, and at times more. Here, then, they centred, and here their kings were crowned, that the tribe, in toto, might be concentrated about or near the merchants. But while England forbade the sale of the revolted slaves from St. Domingo, we find she dealt in the article, probably sub rosa in a manner, yet de facto.

The town of Belize is at the mouth of the river of the same name, and was so called from its discoverer, Wallice, a noted Buccaneer, who made it his place of retreat. The Spaniards write it Waliz, and subsequently it became corrupted into Balleze, or as it is now called Belize. Its armorial bearings may be read thus: Chief Dexter-Argent-the Union Jack, proper; Chief Sinister on the Proper-the Chiefs di vided from the Body of the Shield by a chevron-shaped Partition from the Fess of the Dexter and Sinister base-Pointsthe intermediate space, azure-a Ship with set sails on the Sea, passant proper-Crest, Mahogany tree; Motto, "Sub umbra floreo"-Supporters, NEGROES; that to the left, with a paddle-to the right, with an axe over his shoulder. The motto is appropriate. The poor fellows flourish everywhere in the shade-and-clover.

But Great Britain disavows slavery; her aim ever has been to its extinction; and yet before me lies a document, official, confirmed by the magistrates of the settlement, dated September 19, 1817, wherein is embraced the Table of Fees payable

SURPLICE FEES OF THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT.

259 to the Clerk of St. John's Church. Items three and four, under head of Baptisms. Slaves, if ten in number, or under, at one time, each three shillings and four pence; above ten, at one time, and if owned by one person, each two shillings and six pence. Under the head of Marriages, we find-Of slaves, gratis!—Burials.—Of slaves above ten years old, five shillings; under ten, three shillings and four pence. The above are classed in Table of Surplice Fees. Confirmed June 27, 1817. "The Law requires that these Fees be paid at the time of service, and in default of which, they are recoverable by Warrants of Distress. Slave Fees are invariably defrayed by the owners."

CHAPTER XXV.

THE MOSQUITO COAST AGAIN-USURPATIONS OF ENGLAND-CLAIMS OF SPAIN— INDEPENDENCE OF GUATEMALA-ENGLAND'S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS-THE COLONY OF BAY ISLANDS CONFLICTING CLAIMS-AN ACT OF THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT THE TREATY OF 1850-THE PROTECTORATE FICTION AND LORD JOHN RUSSEL THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN-LORD CLARENDON'S ARGUMENT-MR. CLAYTON AS RENDERED BY MR. LAWRENCE-LORD CLAREN

DON AGAIN-MR. WEBSTER

POINT.

MISCONSTRUED-LORD

JOHN RUSSEL TO THE

WE shall pursue the history of the Colonization of Great Britain on this coast, and shall prove her desire to act in badfaith with Spain prior to meeting her demands upon the United States, and upholding the position the latter assumed, predicated upon the Clayton and Bulwer Treaty.

The frequent and continued breaches of the Treaty of 1786, and consequent usurpations upon the part of England, were sustained by Lord Clarendon, who alleged "that the Treaty of 1786 was abrogated in 1814 by the war between the

INDEPENDENCE OF GUATEMALA.

261

contracting parties, at which time the Belize Settlement extended to the Sarstoun River, which is far South of the Sibun the prescribed boundary. In 1812 Spain adopted a new and written Constitution, in defiance of the despotic powers of Europe; said Constitution contained this Article: "Guatemala, with the internal Provinces of the East and West, and the adjacent Ialands in both Seas form part of the Spanish dominion." Under this Constitution, Spain was recognized by England, who guarantied her sovereignty.

Guatemala in 1823 discarded the Spanish yoke, and became a Confederated Republic, and its Constitution thus described the domain claimed: "The Territory of the Republic is the same which formerly comprised the ancient Kingdom of Guatemala, with the exception for the present of Chiapas." This territory included the whole of the Mosquito Coast. The British settlement between the Silver and the Rio Hondo, called Belize, belonging within the Spanish Province of Yucatan, by the revolution came under the sway of Mexico. England acknowledged the latter's independence, stipulating that British subjects, dwelling in its territories, "should enjoy the rights which had been granted to them by Spain in the Treaty of 1786."

Did not England herein reaffirm her own exclusion from Central America? Where then was in fact, any Mosquito Kingdom, as a distinct and independent territory? If such had existence,