verted to the light of grace; they who, scorning the tie which was most advantageous to them, rose in revolt in order to live for the gratification of their passions. God preserve your Majesty many years, as your subjects desire, and as Christianity requires.

“DIEGO DE LA HAYA. [A rubric.]

ᎡᎬᏢᏅᎡᎢ .

SIR: This province of Costa Rica is situated between two others; that of Veragua and that of Nicaragua-being also encircled on the south by a small strip of the district of Nicoya. The length of said province is one hundred and sixty leagues, commencing at the Rio de Boruca, (the same which separates its jurisdiction from that of the province of Veragua,) and extending to the place designated Rio del Salto, which lies between this province and said province of Nicaragua. In width it extends sixty leagues, which are to be reckoned from the valley and coast of Mathina-which is in the northern part-as far as Puerto de la Caldera, where it is washed by the waters of the south sea. And the jurisdiction of this province is separated from said district and jurisdiction of Nicoya by the Rio del Tempisque. In order to harmonize with the kingdom on the main land, there might be given to this province the name of the "Southern Peninsula," inasmuch as, while that kingdom on the main land forms an isthmus or tongue of land of thirty leagues extending from Puertobello to Panama, and separates the northern and southern oceans. This province with an isthmus of sixty leagues, separates them in the same manner, as it contains therein other places so narrow, that it is hardly twenty leagues from one sea to the other, which although discovered, are not frequented, because an enemy cannot easily approach them.

On the leeward side of this valley is the castle of San Lorenzo, distant sixty-eight leagues from the mouth of the Chagres river, and twelve leagues further down is the city of Portobello, and between this valley and said castle there are settled and colonized, at some distance from the coast, the Guaymiles, Doraces, Chanquines and Talamancas Indians, and these latter are the nearest to this province; in passing through which may be defined the mouths of the Toro, the bayous of the Almirante, other headlands and inlets, and the island of the Tayares Indians, the most warlike in all America, for they have no familiarity or intercourse with any nation. To the windward of said valley of Matina, and at a distance of twenty leagues further along the coast, is the mouth of the river San Juan, at which the city of Granada is being erected.

To the windward of said port of Caldera is to be found the belt of land belonging to the district of Nicoya, which is thirty leagues in length and eleven in width, and it merely contains one village of Indians, of all ages and both sexes, who are now ruled and governed by a principal alcalde, appointed by your Majesty; and it is eighty leagues from said district to the port of Realejo.

The province of Talamanca is contiguous to this on the eastern side, which said province is situated between the valley of Matina and the mouth of the Castilla de Chagre, at a distance of seventy leagues from this city of Cartago, with a road by land, where the first settlement was effected on the "Rio de Estrella," called "Our Lady of the Conception," which was founded in the year one thousand six hundred and one, and in the year one thousand six hundred and ten, said Talamancas rose in arms and killed said Spaniards who had remained there with some women. In the year one thousand six hundred and eightynine there came an order for the subjugation of Talamanca, and in the same year some priests arrived there, where they remained more than two years, having converted many heathens to the Christian faith, and from that time they maintained themselves there until the twenty-eighth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and nine, with a small garrison and some priests, upon which day they arose in arms and killed the reverend fathers Fray Pablo de Rebullida, and Fray Antonio de Zamora, also ten soldiers, the wife of one of them, and a child; and information of what had occurred having been transmitted to the royal audience of Guatemala, it ordered the governor of that province (at that time Don Lorenzo de Granda y Balbin) to proceed to said district of Talamanca with two hundred men, which he performed in person, dividing his force into two bodies, one of which entered by the village of Tuis, and the other by that of Boruca, and united at the village of San Joseph de Cabecar, (the centre of the mountain region,) where they fortified themselves, killed a great number, and carried away to this city as many as five hundred and five of both sexes; of these some escaped, others died, and at the present date some two hundred are retained in the service of the Spaniards of this province, the conquest being terminated after this last event, on account of no orders having been issued authorizing it. In former years, from one thousand seven hundred and thirteen up to one thousand seven hundred and sixteen, there have arrived at this city several deputations from the Talamancas to beg for priests to administer the offices of religion, and finding there the Apostolical missionaries, named Fray Antonio de Andrade and Fray Alonzo Villarejo, for the purpose of carrying this design into execution; they had several consultations, requesting that means be devised for effecting it, but as the city of Guatemala was meanwhile destroyed, (on account of violent earthquakes,) all negotiation in regard to this subject was brought to an end, for the reason that said priests were withdrawn from their college of "Cristo Crucificado," (which is in said city,) leaving these aboriginals to endure the miseries they had so repeatedly requested to be guarded against.

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The district of Nicoya, which, as I have already shown your Majesty, is separated from this province by the Rio del Tempisque, possesses fertile lands, many cattle, and trees producing the plantain, (which fruit is the daily food of the Indians;) its climate is warm and humid, and congenial to its aboriginal inhabitants, for which reason I cannot find any better adapted for that purpose in this province,

and for the additional reason that it is more than one hundred and fifty leagues from Talamanca, which is the distance between that, on the north, and said district of Nicoya, to that of the south. I cannot refrain from bringing to the knowledge of the sovereign intelligence of your Majesty the little necessity there is for the salary which is paid to the chief magistrate of the district of Nicoya, (who is merely the alcalde of a village of two hundred souls, or thereabouts,) which strip of land, being so close to the district of Bagaces of this province, your majesty might order to be annexed thereto, assigning as the governor thereof a lieutenant general, in imitation of those of the city of Esparza and district of Matina, who receive no pay whatever, and moreover it would be a great relief to the residents of Vagaces to have their community annexed to this province, as they are very much in want of drivers to aid them in slaughtering the cattle, from which they extract the tallow to sell at Panama. The same representation was made to your majesty by Don Juan Lopez de la Flor, governor of this province, during the year one thousand six hundred and sixtyfive, and by a royal letter issued from the court of Madrid, on the twenty-third of April, one thousand six hundred seventy-seven, your majesty directed the bishop of the province of Nicaragua to make a report as to what was best to be done in this matter, and as I have no means of knowing what report may have been forwarded to your Majesty, it is my duty, and from the information I possess, to again repeat to your Majesty how much it would subserve the interests of this province if said district of Nicoya were attached thereto, in regard to which your Majesty will issue such orders as you may deem most advisable.

For these observations, which I lay before your Majesty, in relation to this subject generally, and for what I have remarked especially concerning this province, I hope that, comprehended by the high and superior understanding of your Majesty, I may be excused for having made so urgent a request in regard to matters which, in accordance with my duty, I have felt it my duty to bring to the royal notice of your Majesty, in order to ensure the better security of the domains in this province, and the more speedy conquest of the Talamancas, although the double task which I have undertaken in this respect may have led me astray from making the special description, which I intend to make of this above mentioned province, in order to add this little service to the few others which I have already rendered your Majesty, at whose royal feet I now present it. God preserve L. C. R. P. of your Majesty, as your subjects desire and Christianity requires. Cartago, March 15, 1719. Diego de la Haya. A rubric.

The above insertion corresponds word for word with the documents which are referred to, and are preserved among the archives under my charge; and for the purpose of authenticating this fact, I sign these presents, containing twenty-six leaves of the fourth seal, with the accustomed rubric, at Seville, on the 7th of September, 1850. Interlined. "Al tiempo," "Valga.'

ANICETO DE LA HIGUERA.

For the search, certificate, and paper, one hundred and fifty-six specie reals.

I, Don José Oller y Menareho, secretary of government of this province, certify that Don Aniceto de la Higuera, by whom the preceding document is authenticated, is, as he styles himself, keeper of the archives of the Indian bureau in this city, and that the signature placed at the foot thereof is that which he is accustomed to use in all his writings; and, in testimony of this, I affix these presents, (which will be certified to by the governor of Seville,) on this 12th of September, 1850.

Assented to.

JOSE OLLER.

CAVESTANY.

The under secretary of the department of government of the kingdom, I certify that Don José Oller, by whom the preceding certificate purports to be made, is such secretary of the government of the province of Seville, and that the signature which he attaches thereto is the same which he is accustomed to use in all his writings; and, for such purposes as they may be required, I give these presents, with the assent of the minister of government, at Madrid, on the 18th of September, 1850.

Assented to.

SAN LUIS.

JUAN DE LA CRUZ OLLER, [L. s.]

I, Don Antonio Cabellero, under secretary of the department of state, certify that Don Juan de la Cruz Oller, by whom the preceding document is authenticated, is, in fact, the under secretary of the department of the government of the kingdom, and that what purports to be his signature and rubric, placed at the foot thereof, is his own; in testimony of which I sign these presents, at Madrid, on the 24th of September, 1850.

ANTONIO CABELLERO, [L. S.]

Mr. Molina to Mr. Webster.

WASHINGTON, May 8, 1851.

SIR: Having understood that you intend to enter soon into conferences with the Nicaraguan minister in regard to the treaty concluded by Mr. Squier, the late chargé d'affaires of the United States to Nicaragua, with the government of that country, and observing that the 35th article of the treaty in question contains stipulations which are evidently injurious to Costa Rica, inasmuch as her right to the joint sovereignty over the port of San Juan, over the river of the same name, and over the navigation of Lake Nicaragua is not therein taken into account, I make bold to call your attention to that point, and

have to request that you be so good as to adjourn the closing of the negotiation alluded to until you have examined at leisure the documents which I have presented to-day, and which, I expect, will leave no doubt in the mind of the American government as to the justice of the claims of Costa Rica.

I have the honor to remain, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient humble servant,

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,

F. MOLINA.

Secretary of State of the United States, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Marcoleta to Mr. Webster.

[Translation.]

WASHINGTON, June 3, 1851.

Mr. Secretary of State

MY DEAR SIR: In the message which the President of the United States addressed to Congress on the 22d of July, 1850, relative to the events and the occupation of the island del Tigre by the British naval forces, there is, page 180, document B, a literal translation of a note which Lord Palmerston addressed to Señor Castellon on the 16th of July, 1849, on the subject of the port of San Juan and the Mosquito coast.

Having been charged by my government to continue the mission of Señor Castellon in London, I deemed it my duty to reply to said note, stating the grounds upon which Nicaragua bases her rights to the possession of the territory, which the British government disputes.

As this reply is not to be found in the aforesaid message, and thinking it may serve to throw some light upon the question, I have the honor of sending the annexed copy to the department, with a view of its being considered along with the other documents which have reference to this important question, in order to effect the objects aimed at. The government of Nicaragua fully hopes that, when the Secretary of State shall have possessed himself of the contents of the document herewith enclosed, he will allow it to exercise a proper weight in the estimate of the justice and reason that concur on the side of Nicaragua in this vital question of her political existence, and in support of her legitimate rights to so essential a part of her territory such as the coast and country of Mosquitos.

I avail myself of this new opportunity, Mr. Secretary of State, to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,

J. DE MARCOLETA.

Secretary of State.