The British force consisted of at least eighteen hundred men,[XXXII‑22] including three regiments of the line and a party of marines, the latter being under command of Horatio Nelson, then a post captain of about twenty-three years, but one who had already given proof of the qualities which afterward raised him to the foremost rank among naval commanders. The English proceeded up the Desaguadero in boats, encountering many difficulties. On a small island named San Bartolomé,[XXXII‑23] in a portion of the stream where the current was swift and shoal, a small garrison had been stationed and earthworks erected, mounted with a few swivel-guns. On approaching this spot Nelson leaped from his boat, followed by a few of his men, and though sinking ankle-deep in the mud and exposed to a hot fire, captured, or, as he expresses it, 'boarded' the island. Here the English remained for a brief rest, and the future hero of Trafalgar narrowly escaped being bitten by a poisonous snake, and afterward suffered severely from drinking the water of a spring into which poisonous leaves had been thrown. The English were now joined by 'George King,' a Mosquito chieftain, and a large number of his subjects, together with several English smugglers.[XXXII‑24] The Mosquitos proved invaluable allies indeed, and but for their bravery and fidelity it is probable the British would have perished to a man.
Two days after the capture of San Bartolomé the expedition arrived before Fort San Juan. Nelson advised an immediate assault, believing it could be carried, but his senior officer, Major John Polson, decided otherwise. Next day the English secured a hill in rear of the fort, threw up batteries, and began the siege. Nelson was now seized with a violent attack of dysentery, and was compelled to return to Jamaica,[XXXII‑25] where he arrived in such weak condition that he was carried on shore, life being saved only through skilful nursing.
After a siege of ten days the fort was surrendered, the garrison being allowed their liberty and permitted to march out with the honors of war, and vessels being furnished to convey them to any port of Spanish America that might be agreed upon. The situation of the English was now very critical, and they found it impossible to proceed farther. The rainy season had begun and brought with it malaria and deadly fevers. Their force was soon decimated and their condition was distressing and helpless in the extreme. There were not strong men enough left to build a hospital. It became impossible even to bury the dead with decency, and many were dropped in the river and devoured by carrion birds. Longer stay became impossible, and a retreat was ordered of all the men engaged in this expedition. Exclusive of the Mosquito contingent, only three hundred and eighty survived; and of Nelson's crew of two hundred, only ten lived to return.[XXXII‑26] Thus ended the first attempt of the British to gain a foothold in Nicaragua, and to obtain possession of the route for an interoceanic canal.[XXXII‑27]
During the eighteenth century fifteen prelates are recorded as having occupied the bishopric of Nicaragua. Diego Morcillo was the first; he took possession in 1704, and in 1709 was promoted to La Paz.[XXXII‑28] Bishop Benito Garret took charge of the diocese in 1711. He became involved in a turbulent controversy with the audiencia of Guatemala, and was dismissed from office on the 4th of July 1716. On his way to Spain he was ill at Pedro Ursula, and died the 7th of October. In 1718 Andrés Quiles Galindo, a graduate and afterward a professor in the university of Mexico, was on the eve of departure for Europe, as pro ministro provincial, when he received his nomination to the bishopric of Nicaragua. He did not live to reach the diocese.[XXXII‑29] A native of Leon de Nicaragua, José Giron de Alvarado, was consecrated bishop of this see and assumed the administration of its duties in 1721, but died within the same year, his successor being Dionisio de Villavicencio, whose decease occurred in 1735. In the following year Domingo Antonio de Zataram, precentor of Pueblo de los Angeles, was chosen bishop of Nicaragua, and was consecrated in Guatemala the 5th of October 1738. Isidro Marin Ballon y Figueroa, an honorary chaplain of the king and rector of the college of the order of Alcántara at Salamanca, was elected bishop in 1743 and died in 1749. In the year of his election was finished the great cathedral of Leon, which had occupied thirty-seven years in its construction, and cost five millions of pesos. On the decease of Ballon, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, dean of Cuba, was appointed. In 1751 and 1752, he made an inspection of his diocese, giving seven months to an examination of every part of its wide domain, preaching, confessing, and confirming wherever he went. He was soon after promoted to the bishopric of Cuba.
José Antonio Flores de Rivera, a native of Durango, New Spain, venerable in years and distinguished in scholarship, was elected to the episcopacy of Nicaragua in 1753. He was consecrated with great pomp May 1, 1754, in the city of Mexico, and entered on his duties in February 1755, amidst the rejoicings of the people, for his reputation for kindliness and charity had preceded him. But their joy was short-lived; he died in July of the following year,[XXXII‑30] being succeeded by Mateo de Navia y Bolanos, a native of Lima, and the latter by Juan de Vilches y Cabrera, dean of the cathedral of Nicaragua, who was in charge of the diocese until his death in 1774.
In 1775 Estéban Lorenzo de Tristan was appointed to the see, and remained in that position until 1783. He labored zealously in his cause. During his administration and a few years previously several attempts were made to pacify the Guatusos, but without success.
In 1750 Father Zepeda left Guatemala for the purpose of exploring this region. He followed the entire chain of the mountains of Tilaran, "the country of many watercourses," to say nothing of the many volcanoes,[XXXII‑31] and braved all manner of hardships until he came to the great plains beyond, where he spent several months, and reported the existence of more than five hundred houses and gardens occupied by the natives. In 1751 the guardian of the Franciscan convent at Esparza communicated the information received from the padre to the government of Costa Rica, and being instructed to follow up the discoveries, accordingly set forth with several comrades, but the party lost its way and came near being starved to death. In 1761 were captured in the mountains several natives, whom the chroniclers describe as of a mixed breed, and who, when taken to Esparza, revealed some knowledge of Christian doctrines. The many conjectures to which the circumstances gave rise were soon to be explained by the fact that a native of Tenorio, who had qualified for orders, came under the displeasure of the bishop and fled to the country of the Guatusos. There he lived and died, not being permitted to return.
The cura of Esparza and the friar Zamacois then volunteered for the work and took the captured natives as their guides, who led them into the forests and there deserted them. Father Tomás Lopez in 1778 made another attempt to penetrate the country. Setting out by water from the island of Ometepec in Nicaragua, he proceeded to the Rio Frio, entered it, and ascended the stream until he reached cultivated gardens and plantations. But the moment his attendants caught a glimpse of a raft, evidently manned by the Guatusos, they turned the boat and fled. In vain did Lopez threaten and implore; he could not even prevail on them to allow him to land alone.
In 1782 Lopez, accompanied by Friar Alvarado of Cartago, entered the country by way of Tenorio; but after seventy-five days of wandering found himself on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, a long way above the mouth of the Frio. President Galvez, considering it necessary to make a survey of this river and the adjacent country, sent Captain Brizzio for that purpose in the same year. He ascended its banks until he saw a number of fishing canoes and many large cultivated fields; but it does not appear that he had any communication with the Guatusos themselves.
Bishop Tristan, when informed of Brizzio's discovery, applied for and was granted two vessels with which to follow up the latter's exploration. On the 20th of February 1783 the prelate and his suite entered the Frio. On the fourteenth day they discovered in a secluded and shaded bower on the banks of the river, three fishermen "of good size and white," who at the sight of them at once threw away nets, provisions, and everything except their bows and arrows, and took to flight. They were followed by Lopez with cries of peace and good-will in the language of the island of Solentanami, but he was not heard, or if so was disregarded.
The bishop, concluding that a town could not be far distant, and that a few would be less likely to cause alarm than if the whole party came in sight of it, sent a small boat forward containing fathers Lopez, Mejía, Alvarado, and Corral. They soon beheld evidences of populous life, and saw descending the river a raft on which was a solitary voyager with plantains and provisions, a fire being lit on the raft. The Indian landed in a grove of cacao trees, which seemed to extend as far as the eye could reach. Lopez followed him, attended by a servant and three natives of Solentanami to act as interpreters. No sooner had these gone ashore than the voyager reappeared upon the bank of the river, and raised loud and peculiar outcries, which soon brought to his aid numbers of the natives, who, without parley, began to discharge arrows at the padre and his companions. One of the interpreters was wounded, and, overcome with fear, plunged into the river and swam down the stream. The missionary lay down in the boat and made signals of peace, which were unheeded. The padre then advised his attendants to leap overboard and escape, which advice, nothing loath, they followed. Lopez then rose, crucifix in hand, and presented himself defenceless and alone before the crowd of assailants. The attack ceased, and in compliance with his signs of entreaty a number entered his boat and escorted him to their village. The companions of Lopez, who had fled for safety, observed these proceedings from a distance, but as they were soon after pursued by a party of the natives, they continued their flight.
The wounded interpreter had in the mean time reached the boats left by Lopez a little lower on the river, and reported that the latter and his companions had been attacked and killed by a multitude of natives; whereupon the party hastened down the Frio to inform the bishop of the catastrophe. They accomplished in three hours a distance which had taken a day and a half when rowing against the stream, and the bishop and his associates decided to return immediately to Granada. The morning after their retreat, the attendants who had left Father Lopez and witnessed his movements toward the village, having seized an abandoned canoe, overtook the bishop, and somewhat calmed the excited party by their disclosures. It was decided to continue the retreat, however, and Fort San Cárlos was soon reached. The commandant immediately applied to the governor of the province for aid to attempt the rescue of Lopez; but it is not known whether the request was granted, or what became of the padre. No further expeditions were attempted and the matter remained a mystery. Who the Guatusos were, and how they lived; what their religion, language, customs, and whence derived, none knew, and it seemed as though none were destined to know. They appear to have sworn that no one, not born of them and among them, should set foot within their domain. Armed soldiers succeeded no better than peaceful missionaries, and the see of Rome saw fit in after years to bar this inscrutable region from the benefits of clergy.[XXXII‑32]
In 1784 Juan Felix de Villegas, inquisitor of Cartagena, was appointed bishop of Nicaragua, but was promoted to the archbishopric of Guatemala in 1794, when Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo was appointed his successor, but while preparing to set forth was elected to the see of Guadalajara. The last bishop of the century in this diocese was José Antonio de la Huerta Caso, who was consecrated by the archbishop in Guatemala May 29, 1798.[XXXII‑33]
Resuming the narrative of the pacification of the Talamancans in connection with the expeditions which resulted in the subjugation of their territory, we find the Franciscans the leading spirits in all that was undertaken, although to the college of Jesus in Guatemala it had been first assigned. If the Talamancans had in 1502 a civilization of their own, and in 1602 a civilization imported by the Spaniards, they had by 1702 reverted to a barbarism which lacked the vitality of the first and the grace of the second, without any compensating element. The close of the seventeenth century witnessed the establishment of the Franciscan missionary college at Guatemala, and thence in 1694, under the direction of Lopez, had proceeded Francisco de San José and Pablo de Rebullida to the territory of the Changuenes. Andrade and Benavides returned to Guatemala from a brief visit of inspection in 1605, and through the guardian of the college made the oft-repeated demand for a military escort. On the 31st of March a council of war adopted the system put in force half a century before in Vera Paz when dealing with the Chols and Manches. Fifty soldiers, with Captain Noguera as governor, accompanied the fathers to Talamanca.
Francisco Bruno Serrano de Reina, who was governor of Costa Rica in 1704, does not appear to have acted with much alacrity in the matter, and the guardian Arrivillaga reported complainingly to the audiencia on the 4th of April 1707.[XXXII‑34]
Many of the Talamancans were gathered into settlements;[XXXII‑35] but none the less insecure was the position of the missionaries; their danger so increased that Andrade started for Guatemala to beg more adequate protection than the remnant of an escort left with them. It was too late. While the question was being discussed in Guatemala the Talamancans rose in revolt, burned their churches, tore down their dwellings, and killed the friars and the soldiers, the latter but ten in number. Rebullida's head they cut off on the 28th of September 1709.
On the 20th of May preceding this catastrophe a royal cédula ordered the conquest of Talamanca, with a view to improve the communication between Guatemala and Costa Rica with Veragua.[XXXII‑36] Lorenzo Antonio de Granda y Balbin, the governor of Costa Rica, reported to the audiencia the massacre in Talamanca, and in accordance with their orders took summary vengeance on the natives. Balbin collected a large force, and sent one detachment by the pueblo Tuiz, heading himself a force of two hundred who made a detour by the province of Boruca. Both detachments met at San José de Cabecar, in the heart of the enemy's country, where they intrenched themselves. They killed many of the Talamancans and captured others, bringing with them over five hundred prisoners of all ages and both sexes.[XXXII‑37] The rebels were utterly routed, and their cacique was tried, sentenced, and executed as an instigator of revolt.
In 1719, in a report on the condition of the country to the king of Spain, Governor de la Haya[XXXII‑38] of Costa Rica says: "In reference to the establishment and maintenance of missions which had been the primary object in the conquest of Talamanca, nothing had been done since the massacre of September 1709; no precautionary measures had been taken in behalf of missionaries."
The Recollets did not believe this policy of indifference and neglect to be according to the royal pleasure, and petitioned the king for the establishment of a suitable garrison and the founding of a Spanish settlement. By whatever motives impelled, several parties came from the mountains of Talamanca at sundry times between 1713 and 1716, to request the presence of missionaries from Cartago.
In response to the petition of the Recollets, the king, by cédula dated September 1, 1713, directed the president to convene a junta of state officials and persons familiar with Talamanca, to devise and adopt by majority vote plans for the occupation of that territory. The junta, which was not held until the 9th of September, 1716, consisted of the president of Guatemala, the oidores, royal officials, two Recollets, and a representative of the revenue of Cartago. The Recollets advocated the planting of mission stations protected by a garrison. The rest of the council favored the establishment of a military guard of fifty soldiers, and the removal of fifty families from Cartago to Boruca; it was a compromise measure, but it carried the votes.
The fathers were discouraged. The town chosen was without the missionary field, and the force named inadequate to effect subjugation, and needlessly strong for a simple escort. But the arrival of a new president, Rivas, and the disastrous earthquake of 1717 in Guatemala, crowded such matters from view.
In a report dated the 14th of March 1723 Haya tells us how, from the 16th of February till the 14th March, there had been rumblings beneath the city of Cartago, as if from the rushing of subterranean rivers, while the volcano of Irazu kept open jaws, and belched forth billows of smoke. The sulphurous exhalations well nigh stifled the people alike on the slopes and in the valleys. Sheets of flame illumined the sky by night, until miles of the horizon were brighter than in the glare of day. Red-hot cinders and scoriæ multiplied in volume until the waters of the neighboring stream, river, and lake were turned into seething mud; the city was strewn with burning dust; and buildings were loosened from the trembling earth.
Costa Rica, if we can believe Haya, was the poorest province in all America. The only currency was cacao; silver was never seen, and the name for aught its people knew might have been adopted in derision. Officers were incapable and stupid; the people quarrelsome, chimerical, and unruly. There was not in all the province a physician or apothecary; nor even a barber. Of foreign trade there was practically none.
In Cartago the ayuntamiento had come to an end; at Esparza, the only other city of the province, there had been none for thirty-nine years past, for no one had money enough to send to Spain to have an appointment confirmed.[XXXII‑39]
The decay of the settlements in Costa Rica might have been irremediable but for the sharp pruning judiciously applied by Haya.[XXXII‑40] His successor, Francisco de Valderrama, made a report to the captain-general of Guatemala in 1732 containing a curious revelation of the condition of affairs. The governor describes himself as fulfilling the functions of a clerk rather than those of a governor, as there was not a single person in the province capable of writing. Offices remained vacant, because the poverty of the country did not allow of even its chief residents appearing in the plaza in a coat. If the erection of Fort Matina, then in progress, was to proceed, an artificer would have to be sent out, as the only one familiar with such work was an old Indian whose proper business it was to repair roofs, and he unfortunately had just died of the small-pox.[XXXII‑41] Twice during the year 1740 the province was harassed by pirates, who carried off, as was their custom, the crop of cacao, and such slaves as they could lay hands upon.
The military force stationed in Costa Rica about the middle of the eighteenth century was little short of one thousand men, and yet the magistrates throughout the province were unable to enforce their authority. The administration of justice had ceased. Judges did not dare to impose, nor governors execute sentence upon criminals.[XXXII‑42] Even the forms of restraint disappeared. Yet officials were numerous enough. The governor appointed on the first day of the year 1740 five lieutenant-generals, one each for Cartago, Esparza, and Matina, and two for the valley country, invested with civil and criminal jurisdiction, besides four alcaldes, an attorney-general, and an administrator.
After 1746 we have no reliable records as to the succession of governors in Costa Rica until 1773. In the former year Francisco Fernandez de la Pastora was in power;[XXXII‑43] in the latter Joaquin de Nava. To him succeeded in 1779 José Perie, and then occur in the order of their succession the names of Juan Fernandez Bobadilla in 1780, Juan Flores in 1782, and José Terci in 1785.
Buccaneer Settlements in Yucatan—The Pirates Engage in Wood-cutting—Governor Figueroa Ordered to Expel Them—Raid of the Wood-cutters on Ascension Bay—They are Driven Back by the Governor—Their Settlement in Belize Destroyed by Figueroa-They Return in Stronger Force—Further Expeditions against Them—The Wood-cutters under British Protection—They are Attacked by Governor Rivas—The Boundaries of Belize Defined by the Treaty of Versailles—Stipulations of a Later Treaty—Further Encroachments of the English.
Not the least valuable among the spoils obtained by the buccaneers during their depredations on the Spanish main were the quantities of dye-wood which they found deposited at certain points on the coast of Yucatan and Honduras awaiting shipment. With the decline of their lawless pursuits, the more industrious, especially the English, turned their attention to the cutting and shipment of dye-woods and mahogany, and with this object established settlements on the coasts of these two provinces. The most extensive of their settlements were those in the bay of Términos. Here they remained for many years, varying their industrial pursuits with occasional incursions into the surrounding country, or attacks on the Spanish vessels which plied between Campeche and Vera Cruz.
Neighbors so dangerous could not long be tolerated, and, as soon as circumstances permitted, the authorities of New Spain took measures to expel them. The wood-cutters successfully resisted the many expeditions sent against them, not unfrequently retaliating by laying waste the Spanish settlements, until about 1717, when they were finally driven from that part of the coast and their establishments destroyed.
In the latter half of the seventeenth century that portion of Yucatan bordering on the bay of Honduras was abandoned by Spaniards, owing to the destruction by pirates and Indians of the town of Bacalar.[XXXIII‑1] Its henceforth isolated position, together with the ruggedness of the surrounding country and the numberless reefs and shoals on its sea-coast, made it peculiarly fitted for the haunts of the buccaneers. One of these, Peter Wallace, a Scotchman, landed with some eighty companions at the mouth of the Belize river, and erected on its banks a few houses, which he enclosed with a rude palisade. His name was given both to the river and settlement, and subsequently to the whole region occupied by the English. By the Spaniards this territory was variously termed Walis, Balis, and Walix, and the word became finally corrupted into the present name of Belice or Belize.[XXXIII‑2]
The district was rich in dye-woods and mahogany, and wood-cutting soon became the chief occupation of the freebooters, whose numbers had gradually increased. With the same object, many Mosquito Indians had also settled in the country. The buccaneers who were driven from the bay of Términos also harbored in Belize, and after attempting in vain to retake their settlements finally settled there.
The existence of the piratical establishment of Wallace and his companions was not discovered by the Spaniards until the beginning of the eighteenth century. In 1725 Antonio de Figueroa y Silva was ordered to expel the English from Yucatan, and for this purpose was appointed governor of that province.[XXXIII‑3] Soon afterward, in obedience to instructions from the crown, he visited the ruined town of Bacalar, or Salamanca, as it was also called, and erected a fort which he garrisoned with forty-five men. This fortress, situated on a lake of the same name and connected with the bay of Espíritu Santo by a navigable river, was to serve as the base of future operations. To insure its permanency it was decided to rebuild the town. The want of settlers in Yucatan, however, compelled the transportation of a colony from the Canary Islands, the first portion of which did not arrive until several years later.[XXXIII‑4]
Meanwhile governor Figueroa began the preparations for a combined sea and land expedition against the English settlements, which, it was hoped, would result in their complete destruction. Apprised of this design, the wood-cutters of Belize not only prepared for a determined resistance, but with their usual intrepidity resolved to anticipate the Spaniards by invading their territory. A large force of Indians was obtained from Mosquitia, and an expedition despatched by sea to Ascension Bay marched on the important town of Tihosuco. The first settlement encountered, named Chuhuhú, was taken and sacked, but ere long Figueroa arrived with a large force and drove them back to their vessels with considerable loss.[XXXIII‑5]
This event induced Figueroa to hasten his preparations, but it was not until about the end of 1732, or the beginning of the following year,[XXXIII‑6] that the expedition set out for Bacalar. The land force it would appear numbered considerably over seven hundred men,[XXXIII‑7] but of those who went by sea no mention is made. Arrived at Bacalar the troops embarked, and the fleet sailed in the direction of Belize.
The wood-cutters in the mean time had strengthened their fortifications at the mouth of the Belize river, mustered all their available force, and were said to have received aid from the governor of Jamaica. Their number at this time it is difficult to ascertain. According to the report of a Spanish missionary in 1724, there were at that date about three hundred English, besides Mosquito Indians and negro slaves, these latter having been introduced but a short time before from Jamaica and Bermuda. It is equally difficult to ascertain the extent of territory occupied by the wood-cutters at this period, for although previous to 1718 their settlements extended between the rivers Hondo and Belize,[XXXIII‑8] in 1733 they were apparently confined to the course of the latter river.[XXXIII‑9]
Belize.
Figueroa's plan was to land his troops on the coast at some distance from the mouth of the Belize, and while the fleet engaged the attention of the enemy by a feigned attack in front, to make a detour with a land force and fall on the rear of the town. This proved successful, for while the English were eagerly awaiting the approach of the fleet, Figueroa suddenly appeared in their rear, and attacked them with such impetuosity that despite their efforts their town with nearly all its defenders was within three hours in the hands of the Spaniards. Having destroyed the town and fortifications, and all other settlements on the river, and seized or destroyed the vessels and other property, the expedition returned.[XXXIII‑10]
The Spaniards were greatly rejoiced at this success, but their joy was short-lived. The wood-cutters soon returned with reënforcements and a strong fleet, reoccupied their former settlements, successfully resisted all subsequent attempts to expel them, and, as we shall see, the English government afterward extended over them its protection. In 1736, after various unsuccessful efforts to dispossess them, the governor of Yucatan proposed to the Spanish crown that a strong fort be erected at the mouth of the Belize River to prevent the passage of vessels, but this suggestion does not appear to have been acted on.[XXXIII‑11]
In 1739 war again broke out between Spain and England, and, compelled to defend their coasts from a powerful English fleet, the Spaniards desisted for a time from further operations against Belize, although the determination to regain their territory thus usurped had not been abandoned. Peace was declared in 1748; but it was not until two years later, in a subsequent treaty, that the commercial relations between the two countries were settled. The damage caused by Figueroa had in the mean time been made the subject of diplomatic negotiations, and though no definite understanding was reached, the efforts of England appear to have been limited to the protection of her subjects from molestation in the bay of Honduras, while the Spanish government continued secretly to adopt measures for their expulsion.[XXXIII‑12]
In April 1754, a formidable attempt was made to expel the wood-cutters. An expedition of fifteen hundred men was organized for this purpose at Peten, Guatemala, but upon reaching the coast after a long and difficult march, they were met by two hundred and fifty of the English and completely defeated. This appears to have been the last expedition sent against Belize for several years.[XXXIII‑13]
During the seven years' war in Europe, which began in 1756, England, in her endeavors to induce Spain to join her against France, offered among other things to evacuate the establishments made by her subjects in the bay of Honduras since October 1748, including Mosquitia, all of which had been made the subject of complaint. This does not necessarily imply, as certain Spanish writers would have us believe, that England thereby acknowledged the illegality of the wood-cutter's right to occupy that territory.[XXXIII‑14]
Indeed, it is clearly evident that England considered, or pretended to consider, that her subjects in Belize had acquired the right to cut and ship dye-woods and mahogany in this and other districts, without molestation, for in the subsequent treaty with Spain, in 1763, although agreeing to demolish "all fortifications which her subjects may have constructed in the bay of Honduras, and other places of the territory of Spain in that part of the world," England insisted upon the insertion of a clause in the treaty whereby the cutters of log-wood were guaranteed the right to continue unmolested the cutting and shipping of the same, and the erection of the necessary buildings for this purpose, within those districts.[XXXIII‑15]
This weakness on the part of Spain, attributed to the incapacity of her commissioner, the marqués de Grimaldi, though apparently a simple relaxation in favor of the English of the law which excluded all foreigners from the Spanish colonies, was virtually a recognition of the right of the English to occupy indefinitely a portion of her territory; and though not explicitly surrendering her sovereignty, no limits were fixed to the encroachments of the wood-cutters, nor were they in any way made subject to the Spanish authorities. Thus the way to future complications was opened.[XXXIII‑16]
Soon after the ratification of this treaty, the English government commissioned Sir William Burnaby to proceed to Belize, establish the limits within which wood-cutting was to be confined, and draw up a code of laws for the regulation of the colony. This he did; and though we have no information as to the limits fixed, for many years the Burnaby Code, as it was called, formed the only laws by which Belize was governed. The establishment of limits, however, availed but little; for, emboldened by their previous success in resisting the Spaniards, and encouraged by the protection of the English government, they gradually extended their wood-cutting operations beyond these boundaries, and carried on smuggling to the great prejudice of Spanish commerce. In consequence, the governor of Yucatan forbade all communication between Belize and the Spanish settlements; required that all persons settling in Belize should present a permit to that effect from either the English or Spanish government; expelled the wood-cutters from the coast district of the Hondo River, and ordered that all wood-cutting should be confined to the region lying between the Belize and New rivers, and not farther than twenty leagues from the coast.
As a result of these measures the business of the wood-cutters was injured, as they claimed, to the extent of one hundred and eighty thousand pesos. In the latter part of 1764 a demand for the satisfaction of these losses was presented by the English minister at the court of Spain, who also insisted that the governor of Yucatan be reproved for his conduct, and that the wood-cutters be permitted to return to the Hondo River district. The English minister intimated that war would be the result if these demands were not granted; but after a protracted correspondence he succeeded only in obtaining permission for the return of the wood-cutters to the districts from which they had been expelled; and the claims were added, for future settlement, to the long list of those already pending between the two governments.[XXXIII‑17]
During the next five years there is no evidence that the wood-cutters were disturbed; but in 1779, war having broken out afresh between Spain and England, the former determined to profit by the opportunity to give the final blow to the existence of the English settlements in her territory. In that year Don Roberto Rivas Vetancur, the recently appointed governor of Yucatan, in accordance with his instructions began to organize an expedition against Belize, Bacalar as before becoming the base of operations. The wood-cutters were soon informed of the declaration of war, and made all haste to fortify the mouth of the Belize River and St George Key, which lies directly opposite. Not content with this, they determined again to anticipate the Spaniards by capturing Bacalar, which ever since its reëstablishment they had regarded as a standing menace to their safety. In this, however, they were disappointed; for Governor Rivas, informed of their design, hastily organized a force of some eight hundred men, and procuring canoes and piraguas hastened on to Bacalar. Thence, though his men were ill equipped, he proceeded against the English; and having driven them from the Hondo River district, and captured and armed three small vessels, he sent a strong force against St George Key, and captured the fort with its garrison.
Further operations were prevented by the sudden appearance of three English vessels of war sent by the governor of Jamaica. The Spaniards had barely time to escape with their prisoners and prizes, the latter including many small craft. Proceeding up New River they drove the English from this region, destroying over forty establishments, and inflicting a loss on the wood-cutters of more than five hundred thousand pesos. At this juncture reënforcements arrived for the wood-cutters, and Rivas was compelled to abandon their territory; but in consideration of the important results accomplished with so small a force, his conduct was approved by the Spanish crown.[XXXIII‑18]
The sixth article of the treaty of Versailles, signed September 3, 1783, defined the limits of Belize and the rights of the wood-cutters. The boundaries now fixed as unalterable were the Belize and Hondo rivers, the north-western boundary being almost a straight line between the two rivers so as to pass through the source of New River, the south-eastern boundary being the coast. The navigation of these two rivers was to be open to both nations; certain places, to be agreed upon by the respective commissioners, were to be marked out where the wood-cutters might erect all necessary buildings; and it was provided that the foregoing stipulations should not be "considered as derogating in any wise" to the rights of Spanish sovereignty. All English subjects in the Spanish colonies, in whatever part, were to retire within this district before the expiration of eighteen months, dating from the ratification of the treaty; and the right of fishery on the coast and among the adjacent islands was granted, but no establishments could be made on such islands.[XXXIII‑19]
Although this treaty so clearly defined the boundaries subject to British colonization, there were certain points which had been omitted, and accordingly another and final treaty was celebrated between Spain and England "to prevent even the shadow of misunderstanding which might be occasioned by doubts."
This treaty was signed at London July 14, 1786. While confirming the former one of 1783, and expressly stating that "all the lands in question" were "indisputably acknowledged to belong of right to the crown of Spain," it contained the following additional privileges and restrictions. The Sibun, or Jubon river, was made the western boundary of Belize, which included all the territory between it and the Belize as far inland as the source of the Sibun. Within six months, all possible facilities being provided by the Spanish government, English subjects in any part whatsoever of the Spanish colonies were to retire within the boundaries of Belize; in addition to the existing privilege of cutting dye-woods, that of cutting all other woods, mahogany included, was granted; all the natural or cultivated products of the soil could be used and carried away, but no "plantations of sugar, coffee, cacao, or other like articles, or any fabric or manufacture by means of mills or other machines," saw-mills excepted, could be established under any pretext. On account of the insalubrity of the adjacent coast St George Key was granted for the purpose of settlement, but it could not be fortified, nor could any armed force be stationed there. Certain small islands off the coast about midway between the mouths of the Sibun and Belize rivers were granted, together with the intervening waters, for the purpose purely of refitting ships; no government, either military or civil, could be established except such as could be agreed upon by the two powers for the maintenance of peace and order. To preserve entire the right of Spanish sovereignty over the territory granted, such settlements only would be permitted as should be necessary for the trade in wood and fruits. Finally, two commissioners, one from each government, were to visit the country twice a year to see that these stipulations were observed.[XXXIII‑20]
By these treaties the respective rights of the two countries in the territory of Belize were clearly defined. Spain held undisputed sovereignty; England's right was limited to an indefinite occupation for purposes of trade. But it is not always sufficient to declare rights; the powers of Europe keep their agreements when compelled by force of arms, and this, Spain, with her declining strength, was eventually unable to do.
Colonel Enrique de Grimarest, the Spanish commissioner, arrived in Belize early in 1787 and was soon joined by the English commissioner and superintendent of the colony, Colonel Edward M. Despard. Article thirteen of the treaty of 1786 required that all other portions of the Spanish colonies should be evacuated by the English before the new grants could take effect. The Mosquito kingdom appears to have been the only territory then occupied by the English besides Belize, and nearly all of its inhabitants having arrived at this latter colony by the middle of 1787, the commissioners proceeded to mark the boundaries; but the formal transfer of the territory between the Sibun and Belize rivers was not made until the 11th of August. In the course of the survey of the Belize River it was found that the wood-cutters had anticipated this new grant of territory by extending their operations beyond the former boundaries, the country for some distance on the western side of the river not only being stripped of mahogany, but several establishments were found in active operation outside the boundaries newly assigned. These the owners were compelled to abandon and retire within the limits of the colony, but it was hardly to be expected that men who claimed independence, and denied even the right of England to make their laws, would respect the boundaries after the departure of the Spanish commissioner. Indeed they openly declared their intention of establishing a government and framing laws of their own. The Spanish commissioner complained of this condition of affairs, but without any apparent result.[XXXIII‑21]