tacitly, if not formally disavowed. The superintendents of Belize nevertheless seem to have kept a longing eye on the island, and to have watched eagerly for a plausible pretext to place it under their own jurisdiction. No such pretext was offered until 1838. In that year a party of liberated slaves from the Grand Cayman Islands came to Roatan to settle. The commandant, Don Juan Bta. Loustrelet, who was stationed at Port Royal with a sergeant's guard in charge of a number of convicts, informed them that foreigners wishing to settle on the island were required by the laws of Honduras to apply to the state government for permission. A portion of the immigrants made the requisite application, but another portion refused to do so, and at once appealed to the Superintendent of Belize, Colonel Alexander Macdonald, for his support. This officer shortly after made his appearance in the British sloop of war "Rover," landed forcibly at Port Royal, ran down the Central American flag, and hoisted that of Great Britain. No sooner had he re-embarked than the commandant again put up the flag of Central America, whereupon Macdonald again went on shore, seized the commandant and his soldiers, and carried them over to the main land, threatening them with death if they ventured to return.*

* The particulars of this outrage are thus related by Young:

"A British sloop of war appeared off the port; a boat full of men was dispatched to the shore, the Central American flag hauled down, and that of Old England planted in its place. Shortly after the vessel set sail the commandant pulled down the English colors and hoisted his own, which was no sooner observed than the vessel put back, and landed a party of seamen and marines. The Central American flag was lowered, and two or three of the middies amused themselves by dancing on it. The commandant and his soldiers, notwithstanding his vociferous protestations, were put on board the vessel, and had the mortification of seeing, on their departure, the meteor flag of Old England waving in the breeze. They were landed on the beach at Truxillo, with a few gentle hints as to their future behavior."-Young's Narrative of a Residence on the Mosquito Shore, p. 147.

The Republic of Central America, in the mean time, had been dissolved, and the State of Honduras was too feeble, and too much distracted by internal factions, to make any resistance to this aggression. It nevertheless protested energetically against the invasion, but its communications do not appear to have been answered. Macdonald, in the interim, had made himself so obnoxious to all the Central American states that the British government found it politic to remove him. This was done in 1843, when Colonel Fancourt was appointed in his place. This gentleman, it is presumed, was instructed to preserve greater moderation than his predecessor; at any rate, the government of Honduras thought the occasion favorable to renew its representations concerning the unjust and piratical seizure of Roatan. It therefore addressed a letter to Colonel Fancourt complaining of Macdonald's conduct, and requesting the immediate surrender of the island; to which that officer replied in polite but general terms, evading all responsibility by referring the latter to the British government. The result was an instruction forwarded to Mr. Chatfield to acquaint the government of Honduras that when Colonel Macdonald hauled down the flag of that state in Roatan, it was by order of the British government.

It does not by any means appear that, in thus assuming the responsibility of Macdonald's violence, Great Britain pretended to territorial rights in the Bay Islands; and certainly the seizure, made in time of profound peace, could not be understood as conferring a title to sovereignty. At any rate, no act of sovereignty followed on the proceedings of Macdonald. Meanwhile the Cayman Islanders, attracted by the superior soil of Roatan, continued to establish themselves there, so that,

in the course of a few years, the population, by increase and immigration, amounted to upward of a thousand. For some time they appear to have been without any form of government, living in very primitive style; but with the increase of inhabitants they organized a kind of council, and elected its members from among themselves. This condition of things did not escape the watchful eye of the Belize superintendent, who, as the Cayman Islanders were British subjects, failed not to discover here some kind of pretext for assuming the control and sovereignty of the islands. He seems to have informed the inhabitants at various times that, as English subjects, he should be glad, if they desired it, to nominate magistrates in the island to keep the peace between them; that he did not claim the authority to interfere in their local affairs, but that he was willing to do so on their application to that effect. The islanders, however, preferred to elect their own magistrates, the principal of whom was a Mr. Fitzgibbon, a citizen of the United States. It was not until the commencement of the year 1849 that they "applied" to Colonel Fancourt "to establish a regular form of gov ernment in the island!" This was certainly a very adroit and plausible way of consummating the violence of Macdonald.

Colonel Fancourt, upon this application, recommended to the inhabitants to choose twelve representatives to form a legislative assembly for the enactment of laws, etc., subject to his veto. He nominated five magistrates, but in a short time the people grew dissatisfied with their conduct, and elected others. The Superintendent declared that this was an encroachment on the prerogative of the crown, and, unless they submitted to his nominees, he should withdraw her majes

ty's protection. They respectfully informed him that, being a non-resident, and unacquainted with the qualifications of individuals, he ought to allow them the privilege of electing municipal authorities.

Under this state of things, that portion of the inhabitants which was desirous of being taken under British protection drew up a petition soliciting the appointment of a stipendiary magistrate, and pledging their honor to raise a sufficient revenue to pay his salary and contingent expenses.

The condition of affairs existing at this time, i. e., 1850, is thus described by Captain Mitchell, R. N., from which it appears that neither the people themselves nor the British government regarded Roatan as under British authority.

"The people aver that they are quite ignorant under what government they are placed, and whether her majesty's Superintendent at Belize has any authority over them; they are desirous of knowing in what position they are regarded. Some discontented people, such as are found in all communities, have poisoned the minds of others, inducing them to collect together and appoint magistrates in opposition to those recommended by his excellency the Superintendent of Belize.

"At times the island has been (from their not knowing their exact position, and from the influence of the discontented) without any sort of government, every man fearing for himself and what he possessed. Such was the state of things when I arrived; they have now elected magistrates, from universal suffrage, to act until the pleasure of the Governor of Jamaica shall be known, to whom they have sent a petition."*

To make their petition as imposing as possible, it is alleged that the partisans of a British protectorate added to it the names of the children at the school of the

* Statistical Account and Description of the Island of Roatan, by Commander R. C. Mitchell, R. N., United Service Magazine, August, 1850.

Wesleyan Mission, and resorted to other expedients of a similar kind to swell the dimensions of the document, which was sent to the Superintendent of Belize for transmission to the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. In consequence, Captain Jolly, of the British Navy, was ordered to Roatan by Sir Charles Grey, Governor of Jamaica, to ascertain of the inhabitants whether, if the government appointed a paid magistrate in the island, they would consent to pay a land-tax of a shilling an acre to the British crown. To this proposition, commended by the guns of a vessel of war, and a variety of other influences equally potent, it is not at all surprising that the inhabitants gave their consent.*

* The facts contained in the following protest of the popularly elected chief magistrate of the island, made on this occasion, have never been disputed, and must be accepted until disproved.

Protest against the Occupation of the Islands of Roatan, Bonacca, Utila, Barbaratta, Morat, Elena, etc., by the British Government.

Whereas, in the month of August last past, Lieutenant Jolly, commanding H. B. M.'s war schooner Bermuda, took formal possession of the above-named islands in behalf of the British crown, declaring them to be an English colony, under the title of the "Colony of the Bay Islands," and gave unto certain individuals a commission to act as magistrates:

I, William Fitzgibbon, chief justice of the said islands, as elected by the people, and acting chief magistrate, as provided for by the Constitution (adopted by the people) in the absence of John James Hall, Esq., the chief magistrate, do most solemnly protest, in the name of the sovereign State of Honduras, whose territorial right is indisputable, and in the name of the local authorities of these islands, against the said occupation, and declare it to be illegal, unjustifiable, and an act of usurpation against existing treaties, as follows:

1st. Because the said occupation is made in defiance of the publicly expressed wishes of the settlers, as given by them at a public meeting held at the courthouse, Roatan Island, at the request of the said Lieutenant Jolly, upon which occasion two votes only were given in favor of British occupation, viz., Uin Elwin and Thomas Hilton, while the remainder of the meeting, consisting of all the principal settlers, voted against the measure.

2d. Because the letter purporting to have been addressed to Sir Charles Grey by the settlers, and upon which the act of occupation is grounded as a right, was never presented for signature at a public meeting, as required by the local laws of these islands, but was written by the aforesaid Uin Elwin, who, by threats and