that date, the British, have been in possession of all the territory now in dispute. 2. That from early in the eighteenth century down to the present time, the Dutch and their successors, the British, have had political control 5 over all the territory now in dispute. 3. That neither the Spaniards nor the Venezuelans ever had possession of any of the territory in dispute. 4. That neither the Spaniards nor the Vene- 10 zuelans ever exercised any political control over the territory now in dispute. 5. That by the recognized principles of international law, Great Britain is entitled to a territory far more extensive than that which she 15 is at present claiming. CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS. THIS chapter deals with the history of occupation and settlement in Guiana, embracing not 5 only the foundation of towns and villages and the laying out of plantations, but also the establishment of outposts and the enjoyment of the natural resources of the country. The first navigator who sighted the coast of 10 Guiana was a Spaniard (either Alonso de Ojeda 15 in 1499, or Vincente Yanez Pinzon in 1500), but no attempt to land was then made, with the exception of an unsuccessful effort by Pinzon in the neighbourhood of the Amazon. In 1531, however, Diego de Ordaz and Alonzo de Herrera, both Spaniards, navigated the channel of the Orinoco for some distance from the mouth; but while they engaged in frequent hostilities with the natives-for the most part, apparently, 20 upon the northern bank some way up the riverneither of them explored any of the territory now in dispute. In 1591 Antonio de Berrio came down the Meta from the New Kingdom of Grenada, and 25 from the Meta descended the Orinoco to the mouth. His own description of his voyage is printed for the first time in the Appendix to this Case. From this it appears that he was unable to penetrate into the country upon the banks of 30 the river until he reached Moriquiti, an Indian village on the south bank somewhere below the mouth of the Caroni. Berrio's action gave the Spaniards their first footing in Guayana, and led to the settlement 35 of Santo Thomé, which was for more than a century the only Spanish settlement south of the Orinoco. The site of the village where this settlement Keymis. A relation of the seconde voyage was made was visited in 1595 or 1596 by Keymis, who described it as a "ranceria of some twentie or thirtie houses" at the mouth of the "Caroli," (1597.) and a Report from Trinidad by Domingo de Vera in 1597 mentions Santo Thomé, as the 5 town established at the entrance of Guayana. III, pp. 11, 31. (1763.) I, p. 122. (1765.) Raleigh's Discoverie I, p. 14. I, pp. 16, 17. In the seventeenth century the town was situated some few leagues lower down the Orinoco at a spot which was known in more modern days as the site of Vieja Guayana. It 10 was in 1764 again removed to Angostura, above the mouth of the Caroni. In that situation it remained, and is now known as Ciudad Bolivar. The Spaniards under Berrio were wholly unable 15 to get further into the interior. Raleigh, writing of 1595, says Berrio "dare not send any of his soldiers any farther into the land than to Carapana, which he calleth the port of Guiana." Large reinforcements arrived from 20 Spain under Domingo de Vera in 1596, so that Berrio had at his disposal some 470 men, and was able at once to send an expedition in the supposed direction of El Dorado. But the column was cut off by the Indians with the loss of over 25 (1597.) 350 men, and famine and pestilence decimated those who remained at Santo Thomé. (1596.) Cabeliau's Voyage. I, p. 20. I, pp, 19, 20. (1599.) In 1581 the Dutch had formally renounced the sovereignty of Spain, and the war then raging between the two countries continued till 30 1648, with an interval of partial truce from 1609 till 1621. In 1598 the Dutchman Cabeliau arrived on the Coast of Guiana, and according to his account proceeded up the Orinoco as far as Santo 35 Thomé. He describes the River Orinoco and all the coast as far as the River Marañon, or Amazon, as still unconquered, and states that (1599.) the Caribs were able to resist incursions by the Spaniards. 40 Cabeliau traded with the Spaniards in Santo Thomé, and with the natives in Orinoco, (1599.) Barima, and Amakuru, but did not visit Essequibo, because there was not much to be got there. He mentions no Spaniards till he reaches the 45 Orinoco. Cabeliau's voyage was very shortly followed by the voyages of many other Dutchmen. By the truce of 1609 the Dutch were precluded from trading to places, towns, ports, and havens held by the King of Spain: on the other hand, Spain recognized the right of the Dutch to trade 5 in the countries of all other Princes, Potentates, and peoples, who were willing to trade with them, without any hindrance from the King of Spain, his officers, subjects, or dependents; and by a secret Article it was provided that this 10 right should be understood to include the Indies. I, pp. 31, 32. In 1613 there is evidence from Spanish sources that the Dutch were settled at various points upon the coast between the Orinoco 15 and the Amazon. In that year the Spaniards surprised and destroyed one of their Settlements upon the River Corentin; and in a Minute upon one of the letters announcing this achievement it is said, "It would be well to free I, p. 36. 20 our coasts of them entirely, for from the River of Marañon (Amazon) to the Orinoco there are three or four more of their settlements, and their plantations are very considerable. They have possessed themselves of the mouths of these two 25 rivers, and are making themselves masters of the produce and possessions of the natives." So the parish priest and vicar of the Island of Trinidad in a letter of the 30th June, 1614, stated that I, pp. 37, 38. he had been informed for certain that from the Dutch Settlements. (1614.) (1614.) (1614.) 30 river called Guayapoco as far as the Orinoco, a distance of 200 leagues, there were four Flemish settlements. In 1614 the Dutch I, p. 37. (1614.) invested the Island of Trinidad in conjunction with the Caribs. Reinforcements and ammu 35 nition were sent from Spain with a view to I, p. 38. (1614.) Towards the end of that year a Dutchman named Claessen, who had founded a settlement I, pp. 40-42. (1615.) 40 on the River Wiapoco, petitioned the States- I, pp. 41, 42. (1615.) the Wiapoco as far as its third fall; that they (1615.) Simon's Noticias, (1614.) c. 30, p. 664 (ed. 1627). I, pp. 49–53. I, p. 50. I, p. 52. (1621.) It is stated by Scott in his description of Guiana that in 1616 the Dutch Captain Groenewegel dispatched a small fleet to Guiana, settled the Essequibo, and built Fort Kijkoveral "on a small island 30 leagues up the River 10 Disseekeeb, which looked looked into two into two great branches of that famous river"; and that he was the first to open up the interior of Guiana to trade and settlement, living on friendly terms both with the natives and with the foreigners, 15 especially English traders, in the West India Islands. The date of the actual foundation of the Dutch Colony on the Essequibo is however somewhat uncertain. In 1618 a second expedition of 500 men under Sir Walter Raleigh ascended the Orinoco and 20 destroyed the Spanish town of Santo Thomé; he did not remain to hold it, though his incursion left the inhabitants practically defenceless. At this period the Spaniards were definitely excluded from the coast to the eastward of the 25 Orinoco. This appears to have been frequented by them for trading purposes at the close of the sixteenth century; but after the advent of the English in 1595 and of the Dutch in 30 (at the latest) 1598, and the succeeding years, it became more and more inaccessible to them. The English and Dutch allied themselves with the Carib Indians against the Spaniards; and after the sack of Santo Thomé by Raleigh in 1618 the Arawaks, till then the friends of the Spaniards, also turned against them. 35 In consequence of these reverses, according to Padre Simon, the Settlement of Santo Thomé was, in 1619, on the point of being abandoned 40 altogether, an event which was only prevented by the arrival of the new Governor with: some small reinforcements. Representations were at once made as to the defenceless state of the city, which had "nowhere to look for (1621.) help on account of being so far distant from settled provinces, the nearest being Venezuela, distant 120 leagues." No discovery or settlement, it was (1621.) urged, could be carried out until the city was placed in a state of defence. 45 |