CHAPTER XVIII.

BLUEFIELDS THE MOSQUITO KING-THE

SHEPHERD GRANT DENIED

UPON

VARIOUS GROUNDS-ENGLAND PLAYS HER HAND-COLONEL KINNEY-HIS TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS-DENOUNCED AS A FILLIBUSTER-HIS EXPEDITIONWRECKING OF HIS VESSEL-ARRIVAL AT GREYTOWN-BURNING OF GREYTOWN PRIOR TO HIS ARRIVAL-RESULTS AND ALLEGED CAUSE-PRESIDENT PIERCE'S DECLARATION OF WAR-THE MUSE OF HISTORY-COLONEL KINNEY ELECTED GOVERNOR-PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE NEW GOVERN. MENT CONSTITUTION--OFFICERS ELECTED-THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COMPANY AT A DISCOUNT-KINNEY'S RESIGNATION-HIS VISIT TO GRANADA AND EXPULSION THENCE-WALKER'S EMPTY BOAST-SALE OF THE GRANT TO THE MORMONS.

BLUEFIELDS, the residence of the present Mosquito king, George William Clarence, is situated on a bluff surrounded by a country rich in vegetation, and remarkable as well for its scenery as for its healthiness, although, at times, his Majesty occupies a house in Greytown. He is young, well-formed, lighter in color than the majority of his tribe, is very agile and muscular, wears the undress cap of an English naval officer,

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and is seemingly satisfied with his title and total freedom from want his requirements being attended to by the English gov

ernment.

Some time subsequent to the decease of his father,

in 1841, the grant made to the Messrs. Shepherd was denied, in fact, revoked by the present king, acting under the instigation of the English, based upon the following reasoning, viz. : that the consideration was insufficient, that the grant was fraudulently obtained, the Sire being intoxicated, as also his chiefs and head men, and that this intoxication was the result of a conspiracy upon the part of the grantees. The present monarch not having reached his majority, the kingdom convulsed with threatened alarms proceeding from Nicaragua proper, and the treasury exhausted, Great Britain became the guardian of the kingdom, as by this course alone she could ever hope to be returned her pecuniary advances, and it is under the prestige of such protection that she has maintained a certain qualified, but truly inexplicable position in the affairs of the country.

The Company referred to, in our last chapter, was organized by Colonel Henry L. Kinney, a well-known gentleman of Pennsylvania, and based upon said grant, which subsequently was purchased by him and other perties. From this arose an expedition, rarely, in its results, trials, and exposures, equalled in the annals of modern times. The expeditionists were to have left New York in the steamship Trited States,

and although for months the Company were openly advertising their object, and desiring actual settlers, at the very moment of departure, the United States Government interposed, prevented the vessel from leaving the harbor, and denounced Colonel Kinney and party as fillibusters, and as such held them for trial. These suits subsequently ended without credit to the prosecution.

Col. Kinney had apprized the President in person of the objects of his Company, as also of his contemplated day of departure, and the latter having broached the idea of colonization, had also advised the former to lead the Central American enterprise; and yet, after immense sums of money had been lavished in preparing himself and followers for the voyage, the entire expedition was crushed for a time, and Kinney himself denounced and branded as a fillibuster. Subsequently, however, with a few comrades, he left New York in a small brig, and after being shipwrecked near Turk's Island, and suffering many hardships, reached San Juan del Norte, where his arrival was hailed with enthusiasm. Thus the Kinney Union, surmounting every obstacle, reached the point of destination, their avowed objects finding an echo in the hearts of the depressed people of the Mosquito Kingdom.

The Transit Company occupied Punta Arenas, a point of land immediately opposite the bay, from Greytown; prior to Kinney's arrival an emeute arose between it and the inhab

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itants of the town, which ended in the Government of the United States sending the sloop-of-war, Cyane, commanded by Captain Hollins, to that port. The place was bombarded, frame dwellings and cane huts were destroyed by fire, and helpless women and children were driven from their humble homes, without shelter or food, to brave the inclemency of a sickly climate. Many deaths ensued consequent upon this exposure. The results of the conflagration visited alike, Americans, Spaniards, French, and Germans. A debt owed by the little town, which could not be paid in twenty-four hours, was the principal cause of this overwhelming affliction, and the once flourishing village of San Juan was levelled to the earth.

Now that Col. Kinney had arrived, unwonted alacrity was everywhere visible; houses were erected, stores opened, hotels built, and without exception, the new settlers were busy in regenerating the fallen town, upon which the Government of the United States had thus wreaked its vengeance. This act of the Government found no favor with the country at large. It was considered to be a declaration of war by a President without the consent and advice of the Senate, which alone, it was held, possessed this power. Against whom was this war waged? A weak tribe of Indians-a defenseless town, inhabited not by Mosquitians, but by foreigners, many of whom were Americans. When the Muse of History, in after years, pores over her pages stained with reckless spoliation, she will blush to meet this act

recorded on her annals. Would that she could drop a tear thereon, and blot it out forever.

Upon the 6th of September, 1855, Col. Kinney was unanimously chosen Civil and Military Governor of the City and Territory of San Juan del Norte, or Greytown; and on the day following, the Convention reassembled, and the oath of office was duly administered. The Preamble and Resolutions set

forth were as follows:

Whereas, We, the people of San Juan del Norte, or Greytown, and the Territory thereunto belonging, in Convention assembled, do recognize it as an inalienable right of all men. living together as a community, to secure for themselves protection of life and property, and the suitable maintenance of order and good conduct; and believing and affirming such to be a fundamental principle, without the sacred observance of which no community can exist and prosper;

And, whereas no recognized authorities, civil or military, for the purposes above-named, do now exist in this place, to the great detriment and drawback of its manifold interests;

And whereas, from the urgency of the case, in view of the numerous recent additions to our population, and the large numbers expected soon to arrive amongst us, it is expedient and indispensable that a Provisional Government should be established without further delay.-Therefore be it Resolved,

1st. That a Civil and Military Governor be chosen by the