The warning deterred some others ventured in, thus deliberately assuming the risks involved.

official section; Honorables F. Mulligan, W. Craigen, C. L. Bascour, B. H. Jones and J. J. Dare, of the elective section. The Court was constituted at 11.35 A. M., and sat with closed doors until 11.45, when the public were admitted.

"The Gold Industry and the Boundary Question.

"Threatened Collapse of the Gold Industry.

"His Excellency said: Hon. Gentlemen of the Court of Policy,-Before we proceed to the Order of the Day, I am anxious to make a statement with reference to the question of the boundary between this Colony and the Republic of Venezuela. Among the applications which have been received for mining licenses and concessions under the Mining Regulations passed under Ordinance 16 of 1880, 16 of 1886, and 4 of 1887, there are many which apply to lands which are within the territory in dispute between Her Majesty's Government and the Venezuela Republic. I have received instructions of the Secretary of State to caution expressly all persons interested in such licenses, or concessions, or otherwise acquiring an interest in the disputed territory, that all licenses, concessions or grants, applying to any portion of such disputed territory will be issued and must be accepted, subject to the possibility that, in the event of a settlement of the present disputed line, the land to which such licenses, concessions or grants applies may become a part of the Venezuelan territory; in which case, no claim to compensation from the Colony, or from Her Majesty's Government can be recognized; but Her Majesty's Government would, of course, do whatever may be right and practicable to secure from the Government of Venezuela a recognition and confirmation of licenses, etc., now issued. In making this statement I am aware that I shall disappoint the sanguine expectation of those who may have hoped that the proclamation of November 6, 1886, represented the final settlement of the boundary question. All, however, who have followed the course of public opinion in England must have seen that the question is not yet settled. The interpretation which I place on the instructions I have received is, that Her Majesty's Government desire to have their hands free to come to an early and permanent settlement of this long dispute. I am confident, and I ask you to share my confidence, that such a settlement will be based on the justice of our claims and the preservation of the integrity of this province.

Mr. Mulligan was sure that what His Excellency had just stated and the despatch he had just quoted, would cause considerable annoyance outside, especially among those who had placed a great amount of capital in the gold venture on the faith of the proclamation which was recently published. It would have been very much better, and would not have reflected as much on the Imperial Government, had they taken no action whatever, but to allow matters to stand as they had been for many years disputed. People would then have known what they were about and would have been fully cognizant of all the risks they ran in venturing on the disputed territory, but after the appearance of the proclamation so recently issued, it was but natural that British subjects, assured of protection as such, should invest money in speculations such as had taken place. Very considerable amount of capital had been so invested, and it seemed now rather late in the day to be told that they were squatters and adventurers, and were simply working on their own lines. He expressed his sincere regret that this had taken place, but could not say that he was surprised, for when the proclam.

Results of gold

mining still prob

In 1888, the result of the gold discoveries in Barima was as yet problematical; and it was not until 1889 lematical in 1888.

ation was brought up in November, 1886, he said in this Court he thought it would do more harm than good, and that people would be induced by it to go digging gold in the disputed district with the result which he very much feared His Excellency's words foreshadowed.

"However, it was entirely in keeping with the miserable backward policy of the Imperial Government, and which they exhibited all over the world. Stanley's letter, for instance, recently addressed to a Geographical Society, on the condition of British influence at Zanzibar, and other parts of Africa, showed that the same backward policy of which we had here an example was being exhibited there. He thought it was cruel, and more than cruel, to reduce to such straits British subjects who had invested capital in this gold venture;—in fact, he knew there were some who had put their all in the venture. Those people were now told that in case of a settlement of this boundary question and a decision that the disputed territory on which they were now digging, belonged to Venezuela, they would have nothing to hope and nothing to claim from this colony or the Imperial Government. He hoped the elective members of the Court of Policy would at any rate protest against the action and draw the attention of the Imperial Government to the proclamation, and to the words then spoken by the AttorneyGeneral in this Court when it was decided to issue that proclamation.

"Mr. Jones thoroughly indorsed all that had fallen from the senior elective member of the Court with reference to the despatch just quoted by His Excellency. The announcement which had been made would create an immense amount of heart-burning amongst those who had capital invested in what was considered to be an undertaking secured to them by proclamation from home. When the despatch of last November was received the feeling outside was that the British Government had taken up a position which they intended to stand by, but it seemed now that they had drifted back from their former opinion, and would no longer give any support to the operations which had been undertaken by private parties in the disputed territory. His own feeling regarding the boundary question had for many years past been that the only right solution of the boundary question would be by the appointment of a Royal Commission to meet a Commission from Venezuela, and that the commissioners should go over the whole grounds of the subject, and visit the whole of the boundary was as done recently with reference to Afghanistan. The boundary dispute here might not be such an important point as that of Afghanistan was to British rule in India, but it was certainly of great importance to us in this colony to have it settled, and it was of as great importance to the Government here to have that done as it was to the Government of India to have the boundary of Afghanistan settled. If such commission were appointed, he felt sure that there would not be those heart-burnings and feelings of distrust which the present and past policy of the British Government had created in the minds of the colonists, who looked on and saw the sort of game being played by British rule, or he might say, misrule.

"His Excellency said: I shall lose no time in conveying to the Secretary of State the vital importance to this Colony of an early settlement of this question (Mr. Mulligan: Hear, hear), and the rising importance of the gold industry. And I shall, of course, avail myself of the opportunity to represent to the Secretary of State what has been expressed in this Court, and what, I have no doubt, represent the general feelings of the community."

gold discoveries

First important (only seven years before the present treaty) that it aswere in 1889. sumed any considerable proportions.*

cent date of British occupation.

The foregoing account of the gold discoveries and of the gold industry in the disputed territory will suffice to show how recent both are: it will also throw light on the cause and present character of British occupaand re- tion. As to the interior, this occupation is fully explained by the gold discoveries: except for these the CuyuniMazaruni basin would probably be to-day as free from British as it had been free from both Dutch and British for more than a century before. As to the coast, the gold discoveries furnish but half the explanation. The other half will appear later in the diplomatic history of the question. Suffice it here to say that, prior to the discovery of gold, and as early as 1884, British occupa- Mr. McTurk, a British official, acting under British authority, took forcible possession of the mouth of the Orinoco; and that, in 1885, the region along the coast, as far west as Barima point and the Amacura river, was organized into a separate "district" under the jurisdiction of a Special Commissioner.†

tion of Barima Point.

It has been stated that, except for the gold discoveries in the Mazaruni in 1880, except for the gold discoveries along the coast subsequent to that date, and except for the formal taking of possession of the mouth of the

[See also Rodway (J.) History of British Guiana, Georgetown, 1894, iii, 225.]

*"The change, great as it is, has been effected in the last three or four years, being in part due to the discovery by small cultivators of the extraordinary richness of the soil, but has occurred, I might almost say, chiefly within the year 1889, being due to the discovery of a rich and easily accessible gold area in the Barima.

"Writing in December, 1888, I could only describe the chance of the discovery of gold in the district as problematical. Only two or three months later gold had been discovered in considerable quantity, and within a year a very large part of the gold industry of the colony had been directed to these parts." [im Thurn (E. F.) Report; published in 1890.]

↑ British Guiana and its Resources, London, 1895, pp. 76–77.

British occupa

tion of Barima

Orinoco in 1884 by Mr. McTurk, the British never had
settlements of any kind, nor occupation of any nature, Point.
above the lowest falls of the Essequibo, Cuyuni and
Mazaruni in the interior, nor beyond the plantations
along the Arabian coast on the seaboard.

As witnesses to this, the following writers may be cited:

1. AS TO THE COAST.

The story of this region is best told by Mr. im Thurn in a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society in London on July 4, 1892, and published in the "Proceedings" of that Society for October, 1892, Vol. 14, pp. 665-687. The following extracts are taken from the article referred to:

"During my nine years' work I have been actively engaged, first, in ascertaining the nature of the country, and then in transforming this from its state of desolate and unbroken swamp, smothered in densest tropical vegetation, and inhabited but by a few red men, into an integral part of the colony.” (p. 665.)

"Though through fear of privateers, these at first went up the rivers, yet as soon as this fear was removed they cast longing eyes on the splendidly rich submerged land of the seacoast, and, with an experience and skill gained in their Low-Country homes, dammed back the sea along the southern coasts of the colonies, and reclaimed for cultivation a narrow strip of alluvial soil, extending along the sea and river edge, but hardly anywhere more than three or four miles in width. But their work ended northwest at the Pomerun river. The whole interior of the country, and even the seacoast north of the Pomerun- that is, the northwestern part of the colony-they left as Nature made it. Since the beginning of this century, when the country passed from the hands of the Dutch to those of the English, the latter have rather reduced than extended the area of cultivation; and though they have fairly maintained the quality, the land beyond the narrow belt of cultivation has remained as Nature made it and the Dutch left it. (p. 668.)

66

Though the settlements in the Pomerun were, as has been said, among the earliest, if not indeed the earliest, in what is now. British Guiana, and though they have never been at any time completely abandoned, yet at no time have they attained the privilege of independent government, as was the case with the settlements on the Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice Rivers. During the early part of this century there were flourishing settlements and substantial houses for some distance along the right bank, and also at intervals higher up, on both banks of the Pomerun; but of these hardly any record exists. About 1840, at the time of the visit of the brothers Schomburgk, the houses and the cultivation, though still partly existing, were already in decay, and for some time after that date the river remained practically abandoned to Redmen and to squatters. About twenty years ago there was a revival of agricultural industry by the settlement in those parts of a few Portuguese, and the development in this direction has since then been continuous. The Government of the colony was represented there up to 1872, by an official with somewhat vague powers, handed down from Dutch times, called a Post-holder. With the revival of industry by the Portuguese, this official was modernized into a magistrate. It was to this post that I was appointed in 1882. My jurisdiction extended nominally to the Orinoco; but hardly anyone capable of giving an intelligent account of the country had been beyond the Pomerun, or the small creek, the Moruka-a branch of the Pomerun-on which two missions, one Protestant, the other Roman Catholic, had been established about 1840.

"My station on the Pomerun then was the outpost in a northwesterly direction of the civilized part of the colony, and it immediately became my desire to explore the unknown part of the district under my charge. (pp. 669-670.)

"Even from the Redmen and the black squatters on the Pomerun I found it very difficult to get any information as to the great region beyond; but at last, in January, 1883, though unsuccessful in getting a guide, I started to see for myself what lay within my district beyond the known parts. (p. 670.)

"On the other hand, the higher part of the new district is (1892) being fast overrun by very successful gold diggers. But