History of Central America, Volume 3, 1801-1887 / The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 8

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

KING GEORGE FREDERICK.

George Frederick and his half-brother Robert, like their father George, who was killed in 1800, were of mixed negro and Indian blood. They were first taken to Belize to receive some education,[XII-36] and next to Jamaica, where they were the objects of some attention on the part of Lord Albemarle, the governor-general. George Frederick's education was an indifferent one. In 1815 he was back in Belize to be crowned there at his own request, Chaplain Armstrong performing the ceremony, and his chiefs taking the oath of allegiance in regular form.[XII-37] He was then proclaimed king of the Mosquito shore and nation, and a British war vessel conveyed him and his chiefs to Gracias á Dios.[XII-38] It seems that kingly life afforded him little or no satisfaction. Aware of his lack of qualifications, and fully sensible that he could not retrieve himself from vicious habits, especially from the bottle, which soon controlled him, his heart failed him, and his life became embittered.[XII-39] The British government at first manifested a friendly interest, sending him presents, and Chaplain Armstrong his advice; but the latter was disregarded by the king and his chief minister, who often remarked that a present of rum would be more welcome. The instruction on government was beyond his understanding, and looked on as falsehood. Such was the effect of his West India education in civilization. It has been asserted that he was murdered in 1824.[XII-40] Robert, his brother, succeeded, and was deposed, his successor being James, descended from an older branch of the family,[XII-41] who took the name of George Frederick. Mosquito annals do not record what became of him. The next king was Robert Charles Frederick, who believing himself a real monarch, for and in consideration of abundant contributions of rum, to which he was much addicted, began to make large grants of land, some of which carried with them the rights of absolute sovereignty. Most of these grants were afterward cancelled, and the king was taken by the British authorities to Belize, and kept under control. He died there, leaving, in a so-called last will, dated in February 1840, to Superintendent Macdonald the regency of his dominions during the minority of his heir, the princess Inez Ann Frederick.[XII-42] Macdonald, whether as such regent or as an officer of the British crown, appointed his private secretary, Patrick Walker, to reside at Blewfields, and have charge of the affairs of Mosquitia; since which time the shore began to assume much importance, at least in a political sense. Walker established a council of state, and soon opened a dispute about boundaries with the Central American states, giving rise to grave questions which occupied the attention of other governments, and of which I will treat later.

COLONIZATION FAILURES.

Several attempts were made since the early days of the present century to colonize the Mosquito shore, for which large tracts of land were granted. Among the most important was one made to the Scotchman Sir Gregor MacGregor,[XII-43] who soon after started a wild project, which later was known as the Poyais bubble, and ended, about 1823, disastrously for the dupes who had been drawn into it.[XII-44] In 1839 the British Central America Land Company of London made another experiment on the same place where MacGregor had tried his, and it ended in failure.[XII-45] A German colony named Carlsruhe, near Blewfields, which was started about 1844, had to be abandoned in 1849 after losing about two thirds of the emigrants.

The climate of the coast is moist, hotter than in the interior, and not as healthy. The greater part of the soil is fertile, and it may be said that the country possesses many natural elements of wealth.[XII-46] Blewfields, the capital of Mosquitia, is on the river and lagoon of the same name. In the latter part of 1847 Blewfields and its dependencies had 599 inhabitants, of which 111 were white and 488 black,[XII-47] in two villages, the larger, Blewfields, having 78 houses, and the lesser, Carlsruhe, 16. Few of the houses were built of boards. One of this kind was then occupied by Walker, the British agent and consul-general, with whom the sovereign resided.[XII-48]

On the 12th of August, 1841, Macdonald, superintendent of Belize, came to San Juan del Norte on the frigate Tweed, bringing with him the so-called king of the Mosquitos or Moscos. At the same time an armed sloop, under the Mosquito flag and commanded by Peter Shepherd, entered the port. The comandante and revenue officer, Lieutenant-colonel Quijano, went to see the commanding officers at Shepherd's house, but was not received, on the plea that both the king and superintendent were unwell. An official letter from him was left unanswered. At last, the superintendent's secretary, together with the captain of the frigate and the king's secretary, called on Quijano and told him that on the following day his letter would be answered, requiring his recognition of the Mosquito king as the ally of her Britannic Majesty. Quijano refused, and his visitors retired. He reiterated his refusal in a letter to the superintendent, and in the name of his government solemnly protested against his pretension, as well as against the insults inflicted on his country.[XII-49] He was finally notified that if he interfered with any British or Mosquito subject, both he and his government would be held responsible.[XII-50]

BRITISH INTERFERENCE.

The demands and insults of the British officers continued until the 15th, when they seized Quijano and carried him on board the frigate, intending to take him to Belize.[XII-51] The Nicaraguan government, in a note to British Vice-consul Foster, denounced the acts of the British officials at San Juan as high-handed, accusing Macdonald of usurping the name of her Britannic Majesty in supposing her to be an ally of the so-called Mosquito king.[XII-52] The whole American continent became indignant at the British proceedings in San Juan. There was one exception, however, which must be classified as vile. Ferrera, jefe of Honduras, under the influence of the servile element of Guatemala, allied with Chatfield, recognized the Mosquito nation.[XII-53]

Chatfield informed Nicaragua that the whole Central American territory lying between Cape Gracias á Dios and the mouth of the San Juan River belonged to the Mosquito king, without prejudice to other rights the king might have south of the San Juan.[XII-54] In January 1848 two British war vessels occupied the port of San Juan without resistance, replacing the Nicaraguan officials by Englishmen as servants of the Mosquito king, after doing which they sailed away; but no sooner had the intelligence reached the interior than a force was despatched to San Juan, which reoccupied the place and sent to the capital as prisoners the intruders.[XII-55] Whereupon the British returned in force in March 1848, and defeated the Nicaraguan detachment. Hostilities being further prosecuted, the Nicaraguans had to succumb before the superior power of their foe, and consented to an armistice, providing that they would not disturb San Juan, or attempt to reoccupy the port, pending the negotiations which must follow on these events.[XII-56]

TREATIES.