"Article I.—All parts situated between Cayo Bahia de Cadiz and Point Maysi on the north side, and from Point Maysi to Cienfuegos on the south, with the exception of Sagua La Grande, Caibarien, Nuevitas, Gibara, Baracoa, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Santa Cruz, Zaza, Trinidad and Cienfuegos, where there are custom houses, will continue closed to the import and export trade, both by foreign and coasting vessels. Those who may attempt the entry of any closed ports, or to open communications with their coasts, will be pursued, and, on being captured, are to be tried as violators of the law.
"Article II.—Vessels carrying gunpowder, arms and warlike stores, will likewise be judged in accordance with the law.
"Article III.—The transportation of individuals in the service of the insurrection is by far more serious than that of contraband of war, and will be deemed an act of decided hostility, and the vessel and crew regarded as enemies to the state.
"Article IV.—Should the individuals referred to in the foregoing article come armed, this will be regarded, de facto, as proof of their intentions, and they will be regarded as pirates, as will also be the case with the crew of the vessel.
"Article V.—In accordance with the law, vessels captured under an unknown flag, whether armed or unarmed, will also be regarded as pirates.
"Article VI.—In free seas adjacent to those of this island, the cruisers will limit themselves to their treatment of denounced vessels, or those who render themselves suspicious, to the rights given in the treaties between Spain and the United States in 1795, Great Britain in 1835, and with other nations subsequently; and if, in the exercise of these rights, they should encounter any vessels recognized as enemies of the integrity of the territory, they will carry them into port for legal investigation and judgment accordingly.
"Caballero de Rodas."
Of course this action was incited and backed by the Volunteers, and met with their heartiest approval, but if either they or their mouthpiece, Rodas, had any real idea that such a decree would act as a deterrent against aid being sent to the Cubans, they misjudged the temper of the friends of the revolution in America. It simply made them aware of the necessity of increased secrecy and caution, but did not one whit curtail their enterprises.
To reinforce his action, Rodas promptly issued another decree against the insurgents in the following contemptuous terms:
"The insurrection, in its impotency, being reduced to detached bands, perverted to the watchword of desolation and daily perpetrating crimes that have no precedent in civilized countries, personal security and the rights of justice, the foremost guarantees of person and property, imperiously demand that said insurrection be hastened to its end, and without consideration toward those who have placed themselves beyond the pale of the law. The culprit will not be deprived of the guarantee of just impartiality in the evidence of his crime, but without delay admissible in normal periods, which would procrastinate or paralyze the verdict of the law and its inexorable fulfilment.