of the bishopric of Comayagua, formed a part of said jurisdiction at the time that the ancient Spanish province of Honduras organized itself into an independent state;

Whereas the constitution of the State of Honduras of 1825, adopted at the time it was united to Nicaragua, forming, with other States, the Federal Republic of Central America, provides that "its territory comprises all that corresponds and has always corresponded to the bishopric of Honduras;"

Whereas the demarcation fixed for the province or intendency of Comayagua or of Honduras by the aforesaid royal decree of July 24, 1791, continued without change at the time the provinces of Honduras and Nicaragua obtained their independence; therefore, even though the King approved by royal decree of January 24, 1818, the reestablishment of the greater jurisdiction (alcaldia mayor) of Tegucigalpa, with certain features of autonomy in economic matters, said greater jurisdiction continued to form a division of the province of Comayagua or Honduras, under the jurisdiction of the political chief of the province, and as such division took part in the election held on November 5, 1820, for a deputy to the Spanish Cortes and a substitute deputy for the province of Comayagua, and likewise took part with the other divisions of Gracias, Choluteca, Olancho, Yoro, with Olanchito and Trujillo, Tencoa, and Comayagua, in the election of the provincial deputies of Honduras, said election being held on November 6, 1820;

Whereas on organizing the Government and intendency of Nicaragua, in conformity with the royal ordinance of intendents of 1786, there were formed the five political divisions of Leon, Matagalpa, El Realejo, Subtiaga, and Nicoya, not including in this division nor in that which the intendent governor, Don Juan de Ayassa, proposed in 1788-territories that are now claimed on the north and west of Cape Gracias a Dios by Nicaragua-nor does it appear that the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Nicaragua extended to this cape, and it should be borne in mind that the last intendent governor of Nicaragua, Don MIGUEL GONZALEZ SARAVIA, on describing the province that was under his command in his book entitled "Political and Statistical Sketch of Nicaragua," published in 1824, stated that the boundary line of said province on the south runs from the Gulf of Fonseca in the Pacific to the Perlas River in the sea of the north (Atlantic); Whereas, even though at any period it may have been thought that the jurisdiction of Honduras extended to the south of Cape Gracias a Dios, the examining commission has found that such extension of dominion was never well determined, and that, at all events, was ephemeral below the town and port of Cape Gracias a Dios, and, therefore, it does not follow that the common boundary on the Atlantic coast is Sandy Bay, as is claimed by Honduras;

Whereas, in order to arrive at the place called Cape Camaron, as well as that of Sandy Bay, it would be necessary to resort to artificial boundary lines that in no manner coincide with the well-marked natural boundaries recommended in the Gámez-Bonilla Treaty;

Whereas all the maps (Spanish and foreign) that the commission appointed by royal decree of April 17, 1905, has examined referring to the territories of Honduras and Nicaragua prior to the date of independence show the separation between both territories at Cape Gracias a Dios or to the south of that cape, and that, in a period subsequent to independence, maps such as those of Squier (New York, 1854); Baily (London, 1856); Dussieux (made under the supervision of Stieler, Riepert, Petermann & Begghaus, Paris, 1868); Dunn (New Orleans, 1884); Colton, Ohman & Co. (New York, 1890); Andrews (Leipzig, 1901); Armour's (Chicago, 1901), indicate the boundary at the Cape of Gracias a Dios;

Whereas of the maps examined relating to the question only five show the boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua on the Atlantic side to the north of Cape Gracias a Dios, and these five maps are all subsequent to the date of independence and even of the period in which litigation was commenced between the two States referred to; that of these five maps three are Nicaraguan and the other two (one German and the other North American), although they place the boundary to the north of Cape Gracias a Dios, indicate it at a point very near this cape, or at the extreme northern part of the delta of the Segovia River;

Whereas geographic authorities, such as López de Velasco (15711574), Tomás López (1758), González Saravia (governor of Nicaragua, 1823), Squier (1856), Reclus (1870), Sonnenstern (1874), Bancroft (1890), have indicated the outlet of the Segovia River, or the Cape Gracias a Dios, or a point to the south of this cape, as the common boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua on the Atlantic coast;

Whereas the Cape of Gracias a Dios has been acknowledged as the common boundary between Nicaragua and Honduras in various diplomatic documents originating in the latter Republic, such as the circulars addressed to foreign governments by Don FRANCISCO CASTELLON, Minister Plenipotentiary of Nicaragua and Honduras (1844); Don SEBASTIAN SALINAS, Minister of Foreign Relations of Nicaragua (1848), and Don José GUERRERO, Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua (1848), and the instructions conferred by the Government of Nicaragua on its Envoy Extraordinary in Spain, Don JOSÉ DE MARCOLETA, for the recognition of the independence of said Republic (1850);

Whereas, as is deduced from the foregoing exposition, the point that best responds to the reasons of historic right, of equity, and of

Bull. No. 3-07-6

geographic position, for the purpose of serving as a common boundary between the two litigious States on the coast of the Atlantic, is Cape Gracias a Dios, and that this cape marks that which has practically been the limit of extension or conquest of Nicaragua toward the north and of Honduras toward the south;

Whereas, after the adoption of the Cape of Gracias a Dios as the common boundary on the Atlantic coast between the two litigious States, it is proper to fix the frontier boundary line between this point and Portillo of Teotecacinte, which was the point reached by the mixed Honduran-Nicaraguan commission;

Whereas, contiguous to the Cape of Gracias a Dios on the Atlantic there exists no great cordillera which by its nature and direction could be taken as a frontier between both States starting from said point, and that, on the contrary, there is found at this same place as a perfectly marked boundary the outlet and channel of so large and important a river as that called Coco, Segovia, or Wanks;

Whereas, that afterwards the course of this river, for at least a considerable part thereof, offers, because of its direction and the circumstances of its channel, the most natural and exact boundary that could be desired;

Whereas this same Coco, Segovia, or Wanks River for a large part of its course has figured and figures in many maps, public documents, and geographic descriptions as the frontier between Honduras and Nicaragua;

Whereas, in the volumes of the Blue Book corresponding to the years 1856 and 1860, presented by the Government of His Britannic Majesty to Parliament, and which are included among the documents submitted by Nicaragua, it is stated that according to the communication of the representative of England in the United States, who intervened in the negotiations for the purpose of settling the question of the Mosquito territory (1852), Honduras and Nicaragua had mutually acknowledged the Wanks or Segovia River as the frontier; that in article 2 of the convention between Great Britain and Honduras on August 27, 1859, His Britannic Majesty acknowledged the middle of the Wanks or Segovia River, that empties at the Cape of Gracias a Dios, as the boundary between the Republic of Honduras and the territory of the Mesquite Indians, and that in article 4 of the treaty with Great Britain and the United States of America of October 17, 1856, it was declared that all the territory to the south of the Wanks or Segovia River, not included in the part reserved for the Mesquite Indians, and without prejudging the rights of Honduras, should be considered within the boundaries and under the sovereignty of the Republic of Nicaragua;

Whereas it is necessary to establish a point at which the course of the Coco, Segovia, or Wanks River must be abandoned before said.

river, turning toward the southwest, enters acknowledged Nicaraguan territory;

Whereas the point having the best conditions required in this case is the place where the said Coco or Segovia River receives on its left bank the waters of its tributary, the Poteca or Bodega River;

Whereas the place of the confluence of the Poteca with the Segovia River has also been adopted by various authorities, and singularly by the Nicaraguan engineer, Don MAXIMILIANO V. SONNENSTERN, in his "Geography of Nicaragua for use in the primary schools of the Republic" (Managua, 1874);

Whereas, on following the channel of the Poteca River upstream to its junction with the Guineo or Namalsi River, there is encountered the south site of Teotecacinte, to which the document filed by Nicaragua, dated August 26, 1720, refers, and according to which said site. belonged to the jurisdiction of the city of New Segovia (Nicaragua); Whereas the point where Guineo River enters and forms a part of the Poteca River can be taken as the frontier boundary, which corresponds to the survey of the said site of Teotecacinte up to its juncture with the Portillo of the same name, but in such a manner that the aforesaid site remains within the jurisdiction of Nicaragua;

Whereas the selection of the confluence of the Poteca with the Coco or Segovia River as the point at which the channel of the last-named river should be abandoned, in order to arrive at the Portillo of Teotecacinte in the manner referred to, might be the cause of doubt and controversy, due to the assumption that it would result beneficially to Honduras in the narrow region in the northern part of the basin of the Segovia River, which would thus remain within the boundaries of Honduras; to offset this and as compensation for having adopted the outlet or mouth of the Segovia River in the manner herein before expressed, the bay and town of Gracias a Dios, which, according to prior evidence, would belong by better right to Honduras, remain within the domain of Nicaragua; and

Whereas, lastly, that although rule 4 of article 2 of the treaty of Gámez-Bonilla or Tegucigalpa directs that in order to fix the boundaries between both Republics the dominion or ownership of territory fully proved will be respected without acknowledging the juridical value to possession in fact that either of the parties might allege, rule 6 of the same article provides that, if expedient, compensation may be made and even indemnifications fixed to endeavor to establish, as far as possible, well-defined natural boundaries.

In accordance with the solution proposed by the examining commission and in conformity with the opinion of the full council of state and with that of my council of ministers

Declare that the dividing line between the Republic of Honduras and Nicaragua from the Atlantic to the Portillo of Teotecacinte,

L

where the mixed boundary commission left it in 1901, because they could not agree as to its continuation in their subsequent meetings, is fixed in the following manner: The extreme common boundary point on the Atlantic coast shall be the outlet into the sea of the Coco, Segovia, or Wanks River, contiguous to the Cape of Gracias a Dios, considering as the mouth of the river the mouth of its principal arm between Hara and the island of San Pio, where the said cape is situated, Honduras retaining the islets or keys existing within said principal arm before arriving at the bar, and conserving for Nicaragua the south shore of the said principal mouth with the aforesaid island of San Pio, together with the bay and population of the Cape of Gracias a Dios and the entire arm called Gracias that flows into the Bay of Gracias a Dios between the mainland and the aforesaid island of San Pio.

Starting from the mouth of the Segovia or Coco River the boundary line will follow the water course or Talweg of this river upstream without interruption to its confluence with the Poteca or Bodega River, and from that point the said boundary line will leave the Segovia River, follow the watercourse of the said Poteca or Bodega tributary and continue upstream to its junction with the Guineo or Namashi River.

From this junction the boundary line shall take the direction that corresponds to the demarcation of the site of Teotecacinte, in accordance with the survey made in 1720, in order to arrive at Portillo of Teotecacinte, so that said site remains integrally within the jurisdiction of Nicaragua.

Given, in duplicate, at the Royal Palace of Madrid on December 23, 1906.

JUAN PEREZ CABALLERO,

ALFONSO

Secretary of State.

CONCESSION OF LAND AND WATER PRIVILEGES.

A valuable concession has been made by the Nicaraguan Government to a New York company's representative for the development of the commercial, agricultural, and mineral resources of Nicaragua. A summary of the report made on the subject by the United States consul at Managua is as follows:

The company obligates itself to deepen the passage over the bar of the Rio Grande to 14 feet in order that vessels suited to the banana and fruit trade may enter the stream, and is granted the period of four years in which to complete the work, which shall represent an expenditure of not less than $100,000 gold. Within eighteen months the company shall run its first steamer on the river, and thereafter keep up navigation for all the time the concession is in force.