PASSING TRES BOCAS.

279

the match; and said to him, "Should not that admonish me to be ready? I shall certainly defend my flag."

แ

I had, it is true, resolved that if the property of the Americans was retained by the President, or placed where it was beyond the reach of our guns, to return the compliment by capturing his navy" at Tres Bocas. But I had made no such threat, had no excuse for such an act at that time, and did not regret it. Under the "permit" finally issued, the effects of the company which could not be taken on board the Water Witch were placed in the hands of an agent, to be shipped to Corrientes.

With the Americans on board I left Asuncion the 29th of September. On reaching Tres Bocas we observed an unusual array of soldiers, and the little navy of five vessels, with their armament, ranging from two to six guns, all doubly manned, and ready, as the President had said, to "salute or fight.". The ves sels were moored so close to the bank that a plank from each would have enabled the personnel of the marine to make an excursion into the interior of the country at the shortest possible notice. On the deck of the flag-ship, a prominent figure in the picture, stood my old friend the "Admiral." Salutes would have been dangerous; for, from the evident state of hostile preparation, the first flash of one of their guns might have been returned by a fire from our howitzer, without delay for explanation. We passed slowly and in silence; many a soul on the Water Witch devoutly hoping, perhaps, that some brave son of Paraguay would provoke a fight.

I was glad that we were able to leave Paraguay peacefully. From our first entrance into her waters and the "Admiral's" reception at Tres Bocas; in our cruise to the northern frontier; during my land journey through the interior from west to east, from river to river, and in that subsequently made by Lieutenant Powell through the Yerbales, we had been hospitably and kindly received. And, indeed, the course of the President toward us, until his outbreak with the Consul, was characterized by extreme consideration. In all my official intercourse with him, in applications for facilities which the government alone could grant in forwarding the expedition—and it has been seen that they were not unfrequent he met my propositions readily and observed his promises to the letter. I was aware of the faults of his political system, but even that was better than I had been led to anticipate before entering the country. My business there was not that

280

COURSE OF THE EXPEDITION.

of a regenerator. On the contrary, while acting firmly and, to the best of my ability, conscientiously, for the protection of the American Trading Company, the dignity of our flag, and with a due regard to our national interests, I studiously avoided wounding the susceptibilities of the people and rulers.

Paraguay had scarcely joined the family of nations. Our people in the United States knew nothing of her social or political condition. We had never, until 1853, been represented there by even a Consul. I should, therefore, under all circumstances, without any personal feeling toward the President, and without reference to him as a man, have deemed it as much my duty to give the result of my observations upon the political state of the country as I should upon the rocks and shoals of her rivers. I believe my impressions to be correct. They were formed without prejudice, and may possibly assist us in directing our future diplomatic and commercial relations with Paraguay.

For trade, Paraguay was unoccupied ground. I had been sent there to negotiate a commercial treaty, to examine her rivers, and report upon her resources. I thought at the time, and still believe, that a valuable commerce might grow up with the United States. For manufactured articles it must be for many years a considerable market.

Again: the long-sought and much-desired permission of Brazil to explore her waters-the result of a negotiation upon the part of two of our Ministers for eighteen months-reached me in the midst of these difficulties. My future labors there and in Bolivia I had contemplated as the most interesting, and the most fruitful in results for science and commerce. Paraguay controlled the entrance into their rivers, and could embarrass my anticipated movements. I had every reason, official and personal, to use forbearance and discretion; and yet President Lopez, in his dispatch to our government, complains of the hostile attitude I assumed. The position of the President is perhaps an uneasy one. His people know nothing of other countries. He governs them by maintaining an impenetrable reserve, and impressing them with the infallibility of his own acts and his commanding position among "rulers." He forgot that the members of the American Company were not Paraguayans, and that I was the representative of a republic where there are no "state secrets." He could not give my notes to a third party for translation. They were couched in respectful but decided language; their contents would

DECREES OF LOPEZ.

281

have become known to the citizens; and the declaration to pursue a certain line of conduct, with or without the permission of the "supreme government," was an assertion of independence, even on the part of a foreign officer, that the President did not care should be known.

I have been as concise as possible in the foregoing statement. It unfortunately led to a radical change in the feelings of President Lopez toward myself, and placed me in a position of antagonism which, as will be seen, I carefully endeavored to avoid. His vials of wrath seemed, like the widow's cruse, inexhaustible. On the 3d of October he issued a decree designed to break up my intended exploration of the waters of Brazil and Bolivia,* and, through the columns of his organ, the Seminario, poured forth his indignation in language marked by great asperity—a tone and style recognized in the countries of La Plata as peculiar to his Excellency.

On the 15th of October Mr. R. C. Buckalew arrived at Corrientes in a river steamer, the Buenos Ayres. He was bearer of the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of the 4th of March, negotiated by Mr. Pendleton, and ratified by the Senate of the United States. He also brought letters from the Secretary of State, Mr. Marcy, instructing me to propose the exchange. The treaties negotiated at the same time by the Ministers of France, England, and Sardinia had long since been ratified, and their consuls for Asuncion were on board this steamer.

As the Water Witch was excluded from entering Paraguayan waters by the decree of the 3d, I dispatched Lieutenant Murdaugh and Doctor Carter by the Buenos Ayres, with a note to the Minister of Foreign Relations informing him that I was commissioned to exchange ratifications, and desiring to know when and where I should meet a person duly authorized to act on the part of the Government of Paraguay. On delivering the paper, Lieutenant Murdaugh, as instructed, informed him verbally of its contents. He received the following reply, with my note returned. I insert it as a specimen of diplomatic writing:

*The following is a translation of this decree:

"Article 1st. In the navigation of the rivers of the republic, foreign vessels of war are excluded.

"2d. The exploration of the rivers of upper Paraguay, which are embraced within the territory of the republic, or of other neighboring states, can not be made through the lower Paraguay, pending the settlement of limits with the neighboring powers, Brazil and Bolivia."

282

STATEMENTS OF LOPEZ.

[TRANSLATION.]

66

ASUNCION, October 21st, 1854.

“MR. THOMAS J. PAGE, Commander of the Water Witch. "In accordance with the conditions of my previous dates of the 29th and 30th* of the past, I return you your note dated the 16th of October in Corrientes, written in English, without accompanying it with a signed translation; astonished that you should persist in your idea of mortifying

me.

(Signed)

"De V. L. atento servidor,

66

JOSÉ FALCON.

When we remember that the Spanish Americans are scrupulously observant of all form and ceremonial in official correspondence, the quo animo which dictated the above note is manifest on its face. It does not concede to the Water Witch her nationality: it is addressed to no particular place, and is not concluded in accordance with diplomatic usage.

Every effort on my part, consistent with a proper consideration of the position I occupied, to effect an exchange of ratification having been made without success, I reported the result to the State Department. After my return home, Colonel Richard Fitzpatrick was deputed Special Commissioner to Paraguay for the same purpose, but failed in the effort.

President Lopez repeats, in his message to the Paraguay Congress of 1857, certain statements relative to the part I took in the "American Company's affair" which he had made in a dispatch to the United States Government, dated October 3d, 1854.

He says, in alluding to passports taken out by the Americans. when they expected to leave in a trading vessel: "Commander Page dashed those passports into the office of the Captain of the Port, saying that Americans had no occasion to carry them."+ I neither saw the passports nor gave any directions about them; and, as far as my memory serves me, I heard nothing of them. If this vulgar and unnecessary exhibition was made by any American it never came to my knowledge, or it would have received a merited rebuke.

Again, the dispatch says: "At the same time he ordered the

*These two I am unable to insert, as they were returned, in retaliation for the treatment my previous notes had received.

"El Commandante Page hizo arrojar esas pasaportes en la Capitania del Puerto, deciendo no las necesitaban para llevar Americanos."