The newly-appointed Colombian minister to Great Britain has been directed to proceed to Costa Rica on his way to England, and as he is a gentleman of common sense and ability he may be able to arrive at a satisfactory settlement of this vexing boundary question with the Government of Colombia's northern neighbor.

In connection with the subject of this dispatch, it is, perhaps, opportune to bring to your notice that in accordance with a resolution of the Colombian senate, besides claiming, as Colombian, the territory south of a line following the course of the river Golfito from its mouth on the Pacific to its source in the mountains of Las Cruces, and from thence along the crest of said mountains to the source of the river Culebra, and thence along the course of that river to the Atlantic, Colombia also claims the sovereignty over, and ownership of, the territory on the Atlantic coast now comprised within the boundaries and forming the Atlantic littoral of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, extending from the mouth of the river Culebra to Cape Gracias a Dios (in about 15° N. and 83° W.).

As several of the articles of the resolution of the Colombian senate, above referred to, are kept secret, I shall be unable to forward an account thereof until I shall have acquired a knowledge of the whole of it. I am, &c.,

SIR: I transmit herewith, for your confidential information, copies of correspondence had with the Costa Rican foreign minister concerning the recent visit of the Adams to Golfo Dulce.

I am, &c.,

[Inclosure 1 in No. 123.]

WM. M. EVARTS.

Señor Castro to Mr. Evarts.

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA, National Palace, San José, June 10, 1880. MOST EXCELLENT SIR: The steamer Adams, belonging to the Navy of the United States, has entered Golfo Dulce, a port of this republic which is not open to foreign commerce, and the captain of said vessel has engaged in mysterious operations which he says are performed in obedience to orders from his government. This proceeding has attracted the attention of my government.

As it is not possible for us to doubt either the cordial and sincere friendship of your great republic for our own, or its respect for the most elementary and sacred principles of international law, we have been expecting a full explanation of the matter from your excellency's government; inasmuch, however, as the minister resident of the United States in Central America, who was in Nicaragua when the Adams entered the waters of Costa Rica, did not visit this capital, as we expected that he would do, and as no communication has as yet been received in reference to the matter in question, I

deem it my duty to bring the foregoing facts to your excellency's notice, as I hereby do, to the end that a duplicate may be sent of the note which your government has undoubtedly addressed to that of this republic in regard to this matter, and which has been delayed or gone astray.

I beg your excellency to accept, &c.,

JOSE MA CASTRO.

To His Excellency the SECRETARY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS of the United STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 123.]
Mr. Evarts to Señor Castro.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, August 7, 1880.

YOUR EXCELLENCY: I have had the honor to receive your excellency's note of the 10th of June last, wherein you mention the recent visit of the United States steamer Adams to the port of Golfo Dulce, and invite the explanations of this government in regard to that visit.

Your excellency is right in conjecturing that the voyage of the Adams to the waters of Gulfo Dulce, and the incidents which attended that event have already been made the occasion of instructions to the minister resident of the United States accredited to the several Central American republics. In the absence, however, of any representations made or action taken in respect of the Adams or her commanding officer by the local or federal authorities of Costa Rica during her stay in Golfo Dulce, it seemed to me premature to direct Mr. Logan to tender explanations or take other action toward the government you represent, which would imply prejudgment by the United States Government of the questions of disputed boundaries in that region which are understood to have been for some time pending between Costa Rica and the neighboring Republic of Colombia.

With regard to the operations of the Adams in those waters, it affords me great pleasure to state to your excellency, that, neither in her visit nor in the informal reconnaissances made in the vicinity during her brief stay, was there any intention of performing any act which could be regarded as affecting the just sensibilities of a power with which the United States maintain close relations of cordial friendship; and that in taking avail of the shelter afforded by the open roadstead and anchorage of a friendly state, it was not presumed that the hospitality thus sought, being of a character common in the intercourse of nations and one which the United States themselves would not question in respect of a foreign vessel of war resorting under a friendly flag to their own shores, would be qualified by mere technical or commercial considerations founded on the existence or non-existence of a port of entry and trade in the neighborhood.

It is, however, a source of sincere regret to the President that the incident should have given rise to any misconceptions on the part of a people to whom we are allied by so many and strong ties of traditional friendship, kindred interests, and similar free institutions; and I am confident that the friendly relations which it has been always the pleasure and the duty of the Government of the United States to maintain and strengthen between this country and the republics of this continent, and especially with Costa Rica, will find in this occurrence no motive for questioning the absolute good-will and sincerity of either towards the other.

It is possible that this government may have been misinformed as to the waters visited by the Adams, in regard to the inhabited settlements in their vicinity, or the local presence of official representation on their shores. In order, therefore, that any inattention, however inadvertently, to the rights or claims of Costa Rica may not again occur, this government would desire information of the geographical boundary between the Republic of Costa Rica and the United States of Colombia, as well as some designation of the local authorities of Costa Rica exercising jurisdiction in that region.

Had the representative of Costa Rica in the United States been here at the time, I would doubtless have availed myself of an early occasion to become acquainted with the views of your excellency's government in this relation. As it is, however, and in view of the opportunity which your excellency's esteemed communication affords me for the proper presentation of such an inquiry, I have instructed the minister resident of the United States accredited to Costa Rica, in transmitting this reply to your excellency's note of the 10th of June last, to seek such information as your excellency may be disposed to furnish on these points.

I avail myself, &c.,

His Excellency Señor Don JOSÉ MARÍA CASTRO,

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Costa Rica.

WM. M. EVARTS.

No. 198.]

No. 209.

Mr. Dichman to Mr. Evarts.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Bogotá, August 16, 1880. (Received September 28.) SIR: Immediately upon the receipt of your No. 115, of the 7th of June last, relating to the unfriendly action of the president of the State of Panama towards the United States vessels Adams and Kearsarge, I brought the contents thereof informally to the notice of President Nuñez, with whom I had an extended conference in relation to the matter, in the course of which I endeavored to impress him fully with the gravity of the occurrence, and also intimated to him, politely, but firmly, that, in addition to whatever explanations his government might be able to offer, the readiest manner in which your just complaints could be satisfied would be by a frank disavowal of the act of the Panama executive.

As soon after this conference as the same could be prepared, I addressed an official note to the secretary of foreign relations, a copy of which I beg to inclose, and in both the language and substance of which I trust you will find a correct interpretation of and a strict compliance with your instructions upon this subject.

You will also please find inclosed a copy and translation of the answer of the secretary of foreign relations, in which, after some introductory remarks, being a recital of the substance of my note just mentioned, he enters upon a lengthy explanation of the unfriendly act in question by attributing the chief blame for the same to the imperfect transmission by the telegraph of the orders from the government at Bogota to the president of Panama. He also states that the orders in question were discretionary; and as the Panama executive saw fit to act without exercising any discretion, his action is distinctly disapproved. After communicating the steps taken by his government to prevent a recurrence of any similar action, or any other cause of complaint in the State of Panama, the note of the secretary of foreign relations concludes with expressions of friendly considerations for the United States.

I am, &c.,

[Inclosure 1 in No. 198.]

Mr. Dichman to Señor Rico.

ERNEST DICHMAN.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Bogotá, July 31, 1880.

SIR: In recent dispatches from my Government, I am instructed to make earnest representations to the Government of the United States of Colombia concerning the arbitrary act of the president of the State of Panama in abruptly ordering a cessation of the friendly operations of the United States war vessel Kearsarge in the waters of the Bay of Chiriqui and the immediate withdrawal of the United States war vessel Adams from the Gulf of Dulce, and to inform you that this precipitate and inconsidcrate act of the Panama executive is considered at Washington as an unfriendly and discourteous act towards the United States, the gravity of which is augmented by the fact that on the 6th day of last May, only six days previous to the date of his extraordinary communication to the consuls of the United States at Panama and Aspinwall, conveying to them the orders above referred to, the president of the State of Panama had been informed by me that as soon as the orders given by the Navy Department of the United States could reach the two vessels above mentioned they would cease their operations and proceed on other duty, and that upon this assurance

on my part freely given in order to allay what seemed to me groundless disquietude on his part, he expressed himself fully satisfied and agreed with me not to take any further steps in the premises.

As you are undoubtedly in possession of a copy of this singular communication of the president of the State of Panama to the consuls of the United States at the Isthmus, I shall take the liberty of observing in connection therewith that if, previous to venturing upon a step of such gravity, the Panama executive had only taken the trouble of informing himself correctly as to the status of the two ships in question, he would have learned that on the 12th day of last May-the date of his communicationthe Kearsarge, having completed her errand, had ceased her friendly operations in the Bay of Chiriqui and was about to quit Las Bocas del Toro, under the orders of the Navy Department given some time previously; and that on the 8th day of last May, being four days previous to the date of his communication, the Adams was anchored at Punta Arenas, being in the waters of the friendly and neighboring Republic of Costa Rica, the government of which, in pleasant contrast to the unfriendly disposition manifested by that of Panama, not only expressed itself very much gratified at the visit of the ship, but also supplied her with coal, and extended such courtesies to her officers as were in its power.

Irrespective of many other considerations which will readily occur to you, I am sure that upon learning these facts you cannot but experience a feeling of regret that, for at least the want of ordinary prudence, not to characterize it by any more appropriate name, and governed by influences, perhaps, difficult to understand, but in which I am confident the Federal Government of Colombia has no part, the Panama executive should have hastened into the commission of an act which, in addition to constituting an affront to the United States, was entirely gratuitous, being devoid of any basis of fact which might be pleaded in explanation.

It is, of course, unnecessary to state for your information that, in conformity with international usage and courtesy, the ports and harbors of friendly nations, whether open to commerce or not, are at all times free to the national vessels of a power with which relations of peace and good-will prevail, for even if this international usage did not obtain the relations of friendship which have always been maintained between the United States of America and of Colombia, and the treaty stipulations in force between the two countries, constituting them in a certain sense allies, would rebut the presumption that the Federal Government of Colombia, which in its intercourse with that of the United States has always given expression to its considerate and amicable purposes, could allow its cool judgment to be influenced by unfounded popular clamor to such an extent as to close any of its ports to the national vessels of the United States.

In bringing this cause of complaint of the Government of the United States to your notice, I need not assure you that instead of its being conceived in a spirit of querulons indignation it is prompted by the hope that by disavowing the ill-judged and inconsiderate action of the president of the State of Panama, or by explaining the same in such a manner as to relieve it of the unfortunate aspect of unfriendliness which it now bears, the Government of Colombia will remove the variance existing between the apparently unfriendly act of one of its local officers in the State of Panama and the expressions of sincere friendship and thoughful consideration professed in its name by its minister at Washington towards the Government of the United States, and which, I am happy to state, are reciprocated to the fullest extent by that government, which cannot bring itself to entertain the thought that the Government of Colombia would give utterance to sentiments of sincere friendship and thoughtful consideration towards the United States through its ministers at Washington, and thus maintain the appearance of amicable relations while prescribing a contrary line of conduct to be observed by its local officers in Colombia.

With the assurances, &c.,

[Inclosure 2 in No. 198. Translation.]

Señor Rico to Mr. Dichman.

ERNEST DICHMAN.

UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, Bogotá, August 11, 1880.

MR. MINISTER: I have been duly impressed with the note of your honor dated the 31st of July last.

In it your honor informs me that in compliance with recent dispatches from your 'government you are instructed to make earnest representation to the Government of Colombia concerning the arbitrary act of the president of the State of Panama in

abruptly ordering a cessation of the friendly operations of the man-of-war Kearsarge, of the Navy of the United States, in the waters of the Bay of Chiriqui, and the withdrawal of the Adams of the same Navy from the Gulf of Dulce, and to inform me that this precipitate and inconsiderate action or the Panama executive is considered at Washington as wanting in friendship and even discourteous towards the United States, and that the gravity of this act is augmented by the fact that on the 6th of May last, only six days prior to the date of the communication of the president of the State of Panama to the United States consuls at Panama and Colon, in which said orders were conveyed to them, that functionary had been informed by your honor that so soon as the orders from the Navy Department of the United States could reach them, said vessels, they would cease their operations and proceed upon other duty, and that upon receiving these assurances on the part of your honor, assurances freely given for the purpose of calming what seemed to your honor unfounded disquietude, he expressed himself fully satisfied, and agreed with your honor that he would not take any further steps in the matter.

In this incident lamentable mistakes have occurred. In the first place, the order of the national executive, concerning the vessels Kearsarge and Adams, to the Govern ment of Panama was altered in the course of transmission by the telegraph, which will not surprise your honor, as you are well acquainted with the difficulties to which telegraphic communication in this country is subjected, this being due to the inexperience of the operators, to the fact that the line from this capital to the Pacific runs in part through an uninhabited country, and to the difficulties caused by nature. The order referred to above said that in the Gulf of Dulce were not even ports open to commerce. Suppressing, as was the case, the words "not even," the entire sense of the phrase is changed.

As your honor will readily understand, it was not intended to be understood that the vessels of war of friendly nations had no right to visit, for innocent purposes, ports not open to commerce. The words "not even," omitted in the telegram, as it was received at Panama, referred to the fact that in the Gulf of Dulce were not eren national or State officers to observe and aid, if necessary, the operations which it was said the Adams was carrying on; operations, the importance of which had been increased by the force of circumstances, placed the State of Panama and the whole republic in alarm.

Moreover, the orders given to the Government of Panama were entirely conditional; that is to say, they were only to be complied with under the supposition that the information was correct, which reached the Federal Government from different quarters, concerning the objects which had brought said vessels of the United States Navy to Chiriqui and the Gulf of Dulce, and if the Government of Panama gave the orders another interpretation it was solely owing to the excitement caused by the presence of said vessels in the waters just mentioned, an excitement carried to the highest pitch by the news telegraphed to Panama from New York concerning the purposes of said expedition. To which may be added that the note which the Colombian representative at Washington addressed to the Hon. Mr. Evarts, under date of February 13, was not answered for a month afterwards; and, as in this note explanations were solicited touching the news published by the daily journals of New York about the sending of the vessels mentioned above to the State of Panama, it was natural that this silence should induce the thought that the objects attributed to them were correct.

Although the circumstances giving rise to the facts which have caused such a bad impression with the government at Washington, and which have pained the Government of Colombia, might be sufficient to excuse them, and to diminish the qualifications which the government at Washington has given to them, as appears from the note of your honor, the Executive, for the purpose of fully satisfying the Government of the United States, has ordered me to say to your honor that the steps taken by the Government of Panama, by reason of the latitude given to the above-mentioned orders, have not been approved by him, and that the necessary measures have been taken in order that in future the relations between this government and that of the United States will meet with particular care in the entire republic, and more especially in the State of Panama, for such is the wish and the convenience of the Government and people of Colombia.

With this object there has just been stationed there a considerable veteran force. commanded by distinguished officers, and the federal offices in the same State have been filled with citizens of high character, charged particularly to preserve peace, maintain the free transit across the Isthmus, and protect foreign interests.

I do not entertain the least doubt but what the aforegoing free explanations and the measures adopted by the Executive, in order to prevent a recurrence of cases similar to the one which has given rise to this answer on the part of high officials of the State of Panama, will satisfy completely the government of your honor. Nor do I hesitate in assuring your honor that my government desires nothing so much as to maintain the relations of sincere and profitable friendship which have always existe l between the two countries, relations which are destined to increase in importance day by day, and which it would be lamentable to see interrupted even for a short time.