of 260 officers and men, attacked
and captured the post of Serapaqui, garrisoned, according to the British
statements, by about 200 soldiers, after a sharp action of one hour and
forty minutes.

On the 7th day of March, 1848, articles of agreement were concluded by
Captain Locke, on the part of Great Britain, with the commissioners of
the State of Nicaragua in the island of Cuba, in the Lake of Nicaragua,
a copy of which will be found in the correspondence relating to the
Mosquito Territory presented to and published by the House of Commons of
Great Britain on the 3d day of July, 1848, herewith submitted. A copy of
the same document will also be found accompanying the note of the
minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua to the Secretary of State of
the United States under date the 17th March, 1848.

By the third article of the agreement it is provided that Nicaragua
"shall not disturb the inhabitants of San Juan, understanding that any
such act will be considered by Great Britain as a declaration of open
hostilities." By the sixth article it is provided that these articles of
agreement will not "hinder Nicaragua from soliciting by means of a
commissioner to Her Britannic Majesty a final arrangement of these
affairs."

The communication from Senor Sebastian Salinas, the secretary of foreign
affairs of the State of Nicaragua, to Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of
State of the United States, dated 17th March, 1848, a translation of
which is herewith submitted, recites the aggressions of Great Britain
and the seizure of a part of the Nicaraguan territory in the name of the
Mosquito King. No answer appears to have been given to this letter.

On the 28th day of October, 1847, Joseph W. Livingston was appointed by
this Government consul of the United States for the port of San Juan de
Nicaragua. On the 16th day of December, 1847, after having received his
exequatur from the Nicaraguan Government, he addressed a letter to Mr.
Buchanan, Secretary of State, a copy of which is herewith submitted,
representing that he had been informed that the English Government would
take possession of San Juan de Nicaragua in January, 1848.

In another letter, dated the 8th of April, 1848, Mr. Livingston states
that "at the request of the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua
he transmits a package of papers containing the correspondence relative
to the occupation of the port of San Juan by British forces in the name
of the Mosquito nation