Bassett to Certified copy: DENIS, December 8, 1871

No. 208. Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish.

Sir: I have the honor, in again referring to the case of the steamer Hornet, to state that the Spanish frigate Zaragoza, carrying twenty-one guns and four hundred and fifty men, accompanied by the Spanish gunboat Pizarro, carrying six guns and one hundred and sixty-five men, came into this bay and cast anchor in ready proximity to the Spanish gunboat Churruca, already here, on the 21st ultimo. It is scarcely necessary to observe that this presence of a Spanish squadron in the harbor of the capital of Hayti so soon after the rash ultimatum had been offered by the Spanish representative, Señor Oliveira, to the Haytian government in regard to the case of the Hornet, produced marked anxiety and alarm in all circles here, and had a visible effect upon business transactions. It seemed to be, in fact, generally apprehended that this array of Spanish force in the harbor of Port au Prince at this time and under the circumstances, could have been made only for the purpose of enforcing upon the Haytian government the alternative of accepting the responsibility of indemnifying Spain for all damages said to have been or which may be committed against its interests in Cuba by the Hornet. At a conference held at his request between him and myself on the 22d ultimo, the minister of foreign affairs, manifesting much uneasiness, seemed to partake of this apprehension, and said he had sent for me to ask my advice. The Haytian man-of-war La Terreur having just come into port for coal and provisions, expecting to return shortly to the south, where the President still is, the minister asked me if I would advise him to dispatch the Terreur at once for the President and the three ministers of state with him. “What can I do!” said he to me. “What do you think! What would you advise!” I told him I could not advise him about sending the Terreur for the President; but I ventured to intimate to him that in my judgment no safe and honorable course was open to his government other than to conserve its neutrality in the case of the Hornet, and stand firmly by the position which it had already taken and which seemed to me to be in fair conformity with the principles of international law.

The anxiety and alarm were increased from the fact that the Spanish officials held no intercourse with the shore until the third day after their arrival, when Senor Oliveira sent to the minister a dispatch quite remarkable in its character. The dispatch (see inclosure A, minister’s note conveying to me the substance of this dispatch) stated that the commander of the Spanish squadron had addressed him (Señor Oliveira) a note inquiring whether the government would guarantee that the Spanish representative would be, as it was charged in this note he had not always been, properly respected by the populace if he were to return to the city from the Churruca and resume the duties of his office. This dispatch was the first communication that Señor Oliveira had held with the Haytian government since he addressed to the minister, October 4, the ultimatum already referred to. The minister at once responded that there was no doubt but that all due respect would be shown by everybody here to the Spanish representative.

Still it seemed singular that a Spanish squadron should be sent here simply to inquire about Senor Oliveira’s standing with the populace; and most persons thought that the Spanish commander must have come on some mission touching the Hornet affair. All conjecture was soon removed by a dispatch sent on the 29th ultimo to the minister, by Señor Oliveira. This dispatch covered one from the commander of the squadron, making the extraordinary demand that the Haytian government should assume the responsibility of preventing the Hornet from leaving this port, and to this end, that it should dismantle her and hold in charge certain of her essential equipage, a demand which he declared to be conformable in every particular to his instructions. The minister, in a formal interview with the Spanish officials, declined to accede to this demand unless it should be mutually agreed to between them and myself. He requested an audience with me the next day for the purpose of conferring with me on the subject. I, of course, declined to enter into any arrangement of the kind. And on the 4th instant he embodied in a dispatch, (see Inclosure B,) which covered a certified copy of Señor Oliveira’s, (see Inclosure C,) what he had already conveyed to me at our conference. I promptly replied, (see Inclosure D,) formally declining to entertain the proposition to dismantle the Hornet, denying the right of any foreign government to take such action as that which was indicated in Senor Oliveira’s dispatch against any vessel of the United States which lawfully carries the American flag, and telling him that, in my judgment, the general position which his government had assumed, to conserve its neutrality in this case, was substantially in accord with the requirements of public law.

The minister told me that he had embodied my dispatch in his reply to Senor Oliveira, from whom, however, no farther communication has thus far been received. The Spanish frigate Zaragoza and the gun-boat Ohurruca are yet here, and Senor Oliveira still remains on board the latter. The Pizarro has left these waters to bear, it is said, dispatches from the consul and the squadron to the captain-general of Cuba.

I am, &c.,