Skilton , United States Consul-General, Mexico to P. S. Mr. Kastan this moment hands me a communication addressed to him by General Vicente Jimenez, dated April 25, 1877, but given to him to-day only, advising him that he had given orders to the proper authorities to place him in possession of his property which had been seized. Without the presence of the admiral, and a gentle pressure on them by him, nothing ever would have been done by them toward the settlement of the matter, May 13, 1877

Mr. Sutter to Mr. Skilton.

Dear Sir: Confirming to you my respects to 46, of April 26 ultimo, with press copies, and a communication from Mazatlan, and my private letter of April 30, with inclosure for Mr. Bonilla, I now beg to advise you that Admiral Alexander Murray arrived here in the Pensacola on the 1st instant, and that the United States steamer Lackawanna arrived on the 2d instant. The Mexican gunboat Mexico arrived from the port of Papanoa with Commissioner Zenteno and General Rafael Jimenez, the son of General Vicente Jimenez, on board.

When the admiral inquired into my affairs, in an unofficial visit he paid to the authorities here, he was told that I was free; that they had nothing against me; that Mr. Kastan had never been molested much; that only a little grass had been taken away from him, for which they were willing to pay, &c.

The admiral thought they were very polite and kind, and on the 5th, at their request, sent the band on shore and assisted unofficially, not in uniform, at their celebration of the anniversary of the battle of Peubla. But as soon as they complained to him that the consulate was closed, and that I had hoisted no flag in honor of the day, the admiral then told them that they must at once settle my case, and, for the insult offered to the consulate, fire on the day following, in front of the consulate, a salute of seven guns.

It appears that they at once acceded to this request, with the condition that I should hoist the flag for the rest of the day.

The admiral advised me of the arrangement, and in compliance therewith I at once (2 p.m.) hoisted the flag. On the 6th the military commander offered to fire the salute at 9 a.m., but I sent him word that I could not accept it as long as the case before the court was not decided, and as long as I actually was a prisoner, merely released with bond on a surgeon’s certificate of ill-health.

Another interview then took place on board the Pensacola between the admiral and the authorities of Acapulco, at which I assisted, and, after many subterfuges and evasive replies on their part, they again promised that my case, which after the delivery of my defense to the judge still remained in statu quo, should be decided and sentence pronounced on the day following, and that then, after this, the salute should be fired.

On the 7th, Mr. Zenteno, the commissioner from Mexico, called on me early in the day, trying to arrange matters, overwhelmingly polite, and assured me that he would do all he could in an officious manner to prevail upon the judge to render a just sentence, which no doubt would be favorable to me, and that, also, he was willing to have an interview with Mr. Kastan at once, and commence the preliminaries for a settlement of damages suffered by Mr. Kastan at the hands of Jimenez, throwing the blame of all the unpleasant occurrence at Acapulco, and in the State of Guerrero in general, on Mr. Condes de la Torre, &c.

On the 8th nothing was done in my case. Mr. Kastan had an interview with Mr. Zenteno, the result of which was an account for damages suffered, made out by Mr. Kastan, and presented to Mr. Zenteno for his perusal.

The claims made by Mr. Kastan are not exorbitant, and quite reasonable.

On the 9th, finally, I was notified by the judge to appear with my bondsman, and the final sentence, admitting I had acted only in self-defense, and exonerating me from all blame, was communicated to me and the bonds canceled. I inclose copy of the sentence. You will perceive that it is dated April 18, but a note was made in the “causa” that, on account of the present abnormal state of affairs, the sentence was communicated to me only now. I should like to know what it has to do with it.

After the sentence had been communicated to me, Mr. Zenteno paid me another visit, congratulating me, &c., and asked me if they could not fire the salute in the fort, alleging that their soldiers were so ragged. I replied to him the admiral was the only person to decide the matter, and that I would lay it before him at once. I repaired immediately on board the Pensacola, and informed the admiral of what was going on. (The admiral on arrival had already saluted the Mexican flag, and the Mexicans had returned his national salute of 21 guns with hut 15. They had been then by me apprised they must fire another salute of 21 guns, and had to do so.) The admiral resolved they must fire a consular salute of seven guns in front of the consulate, or a national salute of 21 guns from the fort; that at the first gun I must hoist the flag, and that he would run up the Mexican colors j all of which I communicated to Mr. Zenteno, and finally the salute was fired in front of the consulate on the 10th of May at 4 p.m. Two Mexican officials appeared at the consulate; also the Americans residing at Acapuleo, and some officers of the war-vessels in port. Some wine was drank, and short toasts of the usual form were made, and the matter closed.

Half an hour after, the admiral accompanied by Captain Irwin of the Pensacola and Captain McCann of the Lackawanna, and his staff, all in full uniform, came to the consulate, and then we paid a formal official visit to General Rafael Jimenez. A short speech was made by the admiral, and very politely replied to by General Jimenez.

On the 11th, at 11 a.m., General Jimenez, accompanied by Mexican naval and army officers, and by me, called upon the admiral, who had ordered the ship ready for inspection, and led the general all over the ship, which really looked very fine, and must have impressed the visitors quite favorably. A salute of thirteen guns was fired in honor of the general, and the Mexican flag run up as he left the ship.

The admiral certainly deserves great credit for the polite, diplomatic, but firm way by which he obtained the desired end.

The admiral left yesterday with his ship on his way to San Bias and Mazatlan, leaving the Lackawanna, Captain McCann, here for our protection. At the instance of Mr. Zenteno, Kastan agreed to have the losses sustained by him, in connection with his ginning establishment, agreed upon by arbitrators, One to be appointed by each party. The arbitrators so appointed yesterday appraised said damages at $11,500. The bills for “Hacienda de San Márcos,” “La Providencia,” and horned cattle stolen will follow next week.

Still it appears that Mr. Zenteno does not show himself quite as willing to arrange matters quick, since the admiral’s departure, but he might find himself mistaken in Captain McCann, should he attempt to play truant. As he says he has no authority to issue orders on the custom-house for damages awarded, I shall have to apply to you and to Mr. Foster for orders on the custom-house ac Acapuleo or Mazatlan and Manzanillo.

Our situation here is very bad. General Jimenez (father), after having met severe losses at the hands of General Alvarez in the encounters at San Geronimo on April 28 and May 5, is now intrenched with some three hundred men, the remainder of his troops, at a rancho called San Bartolo, on the sea beach some five leagues from San Gerónirao, surrounded by an overwhelming force of General Alvarez, who has again control of the entire State, except Acapulco, and, as far as I can learn from Jimenez and his officials, through his arbitrary and cruel acts brought the entire State to exasperation and compelled the people to defend their own against oppression. He will have to surrender or be killed in the next attack, which now may take place any day. Acapulco is held by about one hundred men only, (most having deserted), under command of General Rafael Jimenez and Colonel Vicente Sanchez, protected by the gunboat Mexico, to which the principal chiefs will have to retire in case of an attack of the Alvarez troops, holding all of the roads as far as the toll-gates, as well as the mountains around Acapulco, the beaches in the eastern part of the bay, Marque’s Bay, without letting any pass into town. Fresh provisions are getting very scarce, as very little of anything was in town when the siege commenced. Should the siege continue another week, no beef or corn, &c., will be in the market. Fruit, fowls, eggs, &c., vegetables, we have not had for a week. Should anything of importance take place before the departure of Vicente Lopez, the bearer of the present, I shall not fail to acquaint you with it.

Your obedient servant,