No. 353.
Mr. Riotte to Mr. Fish.
United
States Legation,
Managua, April 27, 1872.
(Received May 31.)
No. 108.]
Sir: I have the honor of acknowledging the
receipt of dispatch No. 70, of the 26th ultimo.
The three in closures will convey to you the distressing news of the
drowning on the 12th instant, upon the bar of the Port of San Juan del
Norte, of Captain Alexander F. Crosman, commanding United States
exploring expedition, together with several of the crew of the steamer
Kansas, and a knowledge of the notes exchanged between myself and this
government on this sad occasion. Complying with my suggestion, the
President at once ordered the government flag to be raised half-mast
together with mine.
You will notice that in Governor Urtecho’s report it is at first stated
that Captain Crosman and seven of the crew were drowned, and afterward,
that the drowned amounted to seven in all. According to private letters
to members of the government, I trust I may assume the smaller number to
be the correct one.
Till this moment I am absolutely without any direct information from
either the United States commercial agent at San Juan del Norte, or from
any member of the commission. Private letters say that its members were
so disheartened by the terrible accident that they deliberated whether
to return or to go on, and that they determined upon continuing, Captain
Hatfield, of the Kansas, taking command.
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The sorrow not alone among the members of the government, but also among
the public here, was sincere, and I was made the recipient of many
visits of condolence.
I have, &c,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
108.—Translation.]
Mr. Rivas to Mr.
Rivotte.
The governor-intendant of San Juan del Norte has, on the 13th
Instant, directed the following dispatch to the minister of
interior, viz:
“I hasten to communicate to you a sad misfortune. Captain Crosman,
commanding the expedition of American engineers, and seven men more
perished yesterday by drowning in crossing the bar of this port,
coming from their ship. As soon as the boat wherein they were coming
upset, a launch from the ship came immediately to their assistance,
which was also swamped, and a third boat dispatched to the same end
had the same fate. Yet, considerably aided by a boat sent off from
shore, the largest number of the men were saved, and but the seven
persons aforementioned perished, whose bodies, though, it has as yet
been impossible to recover.
“Of the engineers, the chief only was lost, the rest of the victims
being of the crew of the vessel.
“So wretched is this day the condition of this port, which, barely
ten years ago, was one of the safest in the world!”
In transmitting to Mr. Riotte (information of) this misfortune, which
perchance might retard the solution of the problem of the
inter-oceanic canal, I beg him to accept on the part of the
President and of the undersigned the expression of their sincere
sympathy.
Private letters state that Captain Chester Hatfield, commander of the
Kansas, appointed as the second chief of the commission, has assumed
its command, and that the work of exploration will be continued.
I am, &c,
[Inclosure 2 in No. 108.]
Mr. Riotte to Mr.
Rivas.
United
States Legation, Nicaragua,
Managua, April 23,
1872.
At this moment I had the honor of receiving your esteemed note of
this day, containing the terrible news of the drowning on the 12th
instant, on the bar of the port of San Juan del Norte, of
Lieutenant-Commander Alexander F. Crosman, United States Navy, chief
of the United States exploring commission, and seven men.
I beg Mr. Minister Rivas to convey to His Excellency the President of
the republic, and to accept for himself, the thanks of the
undersigned for the kind expression of their sincere sympathy.
I deem it proper on this sad occasion to raise to-day the flag over
the legation at half-mast, and I would venture to suggest to this
government, in token of the public sorrow for the untimely death of
these brave men, who perished on a foreign shore in the performance
of a duty, the fruits whereof are destined to redound to such
eminent degree to the benefit of this republic, to issue order that
the same be done with the national flag before the military
quarters. I would also respectfully request that orders be given to
the authorities at the said port, in combination and accord with the
United States commercial agent there, to procure for the bodies as
recovered a decent burial at a proper place.
I avail myself, &c., &c.,
[Inclosure 3 in No.
108.—Translation.]
Mr. Rivas to Mr.
Riotte.
Consequent to the esteemed dispatch of Mr. Minister Riotte, of the
day before yesterday, the necessary orders have been issued to the
end that whenever the body of
[Page 465]
the unfortunate chief of the exploring
commission, and those of the others drowned, on the 12th instant, on
the bar of San Juan del Norte, should be found, they shall be
properly buried, with all consideration due to his rank and to the
circumstances under which they perished.
From the well-known good breeding and the activity of General
Urtecho, governor-intend ant at that port, not less than from the
lively interest he takes in a favorable result of the labors of the
commission, the government doubts not that said chief will have
known to comply with the sacred duties imposed upon him under the
lamentable circumstances by civilization, as well as by the respect
and consideration due by Nicaragua to the people and to the
Government of the United States, by paying due homage to the remains
of those who died while engaged in one of the greatest works of
civilization, the immense benefits whereof must directly reap to the
people of Nicaragua.
In transmitting, &c, &c,
