§ SIR JOHN SIMONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether 381 any information had been received at the Colonial Office respecting the conduct of certain Spanish men-of-war off the coast of Jamaica in boarding vessels off British waters, and in one instance sending armed men on board a vessel taking in cargo within a hundred yards from the shore, and in another actually landing armed men at the port of St. Anne, under the pretext of searching for Cuban insurgents; and what steps are to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such gross breaches of International Law?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)The Governor of Jamaica has reported that the boats of a Spanish gunboat have boarded British vessels in British waters off the Northern Coast of Jamaica, and that the crews have occasionally landed on the Island with arms. The Governor had, on receiving this intelligence, informed the Spanish Consul at Kingston that such proceedings could not be permitted, and the captain of the Spanish gunboat had been similarly warned by the Commander of Her Majesty's ship Goshawk. The Spanish gunboat had left the North side of the Island and gone to Kingston, and the Governor did not anticipate any repetition of the acts complained of.