MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether, since the occupation of the Island of Trinidad, ordered by the late Government, it has transpired that, this same island had previously been occupied in 1782 by Great, Britain; and that, on the representation of the Government of Brazil, it was subsequently restored to that country, whose sovereignty was then recognised; whether any record of that transaction exists in the Foreign Office; and upon what 229 ground Her Majesty's Government have proposed to the Brazilian Government to resort to arbitration?
MR. CURZONThe Island of Trinidad was occupied by Great Britain in 1781, and was evacuated in 1782 upon representations made, not by the Government of Brazil, which had not at that time an independent existence, but by the Government of Portugal. The records of the transactions are in the archives of the Public Departments. The island was occupied by the late Government, not on the ground of its previous occupation by Great Britain in 1781, but on the ground that, having been abandoned for a century, it belonged to no one. Her Majesty's Government have proposed arbitration to the Brazilian Government as, in their opinion, the best solution of the difficulty.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESWas the sovereignty of Portugal recognised by this country in 1782 over the island?
MR. CURZONThat is an. inference which may be drawn from the action of the Government of 1782, but I cannot say what their motives were.