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 The Black Warrior Affair 285 that it was not until the following day that the consignee was ready to present the formal petition which was required. A few davs later, Tyng had a conference with the governor-general, who re- ports it in his despatches to Washington and Madrid in these words •} ... the consignee called upon me, openly confessing their [Captain Bullock's and Tyng's] fault, attributing it to their ignorance, and re- questing of me as an act of clemency that no higher duties be exacted than those paid by every boat having cargo manifested as in transitu; but I did not consider it proper to accede to this request out of respect for the law and the national dignity and for the additional reason that, as judicial proceedings had been instituted, it was not in my power to take the step suggested, and furthermore and chiefly because, bearing in mind the circumstances that a sheet of [special] instructions together with a [complete] copy (in English) of the same had been placed in the hands of the captain, a plea of ignorance of customs and language could not be entertained. Roca's statement was made some four and one-half months after February 28, and much had occurred during that interval to stir the Spanish administration to a realization of the gravity of the inter- national situation. Bearing in mind the advice that (if we are to believe the affidavit of June 17) was given to Tyng by Roca, the following extract quoted from a letter ^ written by the same official a few minutes after the visit of Tyng, and in reply to a note ad- dressed to him by the captain-general, is interesting : " Therefore, I have given orders to the ' Comandante de Carabineros ' to begin the unloading of the effects that have been confiscated, and to store them in the warehouses of Casa Blanca, charging him especially and repeatedly to use all moderation in everything." The date of this order is not doubtful : " This is all that I am able to say to Your Excellency in reply to your official note of to-day which I just at this moment received, which is four o'clock in the afternoon. . . . Havana, February 28, 1854. Your Excellency, Joaqn. Roca." If Tyng still had several hours at his disposal during which he could bring the ship's papers into conformity with the law (as the above affidavit would indicate), the immediate seizure of the property by the collector was absolutely without any moral or legal justification, an outrage committed against the property of American citizens, aggravated by the viaJa fides of the collector of the port who issued the order of detention and confiscation. Pezuela-^ advises Cueto, the Spanish minister at Washington, on the twentieth of the following June that the means indicated by ' Pezuela to Calderon and Magallon, March 7, 1854. 2 Roca to Pezuela, February 28, 1854. 3 Pezuela to Cueto, June 20. 1854 (rough draft).