No. 237.
Mr. Baxter to Mr. Fish.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sept. 6, 1872. (Received Oct. 8.)
Sir: My courier that I dispatched from Amapala, on the 10th of last month, only returned on Monday last, the 2d instant, having been twenty-three days absent. On his way down to the coast he was taken prisoner by the Indians and kept for four or five days a prisoner; his money, arms, &c, taken from him; my correspondence, however, was not taken. On his return he made a great circuit, traveling nights in dangerous localities, and succeeded in getting through as stated. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 40. As I stated in my dispatch No. 61, of August 10th, President Medina was reported to have been taken prisoner, and this proved to be true, and he arrived at Comayagua on the 9th of August, where he is still held a prisoner by the provisional government. General Juan Antonio Medina, whom I reported in my last as having declared himself provisional President, has been driven from the country, and is reported to have made his escape to Salvador, and now held a prisoner there. The provisional government of Celo Urias would appear to have now very little opposition, and in a fair way to be permanently established. It is now proposed by those in authority to bring President Medina before the first congress that shall be convened, for trial under the charges that may be brought against him. Of what nature these charges may be I have no information.
I received on the 31st ultimo, from William J. Bain, esq., agent for the second and third sections of the Interoceanic Railway, a communication dated August 29th, stating that he had received instructions, by last mail from England, to hand over at once all plans, &c, to the government of Honduras, and to proceed at once to England with all the staff of the railway. This would seem for the present to put an end to the prospects of the Interoceanic Railway in Honduras, especially as the bonds of the railway by last mail were reported under 40, when the same had previously been at 80 and over.
I have, &c,