Fishermen by the above-mentioned convention of October 20, 1818, of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabitants of the United States shall have, in common with the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea-coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbors, and creeks of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, and of the several islands thereunto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the coasts and shores of those colonies and the islands thereof, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in the peaceable use of any part of the said coast in their occupancy for the same purpose.

It is understood that the above-mentioned liberty applies solely to the sea-fishery, and that the salmon and shad fisheries, and all fisheries in rivers and the mouths of rivers, are hereby reserved exclusively for British fishermen."

The remainder of this article provides for the appointment of commissioners to settle disputes, and for an umpire in case of the disagreement of the commissioners.

ARTICLE II.-(Rights of British subjects in American fisheries.) British subjects to have similar rights in fisheries on the eastern coast of the United States, north of the 36th degree of north latitude.

ARTICLE III. (Reciprocal free-trade in certain articles.)-" It is agreed that the articles enumerated in the schedule hereunto annexed, being the growth and produce of the aforesaid British colonies or of the United States, shall be admitted into each country respectively free of duty: Grain, flour, and breadstuffs, of all kinds; animals of all kinds; fresh, smoked, and salted meats; cotton-wool, seeds, and vegetables; undried fruits dried fruits, fish of all kinds; products of fish, and of all other creatures living in the water; poultry, eggs; hides, furs, skins, or tails, undressed; stone or marble, in its crude or unwrought state; slate; butter, cheese, tallow; lard, horns, manures; ores of metals, of all kinds; coal; pitch, tar, turpentine, ashes; timber and lumber of all kinds, round, hewed, and sawed, un

manufactured in whole or in part; firewood; plants, shrubs, and trees; pelts, wool; fish-oil; rice, broom-corn, and bark; gypsum, ground or unground; hewn, or wrought, or unwrought burr or grindstones; dyestuffs; flax, hemp, and tow, unmanufactured; unmanufactured tobacco, rags."

ARTICLE IV.-The citizens of the United States are to have the right to navigate the River St. Lawrence and the Canadian canals communicating with the Great Lakes; and British subjects are to have the right to navigate Lake Michigan.

Maine lumber going down the St. John River is not to be subject to export duty, if shipped to the United States.

ARTICLE. V.-(Conditions on which the treaty shall take effect―Duration.)—The treaty is to go into effect when the British and Canadian parliaments and the Congress of the United States shall have passed the necessary laws.

The treaty is to remain in force for ten years, and further until the expiration of twelve months after either party shall give notice of a wish to terminate the same.

ARTICLE VI. The provisions of this treaty may be extended to the island of Newfoundland.

ARTICLE VII. (Ratifications.) - Ratifications to be exchanged within six months.

Signed by

W. L. MARCY.

ELGIN & KINCARDINE.

GREAT BRITAIN, 1862.

TREATY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE.

Concluded at Washington April 7, 1862. Ratifications exchanged at London, May 20, 1862. Proclaimed June 7, 1862.

"THE United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous to render more effectual the means hitherto adopted for the suppression of the slave trade carried on upon the coast of Africa, have deemed it expedient to conclude a treaty for that purpose."

ARTICLE I. (Search of vessels engaged in the slave-trade.)"The two high contracting parties mutually consent that those ships of their respective navies which shall be provided with special instruction for that purpose, as hereinafter mentioned, may visit such merchant vessels of the two nations as may, upon reasonable grounds, be suspected of being engaged in the African slave-trade, or of having been fitted out for that purpose; or of having, during the voyage on which they are met by the said cruisers, been engaged in the African slavetrade, contrary to the provisions of this treaty; and that such cruisers may detain, or send or carry away, such vessels, in order that they may be brought to trial in the manner hereinafter agreed upon.

"In order to fix the reciprocal right of search in such a manner as shall be adapted to the attainment of the object of this treaty, and at the same time avoid doubts, disputes, and complaints, the said right of search shall be understood in the manner and according to the rules following:

"First. It shall never be exercised except by vessels of war, authorized expressly for that object, according to the stipulations of this treaty.

"Secondly. The right of search shall in no case be exercised with respect to a vessel of the navy of either of the two Powers, but shall be exercised only as regards merchant vessels; and it shall not be exercised by a vessel of war of either contracting party within the limits of a settlement or port, nor within the territorial waters of the other party.

Thirdly. Whenever a merchant vessel is searched by a ship of war, the commander of the said ship shall, in the act of so doing, exhibit to the commander of the merchant vessel the special instructions by which he is duly authorized to search;

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Fourthly. The reciprocal right of search and detention shall be exercised only within the distance of two hundred miles from the coast of Africa, and to the southward of the thirtysecond parallel of north latitude, and within thirty leagues from the coast of the island of Cuba."

ARTICLES II. and III. provide for modes of procedure, and indemnity for losses by wrongful detention of vessels.

ARTICLE VI.-(Establishment of mixed courts.)—" In order to

bring to adjudication with as little delay and inconvenience as possible the vessels which may be detained according to the tenor of the first article of this treaty, there shall be established, as soon as may be practicable, three mixed courts of justice, formed of an equal number of individuals of the two nations, named for this purpose by their respective Governments. These courts shall reside, one at Sierre Leone, one at the Cape of Good Hope, and one at New York.

"But each of the two high contracting parties reserves to itself the right of changing, at its pleasure, the place of residence of the court or courts held within its own territories.

"These courts shall judge the causes submitted to them according to the provisions of the present treaty, and according to the regulations and instructions which are annexed to the present treaty, and which are considered an integral part thereof; and there shall be no appeal from their decision.”

ARTICLE V.-Reparation for wrongful acts of officers. ARTICLE VI.-Merchant vessels may be detained if they have on board certain things specified in this article.

ARTICLES VII. to XI. deal with minor matters of detail. ARTICLE XII.-(Ratification and duration.)-Ratifications to be exchanged within six months. The treaty is to continue in force for ten years, and thereafter until one year after notice to terminate it.

Signed by,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
LYONS.1

1 There are two annexes to this convention of same date. The first (A) furnish instructions to the United States and British navies engaged in preventing the slave-trade. The second (B) fixes the regulations for the mixed courts of justice. As to the composition of the courts, each of the contracting parties is to name one judge and one arbitrator who shall be authorized to hear and to decide, without appeal, all cases of capture, etc.

By an additional article, the right of search is extended to the following places within thirty leagues of the islands of Madagascar, Porto Rico, and San Domingo.

:

By an additional convention, concluded June 3, 1870, the mixed courts were discontinued, and the jurisdiction exercised by them was transferred to the respective courts of the two countries, with right of appeal as in other maritime cases.

GREAT BRITAIN, 1863.

TREATY FOR THE FINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE CLAIMS OF THE HUDSON'S BAY AND PUGET'S SOUND AGRICULTURAL COMPANIES, JULY 1, 1863.

It was provided by the 3d and 4th articles of the treaty of 1846, that compensation should be made to these companies for any lands or property belonging to them if for any reason they should be appropriated to the use of the United States. This having taken place to some extent, the question was adjusted by this convention.

Under this agreement, the sum of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars was awarded to the Hudson's Bay Company, and two hundred thousand dollars to the Puget's Sound Company.

GREAT BRITAIN, 1871.

TREATY RELATIVE TO CLAIMS, FISHERIES, NAVIGATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE, ETC., AMERICAN LUMBER ON THE RIVER ST. JOHN; BOUNDARY.

Concluded May 8, 1871. Ratifications exchanged at London, June 17, 1871. Proclaimed July 4, 1871.

ARTICLE I. (Alabama claims to be referred to arbitrationArbitrators.)" Whereas differences have arisen between the Government of the United States and the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, and still exist, growing out of the acts committed by the several vessels which have given rise to the claims generically known as the Alabama Claims: '

"And whereas Her Britannic Majesty has authorized her High Commissioners and Plenipotentiaries to express, in a friendly spirit, the regret felt by Her Majesty's Government for the