79.

Article additionnel au Traité conclu, le 7 avril 1862, entre la Grande-Bretagne et les ÉtatsUnis d'Amérique pour la suppression de la traite des noirs*); signé à Washington, le 17 février 1863.**)

Whereas by the First Article of the Treaty between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States of America, for the suppression of the African Slave Trade, signed at Washington on the 7th of April, 1862, it was stipulated and agreed that those ships of the respective navies of the two High Contracting Parties which shall be provided with special instructions for that purpose, as thereinafter 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 cruizers, been engaged in the African Slave Trade contrary to the provisions of the said Treaty; and that such cruizers may detain and send or carry away such vessels in order that they may be brought to trial in the manner thereinafter agreed upon: And whereas it was by the said Article further stipulated and agreed, that the reciprocal right of search and detention should be exercised only within the distance of two hundred miles from the Coast of Africa, and to the southward of the thirty-second parallel of north latitude, and within thirty leagues from the coast of the Island of Cuba: And whereas the two High Contracting Parties are desirous of rendering the said Treaty still more efficacious for its purpose; the Plenipotentiaries who signed the said Treaty have, in virtue of their full powers, agreed that the reciprocal right of visit and detention, as defined in the Article aforesaid, may be

*) Voir Nouv. Recueil gén. T. XVII. 26 P. p. 259. **) Les ratifications ont été échangées à Londres, le 1er avril 1863.

exercised also within thirty leagues of the Island of Madagascar, within thirty leagues of the Island of Puerto Rico, and within thirty leagues of the Island of San Domingo.

The present Additional Article shall have the same force and validity as if it had been inserted word for word in the Treaty concluded between the two High Contracting Parties on the 7th of April, 1862, and shall have the same duration as that Treaty. It shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London in six months from this date, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have thereunto affixed the seal of their arms.

Done at Washington, the 17th day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.

Lyons.

William H. Seward.

80.

Convention additionelle au Traité conclu, le 7 avril 1862, entre la Grande-Bretagne et les États-Unis d'Amérique pour la suppression de la traite des noirs*), suivie d'instructions pour les navires anglais et américains; signée à Washington, le 3 juin 1870.**)

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States of America, having come to the conclusion that it is no longer necessary to maintain the three Mixed Courts of

*) Voir Nouv. Recueil gén. T. XVII. 2o P. p. 259. **) Les ratifications ont été échangées à Londres, le 10

août 1870.

Justice established at Sierra Leone, at the Cape of Good Hope, and at New York, in pursuance of the Treaty concluded at Washington on the 7th day of April, 1862, for the suppression of the African Slave Trade, they have resolved to conclude an Additional Convention for the purpose of making the requisite modifications of the said Treaty, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Edward Thornton, Esquire, Companion of the Order of the Bath, and Her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States of America;

And the President of the United States of America, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles:

Art. 1. Everything contained in the Treaty concluded at Washington on the 7th of April, 1862, between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States of America, for the suppression of the African Slave Trade, and in the Annexes A and B thereto, which relates to the establishment of three Mixed Courts of Justice at Sierra Leone, at the Cape of Good Hope, and at New York, to hear and decide all cases of capture of vessels which may be brought before them as having been engaged in the African Slave Trade, or as having been fitted out for the purposes thereof, as well as to the composition, jurisdiction, and mode of procedure of such Courts, shall cease and determine, as regards the said Mixed Courts, from and after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Additional Convention, except in so far as regards any act or proceeding done or taken in virtue thereof before this Additional Convention shall be officially communicated to the said Mixed Courts of Justice. The said Courts shall nevertheless have the power, and it shall be their duty, to proceed with all practicable dispatch to the final determination of all causes and proceedings which may be pending and undetermined in them, or either of them, at the time of receiving notice of the ratification of this Convention.

Art. 2. The jurisdiction heretofore exercised by the said Mixed Courts in pursuance of the provisions of the said Treaty shall, after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Additional Convention, be exercised by the Courts of one or the other of the High Contracting Parties according to their respective modes of procedure in matters of maritime prize; and all the provisions of the said Treaty with regard to the sending or bringing in of captured vessels for adjudication before the said Mixed Courts, and with regard to the adjudication of such vessels by the said Courts, and the rules of evidence to be applied, and the proceedings consequent on such adjudication, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the Courts of the High Contracting Parties.

It is, however, provided, that there may be an appeal from the decision of any Court of the High Contracting Parties, in the same manner as by the law of the country where the Courts sits is allowed in other cases of maritime prize.

Art. 3. It is agreed that in case of a British merchant-vessel searched by an United States' cruizer being detained as having been engaged in the African Slave Trade, or as having been fitted out for the purposes thereof, she shall be sent for adjudication to the nearest or most accessible British Colony, or shall be handed over to a British cruizer, if one should be available in the neighbourhood of the capture; and that in the corresponding case of an American merchant-vessel searched by a British cruizer being detained as having been engaged in the African Slave Trade, or as having been fitted out for the purposes thereof, she shall be sent to New York or Key West, whichever shall be most accessible, for adjudication, or shall be handed over to an United States' cruizer, if one should be available in the neighbourhood of the capture.

All the witnesses and proofs necessary to establish the guilt of the master, crew, or other persons found on board of any such vessel, shall be sent and handed over with the vessel itself, in order to be produced to the Court before which such vessel or persons may be brought for trial.

All negroes or others (necessary witnesses excepted) who may be on board either a British or an American

vessel for the purpose of being consigned to slavery, shall be handed over to the nearest British authority. They shall be immediately set at liberty, and shall remain free, Her Britannic Majesty guaranteeing their liberty. With regard to such of those negroes or others as may be sent in with the detained vessel as necessary witnesses, the Government to which they may have been delivered shall set them at liberty as soon as their testimony shall no longer be required, and shall guarantee their liberty.

Where a detained vessel is handed over to a cruizer of her own nation, an officer in charge, and other necessary witnesses and proofs, shall accompany the vessel.

Art. 4. It is mutually agreed that the Instructions for the ships of the navies of both nations destined to prevent the African Slave Trade, which are annexed to this Convention, shall form an integral part thereof, and shall have the same force and effect as if they had been annexed to the Treaty of the 7th of April, 1862, in lieu of the Instructions forming Annex A to that Treaty.

Art. 5. In all other respects the stipulations of the Treaty of April 7, 1862, shall remain in full force and effect, until terminated by notice given by one of the High Contracting Parties to the other in the manner prescribed by Art. 12 thereof.

Art. 6. The High Contracting Parties engage to communicate the present Convention to the Mixed Courts of Justice, and to the officers in command of their respective cruizers, and to give them the requisite instructions in pursuance thereof, with the least possible delay.

Art. 7. The present Additional Convention shall have the same duration as the Treaty of the 7th of April, 1862, and the Additional Article thereto of the 17th of February, 1863. It shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals.

Done at Washington, the third day of June, in the