The Government reserves the right to grant, when it thinks fit, looking to the request in each case, that the vessels to which this Article applies, which go to load at the Custom-house of San Carlos with the fruits and products of the country, may go abroad directly from that port. 13. Under the inspection of one of the chief officers of the Custom-house of deposit, it may permit the transhipment of the fruits and products of the country going from La Vela or San Carlos for exportation. 14. The Custom-house of deposit and those of the ports of La Vela and San Carlos must give each other as soon as possible the proper notice of having received the goods sent by the former to the two latter, and of the fruits and products of the country which have been sent from the latter to the former, noting the conformity or otherwise of each cargo with its clearance papers. 15. The Minister of Public Works shall make the necessary orders for the works and repairs required in the building of the Castillo Libertador, to fit it for the offices and stores of the Custom-house for which it is destined as may be required. § 1. The Custom-house of deposit shall have separate stores for the goods destined for Maracaibo and La Vela for those of transit, and for the fruits and products of the country. § 2. Until the works and repairs of the Castillo Libertador are completed, the Custom-house of deposit shall transact its business in the building provisionally furnished for the purpose. 16. All the powers which Law 21 of the Revenue Code, as to frontier commerce between Venezuela and Colombia, gives to the Custom-house of San Carlos to permit the transit of foreign goods destined to Cúcuta, shall be exercised by the Custom-house of deposit, the former confining itself to making the examination and comparison with the permit of each cargo, in order to place at the foot of it the memorandum of "examined and correct," if it so turns out, or to act according to law in the contrary case. § 1. The time for presenting the return shall begin to run from the day on which the Custom-house of San Carlos sends the cargoes for transit, after attending to the examination and other operations of the Custom-house. § 2. No warehouse dues shall be paid for the goods of transit for Colombia, neither in the Custom-house of deposit nor in that of San Carlos. § 3. The goods which, being declared for transit for Colombia, are in the Custom-house of San Carlos at the publication of this Decree, shall be despatched by that Custom-house, according to the law on this matter, sending to the Minister of Revenue an account of the persons to whom they belong, and of the packages which constitute them. 17. The importation is permitted through the Custom-house of San Carlos of Maracaibo, with the forms fixed by Law 21 of the Revenue Code, of the native products of Colombia and the articles manufactured of them in that Republic, which by Article 34 of said Law are free of duty. 18. There may be imported through the Custom-house of San Carlos goods made in Colombia with materials or manufactures which are not wholly products of said Republic, on paying thereon the duties to which they are subject by Article 33 of that Law, according to their classes. 19. Individuals who wish to establish on their own account deposits of mineral coal at Puerto Cabello shall receive from the Government the free importation of the materials necessary for the coal-stations, and without any expense, for the term of eight years, the portion of land to be used for that object; so long as it belongs to the nation, and is in a convenient place, and not devoted to any public use. 20. The vessels already despatched, or which may be despatched, from any port of the United States or from Europe, bound to San Carlos within 30 days from the publication of this Decree, as well as those in like circumstances now in the said port, may despatch through that Custom-house the cargo which they bring and the fruits and productions of the country which they take away on their departure, all subject to the Revenue Code and the other regulations which govern this matter. § 1. When the time fixed by this Article has passed, the San Carlos Custom-house shall send to the Ministry of Finance an account of the vessels to which it refers. 21. The provisions of this Decree shall begin to apply in the Custom-house of deposit from its publication in Puerto Cabello, in that of La Vela after the state of blockade is suspended to which the coasts of the State of Falcon are subject, and to that of San Carlos after it is published in that port, the Custom-houses of deposit and of San Carlos allowing the time which Article 20 grants to vessels carrying foreign commerce. 22. The Ministry of Finance shall communicate this Decree to those whom it may concern and direct the further orders needed for its execution. Given at Caracas, March 16, 1875, 11th year of the Law and 17th of the Federation. SANTIAGO GOITICOA, Minister of Finance. GUZMAN BLANCO. RECORD of the Proceedings of the British and United States' Commissioners, appointed for ascertaining and marking the Boundary from the most North-Western Point of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, as defined by Article II of the Convention of October 20, 1818.*-London, June 15, 1876. Major Cameron, R.A., to the Earl of Derby-(Received June 16.) Office of the North American Boundary Commission, London, June 15, 1876. MY LORD, I HAVE the honour to forward herewith a record of the proceedings at my last meeting with Mr. Archibald Campbell, the United States' Commissioner appointed to act with me in ascertaining and marking the boundary from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains between the territories of Her Majesty and those of the United States. 2. The record consists of (4.) A detailed list of the astronomical stations at which observations were taken, and whence the exact position of the line was deduced. (B.) A detailed descriptive list of 388 marks placed on the line. (c.) A set of 24 maps† (exclusive of an index sheet) on a scale of one inch to two miles, embracing an area of over 9,000 square miles, illustrating topographical features in detail, and indicating the positions of the astronomical stations and of the marks on the line. (D.) A minute that the marks above referred to are accepted by Mr. Campbell and myself as being on the line defined by the IInd Article of the Convention of London, signed on the 20th October, 1818; that we agree that between any two neighbouring marks the boundary is a line having the curvature of a parallel of 49 degrees north latitude; and that, in the event of any mark placed on the line being obliterated beyond recognition, its lost site is to be recovered by reference to its recorded position relatively to the nearest unobliterated mark or marks. 3. These documents, including the maps, have been made in duplicate, and signed by both Mr. Campbell and myself; one copy I now forward to your Lordship, the other has been retained by Mr. Campbell for delivery to the Government of the United States. 4. Of the 388 marks placed on the boundary line there are eight in an extensive swamp, between 33 and 42 miles west from the Lake * Vol. VI. Page 3. These maps are in the Foreign Office Library. of the Woods, which are of a comparatively temporary character. The softness of the subsoil precluded the placing of permanent monuments by the expedition in the swamp, and the marks here consist of a collection of 40-feet poles driven down 20 feet. It will probably be considered unnecessary to maintain these, or to incur the great expense which would be involved in substituting permanent marks in their stead. 5. The iron pillars referred to in the accompanying list should be coated at intervals of a few years, to preserve them from corrosion, and the cairns and earthen mounds should be inspected periodically with a view to repairing such of them as may need it. I have, &c., The Earl of Derby. D. R. CAMERON, Major, R.A., (Inclosure.) (D.) Record of Proceedings at a Meeting of the Commissioners appointed respectively by Her Britannic Majesty and by the President of the United States of America, to ascertain and mark the boundary line between the respective territories of Her Majesty and of the United States, the said line being that defined by the IInd Article of the Convention of London, signed 20th October, 1818: Present: Donald R. Cameron, Major, Royal Artillery, Commissioner on the part of Her Britannic Majesty. S. Anderson, Captain Royal Engineers, Chief Astronomer to Her Majesty's Commission. A. C. Ward, Captain Royal Engineers, Secretary to Her Majesty's Commission. Archibald Campbell, Commissioner on the part of the United States of America. W. J. Twining, Captain of the Corps of Engineers of the United States' Army, Chief Astronomer to the United States' Commission. 1. The Chief Astronomers submit the following documents and maps: (a.) A detailed list, in duplicate, of 40 astronomical stations in addition to one for the location of the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods, at which observations were taken under their superintendence to determine the line described in the IInd Article of the Convention of London (signed 20th October, 1818) between the terminal points, viz., the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods and the eastern end of the international boundary line, previously marked between Akamina, in the Rocky Mountains, and the western coast of North America. (b.) A descriptive list, in duplicate, of 388 monuments and marks placed on the boundary line, as derived from the astronomical stations enumerated in the list referred to in section (a) of this paragraph. 20 (c.) A duplicate set of 24 maps,* on a scale of 126726ths, or 1 inch to 2 miles, illustrating the topography of the country through which the boundary line runs, and indicating the relative positions of the various monuments and marks referred to in section (b) of this paragraph. 2. The IInd Article of the Convention of London, signed 20th October, 1818, is read as follows: : "It is agreed that a line drawn from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th parallel of north latitude, or, if the said point shall not be in the 49th parallel of north latitude, then that a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case may be, until the said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such intersection due west along and with the said parallel, shall be the line of demarcation between the territories of His Britannic Majesty and those of the United States, and that the said line shall form the southern boundary of the said territories of His Britannic Majesty, and the northern boundary of the territories of the United States, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains." 3. The duplicate documents and maps enumerated in paragraph numbered (1)—one set for each of the respective Governments— having been examined and compared, are authenticated by the signatures of the Commissioners, who agree as follows: (1.) The 388 monuments detailed in the list referred to in section (b) of paragraph numbered 1, are on and mark the astronomical lines stipulated by the IInd Article of the Convention of London (signed 20th October, 1818), to be the line of boundary between the territories of Her Britannic Majesty and of the United States of America, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony (i.e., Rocky) Mountains. (2.) In the intervals between the monuments along the parallel of latitude it is agreed that the line has the curvature of a parallel of 49 degrees north latitude, and that such characteristic shall determine all questions that may hereafter arise with reference to the position of the boundary at any point between neighbouring monu ments. (3.) It is further agreed that, in the event of any of the said *These maps are in the Foreign Office Library. |