as from among foreigners; and they shall be furnished with a letter of appointment, issued by the Consul who may have appointed them, and under whose orders they will have to serve.

IV. The Consuls-General, Consuls and their Chanceliers, ViceConsuls, and Consular Agents shall enjoy all the prerogatives and immunities which are generally admitted by the Law of Nations, such as exemption from giving lodging to the military forces in their houses and from all direct taxes, both personal and sumptuary, or on movable property, whether imposed by the State or by any provincial or municipal authorities, unless they should hold any real property, or be engaged in business, or exercise any trade or profession; for if so they shall be subject to the same charges and taxes as the natives.

Moreover, they shall enjoy personal immunity, except for any crimes that are described in the penal legislation of the respective country as unbailable or grievous. If they are merchants, the penalty of imprisonment may be imposed upon them for any commercial acts.

They cannot be compelled to appear as witnesses before the Courts of Justice, Should the local authority desire to obtain from such functionaries any declaration or information, it must apply for it in writing, or else proceed to their resideuce in order to receive it

in person.

Should either of the High Contracting Parties appoint a subject of the other to be a Consular Agent in the territory of the latter, such Agent shall continue to be considered a subject of the nation to which he belongs, and he shall be subject to the laws and regulations in force for the natives at the place where he resides, but, nevertheless, this subjection shall not in any way serve as a hindrance to him in the discharge of his functions.

This latter clause does not affect the personal immunities mentioned in the third paragraph.

V. Should any Consular functionary die without having named a substitute, the local authority shall immediately proceed to affix seals to the archives in the presence of a Consular Agent of a confessedly friendly nation, residing in the district, if possible, and of two persons being the subjects of the country whose interests were represented by the deceased; and, in the absence of these, of two of the most notable persons in the place. A record shall be drawn up of the act, in duplicate; of which one is to be forwarded to the Consul to whom the vacant Consular Agency may be subject.

When the new functionary shall take possession of the archives, the breaking of the seals shall be done in the presence of the local authority and of the persons that shall have witnessed the placing thereof, if on the spot.

VI. The Consular archives shall be inviolable, and the local authorities shall not in any case examine them or lay an embargo upon them, and for this purpose they must always be kept apart from the books and papers relating to the business or profession carried on by the respective Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents.

VII. The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents may place outside the Consulate the arms of their nation with the following inscription: "Consulate-General, Consulate, Vice-Consulate, or Consular Agency of . . .;" and they may hoist the respective flag on festive days, according to the customs of each country. They may also hoist their flag in the boats conveying them on board any ships in port in the discharge of their Consular duties. These exterior signs are only intended to indicate the residence or the presence of the Consular functionary, and shall not in any case constitute the right of asylum.

VIII. The Consuls-Generals, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, or those acting in their stead, may address the authorities of their district; and in the case of necessity, in the absence of a Diplomatic Agent of their nation, they may appeal to the Government of the country where they discharge their Consular functions, for the purpose of complaining against any infraction of the Treaties or Conventions in force between the two countries, or against any abuses to the detriment of their fellow-subjects.

IX. The said Agents shall have the right of receiving either in their chanceries, in the houses of the parties concerned, or on board the ships of their country, any declarations or other deeds from the captains and crews, passengers, and merchants, or subjects of their nation, including wills or testamentary wishes, amicable divisions of property (should all the heirs be of age and present there), compromises, deliberations, and awards, and any other acts appertaining to voluntary jurisdiction.

In case the said deeds should have reference to real property situated in the country, a notary or else the proper public clerk of the place shall be called to be present at the drawing up thereof, and to sign the same together with the said Agents under pain of nullity.

X. The said functionaries, moreover, shall have the right of drawing up in their chanceries any contracts between their fellowcitizens, and between the latter and other persons of the country where they reside, as well as any other deeds of the same nature, and solely affecting the subjects of this latter country, provided they relate to any property that may be situated within the territory of the nation to which the Consular Agent, before whom they may

have been drawn up, may belong, or else to any matters that have to be treated therein.

The copies of the said deeds, duly certified to by the ConsulsGeneral, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, and stamped with their respective official seals, shall be held valid before any Court, Judge, or authority of Portugal or of Brazil, as if they were the originals; and they shall respectively have the same force and validity as if they had been drawn up by any notaries or other competent public officers, provided they are drawn up in accordance with the laws of the State to which the Consul belongs, and provided they shall have been previously stamped and registered, and the register thereof laid before the proper judicial authority, and also undergone any other formalities required by law in the country where they are to be carried into effect.

XI. The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents are the exclusively competent persons to deal with matters relating to discipline on board the ships of their nation; and it is their business to take cognizance of any disputes that may arise among the master, officers, crew, and other individuals entered in any capacity in the ship's muster-roll, including everything concerning wages as well as the fulfilment of any contracts concluded between them.

The local authorities shall only interfere in case the disturbances occasioned thereby should be of such a nature as to affect the public peace and order either on shore or in port, and in the event of any native of the country or of any person, not forming part of the crew, being implicated therein.

In all other cases the local authorities shall confine their action to giving effectual assistance to the Consular Agents whenever they may require it, in order to arrest and to convey to prison any of the crew against whom they may, on any grounds, deem it expedient to act in this manner.

XII. In order to convey to prison or on board ship, or in fact to send back to their native courtry, any sailors or any other persons of the crew that shall have deserted from any merchantvessels, the Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents must write to the proper local authorities, and they must prove by showing the ship's register or muster-roll, or else by means of an authentic copy of such documents, that the persons claimed actually formed part of the crew.

Should the desertion have been from a ship-of-war, it must be proved by a formal declaration of the officer in command, or else of the respective Consul if absent.

Where there are no Consular Agents, applications for the purpose must be made by the officers in command; and, if absent, by

the Consular Agent of the nearest district, with the same formalities.

Any such application, accompanied by such documents, for the surrender of the individuals in question cannot be refused; and the local authority shall render every aid and assistance with a view to the searching, capture, and imprisonment of said deserters, who shall be kept in the gaols of the country, at the request and order of the said Agents until the latter shall find au opportunity of sending them off.

Such detention, however, shall not last longer than three months, at the expiration of which, upon three days' previous notice being given to the Consular Agent, the prisoner shall be set free, and he cannot be again arrested for the same offence.

Should the deserter have committed any crime on shore, his surrender shall be adjourned until the proper tribunal shall have pronounced sentence, and the latter shall have been carried into execution.

Any sailors or persons of the crew who may be subjects of the country where the desertion shall occur, are excepted from the stipulations of this Article.

XIII. Whenever no stipulations to the contrary shall have been made between the owners, shippers, and underwriters of the ships of either of the two countries proceeding to the ports of the other, either of their own free will, or by "force majeure," the average will be regulated by the respective Consuls-General, Consuls, ViceConsuls, or Consular Agents; unless any subjects of the country where the said functionaries reside, or of any third Power, shall be interested therein, in which case, should there be no engagement or agreement among all the parties interested, it must be regulated by the proper authority.

XIV. Should a ship belonging to the Government, or to the subjects of either of the High Contracting Parties, go ashore, or be wrecked within the territorial waters of the other, the local authorities shall immediately notify the event to the Consular functionary that may be nearest to the place of the disaster, and all the operations relating to the salvage of the vessel, of the cargo, and of the other articles therein shall be carried out under the direction of the Consuls-General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls, or Consular Agents.

The local authorities are only to interfere in the matter for the purpose of affording the necessary assistance to the Consular Agents, of maintaining order, of guaranteeing the interests of the salvors not belonging to the crew, and of insuring a compliance with the rules respecting the entry and clearance of merchandize saved, as well as the recovery of the dutiesthereon.

In the absence, and 'until the arrival of the Consular Agent, the local anthorities shall take all the measures that may be required for the protection of individuals, and for the custody of the articles. saved.

Should there be a doubt as to the nationality of the ships, the duties mentioned in Article I shall be exclusively performed by the local authorities.

The merchandize and other effects saved shall not be liable to any Customs duty, unless entered for home consumption.

Should the stranded or wrecked vessel, and the goods and merchandize saved, as well as the papers found on board, be claimed by the owners or their representatives, they shall be delivered over to them, and the salvage operations will be carried out under their orders, unless they should prefer to intrust them to the Consular Agent.

Whenever the parties interested in the cargo of the said vessel shall happen to be the subjects of the country where the disaster may have occurred, the goods and merchandize belonging to them, or the proceeds thereof if sold, shall not be kept in the hands of the Consular Officers, but they must be deposited, with a view to the delivery thereof to the lawful owners.

XV. In the event of the death of any subject of either of the High Contracting Parties in the territory of the other, the proper local authority shall immediately notify the fact to the respective Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent; and the latter shall also, on their part, acquaint the same authority therewith, should they have learned it previously.

XVI. It is the duty of the Consular Officers of the country to which the deceased may have belonged to take all the necessary steps for the recovery, custody, maintenance, administration, and liquidation of the inheritance, as well as for the delivery thereof to the heirs or to their duly authorized representatives, in any of the following cases:—

1. When the heirs are unknown:

2. When they happen to be minors, absent, or incapable, and of the same nationality as the deceased;

3. When the executor named in the will is absent or declines the charge.

XVII. The inventory, administration, and liquidation of the inheritance shall be carried on by the local Court of Justice:

1. Whenever there is an executor appointed by will, who is present and accepts the charge;

2. Whenever there is a surviving widower or widow, to whom it may appertain to remain in possession of the inheritance as head of the estate or family (cabeça de casal).