restore to such Tribes or Nations respectively, all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed, or been entitled to in 1811, previous to such hostilities. Provided always, that such Tribes or Nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against the United States of America, their citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present Treaty being notified to such Tribes or Nations, and shall so desist accordingly. And His Britannic Majesty engages, on his part, to put an end, immediately after the ratification of the present Treaty, to hostilities with all the Tribes or Nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time of such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such Tribes or Nations respectively, all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 1811, previous to such hostilities. Provided always, that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against His Britannic Majesty and his subjects, upon the ratification of the present Treaty being notified to such Tribes or Nations, and shall so desist accordingly. ART. X.-Whereas the Traffic in Slaves is irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice, and whereas both His Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby agreed that both the Contracting Parties shall use their best endeavours to accomplish so desirable an object. ART. XI.-This Treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on both sides, without alteration by either of the Contracting Parties, and the Ratifications, Mutually exchanged, shall be binding on both parties, and the Ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington, in the space of four months from this day, or sooner if practicable. In faith whereof, we the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty and have thereunto affixed our seals. Done in triplicate at Ghent, the twenty-fourth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen. A Treaty of Peace and Amity between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America. Signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814. Published by Authority. London: Printed by R. G. Clarke, Cannon Row, Westminster. Hertslet: The Map of Europe by Treaty. Vol. I. pp. 48-59. RULES OF THE MIXED TRIBUNALS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN SLAVES. 1817. The following Act or Instrument was annexed to the additional Convention to the Treaty of January 22nd, 1815, between Great Britain and Portugal, for the purpose of preventing illicit traffic in slaves. Signed at London, July 28th, 1817. REGULATIONS FOR THE MIXED COMMISSIONS, WHICH ARE TO ART. I.-The Mixed Commissions to be established by the Additional Convention of this date, upon the Coast of Africa and in the Brazils, are appointed to decide upon the legality of the detention of such slave vessels as the cruisers of both nations shall detain, in pursuance of this same Convention, for carrying on an illicit commerce in slaves. The above-mentioned Commissions shall judge, without appeal, according to the letter and spirit of the Treaty of the 22nd of January, 1815, and of the Additional Convention to the said Treaty, signed at London on this 28th day of July, 1817. The Commissions shall give sentence as summarily as possible and they are required to decide (as far as they shall find it practicable) within the space of twenty days, to be dated from that on which every detained vessel shall have been brought into the port where they shall reside; first, upon the legality of the capture; second, in the case in which the captured vessel shall have been liberated, as to the indemnification which she is to receive. And it is hereby provided, that in all cases the final sentence shall not be delayed on account of the absence of witnesses or for want of other proofs, beyond the period of two months; except upon the application of any of the parties interested, when, upon their giving satisfactory security to charge themselves with the expense and risks of the delay, the Commissioners may, at their discretion, grant an additional delay not exceeding four months. ART. II.—Each of the above-mentioned Mixed Commissions, which are to reside on the Coast of Africa and in the Brazils, shall be composed in the following manner : The two High Contracting Parties shall each of them name a Commissary Judge, and a Commissioner of Arbitration, who shall be authorised to hear and to decide, without appeal, all cases of capture of slave vessels which in pursuance of the stipulation of the Additional Convention of this date may be laid before them. All the essential parts of the proceedings carried on before these Mixed Commissions shall be written down in the language of the country in which the Commission may reside. The Commissary Judges and the Commissioners of Arbitration, shall make oath, in presence of the principal Magistrate of the place in which the Commission may reside, to judge fairly and faithfully, to have no preference either for the claimants or the captors, and to act, in all their decisions, in pursuance of the stipulations of the Treaty of the 22nd January, 1815, and of the Additional Convention to the said Treaty. There shall be attached to each Commission a Secretary or Registrar, appointed by the Sovereign of the country in which. the Commission may reside, who shall register all its acts, and who, previous to his taking charge of his post, shall make oath, in presence of at least one of the Commissary Judges, to conduct himself with respect for their authority, and to act with fidelity in all the affairs which may belong to his charge. ART. III.—The form of the process shall be as follows:The Commissary Judges of the two nations shall, in the first place, proceed to the examination of the papers of the vessel and receive the depositions on oath of the captain and of two or three, at least, of the principal individuals on board of the detained vessel, as well as the declaration on oath of the captor, should it appear necessary, in order to be able to judge and to pronounce if the said vessel has been justly detained or not, according to the stipulations of the Additional Convention of this date, and in order that, according to this judgment, it may be condemned or liberated. And in the event of the two Commissary Judges not agreeing on the sentence they ought to pronounce, whether as to the legality of the detention or the indemnification to be allowed, or on any other question which might result from the stipulations of the Convention of this date, they shall draw by lot the name of one of the two Commissioners of Arbitration, who, after having considered the documents of the process shall consult with the above-mentioned Commissary Judges on the case in question, and the final sentence shall be pronounced conformably to the opinion of the majority of the abovementioned Commissary Judges, and of the above-mentioned Commissioner of Arbitration. ART. IV. As often as the cargo of slaves found on board of a Portuguese slave ship shall have been embarked on any point whatever of the coast of Africa, where the slave trade continues lawful to the subjects of the Crown of Portugal, such slave ship shall not be detained on pretext that the above mentioned slaves have been brought originally by land from any other part whatever of the continent. ART. V. In the authenticated declaration which the captor shall make before the Commission, as well as in the certificate of the papers seized, which shall be delivered to the captain of the captured vessel, at the time of the detention, the above-mentioned captor shall be bound to declare his name, the name of his vessel, as well as the latitude and longitude of the place where the detention shall have taken place, and the number of slaves found living on board of the slave ship, at the time of the detention. ART. VI. As soon as sentence shall have been passed, the detained vessel, if liberated, and what remains of the cargo, shall be restored to the proprietors, who may, before the same Com mission, claim a valuation of the damages which they may have a right to demand: the captor himself, and in his default, his Government, shall remain responsible for the above-mentioned damages. The two High Contracting Parties bind themselves to defray, within the term of a year, from the date of the sentence, the indemnifications which may be granted by the above-named Commission, it being understood that these indemnifications shall be at the expense of the Power of which the captor shall be a subject. ART. VII.-In case of condemnation of a vessel for an unlawful voyage, she shall be declared lawful prize, as well as her cargo, of whatever description it may be, with the exception of the slaves who may be on board as objects of commerce, and the said vessel, as well as her cargo, shall be sold by public sale, for the profit of the two Governments, and as to the slaves, they shall receive from the Mixed Commission a certificate of emancipation, and shall be delivered over to the Government on whose territory the Commission which shall have to judge them shall} be established, to be employed as servants or free labourers. Each of the two Governments binds itself to guarantee the liberty of such portion of these individuals as shall be respectively consigned to it. ART. VIII.-Every claim for compensation of losses occasioned to ships suspected of carrying on an illicit trade in slaves, not condemned as lawful prize by the mixed Commissions, shall be also heard and judged by the above-named Commissions, in the form provided by the third Article of the present regulation. And in all cases wherein restitution shall be so decreed the Commission shall award to the claimant or claimants, or his, or their lawful attorney or attornies, for his or their use, a just and complete indemnification : First, for all costs of suit, and for all losses and damages which the claimant or claimants may have actually sustained by such capture and detention; that is to say, in case of total loss, the claimant or claimants shall be indemnified: First. For the ship, her tackle, apparel and stores; U |