A

BILL

To carry
into execution a Convention made between His

MAJESTY and the King of Portugal, for the preventing
Traffic in Slaves.

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Note.-The Figures in the Margin denote the Number of the Folios in the written Copy.

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HEREAS an Additional Convention to a Treaty of the Preamble. twenty-second of January one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, was made between His Majesty and his Most faithful Majesty the King of Portugal, for the purpose of preventing illicit Traffic in Slaves, and signed at London on the twenty-eighth day of July one thousand eight hundred and seventeen:

And whereas it was, in the First Article of the said Convention, declared to be the object of the said Convention, to prevent the respective Subjects of His Majesty and his Most faithful Majesty, from carrying on an illicit Slave Trade; and it was also thereby declared, that every Traffic in Slaves carried on under the following circumstances, should be considered as illicit; first, either by British Ships and under the British Flag, or for the account of British Subjects by any Vessel or under any Flag whatsoever; second, by Portuguese Vessels in any of the Harbours or Roads of the Coast of Africa, which are prohibited by the First Article of the Treaty of the twenty-second of January one thousand eight hundred and fifteen; third, under the Portuguese or British Flag, for the account of the Subjects of any other Government; fourth, by Portuguese Vessels bound for any Port not in the dominions of his Most faithful Majesty:

And whereas it was by the Second Article of the said Convention declared and agreed, that the Territories in which the Traffic in Slaves continues to be permitted under the Treaty of the twenty262. A second

second of January one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, to the Subjects of his Most faithful Majesty, are the following; first, the Territories possessed by the Crown of Portugal upon the Coast of Africa to the South of the Equator, that is to say, upon the Eastern Coast of Africa, the Territory laying between Cape Delgado and the Bay of Lourenco Marques, and upon the Western Coast, all that which is situated from the eighth to the eighteenth degree of South latitude; second, those Territories on the Coast of Africa to the South of the Equator, over which his Most faithful Majesty has declared that he has retained his rights, namely, the Territories of Molembo and Cabinda upon the Eastern Coast of Africa, from the fifth degree twelve minutes to the eighth degree South latitude :

And whereas by the Third Article of the said Convention, his Most faithful Majesty engaged, within the space of Two months after the Exchange of the Ratifications of the said Convention, to promulgate in his Capital and in the other parts of his Dominions, as soon as possible, a Law which should prescribe the punishment of any of His Subjects who may in future participate in an illicit Traffic of Slaves, and at the same time to renew the prohibition, which already exists, to import Slaves into the Brazils, under any Flag other than that of Portugal; and his Most faithful Majesty also engaged to assimilate, as much as possible, the legislation of Portugal, in this respect, to that of Great Britain:

And whereas it was, by the Fourth Article of the said Convention, declared and agreed, that every Portuguese Vessel which should be destined for the Slave Trade on any point of the African coast where the traffic in Slaves should still continue to be lawful, must be provided with a Royal Passport, conformable to the model annexed to the said Convention, and which model formed an integral part of the same, and that every such Passport must be written in the Portuguese language, with an authentic translation in English annexed thereto, and must be signed, for all those vessels sailing from the Port of Rio Janeiro by the Minister of Marine, and for all other vessels which may be intended for the said traffic, and which may sail from any other ports of the Brazils, or from any other of the dominions of his Most faithful Majesty, not in Europe, the Passports must be signed by the Governor in Chief of the captaincy to which the Port belongs, and as to those vessels which may proceed from the ports of Portugal, must be signed by the Secretary of the Government for the Marine Department:

And whereas it was declared and agreed, by the Fifth Article of the said Convention, that the Ships of War of the respective Royal navies of His Majesty and his Most faithful Majesty, which shall be pro

vided

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vided with special Instructions for that purpose, as hereinafter provided, may visit such Merchant Vessels of the two Nations as may be suspected, upon reasonable grounds, of having Slaves on board acquired by an illicit traffic; and in the event only of their actually finding Slaves on board, may detain and bring away such vessels, in order that they may be brought to trial before the tribunals established for that purpose, as specified in the said Convention; provided, that the Commanders of the Ships of War of the two Royal navies, who shall be employed on this service, shall adhere strictly to the exact tenor of the Instructions which they shall have received for that purpose; and that as the said Article is entirely reciprocal, the two High contracting Parties engaged in the said Article mutually to make good any Losses which their respective subjects may incur unjustly, by the arbitrary and illegal detention of their vessels, and that this Indemnity shall invariably be borne by the Government whose cruizer shall have 8 been guilty of the arbitrary detention; provided that the visit and detention of Slave Ships specified in the said Article, shall only be effected by those British or Portuguese Vessels which may form part of the two Royal navies, and by those only of such vessels which are provided with the special Instructions annexed to the said Convention:

And whereas it was declared and decreed by the Sixth Article of the said Convention, that no British or Portuguese Cruizer shall detain any Slave Ship not having Slaves actually on board; and in order to render lawful the detention of any Ship, whether British or Portuguese, the Slaves found on board such vessel must have been brought there for the express purpose of the traffic, and those on board Portuguese Ships must have been taken from that part of the Coast of 9 Africa where the Slave Trade was prohibited by the Treaty of the twenty-second of January one thousand eight hundred and fifteen:

And whereas it was declared and agreed, by the Seventh Article of the said Convention, that all Ships of War of the two nations which shall hereafter be destined to prevent the illicit traffic in Slaves, shall be furnished by their own Government with a copy of the Instructions annexed to the said Convention, and which shall be considered as an integral part thereof, and that such Instructions shall be written in Portuguese and English, and signed for the Vessels of each of the two Powers, by the Minister of their respective Marine, with a reservation of the faculty of altering the said Instructions, in whole or in part, according to circumstances; it being however well understood, that the said 10 alterations cannot take place but by common agreement, and by the consent of the two High contracting Parties:

And whereas it was, by the Eighth Article of the said Convention agreed, that in order to bring to adjudication with the least delay and 262. inconvenience,

inconvenience, the Vessels which may be detained for having been engaged in an illicit traffic in Slaves, there shall be established, within the space of a year at furthest from the exchange of the Ratifications of the said Convention, two mixed Commissions, formed of an equal number of Individuals of the two nations, named for the purpose by their respective Sovereigns; and that those Commissions shall reside, one in a possession belonging to His Majesty, the other within the territories of his Most faithful Majesty; and that the two Govern- 11 ments, at the period of the exchange of the Ratifications of the said Convention, should declare, each for its own Dominions, in what places the Commissions shall respectively reside, each of the two High contracting Parties reserving to itself the right of changing at its pleasure the place of residence of the Commission held within its own Dominions; provided however, that one of the two Commissions shall always be held upon the Coast of Africa, and the other in the Brazils; and that these Commissions shall judge the Causes submitted to them, without appeal, and according to the regulations and instructions annexed to the said Convention, of which they shall be considered as an integral part:

And whereas by the Ninth Article of the said Convention, His Britannick Majesty, in conformity with the stipulations of the Treaty 12 of the twenty-second of January one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, engaged to grant, in the manner hereinafter explained, sufficient indemnification to all the Proprietors of Portugueze Vessels and Cargoes captured by British Cruisers, between the first day of June one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, and the period at which the two Commissioners pointed out in the eighth Article of the said Convention, shall assemble at their respective posts; and His Majesty and his Most faithful Majesty did agree, that all Claims of the nature before mentioned, shall be received and liquidated by a mixed Commission to be held at London, and which shall consist of an equal number of the Individuals of the two nations, named by their respective Sovereigns, and upon the same principles stipulated by the eighth 13 Article of the said Convention, and by the other Acts, which form an integral part of the same; and that the aforesaid Commissioners shall commence their functions six months after the Ratification of the said Convention, or sooner if possible:

And whereas it was also by the said Convention agreed, that the Proprietors of Vessels captured by the British Cruisers, cannot claim compensation for a larger number of Slaves than that which according to the existing laws of Portugal, they were permitted to transport according to the rate of tonnage of the captured Vessel; and that every Portuguese Vessel captured with Slaves on board for the traffick, which shall be proved to have been embarked within the Territories of the Coast of Africa situated to the north of Cape Palmas, and not 14 belonging