the same to the other High Contracting Party.

3d. That the number of ships of each of the Royal Navies authorized to make such visit as aforesaid, shall not exceed the number of twelve, belonging to either of the High Contracting Parties, without the special consent of the other High Contracting Party being first had and obtained.

4th. That if at any time it should be deemed expedient that any ship of the Royal Navy of either of the two High Contracting Parties authorized to make such visit as aforesaid, should proceed to visit any merchant ship or ships under the flag, and proceeding under the convoy of any vessel or vessels of the Royal Navy of the other High Contracting Party, that the Commanding Officer of the ship duly authorized and instructed to make such visit, shall proceed to effect the same in communication with the Commanding Officer of the Convoy, who, it is hereby agreed, shall give every facility to such visit, and to the eventual detainer of the merchant ship or ships so visited, and in all things assist to the utmost of his power in the due execution of the present Convention, according to the true intent and meaning thereof.

5th. It is further mutually agreed, that the Commanders of the ships 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 receive for this purpose.

Art. 4. As the two preceding Articles are entirely reciprocal, the Two High Contracting Parties engage mutually to make good any losses which their respective subjects may incur un

justly, by the arbitrary and illegal detention of their vessels; it being understood that this indemnity shall invariably be borne by the Government whose cruizer shall have been guilty of the arbitrary detention; and that the visit and detention of ships specified in this Article shall only be effected by those British or Netherland 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 present Treaty, in pursuance of the provisions thereof.

Art. 5. No British or Netherland cruizer shall detain any ship whatever not having Slaves actually on board; and in order to render lawful the detention of any ship, whether British or Netherland, the Slaves found on board such vessel must have been brought there for the express purpose of the traffic.

Art. 6. All ships of the Royal Navies of the two nations, which shall hereafter be destined to prevent the traffic in Slaves, shall be furnished by their respective Governments with a copy of the Instructions annexed to the present Treaty, and which shall be considered as an integral part thereof.

These Instructions shall be written in the Dutch and English languages, and signed for the vessels of each of the two Powers, by the Minister of their respective Marine.

The two High Contracting Parties reserve the faculty of altering the said Instructions, in whole or in part, according to circumstances; it being, however, well understood, that the said alterations cannot take place but by the common agreement, and by the consent of the two High Contracting Parties,

Art. 7. In order to bring to adjudication, with the least delay and inconvenience, the ves◄ sels which may be detained for having been engaged in a traffic of Slaves, according to the tenor of the Fifth Article of this Treaty, there shall be established, within the space of a year at furthest from the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty, two mixed Courts of Justice, formed of an equal number of individuals of the two nations, named for this purpose by their respective Sovereigns.

These Courts shall reside-one in a possession belonging to His Britannic Majesty, the other within the territories of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands; and the two Governments, at the period of the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty, shall declare, each for its own dominions, in what places the Courts 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 Court held within its own dominions; provided, however, that one of the two Courts shall always be held upon the Coast of Africa, and the other in one of the colonial possessions of His Majesty the King of the NetherJands.

These Courts shall judge the causes submitted to them according to the terms of the present Treaty, without appeal, and according to the regulations and instructions annexed to the present Treaty, of which they shall be considered as an integral part.

Art. 8. In case the Commanding Officer of any of the ships of the Royal Navies of Great Britain, and of the Netherlands, commissioned under the second Article of this Treaty, shall

deviate in any respect from the dispositions of the said Treaty, and shall not be enabled to justify himself, either by the tenor of the said Treaty, or of the Instructions annexed to it; the Government which shall conceive itself to be wronged by such conduct, shall be entitled to demand reparation, and in such case the Government, to which the captor may belong, binds itself to cause inquiry to be made into the subject of the complaint, and to inflict upon the captor, if he be found to have deserved it, a punishment proportioned to the transgression which may have been committed.

Art. 9. The acts or instruments annexed to this Treaty, and which form an integral part thereof, are as follows:

A. Instructions for the ships of the Royal Navies of both nations, destined to prevent the traffic in Slaves.

B. Regulation for the mixed Courts of Justice, which are to hold their sittings on the coast of Africa, and in one of the colonial possessions of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands.

Art. 10. The present Treaty, consisting of ten Articles, shall be ratified, and the Ratifications exchanged within the space of one month from this date; or sooner, if possible.

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

Done at the Hague, this fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen.

ANNEXES.

Instructions for the Ships of the British and Netherland Royal Navies, employed to prevent the Traffic in Slaves.

ARTICLE I.

EVERY ship of the Royal British or Netherland Navy, which, furnished with these Instructions, shall in conformity with the second Article of the Treaty of this date, have a right to visit the merchant ships of either of the two Powers actually engaged, or suspected to be engaged in the Slave Trade, may, except in the seas exempted by the third Article of the said Treaty, proceed to such visit, and should any Slaves be found on board, brought there for the express purposes of the traffic, the Commander of the said ship of the Royal Navy may detain them, and having detained them, he is to bring them as soon as possible for judgment, before that of the two mixed Courts of Justice, appointed by the seventh Article of the Treaty of this date, which shall be the nearest, or which the Commander of the capturing ship shall, upon his own responsibility, think he can soonest reach from the spot where the ship shall have been detained.

Ships, on board of which no Slaves shall be found, intended for purposes of traffic, shall not be detained on any account or pretence whatever.

Negro servants or sailors that may be found on board the said vessels cannot in any case be deemed a sufficient cause for detention.

Art. 2. Whenever a ship of the Royal Navy, so commissioned, shall meet a merchantman liable to be searched, it shall be done in the