336 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
aries of their possessions, from the source of the River St. Croix to the 
Northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River; and that the nature of the 
difference and the vague and not sufficiently determinate stipulations of 
the Treaty of 1783, do not permit to adjudge either of those lines to one 
of the said Parties, without wounding the principles of law and equity, with 
regard to the other: 
That, as has already been said, the question resolves itself into a selection 
to be made of ground dividing the rivers that empty themselves into the River 
St. Lawrence from those that fall into the Atlantic Ocean ; that the High In- 
terested Parties are agreed with regard to the course of the streams delineated 
by common accord on the Map A and affording the only basis for a decision. 
And that, therefore, the circumstances upon which such decision depends 
could not be further elucidated by means of fresh topographical investigation, 
nor by the production of additional documents : 
He therefore is of opinion 
That it will be suitable to adopt, as the boundary of the two States, a line 
drawn due north from the source of the river St. Croix to the point where 
it intersects the middle of the channel of the river St. John; thence, the 
middle of the channel of that river, ascending it, to the point where the 
river St. Francis empties itself into the river St. John; thence, the middle 
of the channel of the river St. Francis, ascending it, to the source of its 
southwesternmost branch, which source we indicate on the Map A, by the 
letter X, authenticated by the signature of our Minister of Foreign Affairs; 
thence, a line drawn due west, to the point where it unites with the line 
claimed by the United States of America, and delineated on the Map A; 
thence, said line to the point at which, according to said map, it coincides 
with that claimed by Great Britain ; and thence the line traced on the map 
of the two Powers, to the northwesternmost source of Connecticut River.! 
(Decision of the Arbiter, 11, 12.) 
The decision therefore was not an award to either party ; it was a 
compromise splitting the difference between their two extreme claims, 
but assigning to the United States considerably the larger part of the 
disputed territory. It was, moreover, expressed simply as an opinion, 
and not as a final declaration. 
Before considering the reception of this award by the two nations, 
we may here turn aside to note an interesting side-light upon the decision 
which may help to explain its character. While the King had the subject 
under consideration, one of the British representatives at the Hague 
was Sir Howard Douglas, Governor of New Brunswick from 1824 to 
1829, one of the best governors that province has ever had. In Fullom’s 
“Life of Sir Howard Douglas” (295) is an account of a conversation 
with the King of the Netherlands, in the course of which Sir Howard 
said :— 
“Great Britain firmly believes the right is on her side, Sire, and your 
Majesty has full powers to settle the limits in anyway your Majesty may 

1 The translation of the award, as usually printed, has thalweg where I have 
here used the word channel. 
