APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 223 



Africa, and in a Colonial Pos- 

 session of his Catholic Majesty. 

 Art. 1. The mixed commissions 

 to be established by the treaty of 

 this date, upon the Coast of 

 Africa and in a Colonial Posses- 

 sion of his Catholic Majesty, are 

 appointed to decide upon the 

 legality of the detention of such 

 slave vessels as the cruizers of 

 both nations shall detain, in pur- 

 suance of this same treaty, 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 this 

 date. — 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 

 indenmification which she is to 

 receive. — And it is hereby pro- 

 vided, that in all cases, the final 

 sentence shall not be delayed, on 

 account of the absence of wit- 

 nesses, or for want of other 

 proofs, beyond the period of two 

 months ; except upon the appli- 

 cation of any of the parties inter- 

 ested, when upon their giving 

 satisfactory security to charge 

 themselves with the expense and 

 risks of the delay, the commis- 

 sioners may, at their discretion, 

 grant an additional delay, not 

 exceeding four months. 



Art. 2. Each of the above- 

 mentioned commissions which 



are to reside on the coast of 

 Africa, and in a colonial posses- 

 sion of his Cathohc Majesty, 

 shall be composed in the follow- 

 ing manner : — The two high 

 contracting parties shall each of 

 them name a commissary judge, 

 and a commissioner of arbitration, 

 who shall be authorized to hear 

 and to decide, without appeal, all 

 cases of capture of slave vessels 

 which, in pursuance of the stipu- 

 lations of the treaty of this date, 

 may be laid before them. All 

 the essential parts of the proceed- 

 ings carried on before these mixed 

 commissions, shall be written down 

 in the legal language of the coun- 

 try in which the commission may 

 reside. — The commissary judges 

 and the commissioners of arbitra- 

 tion, 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 this 

 date. — 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 pre- 

 sence of at least one of the com- 

 missary judges, to conduct him- 

 self with respect for their autho- 

 rity, and to act with fidelity in 

 all the affairs which may belong 

 to his charge. 



Art. 3. The form of the process 

 shall be as follows : — The com- 

 missary judges of the two nations 

 shall, in the first place, proceed 



to 



