PUBLIC DOCUMI 



711 



will find us always disposed to lend it, if it should de- 

 sire at some future time, the assistance we should have 

 been happy to have seen accepted at the present time 

 in the interest of peace and conciliation. 



DROUYN DE L'HUVS. 



Treaty between the United States of America 

 and Her Majesty the Queen of the I 

 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 

 the suppression of the African slate trade. 

 Ratified, April 25, 1862. 



The United States of America and her Majesty the 

 Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain* and 

 Ireland, being desirous to render more effectual the 

 means hitherto adopted for the suppression of the 

 slave trade carried on upon the coast of Africa, have 

 deemed it expedient to conclude a treaty for that pur- 

 pose, and have named as their Plenipotentaries, that 

 is to say : the President of the United States of Amer- 

 ica, William H. Seward, Secretary of State; and her' 

 Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, the right honorable Richard Bick- 

 erton Pemell, Lord Lyons, a peer of her United King- 

 dom, a knight grand cross of her most honorable order 

 of the Bath, and her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 

 Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, who, 

 after having communicated to each other their respect- 

 ive full powers, found in good and due form, have 

 agreed upon and concluded the following articles : 



ARTICLE 1. The two high contracting parties mutu- 

 ally consent that those ships of their respective navies 

 which shall be provided with special instructions for 

 that purpose, as hereinafter mentioned, may visit such 

 merchant vessels of the two nations as may, upon rea- 

 sonable grounds, be suspected of being engaged in the 

 African slave trade, or of having been titled out for 

 that purpose; or of having, during the voyage on 

 which they are met by the said cruisers, been engaged 

 in the African slave trade, contrary to the provisions 

 of this treaty ; and that such cruisers may detain, and 

 send or carry away such vessels, in ord'er that they 

 may be brought to trial in the manner hereinafter 

 agreed upon. 



In order to fix the reciprocal right of search in such 

 a manner as shall be adapted to the attainment of the 

 object of this treaty, and at the same time avoid doubts, 

 disputes, and complaints, the said right of search shall 

 be understood in the manner and according to the 

 rules following : 



First. It shall never be exercised except by vessels 

 of war, authorized expressly for that object, according 

 to the stipulations of this treaty. 



Secondly. The right of search shall in no case be 

 exercised with respect to a vessel of the navy of either 

 of the two Powers, but shall be exercised only as re- 

 gards merchant vessels ; and it shall not be exercised 

 by a vessel of war of either contracting party within 

 the limits of a settlement or port, nor within the terri- 

 torial waters of the other party. 



Thirdly. Whenever a merchant vessel is searched 

 by a ship of war, the commander of the said ship shall, 

 in the act of so doing, exhibit to the commander of the 

 merchant vessel the special instructions by which he 

 is duly authorized to search, and shall deliver to such 

 commander a certificate, signed by himself, stating his 

 rank in the naval service ofhis country, and the name 

 of the vessel he commands, and also declaring that the 

 only object of the search is to ascertain whether the 

 ves'sel is employed in the African slave trade, or is 

 fitted up for the said trade. When the search is made 

 by an officer of the cruiser who is not the commander, 

 such officer shall exhibit to the captain of the merchant 

 vessel a copy of the before-mentioned special instruc- 

 tions, signed by the commander of the cruiser; and he 

 shall in like manner deliver a certificate signed by him- 

 self, stating his rank in the navy, the name of the 

 commander by whose orders he proceeds to make the 

 search, that o"f the cruiser in which he sails, and the 

 object of the search, as above described. If it appears 



from the search that the papers of the Tessel are in 



regular order, and that it is empli.\ed cm Uwi 

 jects, the officer shall enter in the log-bo,,;. 

 sel that the search has been in.. 



iid spi-dal instructions; and the vessel -i 

 left at liberty to pursue its Toyage. The rank 

 officer who makes the search must : 

 of lieutenant in the navy, unless tti 

 by reason of death or other cause, is at ti. 

 by an officer of inferior rank. 



Fourthly. The reciprocal right of search and 

 tion shall be exercised only within ti ,f two 



hundred miles from the coast of Africa, and to the 

 southward of the thirty-second parallel of north lati- 

 tude, and within thirty leagues frota the coast of the 

 island of Cuba. 



ART. 2. In order to regulate the mode of carrying 

 the provisions of the preceding article into execution, 

 it is agreed 



First. That all the ships of the navies of the two na- 

 tions which shall be hereafter emploved to prevent the 

 African slave trade, shall be furnished by their respec- 

 tive governments with a copy of the present treaty, of 

 the instructions for cruisers "annexed thereto (ma'rked 

 A), and of the regulations for the mixed courts of jus- 

 tice annexed thereto, marked B, which annexes re- 

 spectively shall be considered as integral parts of the 

 present treaty. 



Secondly. That each of the high contracting parties 

 shall, from time to time, communicate to the other the 

 names of the several ships furnished with such in- 

 structions, the force of each, and the names of their 

 several commanders. The said commanders shall 

 hold the rank of captain in the navy, or at least that 

 of lieutenant ; it being nevertheless understood that 

 the instructions originally issued to an officer holding 

 the rank of lieutenant of the navy, or other superior 

 rank, shall, in case ofhis death or temporary absence, 

 be sufficient to authorize the officer on whom the com- 

 mand of the vessel has devolved, to make the search, 

 although such officer may not hold the aforesaid rank 

 in the service. 



Thirdly. That, if at any time, the commander of a 

 cruiser, of either of the two nations, shall suspect that 

 any merchant vessel under the escort or convoy of any 

 ship or ships-of-warof the other nation carries negroes 

 on board, or has been engaged in the African slave 

 trade, or is fitted put for the purpose thereof, the com- 

 mander of the cruiser shall communicate his suspicions 

 to the commander of the convoy, who. accompanied by 

 the commander of the cruiser, shall proceed to the 

 search of the suspected vessel ; and in case the suspi- 

 cions appear well founded, according to the tenor of 

 this treaty, then the said vessel shall be conducted or 

 sent to one of the places where the mixed courts of 

 justice are stationed, in order that it may there be ad- 

 judicated upon. 



Fourthly. It is further mutually agreed that the com- 

 manders of the ships of the two navies, respectively, 

 who shall be employed on this service, shall adhere 

 strictly to the exact tenor of the aforesaid instructions. 

 ART". 3. As the two preceding articles are entirely 

 reciprocal, the two high contracting parties engage, 

 mutually, to make good any losses waieh their respec- 

 tive subjects or citizens may incur by an arbitrary and 

 illegal detention of their vessels ; it" being understood 

 that this indemnity shall be borne by the Government 

 whose cruiser shall have been guilty of such arbitrary 

 and illegal detention ; and that the search and deten- 

 tion of vessels specified in the first article of this treaty 

 shall be effected only by ships which may form part 

 of the two navies, respectively, and by such of those 

 ships only as are provided with the special instruc- 

 tions annexed to tne present treaty, in pursuance of 

 the provisions thereof. The indemnification for th 

 damages of which this article treats shall be paid with- 

 in the term of one year, reckoning from the day in 

 which the mixed court of justice pronounces lU sen- 



ART. 4. In order to bring to adjudication, with as lit- 

 tle delay and inconvenience as possible, the T- 



