156 APPENDIX TO BRITISH CASE. 



secure to the inhabitants of the United States the liberty of taking 

 fish of every kind on the southern coast of Newfoundland, from Cape 

 Ra}^ to the Ramea Islands, and on the coasts, bays, harbours, and 

 creeks from Mount Joli, on the southern coast of Labrador, to and 

 through the Straits of Belleisle, and thence northwardly, indefinitely, 

 along the coast; and also, the liberty of drying and curing fish in 

 any of the unsettled bays, harbours, and creeks of Labrador and of 

 the southern coast of Newfoundland, as above described; with the 

 proviso respecting such of the said bays, harbours, and creeks as may 

 be settled. 



The liberty of taking fish within rivers is not asked. A positive 

 clause to except them is unnecessary, unless it be intended to compre- 

 hend under that name waters which might otherwise be considered 

 as bays or creeks. Whatever extent of fishing-ground may be secured 

 to American fishermen, the American plenipotentiaries are not pre- 

 pared to accept it on a tenure or on conditions different from those 

 on which the whole has heretofore been held. Their instructions did 

 not anticipate that any new terms or restrictions would be annexed, 

 as none were suggested in the proposals made by Mr. Bagot to the 

 American Government. The clauses forbidding the spreading of 

 nets, and making vessels liable to confiscation in case any articles 

 not wanted for carrying on the fishery should be found on board, 

 are of that description, and would expose the fishermen to endless 

 vexations. 



Mississippi. 



The American plenipotentiaries are not authorised to agree to any 

 condition that would bring the British in contact with the Missis- 

 sippi. The right to the navigation of that river could only be de- 

 rived from the treaty of 1783 ; and, if viewed as a matter of compro- 

 mise, that right is much less valuable and important than the portion 

 of the fisheries which the United States would lose by the agreement, 

 even on the terms proposed by them. 



Boundary. 



That portion of the article which relates to the country west of the 

 Stony Mountains cannot be agreed to in its present shape. The 

 American plenipotentiaries cannot consent to throw in a common 

 stock that part only of the country to which the United States deny 

 the claim of Great Britain, and which lies within the same latitudes 

 as their own territories east of the Stony Mountains; thus, also, 

 implying the exclusion of their citizens from the trade on the north- 

 west coast of America (north of 49), which they have enjoyed with- 

 out interruption for a number of years, and as early as the British. 



Nor are they authorised to agree to expressions implying a renun- 

 ciation of territorial sovereignty, although perfectly disposed not to 

 insist on an extension of the line of demarcation to that country. 

 They will propose either that the whole of the article relating to 

 that subject, and immediately following the words " to the Stony 

 Mountains," should be omitted, inserting, in lieu thereof, a proviso 

 similar to what had on former occasions been agreed to, viz : " But 

 nothing in the present article shall be construed to extend to the 

 northwest coast of America, or to territories belonging to or claimed 



