214 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. | 
ocean or some recognized possession of another Power, 
and, secondly, in virtue of the discoveries and rights 
of extension of Spain; and Great Britain claiming in 
virtue of discovery and possession, and of rights of ex- 
tension of her actual admitted possessions in America. 
Thus we arrive at the question of what her actual 
admitted possessions were: which is the key to the 
Treaty of June 15, 1846, the interpretation of which 
was referred to the Emperor of Germany. 
On the restoration of Charles IL, projects of colo- 
nization and of remote commercial or speculative en- 
terprises, which had been suspended in England dur. 
ing the Civil War, began to be resumed with new 
zeal, comprehending as well the East as the West 
Indies. 
Among the great territorial charters of that day, 
one of the most interesting is that of the Hudson’s 
Bay Company, by which the King granted to sundry 
persons, including the Prince Rupert, the Duke of 
Albemarle, the Earl of Craven, Lord Arlington, Lord 
Ashley, Sir John Robinson, Sir Edward Hungerford, 
and others [in part, it will be perceived, the same per- 
sons who obtained a grant of the two Carolinas], 
“The sole trade and commerce of all those seas, straits, bays, 
rivers, lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they 
shall be, that lie within the entrance of the straits commonly 
called Hudson’s Straits, together with all the lands and terri- 
tories upon the countries, coasts, and confines of the seas, bays, 
lakes, rivers, creeks, and sounds aforesaid, that are not already 
actually possessed by or granted to any of our subjects, or 
possessed by the subjects of any other Christian Prince or 
State, with the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales, sturgeons, and 
