having declined to allow the word "mining" in Article II to be expunged. Sir W. G. Ouseley.

MALMESBURY.

(Inclosure 1.)—Draft of Article XIV in Treaty with Nicaragua.

In the event of any subject of Her Britannic Majesty dying without will or testament in the territories of the Republic of Nicaragua, or in the absence of lawful heirs or representatives, the Consul-General, Consul, or Acting Consul of Her Britannic Majesty, shall, after a duly made and attested inventory has been signed by him, have the right to take possession and charge of the property the deceased may have left, for the benefit of his lawful heirs and creditors, giving immediate notice of the death to the authorities of the country.

In the event of the death of a citizen of the Republic of Nicaragua under similar circumstances, in the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty, the property which the deceased may have left shall be dealt with in the same manner as the property of a British subject [or if the Nicaraguan Government prefer it, "a subject or citizen of the most favoured nation," but there is no real difference] under the like circumstances.

(Inclosure 2.)-Draft Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, between Her Majesty and the Republic of Nicaragua.

HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Republic of Nicaragua, being desirous to maintain and improve the relations of good understanding which happily subsist between them, and to promote the commercial intercourse between their respective subjects and citizens, have deemed it expedient to conclude a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation, and have for that purpose named as their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir William Gore Ouseley, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on a special mission to the Republics of Central America;

And His Excellency the President of the Republic of Nicaragua, Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles :

ART. I. Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland recognises the sovereignty and indepen dence of the Republic of Nicaragua. Consequently, there shall be

a perfect, firm, and inviolable peace and sincere friendship between Her Britannic Majesty and the Republic of Nicaragua, in all the extent of their possessions and territories, and between their subjects and citizens, respectively, without distinction of persons or places.

II. The two High Contracting Parties being desirous of placing the commerce and navigation of their respective countries on the liberal basis of perfect equality and reciprocity, mutually agree that the citizens of each may frequent all the coasts and countries of the other, and reside therein, and shall have the power to purchase and hold all kinds of property which the laws of the country may permit any foreigners, of whatever nation, to hold, and to engage in all kinds of trade, manufactures, and mining, upon the same terms with native subjects or citizens. They shall enjoy all the privileges and concessions in these matters which are or may be made to the subjects or citizens of any country; and shall enjoy all the rights, privileges, and exemptions, in navigation, commerce, and manufactures, which native subjects or citizens do or shall enjoy, submitting themselves to the laws there established, to which native subjects or citizens are subjected.

The ships of war and post-office packets of each Contracting Party respectively, shall have liberty to enter into all harbours, rivers, and places within the territories of the other, to which the ships of war and packets of other nations are or may be permitted to come; to anchor there, and to remain and refit; subject always to the laws of the two countries respectively.

The High Contracting Parties further engage that neither will grant any favour to any other nation, in respect of commerce and navigation, which shall not immediately become common to the other Contracting Party.

III. The High Contracting Parties agree that, in regard to the coasting trade, the ships, subjects, and citizens of each shall enjoy, in the dominions and territories of the other, the same privileges, and shall be treated in all respects in the same manner, as national vessels, and as native subjects and citizens.

IV. The Contracting Parties likewise agree, that whatever kind of produce, manufacture, or merchandize can be, from time to time, lawfully imported into the British dominions in British vessels, may also be imported in vessels of the Republic of Nicaragua; and that no higher or other duties upon the vessel or upon her cargo shall be levied and collected, whether the importation be made in vessels of the one country or of the other; and in like manner, that whatever kind of produce, manufacture, or merchandize can be from time to time. lawfully imported into the Republic of Nicaragua in its own vessels, may be also imported in British vessels; and that no higher or other duties upon the vessel or upon her cargo shall be levied or collected

whether the importation be made in vessels of the one country or of the other.

And they further agree, that whatever may be lawfully exported or re-exported from the one country in its own vessels to any foreign country, may in like manner be exported or re-exported in the vessels of the other country; and that the same bounties, duties, and drawbacks shall be allowed and collected, whether such exportation. or re-exportation be made in British vessels, or in vessels of the

Republic of Nicaragua.

V. No higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation. into the British dominions of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of the Republic of Nicaragua, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the Republic of Nicaragua of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of the British dominions, than are or shall be payable on the same or the like article being the produce or manufacture of any other foreign country. Nor shall any higher or other duties or charges be imposed, in either of the two countries, on the exportation of any article to the territories of the other, than such as are payable on the exportation of the same or the like article to any other foreign country.

No prohibition shall be imposed upon the importation of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of the territories of either of the two Contracting Parties into the territories of the other, which shall not equally extend to the importation of the same or the like article being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any other country nor shall any prohibition be imposed on the exportation of any article from the territories of either of the two Contracting Parties to the territories of the other, which shall not equally extend to the exportation of the same or the like article to the territories of all other nations.

VI. No duties of tonnage, harbour, pilotage, lighthouse, quarantine, or other similar or corresponding duties, of whatever nature or under whatever denomination, levied in the name or for the profit of the Government, public functionaries, corporations, or establishments of whatever kind, shall be imposed in the ports of either country upon the vessels of the other country, which shall not be equally imposed in the like cases on national vessels.

VII. In order to prevent the possibility of any misunderstanding, it is hereby declared that the stipulations contained in the preceding Articles are, to their full extent, applicable to British vessels and their cargoes arriving in the ports of Nicaragua, and reciprocally to the vessels of the said Republic and their cargoes arriving in British ports, whether they proceed from the ports of the country to which they respectively belong, or from the ports of any other foreign.

country; and, in either case, no discriminating duty shall be imposed or collected in the ports of either country on the said vessels or upon their cargoes, whether such cargoes shall consist of native or cf foreign produce or manufacture.

VIII. All vessels which, according to the laws of Great Britain, are to be deemed British vessels, and all vessels which, according to the laws of the Republic of Nicaragua, are to be deemed vessels of that Republic, shall, for the purposes of this Treaty, be deemed British vessels and vessels of Nicaragua respectively.

IX. It is likewise agreed, that it shall be wholly free for all merchants, commanders of ships, and other subjects or citizens of both countries, to manage, by themselves or agents, their own business in all the ports and places subject to the jurisdiction of each other, as well with respect to the consignments and sale of their goods and merchandize, by wholesale or retail, as with respect to the loading, unloading, and sending off their ships; they being, in all these cases, to be treated as subjects or citizens of the country in which they reside or are conducting their business, and to be subject to the laws of that country.

X. Whenever the citizens of either of the Contracting Parties shall be forced to seek refuge or asylum in the rivers, bays, ports, or dominions of the other, with their vessels, whether merchant or of war, public or private, through stress of weather, pursuit of pirates or enemies, or want of provisions or water, they shall be received and treated with humanity, and all favour and protection shall be given. to them for repairing their ships, procuring provisions, and placing themselves in a situation to continue their voyage without obstacle or hindrance of any kind.

XI. If any ship of war or merchant-vessel of either of the High Contracting Parties should be wrecked on the coasts of the other, such ship or vessel, or any parts thereof, and all furniture and appurtenances belonging thereunto, and all goods and merchandize which shall be saved therefrom, or the produce thereof, if sold, shall be faithfully restored to the owners, upon being claimed by them or by their duly authorized agents; and if there are no such owners or agents on the spot, then the said ships or parts of ships, furniture, appurtenances, goods, and merchandize, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, as well as all the papers found on board such wrecked ship or vessel, shall be delivered to the British Consul or Vice-Consul, or to the Consul or Vice-Consul of the Republic of Nicaragua, in whose district the wreck may have taken place, upon being claimed by him, and on his giving a receipt or acknowledgment for the same; and upon payment by such Consul, Vice-Consul, owners, or agents, of only the expenses incurred in the preservation of the property, and of the salvage or other expenses which would have been payable in

the like case of a wreck of a national vessel. The charge for such salvage or other expenses shall be made and settled immediately, subject to such right of appeal on the part of the person paying the same as may exist in the respective countries. The goods and merchandize saved from the wreck shall not be subject to duties, unless cleared for consumption; in which case they shall be liable only to the same duties as if they had been imported in a national vessel.

XII. The subjects and citizens of either of the two Contracting Parties in the territories of the other shall be at full liberty to acquire, possess, and dispose of, whether by purchase, sale, donation, exchange, marriage, testament, succession ab intestato, or in any other manner whatever, every description of property which the laws of the country may permit any foreigners, of whatsoever nation, to hold. Their heirs and representatives may succeed to and take possession of such property, either in person or by agents acting on their behalf, in the ordinary form of law, in the same manner as subjects or citizens of the country; and in the absence of such heirs and representatives, the property shall be treated in the same manner as the like property belonging to a subject or citizen of the country under similar circumstances.

In none of these respects shall they pay upon the value of such property any other or higher impost, duty, or charge, than is payable by subjects or citizens of the country. In every case the subjects and citizens of the Contracting Parties shall be permitted to export their property, or the proceeds thereof, British subjects from the territory of Nicaragua, and Nicaraguan citizens from the British territory, freely, and without being subjected on such exportation to pay any duty as foreigners, and without having to pay any other or higher duties than those to which subjects or citizens of the country are liable.

XIII. Both Contracting Parties promise and engage formally to give their special protection to the persons and property of the subjects or citizens of each other, of all occupations, who may be in the territories subject to the jurisdiction of one or the other, transient or dwelling therein, leaving open and free to them the tribunals of justice, for their judicial recourse, on the same terms which are usual and customary with the native subjects or citizens of the country; for which purpose they may either appear in proper person, or employ, in the prosecution or defence of their rights, such advocates, solicitors, notaries, agents, and factors as they may judge proper, in all their trials at law; and such citizens or agents shall have free opportunity to be present at the decisions or sentences of the tribunals in all cases which may concern them, and shall enjoy in such cases all the rights and privileges accorded to native subjects or citizens.