shall always be held upon the coast of Africa, and the other in one of the colonial possessions of his Catholic Majesty. These commissions shall judge the causes submitted to them without appeal, and according to the regulation and instructions annexed to the present treaty, of which they shall be considered as an integral part. Art. 13. The acts or instruments annexed to this treaty, and which form an integral part thereof, are as follows: No. 1. Form of passport for the Spanish merchant ships, destined for the lawful traffic in slaves. No. 2. Instructions for the ships of war of both nations, destined to prevent the illicit traffic in slaves. No. 3. Regulation for the mixed commissions, which are to hold their sittings on the coast of Africa, and in one of the colonial possessions of his Catholic Majesty. Art. 14. The present treaty, consisting of fourteen articles, shall be ratified, and the ratifica tions exchanged at Madrid, with in the space of two months from this date, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have thereunto affixed the seal of their arms. Done at Madrid, this 23rd September, 1817. (Signed) JOSE PIZARro. (L. S.) HENRY WELLESLEY. (L. S.) No. 1.-Form of passport for Spanish vessels destined for the lawful traffic in slaves. Ferdinand by the Grace of God, king of Castille, of Leon, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Gallicia, of Majorca, of Minorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Cordova, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of Gibraltar, of the Canary Islands, of the East and West Indies, Isles, and Terra Firma of the ocean; archduke of Austria; duke of Burgundy, of Brabant, and of Milan; count of Apsburgh, Flanders, Tirol, and Barcelona; lord of Biscay and of Molina, &c. ing Whereas I have granted permission for the vessel called of tons, and carrymen and master and both Spaniards and subjects of my crown, to proceed bound to the ports of passengers; owner, and coast of Africa, from whence she is to return to the said master and owner having previously taken the required oath before the tribunal of marine of the proper naval division from whence the said vessel sails, and legally proved that no foreigner has any share in the above vessel and cargo, as appears by the certificate annexed to this passport; which certificate is given by the same tribunal, in consequence of the steps taken in pursuance of the directions contained in the ordnance of matriculation of 1802. the slaves whom they carry, after going through the proper forms, to show that they have, in every respect, complied with the provisions of my royal decree of 1817, by which the mode of conveying slaves from the coast of Africa to my colonial dominions is regulated; and should they fail in any of these conditions, they shall be liable to the penalties denounced by the said decree against those who shall carry on the slave trade in an illicit manner. I therefore command all general and other officers commanding my squadrons and ships; the captain generals of the departments of marine, the military commandants of the provinces of the same, their subalterns, captains of the ports, and all other officers and persons belonging to the navy; the viceroys, captain generals or commandants of kingdoms and provinces; the governors, mayors, and justices of the towns upon the sea coast of my dominions of the Indies; the royal officers or Judges of entries therein established; and all others of my subjects to whom it belongs, or may belong, not to give her any obstruction, nor to occasion her any inconvenience or detention, but rather to aid her and to furnish her with whatever she may want for her regular navigation: and of the vassals and subjects of kings, princes, and republics in friendship and alliance with me; of the commanders, governors, or chiefs of their provinces, fortresses, squadrons, and vessels, I require that they likewise shall not impede her in her free navigation, entry, departure, or detention in the ports to which, by any accident she may be carried; but permit her to provide and supply herself therein with whatever she may be in need of, for which purpose I have commanded this passport to be made out, which, being signed for its validity by my secretary of state for the dispatch of marine, shall serve for the time that a voyage, going and returning, may last; after the conclusion of which, it shall be returned to the commandant of marine, governor or other person by whom it may have been issued; adding, for its proper use, the corresponding note. Given at Madrid, on I, THE KING. (Here the signature of the secretary of state and of the dispatch of marine.) Note. This passport, No. authorizes any number of slaves, not exceeding being in the proportion of five slaves for every two tons (as permitted by the royal decree of 1817) ex cepting always such slaves employed as sailors or domestics, and children born on board during the voyage; and the same is issued by me the undersigned on the day of this date, made out in favour of who has previously conformed with all the formalities required by the royal decree of 1817, and is bound to return it immediately upon his return from the voyage. Given at of on the of the year (Here the signature of the principal marine authority of the naval division, station, province, province, or port from whence the vessel clears out.) No. 2.-Instructions for the British and Spanish ships of war employed to prevent the illicit traffic in slaves. Art. 1. Every British or Spanish ship of war shall, in conformity with article 9 of the treaty of this date, have a right to visit the merchant ships of either of the two powers actually engaged, or suspected to be engaged in the slave trade; and should any slaves be found on board, according to the tenor of the 10th article of the aforesaid treaty:and as to what regards the Spanish vessels, should there be ground to suspect that the said slaves have been embarked on a part of the coast of Africa where the traffic is no longer permitted, conformably to the articles 1 and 2 of the treaty of this date: in these cases alone, the commander of the said ship of war may detain them and having detained them, he is to bring them, as soon as possible, for judgment, before that of the two mixed commissions appointed by the 12th ar ticle of the treaty of this date, which shall be the nearest, or which the commander of the capturing ship shall, upon his own responsibility, think he can soonest reach from the spot where the slave ship shall have been detained. Ships, on board of which no slaves shall be found, intended for purposes of traffic, shall not be detained on any account or pretence whatever, Negro servants or sailors that may be found on board the said vessels, cannot, in any case be deemed a sufficient cause for detention. Art. 2. No Spanish merchantman or slave ship shall, on any pretence whatever be detained, which shall be found any where near the land or on the high seas, south of the equator, during the period for which the traffic is to remain lawful according to the stipulations subsisting between the high contracting parties, unless after a chace that shall have commenced north of the equator. Art. 3. Spanish vessels, furnished with a regular passport, having slaves on board, shipped at those parts of the coast of Africa where the trade is permitted to Spanish subjects, and which shall afterwards be found north of the equator, shall not be detained by the ships of war of the two nations, though furnished with the present instructions, provided the same can account for their course either in conformity with the practice of the Spanish navigation, by steering some degrees to the northward in search of fair winds, or for other legitimate causes, such as the dangers of the sea, duly proved; provided always, that, with regard to all slave ships detained to the north of the equator, after the expiration of the term allowed, the proof of the legality of the voyage is to be furnished by the vessel so detained. On the other hand, with respect to slave ships detained to the south of the equator, in conformity with the stipulations of the preceding article, the proof of the illegality of the voyage is to be exhibited by the captor. It is in like manner stipulated, stipulated, that the number of slaves found on board a slave ship by the cruizers, even should the number not agree with that contained in their passport, shall not be sufficient reason to justify the detention of the ship; but the captain and the proprietor shall be denounced in the Spanish tribunals, in order to their being punished according to the laws of the country. Art. 4. Every Spanish vessel intended to be employed in the legal traffic in slaves, in conformity with the principles laid down in the treaty of this date, shall be commanded by a native Spaniard, and two-thirds, at least, of the crew shall likewise be Spaniards; provided always, that its Spanish or foreign construction shall, in no wise, affect its nationality, and that the negro sailors shall always be reckoned as Spaniards, provided they belong, as slaves, to subjects of the crown of Spain, or that they have been enfranchised in the dominions of his Catholic Majesty. Art. 5. Whenever a ship of war shall meet a merchantman liable to be searched, it shall be done in the most mild manner, and with every attention which is due between allied and friendly nations; and in no case shall the search be made by an officer holding a rank inferior to that of lieutenant in the navy of Great Britain, or of ensign of a ship of the line in the Spanish navy. Art. 6. The ships of war which may detain any slave ship, in pursuance of the principles laid down in the present instructions, shall leave on board all the cargo of negroes untouched, as well as the captain and a part, at least, of the crew of the above-mentioned slave ship; the captain shall draw up in writing, an authentic declaration, which shall exhibit the state in which he found the detained ship, and the changes which may have taken place in it; he shall deliver to the captain of the slave ship a signed certificate of the papers seized on board the said vessel, as well as of the number of slaves found on board at the moment of detention. The negroes shall not be disembarked till after the vessels which contain them shall be arrived at the place where the legality of the capture is to be tried by one of the two mixed commissions, in order that in the event of their not being adjudged legal prize, the loss of the proprietors may be more easily repaired. If, however, urgent motives, deduced from the length of the voyage, the state of health of the negroes or other causes, required that they should be disembarked entirely, or in part, before the vessel could arrive at the place of residence of one of the said commissions, the commander of the capturing ship may take on himself the responsibility of such disembarkation, provided that the necessity be stated in a certificate in proper form. Art. 7. No conveyance of slaves from one port in the Spanish possessions to another shall take place, except in ships provided with passports from the government on the spot, ad hoc. No. 3. REGULATIONS for the Mixed Commissions, which are to reside on the Coast of Africa, Africa, and in a Colonial Pos- are to reside on the coast of Africa, and in a colonial possession of his Catholic Majesty, shall be composed in the following 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 stipulations of the treaty of this date, may be laid before them. All the essential parts of the proceedings carried on before these mixed commissions, shall be written down in the legal language of the country in which the commission may reside.-The commissary judges and the commissioners of arbitration, 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 presence of at least one of the commissary judges, to conduct himself with respect for their authority, and to act with fidelity in all the affairs which may belong to his charge. 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 Possession 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 pursuance 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 indemnification which she is to receive. And it is hereby provided, that in all cases, the final sentence shall not be delayed, on account of the absence of witnesses, or for want of other proofs, beyond the period of two months; except upon the application of any of the parties interested, when upon their giving satisfactory security to charge themselves with the expense and risks of the delay, the commissioners may, at their discretion, grant an additional delay, not exceeding four months. Art. 2. Each of the abovementioned commissions which Art. 3. The form of the process shall be as follows:-The commissary judges of the two nations shall, in the first place, proceed to |