[Pacification of the Levant.] by the Pasha of Egypt and Acre, forming part of the forces of the Ottoman Empire, shall always be considered as maintained for the service of the State. Offers to be withdrawn if not accepted within 20 Days. § 7. If, at the expiration of the period of 20 days after the communication shall have been made to him (according to the stipulation of § 2), Mehemet Ali shall not accede to the proposed arrangement, and shall not accept the hereditary Pashalic of Egypt, the Sultan will consider himself at liberty to withdraw that offer, and to follow, in consequence, such ulterior course as his own interests and the counsels of his Allies may suggest to him. Separate Act to form part of Convention of 15th July, 1840. § 8. The present Separate Act shall have the same force and validity as if it were inserted, word for word, in the Convention of this date. It shall be ratified, and the Ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at London at the same time as those of the said Convention. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the Seals of their Arms. Done at London, the 15th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, 1840. (L.S.) PALMERSTON. (L.S.) NEUMANN. (L.S.) BRUNNOW. (L.S.) CHEKIB. [Navigation of the Danube.] No. 191.-CONVENTION between Austria and Russia, relative to the Navigation of the Danube. Signed at St. Preamble. Reference to Vienna Congress Treaty of 9th June, 1815. 1. Free Navigation of the Danube. 2. Freedom of Navigation to Vessels of all Nations having the right to Navigate the Black Sea. Freedom to Russian Ships to Navigate the Danube through the Austrian States. 3. Right of Towage along the Bank. Towage along the Quay of Réni. 4. Austrian Vessels not to be subject to Visit on their Entrance or Departure from the Mouths of the Danube. Similar Privileges to Russian Vessels in Austrian Waters of the Danube. 5. Russian Government to stop Sand Banks at Mouths of the Danube. The Works to be renewed whenever necessary. 6. Erection of a Lighthouse at the Mouth of the Sulina. 7. Cleansing and Lighthouse Duties to be paid by Austrian Vessels. 8. Treatment of Austrian Vessels along the Danube, and in Ports of the Black Sea with reference to Sanitary Precautions. 9. Duration of Convention. 10. Ratifications. (Translation.†) Reference to Vienna Congress Treaty of 9th June, 1815. His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, &c., and His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, King of Poland, &c., animated by a desire to facilitate, to extend, and to increase more and more the commercial relations between their respective States, by giving a more extended development to the navigation of the Danube, and convinced that they could not better attain that end than by applying to that River the same principles which the Congress of Vienna (No. 27) has established for the Free Navigation of the Rivers which separate or flow through different countries, have resolved by common consent to regulate by a special Convention everything of reciprocal interest relating to that object. For that purpose their said Majesties have appointed Plenipotentiaries, namely: His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, Count Charles Louis de Ficquelmont, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, &c. ; * See also General Treaty of 30th March, 1856, Art. XV. + For French version, see "State Papers,” vol. xxviii, p. 1060. [Navigation of the Danube.] His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, Count Charles Robert de Nesselrode, his actual Private Councillor and Vice Chancellor, &c., and Count Michael Woronzow, his General of Infantry and General Aide-de-Camp, Governor-General of New Russia and Bessarabia, &c.; Who, after having reciprocally communicated their Full Powers, found to be in good and due form, have concluded and signed the following Articles : Free Navigation of the Danube. ART. I. The Navigation throughout the whole course of the Danube, as well from the point where it touches the Russian Territory to its mouth in the Black Sea, as through the whole extent where it bathes the States of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, shall be entirely free, as well in descending as in ascending; it cannot, in matters of Commerce, be interdicted to any one, be subject to any hindrance, nor to any toll whatever; and there shall not be paid for such navigation any other Dues than those which shall be hereafter fixed upon. Freedom of Navigation to Vessels of all Nations having the right to Navigate the Black Sea. ART. II. Austrian merchant ships, as well as those of every other Nation, having the right to navigate in the Black Sea, and is at peace with Russia, shall enter freely into the navigable mouths of the Danube, ascend, descend, and leave it, without being subject to any Customs or Passage Duties, save the Dues mentioned hereafter. Freedom to Russian Ships to Navigate the Danube through the Austrian States. In the same manner Russian merchant ships shall freely ascend and descend the Danube throughout the whole extent where it bathes the States of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, without being subject to any Duty whatever. Right of Towage along the Bank. ART. III. Austrian ships and vessels navigating the Danube shall have the right to be towed along the River, and on the whole extent of the Islands of St. George, Lété, and Tchatal, by following the towing paths established by the Imperial Govern [Navigation of the Danube.] ment of Russia on either bank, in accordance with the sanitary precautions adopted in conformity with the Quarantine Regulations, no impediments to the navigation being in any way caused by the superintendence imposed thereby. Towage along the Quai of Réni. As far as it more particularly concerns the Towage along the Quay of the town of Réni, the two High Contracting Parties will inquire into the best means to be adopted to make that towage practicable without compromising the maintenance of sanitary regulations, and the state of free pratique of the town of Réui. Austrian Vessels not to be subject to Visit on their Entrance or Departure from the Mouths of the Danube. ART. IV. Austrian vessels shall not be subject to any visit either on their entrance into the mouths of the Danube, or on their departure. They shall, only on their entrance into the mouths of the Sulina, be stopped for such time as is necessary for the officer of the Guard Ship to inspect the ship's papers. As soon as they shall have fulfilled that formality, and satisfied the Quarantine Regulations, they shall be allowed to continue on their way, without being further retained in that place. Similar Privileges to Russian Vessels in Austrian Waters of the Danube. The same facilities shall be granted to Russian ships or vessels navigating in the part of the Danube which flows through or bathes the States of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty. Russian Government to Stop Sand Banks at Mouths of the Danube. ART. V. The Imperial Government of Russia engages to commence as soon as possible the works necessary to stop the progress of the Sand Banks at the mouths of the Sulina, and to make that passage so far practicable as to prevent it being an obstacle to navigation. The Works to be renewed whenever necessary. These works shall be renewed and continued whenever it shall be considered necessary, and that the season and the time [Navigation of the Danube.] permits it, in order to prevent a new accumulation of sand in the said mouths of the Sulina. Erection of a Lighthouse at the Mouth of the Sulina. ART. VI. The Imperial Government of Russia further engages to have a Lighthouse erected in the shortest possible delay upon the most convenient spot at the mouth of the Sulina, and to have a Beacon established upon the most approved principles of the day, with strong reflectors. This Beacon shall be regularly lighted on the 1st of March, new style, every year, and shall be in operation up to the month of December. Cleansing and Lighthouse Duties to be paid by Austrian Vessels. ART. VII. To contribute towards the cleansing and maintenance of the works stipulated in Article V, as well as those which are caused by the construction and maintenance of the Beacon, established equally in the common interest of the two Empires, Austrian vessels passing the mouths of the Danube, either laden or in ballast, shall pay once for all on entering and leaving, the Duties hereafter stipulated, on a fixed and invariable scale, that is to say, for expense of cleansing: 2-masted vessels, 2 piastres of Spain or talaris; Steam vessels without distinction, 3 piastres of Spain or talaris. As Lighthouse Duty, all Austrian vessels, without distinction. of size or tonnage, 1 talaris or piastre of Spain. These duties shall only be paid on the vessels leaving the mouth of the Danube, and not on their entrance, in order that the vessels may not be stopped, and that they may take advantage of a favourable wind to ascend the River without loss of time. The levy of duties for cleansing shall date from the time at which the works shall begin. Nevertheless, all Austrian vessels which, dating from the year 1842, shall be under the necessity of employing lighters either in entering or leaving the Danube, shall be freed from paying the cleansing duty. The Lighthouse Duty shall be paid from the moment it shall be lighted. |