may be charged with any offence as aforesaid, upon demand being made by some competent authority.

XV. All Merchandize imported in British vessels within the dominion of the King, party to this Treaty, shall be exempted from the payment of any duty whatever, and in like manner the productions of the territories of the said King, party to this Treaty, imported into the Colony of Sierra Leone, shall be (subject to the approval of the Governor and Council of the said Colony) exempted from all import or other duties.

XVI. In consideration of the foregoing stipulations of this Treaty being agreed upon and strictly adhered to on the part of the King aforesaid and his successors, His Excellency Norman William Macdonald, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Colony of Sierra Leone, agrees for himself and successors, on the part of Her Majesty the Queen of England, to pay or cause to be paid annually to the said King and his successors the Customs hereinafter mentioned and set forth-viz., 400 bars. The above bars to be computed by the scale of bars in the Schedule hereunto annexed.

XVII. The amount stipulated to be paid annually to the said King by this Treaty shall be considered a full compensation for the fulfiment of the terms and conditions thereof by the King aforesaid, and shall be in full satisfaction for all charges on British merchant shipping resorting to the waters of the territories of the said King for the purposes of trade, with the free and unrestricted right to wood and water.

XVIII. This Treaty shall be proclaimed immediately on its being concluded and signed, and be made law throughout the territories of the said King, which for the better maintenance of peace and the avoidance of all causes of difference and disputes are hereby fixed and declared to be as follows, that is to say-from the sea-board of the River Maneah to its source in the interior, including the River Toogroon or Foogamy, with the Sarinka branch leading to Maneah.

Signed and Sealed at Morebiah this 29th day of January, in the year of our Lord, 1852, and of Her Majesty's reign the 15th. Commissioners: J. E. DILLET (L.S.), Civil Service, Sierra Leone. N. ISAACS (L.S.)

In the presence of:

STEPHEN (L.S.)

DINTY SAMBA. SANS SENNAH. YEMBA LAIMENA.

SCHEDULE.-8 pieces of blue baft, 80 bars; 8 pieces of white baft, 80; 8 pieces of satin stripes, 96; 172 lbs. of tobacco, 100 ; 20 gallons of rum in 4 jars, 44: total, 400 bars.

Duly proclaimed this 29th day of January, 1852, at the town of Morebiah, by Stephen, King of Wonkafong, in my presence. ALEXANDER PORTER, of Freetown.

BRITISH ORDER IN COUNCIL, relative to the trade of French vessels in the River Gambia. April 23, 1859.

At the Court at Windsor, the 23rd day of April, 1859. PRESENT, THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS by the 3rd clause of an Order made by Her Majesty in Council on the 31st day of January, 1849,* to regulate the trade of Her Majesty's settlements on the River Gambia and their dependencies, it was provided that no goods should be imported into, nor any goods exported from, the said settlements by sea, from or to any place, other than a British possession, except into or from the port of Bathurst.

And whereas by the 4th clause of the said Order it was provided, that articles not otherwise prohibited than by the law of navigation, might be warehoused in the said settlements under the conditions therein mentioned; and whereas by the 43rd clause of the said order, provision is made for payment of a duty on the reexportation of coal from the aforesaid settlements to any Foreign place in any Foreign ship.

And whereas the above-recited provisions have become in part nugatory, and are in fact (so far as respects French subjects) repugnant to the terms of a Convention made on the 7th of March, 1857,† between Her Majesty and His Majesty the Emperor of the French, and to a certain statute, made and passed in the session of Parliament held in the 21st and 22nd years of Her Majesty's reign, entitled "An Act to remove doubts as to the operation of a Convention between Her Majesty and the Emperor of the French relative to Portendic and Albreda,"‡ to wit, the aforesaid Convention of the 7th of March, 1857.

And whereas it is expedient that the above-recited provisions of the aforesaid Order in Council should be repealed, and that further provision should be made respecting the trade of the aforesaid settlements and their dependencies, as is hereafter contained.

1. Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, and in pursuance and exercise of all powers enabling Her on that behalf, doth order, and it is hereby ordered, that the above-mentioned 3rd, 4th, and 43rd clauses of the aforesaid Order in Council of the 31st day of January, 1849, shall be, and they are hereby repealed.

2. And Her Majesty, by and with such advice as aforesaid, and in pursuance of all such powers as aforesaid, doth further order, and it is hereby further ordered, that French vessels in the River Gambia shall be subject to the same duties, tolls, and regulations as British vessels; and every article imported or exported in French vessels shall pay the same duty as is or may be imposed upon the like article when imported or exported in British vessels.

* See Vol. 8, Page 331. † See Vol. 10, Page 761.

See Vol. 10, Page 770.

And it is further ordered, that all vessels arriving within the River Gambia shall come to anchor, shall enter inwards and outwards, and shall pay all duties and charges at the port of Bathurst.

And the Right Honourable Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

WM. L. BATHURST.

TREATY of Peace between Great Britain and Plantain Islands. Off Tasso, May 31, 1859.

TREATY OF PEACE between Thomas Stephen Caulker, Chief of the Plantain Islands, and Francis Arden Close, Esquire, Commander of Her Majesty's ship "Trident," for and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain.

ART. I. Whereas the Chief, Thomas Stephen Caulker, has been the cause of wars for many years in the Sherbro River, and it is considered necessary in order to obtain a lasting peace, that the Chief Thomas Stephen Caulker should leave Bendo and return to his own territory at the Plantain Islands, pointed out by Treaty with Great Britain.

II. That Thomas Stephen Caulker shall not under any pretence whatever go over to Bendo, or the country of the Sherbro River, nor directly or indirectly make counsel, nor hire war against the King or Chief of that country, nor in any manner intermeddle with the administration of any country beyond the territory of the said Thomas Stephen Caulker, pointed out by the Treaty with Great Britain, signed at Tasso on the 4th of July, 1849.*

Done on board Her Majesty's ship "Trident," off Tasso, this 31st day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1859.

Witnesses to Signature:

THOMAS STEPHEN CAULKER. (L.S.)

F. A. CLOSE, Commander and Senior Officer, North Division. H. BURNABY, Lieut. R.N.

THOMAS THEOPHILUS CAULKER. THOS. G. CAULKER.

RATIFICATION of the above Treaty, in accordance with the custom of the country, at Tasso, June 1, 1859.

I, Thomas Stephen Caulker, Chief of Plantain Islands, standing on the graves of my ancestors at Tasso, in the presence of Thomas Theophilus Caulker, and Thomas George Caulker, and in the presence of Lieutenant Thomas Watson Chapman, of Her Majesty's ship"Trident," do solemnly swear that I will act up to the * See Vol. 9, Page 41.

stipulations of the above Treaty, and if I ever make war, except in defence of my own country, pointed out by Treaty with Great Britain, may I be the first to die and be buried in this place. Witnesses to Signature: THOMAS STEPHEN CAULKER.

THOMAS W. CHAPMAN, Lieut. R.N.

THOMAS THEOPHILUS CAULKER. THOS. G. CAULKER. THOS. GEO. LAWSON, Chief Inspector of Police.

BRITISH TREASURY WARRANT, fixing the Rates of Postage on Letters transmitted to or from the Coasts of West and South Africa. February 7, 1860.

WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament passed in the 4th year of the reign of Her present Majesty, intituled "An Act for the regulation of the duties of postage," power is given to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, from time to time, by Warrant under their hands, to alter and fix any of the rates of British postage or inland postage payable by law on the transmission by the post of Foreign or Colonial letters or newspapers, or of any other printed papers, and to subject the same to rates of postage according to the weight thereof, and a scale of weight to be contained in such Warrant, and from time to time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to alter or repeal any such altered rates, and make and establish any new or other rates in lieu thereof, and from time to time, by Warrant as aforesaid, to appoint at what time the rates which may be payable are to be paid.

And whereas, by another Act of Parliament passed in the 11th year of the reign of Her present Majesty, intituled "An Act for giving further facilities for the transmission of letters by post, and for the regulating the duties of postage thereon, and for other purposes relating to the Post-office," further powers are given to the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and power is also given to the Postmaster-General (amongst other things) to collect and receive the Foreign and Colonial postage charged or chargeable on any letter sent by the post, and also with the consent of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, to require the postage, British, Colonial or Foreign, of any letter sent by the post to be prepaid, either in money or in stamps, as he might think fit, on the same being put into the Post-office.

And whereas the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have, by divers Warrants under their hands, fixed, made, and established, certain rates of British postage payable on the transmission by the post of certain Colonial letters therein respectively mentioned.

And whereas the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury,

* See Vol. 5, Page 248. † See Vol. 8, Page 247.

by a certain other Warrant under their hands, bearing date the 15th day of January, 1858," did make regulations for the pre-payment of the several rates of postage payable on letters posted in the United Kingdom, addressed to any of the Colonies therein mentioned, and on letters posted in any such Colonies, addressed to the United Kingdom.

And whereas it is expedient to extend the provisions of the said last-mentioned Warrant to letters posted in the United Kingdom addressed to the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast, and to letters posted in those Colonies addressed to the United Kingdom.

Now we, the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, m exercise of the powers reserved to us in and by the said hereinbefore recited Acts, or either of them, and of all other powers enabling us in this behalf, do by this present Warrant, under the hands of 2 of us, the said Commissioners (by the authority of the Statute in that case made and provided), order and direct as follows; that is to say:

1. On every letter posted in the United Kingdom, addressed to the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast, and on every letter posted in any of such Colonies, addressed to the United Kingdom, the postage thereof shall be paid at the time of the same being posted.

2. If any letter shall be posted in the United Kingdom, addressed to the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, or the Gold Coast, without any postage having been paid thereon, every such letter shall be forwarded charged with the amount of the postage to which it would have been liable if the postage had been paid when posted, together with a further and additional rate of postage of 6 pence.

3. If any letter shall be posted in the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, or the Gold Coast, addressed to the United Kingdom, without any postage having been paid thereon, every such letter shall be forwarded charged with the amount of the postage to which it would have been liable if the postage had been paid when posted, together with a further and additional rate of postage of 6 pence.

4. If any letter shall be posted in the United Kingdom, addressed to the Cape of Good Hope, Sierra Leone, or the Gold Coast, or be posted in any of such Colonies addressed to the United Kingdom, and the postage paid thereon shall be less in amount than the rate of postage to which such letter would be liable under or by virtue of the regulations in force relating thereto, every such letter shall be forwarded, charged with the amount of the difference between the postage paid thereon and the postage to which it would have been liable if the postage had

* See Vol. 10, Page 970.