If in consequence of stress of weather or damage they should be compelled to alter their course, and to put into any other port than Ostend or Dover, they must justify such deviation in the manner that their respective Offices shall deem advisable.

Whenever a packet conveying mails shall be compelled to put into any other than its destined port, the captain shall immediately deliver the mails to the local Post Office, or forward them towards their destination, under the charge of an officer of the vessel.

IX. The boats which shall be necessary for taking on board or landing the mails, or for assisting the steam-packets upon their arrival or departure, shall be provided, both at Dover and Ostend, by the Belgian Government, and at its expense.

X. The mail-packets shall be at liberty to take on board or land at Dover, as well as at other British ports where they may be obliged to put in, any passengers of whatever nation they may be, with their wearing apparel and luggage, and also with their horses and carriages, on condition that the captains of the said packets shall conform to the regulations of the United Kingdom concerning the arrival and departure of travellers. They shall be prohibited from conveying goods or merchandize on freight, with the exception, however, of postal packets and small parcels, the weight of which shall be limited by mutual agreement between the two Offices.

XI. The expenses which may be incurred for signals of every kind, and for the burning of Bengal lights upon the pier for the use of the steam-packets, shall be borne both at Dover and at Ostend by the Belgian Government.

XII. The captains of the packets specially engaged in the conveyance of the respective mails of the two Offices are forbidden to take charge of any letter not included in their mail-bags, with the exception, however, of Government despatches.

They must take care that no letters are conveyed illegally by their crews or passengers, and must give information in the proper quarter of any breach of the laws which may be committed in that respect.

XIII. In case of war between the two nations, the mail-packets shall continue their navigation without impediment or molestation, until a notification is made on the part of either of the two Governments that the service is to be discontinued, in which case they shall be permitted to return freely, and under special protection, to the port in Belgium where they were fitted out.

XIV. The British Government engages to pay annually to the Belgian Government, in consideration of the advantages which it derives from the double daily packet service between Ostend and Dover, viz. :

1. For the night service the sum of 4,000l. sterling; and

2. For the day service the sum of 5001. sterling.

These sums shall be paid quarterly to the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of the Belgians at the Court of Her Britannic Majesty.

It is understood that the British Government shall be at liberty to terminate such payment on giving to the Belgian Government a notice of at least six months; and that, even without such notice, the payment of either or both of the above-mentioned sums shall be lawfully discontinued at any time that the Belgian Government should cease to perform either a portion or the whole of the service.

XV. The two Governments engage to cause to be conveyed by the means which the respective Post Offices employ for their own business, the closed mails which one of the Offices may wish to exchange, through the medium of the other Office, with countries which are not parties to the General Postal Union.

The one of the two Offices on whose account this conveyance shall take place shall pay to the Office performing this service, in consideration of the distance traversed beyond the limits of the Union, rates which shall be determined by mutual agreement between them, and which shall not exceed the rates to be determined for the despatch of correspondence in open mails, in conformity with Article XI of the Treaty of Berne of the 9th of October, 1874.

XVI. In order to secure the whole of the receipts upon the correspondence passing between the two countries, the British and Belgian Governments engage to prevent by every possible means the said correspondence being sent by any other way than by their respective Posts.

XVII. The Post Offices of Great Britain and Belgium shall determine by mutual agreement, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Treaty of Berne of the 9th of October, 1874, the matters of detail connected with the execution of the present Convention, as well as all other arrangements deemed necessary for regulating the postal regulations between the two countries.

XVIII, The present Convention, which abrogates and takes the place of all previous postal arrangements concluded between Great Britain and Belgium, with the exception of those relating to Post Office money orders, shall come into force immediately after the exchange of the ratifications,

It is concluded for an indefinite period, each party reserving to itself the right to terminate it at any time upon giving at least twelve months' notice to the other party of its intention in this respect.

XIX. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed thereto the seal of their

arms.

Done in duplicate at London, the 17th day of February, in the year of Our Lord 1876.

(L.S.) DERBY.

(L.S.) JOHN MANNERS. (L.S.) SOLVYNS.

TREATY between Great Britain and Belgium, for the Mutual Surrender of Fugitive Criminals.*—Signed at Brussels, May 20, 1876.

[Ratifications exchanged at Brussels, June 28, 1876.]

HER MAJESTY the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the Belgians, having judged it expedient, with a view to the more complete prevention of crime within their respective territories, that persons charged with or convicted of the crimes hereinafter enumerated, and being fugitives from the justice of their country, should, under certain circumstances, be reciprocally delivered up; Their said Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries to conclude a Treaty for this purpose, that is to say :

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, John Savile Lumley, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

And His Majesty the King of the Belgians, the Count d'Aspremont-Lynden, Officer of His Order of Leopold, Commander of the Order of the Ernestine Branch of the House of Saxony, Grand Cross of the Orders of Leopold of Austria, of the Legion of Honour, of the Lion of the Netherlands, and of the White Eagle of Russia, &c., Member of the Senate, His Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles :

ART. 1. It is agreed that Her Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King of the Belgians shall, on requisition made in their

*Signed also in the French language.

name by their respective Diplomatic Agents, deliver up to each other reciprocally any persons, except as regards Great Britain, native born and naturalized subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, and, except as regards Belgium, those who are by birth or who may have become citizens of Belgium, who, being accused or convicted as principals or accessories, of any of the crimes hereinafter specified, committed within the territories of the requiring party, shall be found within the territories of the other party :—

1. Murder (including assassination, parricide, infanticide, and poisoning), or attempt to murder.

2. Manslaughter.

3. Counterfeiting or altering money, or uttering counterfeit or altered money.

4. Forgery, counterfeiting, or altering or uttering what is forged or counterfeited or altered.

5. Embezzlement or larceny.

6. Obtaining money or goods by false pretences.

7. Crimes by bankrupts against bankruptcy law.

8. Fraud by a bailee, banker, agent, factor, trustee, or director, or member or public officer of any company, made criminal by any law for the time being in force.

9. Rape: Carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 10 years; carnal knowledge of a girl above the age of 10 years and under the age of 12 years; indecent assault upon any female or any attempt to have carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 years of age.

10. Abduction.

11. Child stealing.

12. Kidnapping.

13. Burglary or housebreaking.

14. Arson.

15. Robbery with violence (including intimidation).

16. Threats by letter or otherwise with intent to extort.

17. Piracy by law of nations.

18. Sinking or destroying a vessel at sea, or attempting or conspiring to do so.

19. Assaults on board ship on the high seas with intent to destroy life or to do grievous bodily harm.

20. Revolt or conspiracy to revolt by two or more persons on board a ship on the high seas against the authority of the master. 21. Perjury and subornation of perjury.

22. Malicious injury to property, if the offence be indictable. 23. Aggravated or indecent assault.

Provided that the surrender shall be made only when, in the case of a person accused, the commission of the crime shall be so established as that the laws of the country where the fugitive or person

accused shall be found would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crime had been there committed; and in the case of a person alleged to have been convicted, on such evidence as, according to the laws of the country where he is found, would prove that he has been convicted.

In no case can the surrender be made unless the crime shall be punishable according to the laws in force in both countries with regard to extradition.

II. In the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty, other than the Colonies or foreign Possessions of Her Majesty, the manner of proceeding shall be as follows:

1. In the case of a person accused

The requisition for the surrender shall be made to Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the Minister or other Diplomatic Agent of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, accompanied by a warrant of arrest or other equivalent judicial document, issued by a Judge or Magistrate duly authorized to take cognizance of the acts charged against the accused in Belgium, together with duly authenticated depositions or statements taken on oath or upon solemn affirmation before such Judge or Magistrate, clearly setting forth the said acts, and containing a description of the person claimed, and any particulars which may serve to identify him. The said Secretary of State shall transmit such documents to Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, who shall then, by order under his hand and seal, signify to some Police Magistrate in London that such requisition has been made, and require him, if there be due cause, to issue his warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive.

On the receipt of such order from the Secretary of State, and on the production of such evidence as would, in the opinion of the Magistrate, justify the issue of the warrant if the crime had been committed in the United Kingdom, he shall issue his warrant accordingly.

When the fugitive shall have been apprehended he shall be brought before the Police Magistrate who issued the warrant, or some other Police Magistrate in London. If the evidence to be then produced shall be such as to justify, according to the law of England, the committal for trial of the prisoner, if the crime of which he is accused has been committed in England, the Police Magistrate shall commit him to prison to await the warrant of the Secretary of State for his surrender, sending immediately to the Secretary of State a certificate of the committal, and a report upon the case.

After the expiration of a period from the committal of the prisoner, which shall never be less than 15 days, the Secretary of State shall, by order under his hand and seal, order the fugitive