ing on the said trade for twenty-one years, commencing with the outfit of 1821, and ending with the returns of 1841, to be carried on in the name of the said Governor and Company exclusively: And whereas the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, have humbly besought us to make a grant, and give our royal license to them jointly, of and for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in North America, under the restrictions and upon the terms and conditions specified in the said recited act:

"Now, know ye, that we, being desirous of encouraging the said trade, and remedying the evils which have arisen from the competition which has heretofore existed therein, do grant and give our royal license, under the hand and seal of one of our principal secretaries of state, to the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians, in all such parts of North America, to the northward and westward of the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America, as shall not form part of any of our provinces in North America, or of any lands or territories belonging to the said United States of America, or to any European government, state, or power; and we do by these presents give, grant, and secure, to the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, jointly, the sole and exclusive privilege, for the full period of twenty-one years from the date of this our grant, of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America as aforesaid, (except as thereinafter excepted:) And we do hereby declare that no rent shall be required or demanded for or in respect of this our grant and license, or any privileges given thereby, for the said period of twenty-one years, but that the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, shall, during the period of this our grant and license, keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ, in any parts of North America, and shall once in each year return to our secretary of state accurate duplicates of all such registers, and shall also enter into and give security to us, our heirs and successors, in the penal sum of five thousand pounds, for insuring, as far as in them may lie, the due execution of all the criminal processes, and of any civil process, in any suit, where the matter in dispute shall exceed two hundred pounds, by the officers and persons legally empowered to execute such processes, within all the territories included in this our grant, and for the producing and delivering into safe custody, for purposes of trial, any persons in their employ or acting under their authority, within the said territories, who may be charged with any criminal offence.

"And we do hereby require that the said Governor and Company, and W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, shall, as soon as the same can be conveniently done, make and submit, for our consideration and approval, such rules and regulations for the management and carrying on the said fur trade with the Indians, and the conduct of the persons employed by them therein, as may appear to us to be effectual, for gradually diminishing or ultimately preventing the sale and distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, and for promoting their moral and religious improvement. And we do hereby declare that nothing in this our grant contained shall be deemed or construed to authorize the said Governor and Company, or W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, or any person in their employ, to claim or exercise any trade with

the Indians on the north-west coast of America, to the westward of the Stony Mountains, to the prejudice or exclusion of any citizen of the United States of America, who may be engaged in the said trade: Provided always, that no British subjects other than and except the said Governor and Company, and the said W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, and the persons authorized to carry on exclusive trade by them on grant, shall trade with the Indians within such limits, during the period of this our grant."

Under this license, the parties to whom it was granted continued their operations until 1824, when the claims of the North-West Company were extinguished by mutual consent; the Hudson's Bay Company then became the sole possessor of the privileges conceded, which were enjoyed by that body until the expiration of the grant. Previous to that period, 1838, a new grant was made to the company, entitled,

(5.)

"Crown Grant to the Hudson's Bay Company of the exclusive Trade with the Indians in certain Parts of North America, for a Term of twenty-one Years, and upon Surrender of a former Grant,"

which, after recapitulating the terms of the first grant, continues thus:

"And whereas the said Governor and Company have acquired to themselves all the rights and interests of the said W. McGillivray, S. McGillivray, and E. Ellice, under the said recited grant, and the said Governor and Company have humbly besought us to accept a surrender of the said grant, and in consideration thereof to make a grant to them, and give to them our royal license and authority of and for the like exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in North America, for the like period, and upon similar terms and conditions to those specified and referred to in the said recited grant: Now, know ye, that, in consideration of the surrender made to us of the said recited grant, and being desirous of encouraging the said trade, and of preventing as much as possible a recurrence of the evils mentioned or referred to in the said recited grant, as also in consideration of the yearly rent hereinafter reserved to us, we do hereby grant and give our license, under the hand and seal of one of our principal secretaries of state, to the said Governor and Company, and their successors, for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America, to the northward and to the westward of the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America, as shall not form part of any of our provinces in North America, or of any lands or territories belonging to the said United States of America, or to any European government, state, or power, but subject, nevertheless, as hereinafter mentioned: And we do, by these presents, give, grant, and secure, to the said Governor and Company, and their successors, the sole and exclusive privilege, for the full period of twenty-one years from the date of this our grant, of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America as aforesaid, (except as hereinafter mentioned:) And we

do hereby declare that no rent shall be required or demanded for or în respect of this our grant and license, or any privileges given thereby for the first four years of the said term of twenty-one years; and we do hereby reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, for the remainder of the said term of twenty-one years, the yearly rent or sum of five shillings, to be paid by the said Governor and Company, or their successors, on the 1st day of June, in every year, into our exchequer, on the account of us, our heirs and successors: And we do hereby declare that the said Governor and Company, and their successors, shall, during the period of this our grant and license, keep accurate registers of all persons in their employ in any parts of North America, and shall, once in each year, return to our secretary of state accurate duplicates of such registers; and shall also enter into and give security to us, our heirs and successors, in the penal sum of five thousand pounds, for insuring, as far as in them may lie, or as they can by their authority over the servants and persons in their employ, the due execution of all criminal and civil processes by the officers and persons legally empowered to execute such processes within all the territories included in this our grant, and for the producing or delivering into custody, for the purposes of trial, all persons in their employ or acting under their authority, within the said territories, who shall be charged with any criminal offence: And we do also hereby require that the said Governor and Company, and their successors, shall, as soon as the same can conveniently be done, make and submit for our consideration and approval, such rules and regulations for the management and carrying on the said fur trade with the Indians, and the conduct of the persons employed by them therein, as may appear to us to be effectual for diminishing or preventing the sale or distribution of spirituous liquors to the Indians, and for promoting their moral and religious improvement: But we do hereby declare that nothing in this our grant contained shall be deemed or construed to authorize the said Governor and Company, or their successors, or any persons in their employ, to claim or exercise any trade with the Indians on the north-west coast of America, to the westward of the Stony Mountains, to the prejudice or exclusion of any of the subjects of any foreign states, who, under or by force of any convention for the time being, between us and such foreign states respectively, may be entitled to, and shall be engaged in, the said trade: Provided, nevertheless, and we do hereby declare our pleasure to be, that nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to prevent the establishment by us, our heirs, or successors, within the territories aforesaid, or any of them, of any colony or colonies, province or provinces, or for annexing any part of the aforesaid territories to any existing colony or colonies to us in right of our imperial crown belonging, or for constituting any such form of civil government, as to us may seem meet, within any such colony or colonies, or provinces:

"And we do hereby reserve to us, our heirs and successors, full power and authority to revoke these presents, or any part thereof, in so far as the same may embrace or extend to any of the territories aforesaid, which may hereafter be comprised within any colony or colonies, province or provinces, as aforesaid:

"It being, nevertheless, hereby declared that no British subjects, other than and except the said Governor and Company, and their successors, and the persons authorized to carry on exclusive trade by them, shall

trade with the Indians during the period of this our grant, within the limits aforesaid, or within that part thereof which shall not be comprised within any such colony or province as aforesaid."

K.

TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS RELATIVE ΤΟ

THE NORTH-WEST

TERRITORIES OF NORTH AMERICA.

(1.)

Convention between Great Britain and Spain, (commonly called the NOOTKA TREATY,) signed at the Escurial, October 28th, 1790.

ARTICLE 1. The buildings and tracts of land situated on the northwest coast of the continent of North America, or on the islands adjacent to that continent, of which the subjects of his Britannic majesty were dispossessed about the month of April, 1789, by a Spanish officer, shall be restored to the said British subjects.

ART. 2. A just reparation shall be made, according to the nature of the case, for all acts of violence or hostility which may have been committed subsequent to the month of April, 1789, by the subjects of either of the contracting parties against the subjects of the other; and, in case any of the said respective subjects shall, since the same period, have been forcibly dispossessed of their lands, buildings, vessels, merchandise, and other property, whatever, on the said continent, or on the seas and islands adjacent, they shall be reëstablished in the possession thereof, or a just compensation shall be made to them for the losses which they have sustained. ART. 3. In order to strengthen the bonds of friendship, and to preserve in future a perfect harmony and good understanding, between the two contracting parties, it is agreed that their respective subjects shall not be disturbed or molested, either in navigating, or carrying on their fisheries, in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas, or in landing on the coasts of those seas in places not already occupied, for the purpose of carrying on their commerce with the natives of the country, or of making settlements there; the whole subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions specified in the three following articles.

ART. 4. His Britannic majesty engages to take the most effectual measures to prevent the navigation and the fishery of his subjects in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas from being made a pretext for illicit trade with the Spanish settlements; and, with this view, it is moreover expressly stipulated that British subjects shall not navigate, or carry on their fishery, in the said seas, within the space of ten sea leagues from any part of the coasts already occupied by Spain.

ART. 5. As well in the places which are to be restored to the British subjects, by virtue of the first article, as in all other parts of the north

western coasts of North America, or of the islands adjacent, situate to the north of the parts of the said coast already occupied by Spain, wherever the subjects of either of the two powers shall have made settlements since the month of April, 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the subjects of the other shall have free access, and shall carry on their trade without any disturbance or molestation.

ART. 6. With respect to the eastern and western coasts of South America, and to the islands adjacent, no settlement shall be formed hereafter by the respective subjects in such part of those coasts as are situated to the south of those parts of the same coasts, and of the islands adjacent, which are already occupied by Spain: provided, that the said respective subjects shall retain the liberty of landing on the coasts and islands so situated for the purpose of their fishery, and of erecting thereon huts and other temporary buildings serving only for those purposes.

ART. 7. In all cases of complaint or infraction of the articles of the present convention, the officers of either party, without permitting themselves to commit any violence or act of force, shall be bound to make an exact report of the affair and of its circumstances to their respective courts, who will terminate such differences in an amicable manner.

(2.)

Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, signed at London, October 20th, 1818.

ARTICLE 2. It is agreed that a line drawn from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods, along the 49th parallel of north latitude, or, if the said point shall not be in the 49th parallel of north latitude, then that a line drawn from the said point due north or south, as the case may be, until the said line shall intersect the said parallel of north latitude, and from the point of such intersection due west along and with the said parallel, shall be the line of demarkation between the territories of the United States and those of his Britannic majesty; and that the said line shall form the northern boundary of the said territories of the United States, and the southern boundary of the territories of his Britannic majesty, from the Lake of the Woods to the Stony Mountains.

ART. 3. It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the north-west coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects, of the two powers; it being well understood that this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other power or state to any part of the said country; the only object of the high contracting parties, in that respect, being to prevent disputes and differences among themselves.