A TREATY

To settle and define the Boundaries between the Possessions of Her Britannick Majesty in North America, and the Territories of the United States;-for the final suppression of the African Slave Trade;-and for the giving up of Criminals, fugitives from Justice, in certain cases.

WHEREAS certain portions of the Line of Boundary between the British Dominions in North America and the United States of America, described in the Second Article of the Treaty of Peace of 1783, have not yet been ascertained and determined, notwithstanding the repeated attempts which have been heretofore made for that purpose; and whereas it is now thought to be for the interest of both Parties that, avoiding further discussion of their respective rights, arising in this respect under the said Treaty, they should agree on a Conventional Line in said portions of the said Boundary, such as may be convenient to both Parties, with such equivalents and compensations as are deemed just and reasonable :-And whereas, by the Treaty concluded at Ghent on the 24th day of December, 1814, between His Britannick Majesty and the United States, an Article was agreed to and inserted, of the following tenor, viz.: "Art. X. Whereas the Traffic in Slaves is "irreconcileable with the principles of humanity and "justice; and whereas both His Majesty and the "United States are desirous of continuing their efforts "to promote its entire abolition; it is hereby agreed, "that both the Contracting Parties shall use their best "endeavours to accomplish so desirable an object:"—

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And whereas, notwithstanding the laws which have at various times been passed by the two Governments, and the efforts made to suppress it, that criminal traffick is still prosecuted and carried on; and whereas Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States of America, are determined that, so far as may be in their power, shall be effectually abolished:-And whereas it is found expedient for the better administration of justice, and the prevention of crime within the territories and jurisdiction of the two Parties, respectively, that persons committing the crimes hereinafter enumerated, and being fugitives from justice, should, under certain circumstances, be reciprocally delivered up :-Her Britannick Majesty, and the United States of America, having resolved to treat on these several subjects, have for that purpose appointed their respective Plenipotentiaries to negotiate and conclude a Treaty, that is to say: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has, on Her part, appointed the Right Honourable Alexander Lord Ashburton, a Peer of the said United Kingdom, a Member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and Her Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary on a Special Mission to the United States; and the President of the United States has, on his part, furnished with full powers Daniel Webster, Secretary of State of the United States; who, after a reciprocal communication of their respective Full Powers, have agreed to and signed the following Articles :

ARTICLE I.

It is hereby agreed and declared, that the Line of Boundary shall be as follows:-Beginning at the monument at the source of the River St. Croix, as designated and agreed to by the Commissioners under the Fifth

Article of the Treaty of 1794, between the Govern ments of Great Britain and the United States; thence north, following the exploring line run and marked by the Surveyors of the two Governments in the years 1817 and 1818, under the Fifth Article of the Treaty of Ghent, to its intersection with the River St. John, and to the middle of the channel thereof; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said River St. John to the mouth of the River St. Francis; thence up the middle of the channel of the said River St. Francis, and of the lakes through which it flows, to the outlet of the Lake Pohenagamook; thence south-westerly, in a straight line, to a point on the north-west branch of the River St. John, which point shall be ten miles distant from the main branch of the St. John, in a straight line and in the nearest direction; but if the said point shall be found to be less than seven miles from the nearest point of the summit or crest of the highlands that divide those rivers which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence from those which fall into the River St. John, then the said point shall be made to recede down the said north-west branch of the River St. John, to a point seven miles in a straight line from the said summit or crest; thence in a straight line, in a course about south, eight degrees west, to the point where the parallel of latitude of 46° 25' north, intersects the south-west branch of the St. John's; thence southerly by the said branch, to the source thereof in the highlands at the Metjarmette Portage; thence down along the said highlands which divide the waters which empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the head of Hall's Stream; thence down the middle of said stream, till the line thus run intersects the old Line of Boundary surveyed and marked by Valentine and Collins previously to the year 1774 as the 45th degree of north

latitude, and which has been known and understood to be the line of actual division between the States of New York and Vermont on one side, and the British Province of Canada on the other; and from said point of intersection west along the said dividing line, as heretofore known and understood, to the Iroquois, or St. Lawrence River.

ARTICLE II.

It is moreover agreed, that from the place where the joint Commissioners terminated their labours under the Sixth Article of the Treaty of Ghent, to wit, at a point in the Neebish Channel, near Muddy Lake, the Line shall run into and along the ship channel between St. Joseph's and St. Tammany Islands, to the division of the channel at or near the head of St. Joseph's Island; thence turning eastwardly and northwardly around the lower end of St. George's or Sugar Island, and following the middle of the channel which divides St. George's from St. Joseph's Island; thence up the east Neebish Channel nearest to St. George's Island, through the middle of Lake George; thence west of Jonas' Island into St. Mary's River, to a point in the middle of that river about one mile above St. George's or Sugar Island, so as to appropriate and assign the said island to the United States; thence adopting the line traced on the maps by the Commissioners, through the River St. Mary and Lake Superior, to a point north of Ile Royale in said lake, one hundred yards to the north and east of Ile Chapeau, which last-mentioned island lies near the north-eastern point of Ile Royale, where the line marked by the Commissioners terminates; and from the last-mentioned point south-westerly through the middle of the sound between Ile Royale and the north-western mainland, to the mouth of Pigeon River, and up the said river to and through the north and

south Fowl Lakes, to the lakes of the height of land between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods; thence along the water-communication to Lake Saisaginaga and through that lake; thence to and through Cypress Lake, Lac du Bois Blanc, Lac la Croix, Little Vermillion Lake, and Lake Namecan, and through the several smaller lakes, straits, or streams connecting the lakes here mentioned, to that point in Lac la Pluie, or Rainy Lake, at the Chaudière Falls, from which the Commissioners traced the line to the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods; thence along the said line to the said most north-western point, being in latitude 49° 23′ 55′′ north, and in longitude 95° 14′ 38" west, from the observatory at Greenwich; thence, according to existing Treaties, due south to its intersection with the 49th parallel of north latitude, and along that parallel to the Rocky Mountains. It being understood that all the water-communications, and all the usual portages along the line from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods, and also Grand Portage from the shore of Lake Superior to the Pigeon River, as now actually used, shall be free and open to the use of the citizens and subjects of both countries.

ARTICLE III.

In order to promote the interests and encourage the industry of all the inhabitants of the countries watered by the River St. John and its tributaries, whether living within the Province of New Brunswick, or the State of Maine, it is agreed, that where by the provisions of the present Treaty, the River St. John is declared to be the Line of Boundary, the navigation of the said river shall be free and open to both parties, and shall in no way be obstructed by either; that all the produce of the forest, in logs, lumber, timber, boards, staves, or shingles, or of agriculture, not being manufactured, grown

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