[Boundary. Bessarabia.] No. 540.-PROCÈS-VERBAL of the Russo-Roumanian Commission, for fixing the limits of the Bessarabian Territory retroceded to Russia by Article XLV of the Treaty of Berlin (No. 530). Signed at Bucharest, the 5th December, 1878. (Translation.) 23rd November 3rd December THE Undersigned, Colonel Pencovici and Lieutenant-Colonel N. Demetresco-Maïcan, Delegates of the Princely Government of Roumania, and the Colonel Touguenhold, Delegate of the Imperial Russian Government, in virtue of the commission they have received from their respective Governments to proceed to the laying down of the frontier-line between the two States on the Lower Danube, in virtue of the Treaty of Berlin (No. 530), constituted themselves a Commission, on the The Commission after having visited the places, and examined Article XLV of the Treaty of Berlin, fixes the frontierline between the two States, as it is indicated on the chart annexed to the present Procès-Verbal, namely, starting from the mouth of the arm Vieux-Stamboul, the frontier shall follow on ascending the thalweg of the arm which is between the island Kouban and Popin, till in front of the village Periprava, leaving to the right the island of Stamboul, and to the left the island of Lêti. From this point, still ascending, the frontier shall follow the thalweg of the Moljen arm (direct), leaving to the right the island Yermakoff and Otnojino, and to the left the islands Ciornoï (Negra), Sviroff, and Mezlinof, and thence by the thalweg of the only Kilia arm, as far as opposite to the town of Kilia. From this point the frontier, in ascending, will pass by the thalweg of the arms Ivaneschti and Serednie, leaving to the right the islands Maciuka and Catinca, Solonetz, and Kislitza, and to the left the islands Ivansechti (Tutarsky), the two deltas and the island Capu-de-Drak, and thence by the thalweg of the only arm of the Kilia, as far as Tchatal d'Ismail, where the Kilia arm commences. With regard to the frontier between the Tchatal d'Ismail and the mouth of the Pruth, the * See Map of Danube, facing page 3106, with Treaty of 10th March, 1883 (No. 599). [Boundary. Bessarabia.] Commission, not being able to agree, records the following as being the separate opinion of each party. The Roumanian Delegates maintain that the frontier between Roumania and Russia, between the Tchatal d'Ismail and the mouth of the Pruth, ought to follow the left bank of the river and not the thalweg. The Roumanian Delegates quote in support of their opinion the very letter of Article XLV of the Treaty of Berlin (No. 530), which does not specify for this part of the Danube any other frontier than that which existed in virtue of the Treaty of Paris (No. 264) between Roumania and Turkey, that is to say, the bank itself of the river. The Roumanian Delegates, moreover, invoke, in support of their opinion, the precedents established, on this same part of the Danube, by the Treaty of Bucharest (1812)* and by the Treaty of Paris (No. 264), which have not fixed the frontier between the States on the thalweg, but on the left bank of the river. The Russian Delegate, without entering into the examination of the Treaties, maintains that the line of demarcation of the frontier, according to general international law, ought to pass by the middle of the river (par le milieu du fleuve) separating the two riverain States, and, consequently, ought to follow the thalweg of the Danube. The present Procès-Verbal has been, in consequence, drawn up in duplicate to be submitted to the respective Governments. Done at Bucharest, the 5th December, 1878. The Delegates of the Princely Government of Roumania, Lieut.-Colonel N. DEMETRESCO-MAICAN. The Delegate of the Imperial Government of Russia. Colonel TOUGUENHOLD. * Appendix, Vol. III, page 2030. No. 541.-AGREEMENT between Great Britain and Turkey, for Commuting the Ottoman Crown Property, Revenues, &c., of Cyprus for a fixed Annual Payment of £5,000. Constantinople, 3rd February, 1879.* Ir having been agreed between Her Britannic Majesty's Government and that of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan that all the rights reserved to the Ottoman Crown and Government, under Article IV of the Annex to the Convention signed at Constantinople on the 4th of June, 1878 (No. 525), shall be commuted by a fixed annual money payment, the Undersigned, the Right Honourable Austen Henry Layard, Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Sublime Porte, and his Excellency Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha, His Imperial Majesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs, being duly authorized so to do, hereby declare that: All property, revenues, and rights reserved to the Ottoman Crown and Government in the said Article IV of the Annex to the Convention of the 4th June (No. 525), including all revenue derived from tapous, mahloul, and intikal are commuted hereby for a fixed annual payment of 5,000l. to be made by Her Britannic Majesty's Government to that of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, every year during the British occupation of Cyprus, to be calculated from the beginning of next financial year. 22nd January Done at Constantinople, the 3rd February 1879. A. H. LAYARD. *See Arrangement between the Porte and Bondholders of 20th December, 1881 (No. 591). |