charged fifteen hundred (1,500) ticals for each Siamese fathom in breadth.

No import, export, or other duty shall be levied upon the buyers or sellers from or to English subjects.

Art. II. Merchant-vessels, the property of English subjects, arriving off the bar, must first anchor and stop there; and the commander of the vessel must despatch a person with an account of the cargo, and a return of the people, guns, shot, and powder on board the vessel, for the information of the Governor, at the mouth of the river, who will send a pilot and interpreter to convey the established regulations to the commander of the vessel. Upon the pilot bringing the vessel over the bar, she must anchor and stop below the chokey, which the interpreter will point out.

Art. III. The proper officers will go on board the vessel and examine her thoroughly; and after the guns, shot, and powder have been removed and deposited at Paknam (port at the mouth of the Menam), the Governor of Paknam will permit the vessel to pass up to Bangkok.

Art. IV. Upon the vessel arriving at Bangkok, the officers of the Customs will go on board and examine her, open the hold, and take an account of whatever cargo may be on board; and after the breadth of the vessel has been measured and ascertained, the merchants will be allowed to buy and sell according to the first Article of this Agreement. Should a vessel, upon receiving an export cargo, find that she cannot cross the bar with the whole, and that she must hire cargoboats to take down a portion of the cargo, the officers of the Customs and chokeys shall not charge any further duty upon such cargo-boats.

Art. V. Whenever a vessel or cargo-boat completes her lading, the commander of the vessel must go and ask Chao Phya Phra Khlang for a port clearance, and if there be no cause for detention, Chao Phya Phra Khlang shall deliver the port clearance without delay. When the vessel upon her departure arrives at Paknam, she must anchor, and stop at the usual chokey; and after the proper officers have gone on board and examined her, the vessel may receive her guns, shot, and powder, and take her departure.

Art. VI. Merchants, being subjects of the English Government, whether Europeans or Asiatics, the com

manders, officers, lascars, and the whole of the crew of vessels, must conform to the established laws of Siam and to the stipulations of this Treaty, in every particular. If merchants of every class do not observe the Articles of this Treaty, and oppress the inhabitants of the country, become thieves or bad men, kill men, speak offensively of, or treat disrespectfully, any great or subordinate officers of the country, and the case become important in any way whatever, the proper officers shall take jurisdiction of it, and punish the offender. If the offence be homicide, and the officers, upon investigation, see that it proceeded from evil intention, they shall punish with death. If it be any other offence, and the party be the commander or officer of a vessel, or a merchant, he shall be fined. If he be of a lower rank, he shall be whipped or imprisoned, according to the established laws of Siam. The Governor of Bengal will prohibit English subjects, desiring to come and trade at Bangkok, from speaking disrespectfully or offensively to or of the great officers in Siam. If any person at Bangkok oppress any English subject, he shall be punished according to his offence in the same manner.

The six Articles of this Agreement let the officers at Bangkok, and merchants subject to the English, fulfil and obey in every particular.

(A literal translation from the Siamese.)

(Signed) H. Burney, Captain, Envoy to the Court of Siam. (King of Siam's Seal.) (Signed) Amherst. (L. S.)

VIII.

Traité d'amitié et de 'commerce entre la GrandeBretagne et le royaume de Siam, signé à Bangkok, le 18 avril 1855*); suivi de six règlements commerciaux et d'un tarif.

1856.

Texte anglais.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of

*) Les ratifications ont été échangées à Bangkok, le 5 avril

Great Britain and Ireland, and all its dependencies, and Their Majesties Phra Bard Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut, Phra Chom Klau Chau Yu Hua, the First King of Siam, and Phra Bard Somdetch Phra Pawarendr Ramesr Mahiswaresr Phra Pin Klau Chau Yu Hua, the Second King of Siam, desiring to establish upon firm and lasting foundations the relations of peace and friendship existing between the two countries, and to secure the best interests of their respective subjects by encouraging, facilitating, and regulating their industry and trade, have resolved to conclude a Treaty of Amity and Commerce for this purpose, and have therefore named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir John Bowring, Knight, Doctor of Laws, etc., etc.,

And Their Majesties the First and Second Kings of Siam, his Royal Highness Krom Hluang Wongsa Dhiraj Snidh; his Excellency Somdetch Chau Phaya Param Maha Puyurawongse; his Excellency Somdetch Chau Phaya Param Maha Bijai-neate; his Excellency Chau Phaya Sri Suriwongse Samuha Phra Kralahome, and his Excellency Chau Phaya, Acting Phra - Klang.

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

Art. I. There shall henceforward be perpetual peace and friendship between Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and her successors, and Their Majesties the First and Second Kings of Siam, and their successors. All British subjects coming to Siam shall receive from the Siamese Government full protection and assistance to enable them to reside in Siam in all security, and trade with every facility, free from oppression or injury on the part of the Siamese; and all Siamese subjects going to an English country shall receive from the British Government the same complete protection and assistance that shall be granted to British subjects by the Government of Siam.

Art. II. The interests of all British subjects coming to Siam shall be placed under the regulation and control of a Consul, who will be appointed to reside at Bangkok: he will himself conform to, and will enforce the observance by British subjects of, all the provisions

of this Treaty, and such of the former Treaty negociated by Captain Burney in 1826, as shall still remain in operation. He shall also give effect to all rules or regulations that are now or may hereafter be enacted for the government of British subjects in Siam, the conduct of their trade, and for the prevention of violations of the laws of Siam. Any disputes arising between British and Siamese subjects shall be heard and determined by the Consul, in conjunction with the proper Siamese officers; and criminal offences will be punished, in the case of English offenders by the Consul, according to English laws, and in the case of Siamese offenders, by their own laws, through the Siamese authorities. But the Consul shall not interfere in any matters referring solely to Siamese, neither will the Siamese authorities interfere in questions which only concern the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty.

It is understood, however, that the arrival of the British Consul at Bangkok shall not take place before the ratification of this Treaty, nor until ten vessels owned by British subjects, sailing under British colours and with British papers, shall have entered the port of Bangkok for purposes of trade, subsequent to the signing of this Treaty.

Art. III. If Siamese in the employ of British subjects offend against the laws of their country, or if any Siamese having so offended or desiring to desert, take refuge with a British subject in Siam, they shall be searched for, and, upon proof of their guilt or desertion, shall be delivered up by the Consul to the Siamese authorities. In like manner, any British offenders resident or trading in Siam, who may desert, escape to, or hide themselves in, Siamese territory, shall be apprehended and delivered over to the British Consul on his requisition. Chinese, not able to prove themselves to be British subjects, shall not be considered as such by the British Consul, nor be entitled to his protection.

Art. IV. British subjects are permitted to trade freely in all the seaports of Siam, but may reside permanently only at Bangkok, or within the limits assigned by this Treaty. British subjects coming to reside at Bangkok may rent land, and buy or build houses, but cannot purchase lands within a circuit of 200 sen (not more than four miles English) from the city walls, until

they shall have lived in Siam for ten years, or shall obtain special authority from the Siamese Government to enable them to do so. But with the exception of this limitation, British residents in Siam may at any time. buy or rent houses, lands, or plantations, situated any where within a distance of twenty-four hours' journey from the city of Bangkok, to be computed by the rate at which boats of the country can travel. In order to obtain possession of such lands or houses, it will be necessary that the British subject shall, in the first place, make application through the Consul to the proper Siamese officer; and the Siamese officer and the Consul having satisfied themselves of the honest intentions of the applicant, will assist him in settling, upon equitable terms, the amount of the purchase money, will mark out and fix the boundaries of the property, and will convey the same to the British purchaser under sealed deeds. Whereupon he and his property shall be placed under the protection of the Governor of the district and that of the particular local authorities; he shall conform, in ordinary matters, to any just directions given him by them, and will be subject to the same taxation that is levied on Siamese subjects. But if through negligence, the want of capital, or other cause, a British subject should fail to commence the cultivation or improvement of the lands so acquired within a term of three years from the date of receiving possession thereof, the Siamese Government shall have the power of resuming the property, upon returning to the British subject the purchase money paid by him for the same.

Art. V. All British subjects intending to reside in Siam shall be registered at the British Consulate. They shall not go out to sea, nor proceed beyond the limits assigned by this Treaty for the residence of British subjects, without a passport from the Siamese authorities, to be applied for by the British Consul; nor shall they leave Siam if the Siamese authorities show to the British Consul that legitimate objections exist to their quitting the country. But within the limits appointed under the preceding Article, British subjects are at liberty to travel to and fro under the protection of a pass, to be furnished them by the British Consul, and counter-sealed by the proper Siamese officer, stating, in the Siamese character, their names, calling, and description,