exception of clause 3 of Section III, and with the modifications stipulated in clause 1 of the said Additional Article, shall nevertheless remain in force.

I have the honour to request that you will acknowledge the receipt of this note, informing me that the understanding recorded in it is accepted by the Chinese Government.

My Lord,

The Marquis Tseng to the Marquess of Salisbury.

Chinese Legation, London, July 18, 1885. IN reply to your Lordship's note of this date, I have the honour to state that the Imperial Government accept the following as the expression of the understanding which has been come to between the Governments of Great Britain and China in regard to the Additional Article to the Chefoo Agreement relative to opium, which has been signed this day

:

1. It is understood that it shall be competent for Her Majesty's Government at once to withdraw from this new arrangement, and to revert to the system of taxation for opium. at present in operation in China, in case the Chinese Government shall fail to bring the other Treaty Powers to conform to the provisions of the said Additional Article.

2. It is further understood that, in the event of the termination of the said Additional Article, the Chefoo Agreement, with the exception of clause 3 of Section III, and with the modifications stipulated in clause 1 of the said Additional Article, shall nevertheless remain in force.

I have, &c, (Signed) TSENG.

No. 31.

CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA RELATIVE TO BURMAH AND THIBET.

Signed at Peking, July 24, 1886.

[Ratifications exchanged in London, August 25, 1887.]

WHEREAS Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of

China, being sincerely desirous to maintain and perpetuate the relations of friendship and good understanding which now exist between their respective Empires, and to promote and extend the commercial intercourse between their subjects and dominions, the following Convention has been agreed upon and concluded:

On the part of Great Britain by Nicholas Roderick O'Conor, Esquire, Her Majesty's Secretary of Legation at Washington, and lately Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires in China, Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, duly empowered thereunto;

And on the part of China by his Highness Prince Ching, President of the Tsung-li Yamên, and His Excellency Sun, Minister of the Tsung-li Yamên, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Works.

Inasmuch as it has been the practice of Burmah to send decennial Missions to present articles of local produce, England agrees that the highest authority in Burmah shall send the customary decennial Missions, the members of the Missions to be of Burmese race.

ARTICLE II.

British Authority and Rule in Burmah.

China agrees that, in all matters whatsoever appertaining to the authority and rule which England is now exercising in Burmah, England shall be free to do whatever she deems fit and proper.

ARTICLE III.

Frontier between Burmah and China.-Frontier Trade.

The frontier between Burmah and China to be marked by a Delimitation Commission, and the conditions of frontier trade to be settled by a Frontier Trade Convention,* both countries agreeing to protect and encourage trade between China and Burmah.

* See Convention of March 1, 1894, p. 119.

[536

I 2

ARTICLE IV.

British Mission to Thibet to be countermanded.

Inasmuch as inquiry into the circumstances by the Chinese Government has shown the existence of many obstacles to the Mission to Thibet provided for in the Separate Article of the Chefoo Agreement, England consents to countermand the Mission forthwith.

Frontier Trade between India and Thibet.

With regard to the desire of the British Government to consider arrangements for frontier trade between India and Thibet, it will be the duty of the Chinese Government, after careful inquiry into the circumstances, to adopt measures to exhort and encourage the people with a view to the promotion and development of trade. Should it be practicable, the Chinese Government shall then proceed carefully to consider Trade Regulations; but, if insuperable obstacles should be found to exist, the British Government will not press the matter unduly.

ARTICLE V.

Ratifications.

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as possible after the date of the signature thereof.

In witness whereof the respective negotiators have signed the same and affixed thereunto the seals of their arms.

Done in triplicate at Peking, this twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eightysix, corresponding with the Chinese date of the twenty-third day of the sixth moon of the twelfth year of Kuang Hsü.

No. 32.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE TO THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA OF SEPTEMBER 13, 1876.*

Signed at Peking, March 31, 1890.

[Ratifications exchanged at Peking, January 18, 1891.]

THE Governments of Great Britain and China, being desirous of settling in an amicable spirit the divergence of opinion which has arisen with respect to the first clause of the third section of the Agreement concluded at Chefoo in 1876,† which stipulates that "The British Government will be free to send officers to reside at Chungking to watch the conditions of British trade in Szechuan, that British merchants will not be allowed to reside at Chungking, or to open establishments or warehouses there, so long as no steamers have access to the port, and that when steamers have succeeded in ascending the river so far, further arrangements can be taken into consideration," have agreed upon the following Additional Article:

Chungking to be opened to Trade as a Treaty Port.-Traffic
between Ichang and Chungking.

I. Chungking shall forthwith be declared open to trade on the same footing as any other Treaty port. British subjects shall be at liberty either to charter Chinese vessels or to provide vessels of the Chinese type for the traffic between Ichang and Chungking.

Merchandize conveyed between Ichang and Chungking.

II. Merchandize conveyed between Ichang and Chungking by the above class of vessels shall be placed on the same footing as merchandize carried by steamers between Shanghae and Ichang, and shall be dealt with in accordance with Treaty, Tariff Rules, and the Yang-tsze Regulations.

Regulations for such Vessels.

III. All regulations as to the papers and flags to be carried by vessels of the above description, as to the cargo certificates

* Chefoo Agreement, see p. 102.

† See p. 102.

with which they shall be provided, as to the repackage of goods for the voyage beyond Ichang, and as to the general procedure to be observed by those engaged in the traffic between Ichang and Chungking with a view to insuring convenience and security, shall be drawn up by the Superintendent of Customs at Ichang, the Taotai of the Ch'uan Tung Circuit, who is now stationed at Chungking, and the Commissioner of Customs in consultation with the British Consul, and shall be liable to any modifications that may hereafter prove to be desirable and may be agreed upon by common consent,

Payment of Port Dues by chartered Junks.-Special Papers and Flags.

IV. Chartered junks shall pay port dues at Ichang and Chungking in accordance with the Yang-tsze Regulations; vessels of Chinese type, if and when entitled to carry the British flag, shall pay tonnage dues in accordance with Treaty Regulations. It is obligatory on both chartered junks and also vessels of Chinese type, even when the latter may be entitled to carry the British flag, to take out at the Maritime Custom-house special papers and a special flag when intended to be employed by British subjects in the transport of goods between Ichang and Chungking, and without such papers and flag no vessel of either class shall be allowed the privileges and immunities granted under this Additional Article. Provided with special papers and flag, vessels of both classes shall be allowed to ply between the two ports, and they and their cargoes shall be dealt with in accordance with Treaty Rules and the Yang-tsze Regulations. All other vessels shall be dealt with by the Native Customs. The special papers and flag issued by the Maritime Customs must alone be used by the particular vessel for which they were originally issued, and are not transferable from one vessel to another. The use of the British flag by vessels the property of Chinese is strictly prohibited. Infringement of these Regulations will, in the first instance, render the offender liable to the penalties in force at the ports hitherto opened under Treaty, and should the offence be subsequently repeated, the vessel's special papers and flag will be withdrawn, and the vessel herself refused permission thenceforward to trade between Ichang and Chungking.

V. When once Chinese steamers carrying cargo run to Chungking, British steamers shall in like manner have access to the said port.