Sovereign, has been pleased to approve and ratify the Treaty which I had the honour to sign with your Majesty on the 14th May last.

Her Majesty has also been pleased to approve of the arrangement which, in accordance with the terms of Article II of the Treaty, was agreed upon between Ras Makunan, as Representative of your Majesty, and myself by exchange of notes relative to the frontier of the British Protectorate in the Somali Coast; and it is presumed by Her Majesty's Government that your Majesty has also approved of it, as they have received no notification to the contrary.

The notes exchanged have accordingly been annexed to the Treaty which has received ratification, signifying Her Majesty's approval of all these documents.

I have now the honour to return herewith the copy of the Treaty intrusted to me by your Majesty, with its ratification in due form.

When I shall have received from your Majesty a letter signifying that this Treaty, thus ratified and approved, has come safely to your Majesty's hands, it will be made public by the Government of the Queen, that all her subjects may observe it and abide by it, and that it may strengthen the ties of friendship between our countries, and increase the feelings of esteem and good-will towards your Majesty which the reception of the British Mission in Ethiopia has awakened in my country.

I pray that your Majesty's life and health may long be preserved, and that your people may have peace and prosperity, (Signed) RENNELL RODD.

(Translation.)

The Emperor Menelek to the Queen.

Menelek II, Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia, to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India, Upholder and Keeper of the Christian Religion.

May peace be unto you.

YOUR Majesty's letters of the 28th Hamlé (3rd August) and 22nd (23rd) Mascarem (1st (2nd) October), 1897, and the Treaty with the Great Seal, dated the 28th Hamlé (3rd August), 1897, have reached me, and We received it with joy. The Treaty of Peace which is now between your Government and our Government, We hope it will ever increase in firmness and last for

ever.

We ask God to give your Majesty health, and to your kingdom quietness and peace.

Written at Adis Abbaba, the 8th December, 1897, a.v.

(Seal of His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II.)

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.

No. 2.

TREATY OF AMITY, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA.

Signed at Buenos Ayres, February 2, 1825.*

EXTENSIVE Commercial Intercourse having been established for a series of years between the Dominions of His Britannick Majesty, and the Territories of The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, it seems good for the security as well as encouragement of such Commercial Intercourse, and for the maintenance of good understanding between His said Britannick Majesty and the said United Provinces, that the Relations now subsisting between them should be regularly acknowledged and confirmed by the signature of a Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation.

For this purpose they have named their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Woodbine Parish, Esquire, His said Majesty's Consul-General in the Province of Buenos Ayres and its Dependencies;-and The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, Señor Don Manuel José Garcia, Minister Secretary for the Departments of Government, Finance, and Foreign Affairs, of the National Executive Power of the said Provinces;

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective Full Powers, found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles:

ARTICLE I.

Friendship.

There shall be perpetual Amity between the Dominions and Subjects of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, and their Inhabitants.

* Signed also in Spanish,

ARTICLE II.

Freedom of Commerce, Navigation, and Residence.-Hiring, &c., of Houses and Warehouses.

There shall be, between all the Territories of His Britannick Majesty in Europe, and the Territories of The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, a reciprocal freedom of Commerce: The Inhabitants of the two Countries, respectively, shall have liberty freely and securely to come, with their Ships and Cargoes, to all such Places, Ports, and Rivers, in the Territories aforesaid, to which other Foreigners are or may be permitted to come, to enter into the same, and to remain and reside in any part of the said Territories respectively; also to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the purposes of their Commerce; and, generally, the Merchants and Traders of each Nation respectively, shall enjoy the most complete protection and security for their Commerce; subject always to the Laws and Statutes of the Two Countries respectively.

ARTICLE III.

Commerce and Navigation in British Dominions out of Europe.Most-favoured-nation Treatment.

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland engages further, that in all his Dominions situated out of Europe, the Inhabitants of The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata shall have the like liberty of Commerce and Navigation stipulated for in the preceding Article, to the full extent in which the same is permitted at present, or shall be permitted hereafter, to any other Nation.

ARTICLE IV.

Imports and Exports: Duties and Prohibitions.—Most-favourednation Treatment.

No higher or other Duties shall be imposed on the importation into the Territories of His Britannick Majesty, of any Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, and no higher or other Duties shall be imposed on the importation into the said United Provinces, of any Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannick Majesty's Dominions, than are or shall be payable on the like Articles, being the growth, produce, or manufacture of any other Foreign Country; nor shall any other or higher Duties or Charges be imposed, in the Territories or Dominions of either of the Contracting Parties, on the exportation of any

Articles to the Territories or Dominions of the other, than such as are or may be payable on the exportation of the like Articles to any other Foreign Country: nor shall any prohibition be imposed upon the exportation or importation of any Articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannick Majesty's Dominions, or of the said United Provinces, which shall not equally extend to all other nations.

ARTICLE V.

Tonnage, Light, Pilotage, Salvage, and Harbour Dues, &c.— National Treatment.

No higher or other Duties or Charges on account of Tonnage, Light, or Harbour Dues, Pilotage, Salvage in case of Damage or Shipwreck, or any other local charges, shall be imposed, in any of the Ports of the said United Provinces, on British Vessels of the burthen of above one hundred and twenty tons, than those payable, in the same Ports, by Vessels of the said United Provinces of the same burthen; nor in the Ports of any of His Britannick Majesty's Territories, on the Vessels of the United Provinces of above one hundred and twenty tons, than shall be payable, in the same Ports, on British Vessels of the same burthen.

ARTICLE VI.

Imports and Exports in Vessels of either Country.-Drawbacks and Bounties.-National Treatment.

The same Duties shall be paid on the importation into the said United Provinces of any Article the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannick Majesty's Dominions, whether such importation shall be in Vessels of the said United Provinces, or in British Vessels; and the same Duties shall be paid on the importation into the Dominions of His Britannick Majesty of any Article the growth, produce, or manufacture of the said United Provinces, whether such importation shall be in British Vessels, or in Vessels of the said United Provinces:-The same Duties shall be paid, and the same Drawbacks and Bounties allowed, on the exportation of any Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannick Majesty's Dominions to the said United Provinces, whether such exportation shall be in Vessels of the said United Provinces, or in British Vessels; and the same Duties shall be paid, and the same Bounties and Drawbacks allowed, on the exportation of any Articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the said United Provinces to His Britannick Majesty's Dominious, whether such exportation shall be in British Vessels, or in Vessels of the said United Provinces.

ARTICLE VII.

National Vessels.

In order to avoid any misunderstanding with respect to the Regulations which may respectively constitute a British Vessel, or a Vessel of the said United Provinces, it is hereby agreed, that all Vessels built in the Dominions of his Britannick Majesty, and owned, navigated, and registered according to the Laws of Great Britain, shall be considered as British Vessels; and that all Vessels built in the Territories of the said United Provinces, properly registered, and owned by the Citizens thereof, or any of them, and whereof the Master and three-fourths of the Mariners, at least, are Citizens of the said United Provinces, shall be considered as Vessels of the said United Provinces.

ARTICLE VIII.

Transaction of Business.-Employment of Agents, &c.-Fixation of Prices of Goods.-National Treatment.

All Merchants, Commanders of Ships, and others, the subjects of His Britannick Majesty, shall have the same liberty in all the Territories of the said United Provinces, as the Natives thereof, to manage their own affairs themselves, or to commit them to the management of whomsoever they please, as Broker, Factor, Agent, or interpreter; nor shall they be obliged to employ any other Persons for those purposes, nor to pay them any salary or remuneration, unless they shall choose to employ them; and absolute freedom shall be allowed, in all cases, to the Buyer and Seller to bargain and fix the price of any goods, wares, or merchandize imported into, or exported from, the said United Provinces, as they shall see good.

ARTICLE IX.

Loading and Unloading of Vessels, Disposal of Property, Administration of Justice.-Most-favoured-nation and National Treatment. Exemption from Military Service, Forced Loans, &c.-Taxes.-National Treatment.

In whatever relates to the lading and unlading of Ships, the safety of merchandize, goods, and effects, the disposal of property of every sort and denomination, by sale, donation, or exchange, or in any other manner whatsoever, as also the administration of Justice, the Subjects and Citizens of the Two Contracting Parties shall enjoy, in their respective Dominions, the same Privileges, Liberties, and Rights, as the most favoured Nation, and shall not be charged, in any of these respects, with any higher Duties or Imposts than those which are paid, or