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ful Majesty on the subject of the importation of ardent spirits to either bank of the Zambezi and the Shiré, I have the honour to inform your Excellency that Her Majesty's Government agree that the said importation by those rivers, whether in the British or Portuguese sphere, shall be interdicted, and that the authorities of the two States shall agree upon the arrangements to prevent and punish infractions of this provision. I avail, &c.,

Count de Valbom.

GEORGE G. PETRE.

PORTUGUESE ROYAL DECREE, approving General Regulations for the Navigation of, and Transit of Merchandize through, the Rivers Zambezi and Shiré, and across the Portuguese Territories situated beyond the Mouths of the Shire and of the Luenha. Lisbon, May 18, 1892.*

(Translation.)

WHEREAS it is urgently necessary to regulate the service of navigation of the Zambezi with a view to a full compliance with the provisions laid down in the Treaty of the 11th June, 1891;†

In accordance with the opinion of the Consultative Board for the Colonies:

I hereby approve the Regulations for the Navigation of the Zambezi, embodied in 31 Articles, and signed by the Minister and Secretary of State for Marine and Colonies, and I also command that the Governor-General of the Province of Mozambique shall, after consulting the Royal Commissioner, ensure the enforcement in full of the aforesaid Regulations by issuing the necessary instructions to the various officials charged with the duty of carrying them out, with a view to the fulfilment of the Regulations referred to.

The Minister and Secretary of State for the Department of Marine and Colonies shall accordingly carry this Decree into effect.

Given at the Palace, the 18th May, 1892.

FRANCISCO JOAQUIM FERREIRA DO AMARAL.

The KING.

* Extract from the "Diario do Governo" of June 22, 1892.
+ Vol. 19. Page 777.

Regulations.

ART. 1. The navigation of the Zambezi and of the Shire and of their affluents, in so far as that part of the same is under the sovereignty of Portugal, is free for any kinds of vessels under any flag, under the sole condition that such vessels shall submit to the Regulations laid down for the safety and fiscal control of such navigation, and shall pay the taxes or dues leviable on those rivers in return for the services rendered to navigation.

2. The transit of merchandize, irrespective of its nationality, origin, or nature, is free and exempt from the payment of any dues or taxes whatsoever, between the sea and the British possessions adjoining the Province of Mozambique, and shall only be subject to the rules laid down in these Regulations.

3. Any acts performed by the Portuguese Customs authorities with respect to any merchandize in transit under the conditions mentioned in the preceding Article will be free of charge to the owners and carriers of such merchandize.

4. Steamers either entering the various bars of the Zambezi, or quitting the same, with merchandize transhipped from other vessels, in order to ascend the said river or the Shire beyond Portuguese waters, and bound to the British territories, shall be exempted from examination on board and from having to exhibit any documents, provided the masters of those vessels shall notify to the Custom-house of the bar which they may have entered or quitted, that they will not touch at Portuguese territory or receive or land any cargo there. In view of such notification the masters will be furnished by the Customs with a pass, which will insure their free transit through Portuguese waters, and which they must present to the chief officer of the Customs station at Chinanga when the vessels pass it.

§ 1. Vessels referred to in this Article must, however, receive on board before their departure from the bar of the Zambezi, a Portuguese Customs guard, who will proceed as far as the fiscal port at Chinanga, in order that he may be sure that they do not touch at Portuguese territory, and that they neither receive nor land any cargo of merchandize.

§ 2. The guard will appear on board the vessel which he has to accompany within 24 hours from the time of the receipt of the notification above mentioned.

§3. Should the guard fail to appear on board within the period laid down in § 2, the vessel is at liberty to proceed withont him, provided the master shall have handed to the Custom

document to show that he waited during the appointed

time. He shall make a similar declaration to the Customs port at Chinanga.

5. The provisions laid down in Article 4 and its paragraphs are applicable to steamers coming down the Zambezi and Shiré from the British territory, for the purpose of quitting the bars of that river, or of transhipping in proximity thereto their merchandize in transit to other vessels for conveyance abroad, provided the masters of those vessels shall have made a declaration to the Customs station at Chinanga that they will not touch at Portuguese territory, and will not receive or land any cargo there.

The pass will be given to them by the Customs station at Chinanga, and the Customs guard going on board there will be landed at the bar which they are going to quit, or close thereto, in the act of transhipment of the merchandize to the vessel carrying it out to sea.

6. Should the masters of vessels referred to in Articles 4 and 5 fail to make the declarations required for the delivery of the passes, the Customs authorities will in that case enforce the rules laid down in Article 23 of these Regulations with respect to the merchandize in transit carried in those vessels.

7. The declarations which the masters are required to make in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 shall not prevent their vessels from touching at Portuguese territory for the purpose of taking in fuel or provisions at the places appointed for the purpose, as well as in case of any occurrence of force majeure, such as damage to ship, sickness, or bad weather.

§ 1. When the vessels touch at any place, the masters are to show their pass to the fiscal authority of the place, and in their absence to the civil or military officer, and either they or the Customs officer will visé the pass in the event of there being a reasonable cause for calling at the place. Should there be no authority at all in the place, the masters will report the fact of their having called at the Customs station at Chinanga or at the Zambezi bar to whichever place they may be bound.

§ 2. The places selected for the present for taking in fuel and provisions are the port of Chinde, Inhamgomba, Vicente, Inhaguinge, and Cholomo.

8. Vessels towed by steamers under the conditions set forth in Articles 4 and 5 are considered as forming part of the same for all fiscal purposes.

9. Merchandize in transit to British territory up the Zambezi and Shiré in sailing-vessels or rowing-boats, and which are not towed in accordance with Article 8, and likewise all merchandize carried in vessels of any kind which touch at Portuguese territory, are to be scaled by the Portuguese Customs officers at the bar either entered by them or from which they may have sailed. In the event of such merchandize

being stowed in the hold or in any closed spaces, the Customs officers will only seal the hatches, doors, or other apertures; if not so stowed, the merchandize will have a seal affixed to each parcel or group of parcels.

§ 1. When each parcel or group of parcels is sealed, the Customs officers charged with that duty will draw up a list, in duplicate, with the assistance of the master of the vessel or his representative, of the numbers and external marks of the parcels thus sealed, giving a copy to the master, who is to present it to the Customs port at Chinanga.

$2. On the arrival of the merchandize, sealed in accordance with this Article and paragraph 1 of the same, at Chinanga, the chief Customs officers will compare it with the list accompanying the same, and will ascertain that the seals are untouched, and break them after such comparison and inquiry. Should the merchandize be stowed in the hold or in other closed spaces, he will merely examine whether the external seals are untouched, and then break the same.

§ 3. The Customs officers shall not examine the contents of any parcels, whether in the hold or in any closed spaces, which they may have to seal.

§ 4. The operation of sealing on board vessels entering the Zambezi shall commence 24 hours after the receipt by the Custom-house of the notice that the cargo is ready to be sealed, and the process must be finished within the next 24 hours.

§ 5. As regards vessels passing Chinanga on their way up from the various Zambezi bars, the officials charged with the duty of sealing and collating the merchandize must be on board in order to commence these operations two hours after the vessels shall have stopped to receive them, during the daytime, and two hours after daybreak, should the vessels have arrived during the night. These operations must be terminated within 12 working hours.

§ 6. Even should the examination of the seals not be terminated the process will have to be given up as soon as the period of time fixed for the purpose shall have expired.

§ 7. The merchandize may be sealed while it is being transhipped, should the parties interested desire it.

8. Masters of vessels having to pass through Chinanga may notify their approaching passage to the Chief Customs Officer there by means of the Zambezi and Shiré telegraph.

10. The provisions set forth in the preceding Article and paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 8 of the same are also applicable to merchandize from the British territory in transit to the sea, and coming down the Shiré and Zambezi in sailing vessels or rowingboats which are not towed, in accordance with Article 8, or else in vessels of any kind touching at Portuguese territory. The

merchandize is to be sealed by the Chinanga Customs officers, and the examination of the seals and the collation of the merchandize will be made by the Customs officers at the bar.

§ 1. The official at Chinanga will have to be on board for the purpose of sealing the merchandize within two hours after the vessel shall have been stopped to receive him, during daytime, and two hours after daybreak, should the vessel arrive at night. The operation of sealing must be concluded within the next 24 hours.

§ 2. At the Zambezi bar the seals shall be examined and the collation of the parcels of merchandize shall, in the daytime. not be commenced later than six hours after the anchoring of the vessel opposite the Custom-house, and the whole operation must be concluded within 24 working hours.

§ 3. In the event of the examination of the seals not having been concluded before the expiration of the period of time fixed for that purpose in this Article, it shall be discontinued at once.

§ 4. The seals may be examined and the parcels of merchandize collated, while the merchandize is being transhipped, should the parties interested desire it.

11. Should the seals happen to be broken on board any vessel either accidentally or on account of the requirements of navigation, the fact shall not be taken to be an infraction of the Regulations, provided it is notified by the master to the first Customs station he passes through, in order that fresh seals may be affixed, of which a proper record is to be kept.

12. Masters of vessels will render to the Portuguese Customs officials every assistance of which they may stand in need for the carrying out of the sealing of the merchandize, collation of the same, and also for the verification of the seals, as speedily as possible.

13. Vessels entering the Zambezi have the right to land merchandize in the territory of the British Concession at Chinde without being subject to any Portuguese Customs Regulations. The shipment of merchandize from the said Concession on board the vessels sailing from the Zambezi is also exempt from any interference on the part of the Custom-house.

§ The fiscal supervision of the Portuguese Customs as regards the territory of the British Concession at Chinde is to be exercised externally, but the Customs officials will enter the area of the Concession for the sole purpose of sealing merchandize, verifying the integrity of the seals, and for the collation of the sealed parcels of merchandize in accordance with Article 14.

14. Merchandize deposited in the British Concession at Chinde, and shipped in transit through the Zambezi and Shiré for the territory beyond Portuguese waters on board vessels touching at Portuguese territory, or on board sailing vessels or rowing-boats, not towed, in accordance with the

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