the King shall make known the fact to the Governor of the colony for the time being, or to the resident agent (if there be one), and the Governor of the said colony of Sierra Leone, or the agent, whichever it may be, shall do all he can to make the English persons restore the property and pay their debts.

XIV. Notwithstanding that the right of the British Government to the sovereignty over the whole of the waters of the Sierra Leone River is ancient and valid, certain parties have nevertheless brought that right into question, for the purpose of defrauding the revenue of the said colony, alleging as the grounds for so doing that no formal cession of any portion of the north bank of the said Sierra Leone River has ever been made to the British Government. In order to remove the ground for such allegation for the future, the Governor of the said colony has requested the King party to this Treaty to cede unto him and his successors in office for and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen of England for ever such portion of his territory as is hereafter mentioned.

XV. And the said King and Chief, in proof of his friendship for Her Majesty the Queen of England, and to testify his confidence in the British Government, hereby consents to cede, and by these presents doth for himself and his successors in office for ever cede and transfer, unto the Governor aforesaid and his successors, Governors of the said colony, for and on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the right, title, and sovereignty in and over that portion of his territory (extending along the north bank of the Sierra Leone, from Ro-MaKbog-Boh Creek on the east to Key Polong Creek on the west, and extending inland one quarter of a mile in depth from high-water mark.

XVI. In consideration of the foregoing stipulations of this Treaty being agreed upon and strictly adhered to on the part of the King aforesaid and of his successors, his Excellency Norman William Macdonald, Governor of the colony of Sierra Leone, hereby agrees for himself and successors, on the part of Her Majesty the Queen of England, to pay or cause to be paid annually to the said King and his successors the customs hereinafter set forth, provided always that this present Treaty be first duly ratified and confirmed by Her Majesty the Queen of England, viz., to Bey Sherbro the sum of 400 bars.

The above bars to be computed according to the scale set forth in the schedule hereunto annexed.

The said King party hereto shall, in 48 hours after the ratification of this Treaty shall have been notified to him, proceed to proclaim the same throughout his territory and carry it into effect as a law.

Done at Freetown, in the colony of Sierra Leone, this 29th day of November, 1847.

BENJ. C. C. PINE, M.C., Actg. Chief Justice, and 3 others.

We, the principal Chiefs and Headmen and the sons of the principal families of the Kaffu Bullom country whose names are hereunto affixed, do hereby acknowledge Bey Sherbo to be our lawful head and King, and do hereby also ratify and confirm all that he as King or Chief has done in the above Treaty, and do further pledge ourselves to carry the terms of the same into effect.

S. PETER WILSON, and 9 others.

Sierra Leone, August 26, 1852. Nain Sugo, the present Bey Sherbro of the Kaffir Bulloms, having entered into a new Treaty with the Governor of Sierra Leone on behalf of Her Majesty, under date the 26th of August, 1852, solemnly ratifying the cession herein detailed, the annual stipend of 400 bars hereby engaged to be paid (and always heretofore paid) to Bey Sherbro of Yongoro (on the Bullom shore) ceases, and a like sum will be paid to the present and all future Bey Sherbros of that country on the recently concluded Treaty above referred to.

N. W. MACDONALD, Governor.

ACT of the British Parliament, "to provide for the Government of British Columbia."

[21 & 22 Vict. cap. 99.]

[August 2, 1858.] WHEREAS divers of Her Majesty's subjects and others have, by the licence and consent of Her Majesty, resorted to and settled on certain wild and unoccupied territories on the north-west coast of North America, commonly known by the designation of New Caledonia, and from and after the passing of this Act to be named British Columbia, and the islands adjacent, for mining and other purposes; and it is desirable to make some temporary provision for the civil government of such territories, until permanent settlements shall be thereupon established, and the number of colonists increased: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

I. British Columbia shall, for the purposes of this Act, be held to comprise all such territories within the dominions of Her Majesty as are bounded to the south by the frontier of the United States of America, to the east by the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, to the north by Simpson's River and the Finlay Branch of the Peace River, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean, and shall include Queen Charlotte's Island, and all other islands adjacent to the said territories, except as hereinafter excepted.

II. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any order or orders to be by her from time to time made, with the advice of Her Privy Council, to make, ordain, and establish, and (subject to such conditions or restrictions as to her shall seem meet) to authorize and empower such officer as she may from time to time appoint as Governor of British Columbia, to make provision for the administration of justice therein, and generally to make, ordain, and establish all such laws, institutions, and ordinances as may be necessary for the peace, order, and good government of Her Majesty's subjects and others therein; provided that all such Orders in Council, and all laws anl ordinances so to be made as aforesaid, shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as conveniently may be after the making and enactment thereof respectively.

III. Provided always, that it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, so soon as she may deem it convenient, by any such Order in Council as aforesaid, to constitute or to authorize and empower such officer to constitute a legislature to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of British Columbia, such legislature to consist of the Governor and a Council, or Council and Assembly, to be composed of such and so many persons, and to be appointed or elected

in such manner and for such periods, and subject to such regula tions, as to Her Majesty may seem expedient.

IV. And whereas an Act was passed in the 43rd year of King George III [cap. 138], intituled "An Act for extending the Juris diction of the Courts of Justice in the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada to the Trial and Punishment of Persons guilty of Crimes and Offences within certain Parts of North America adjoining to the said Provinces:" And whereas by an Act passed in the 2nd year of King George IV [cap. 66] intituled "An Act for regulating the Fur Trade, and establishing a Criminal and Civil Jurisdiction within certain Parts of North America,” it was enacted that from and after the passing of that Act the courts of judicature then existing or which might be thereafter established in the Province of Upper Canada should have the same civil jurisdiction, power, and authority, within the Indian territories and other parts of America not within the limits of either of the Provinces of Lower or Upper Canada or of any civil government of The United States, as the said courts had or were invested with within the limits of the said Provinces of Lower or Upper Canada respectively, and that every contract, agreement, debt, liability, and demand made, entered into, incurred, or arising within the said Indian territories and other parts of America, and every wrong and injury to the person or to property committed or done within the same, should be and be deemed to be of the same nature, and be cognizable and be tried in the same manner, and subject to the same consequences in all respects, as if the same had been made, entered into, incurred, arisen, committed, or done within the said Province of Upper Canada; and in the same Act are contained provisions for giving force, authority, and effect within the said Indian territories and other parts of America to the process and acts of the said courts of Upper Canada; and it was thereby also enacted, that it should be lawful for His Majesty, if he should deem it convenient so to do, to issue a commission or commissions to any person or persons to be and act as justices of the peace within such parts of America as aforesaid, as well within any territories theretofore granted to the Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay as within the Indian territories of such other parts of America as aforesaid; and it was further enacted, that it should be lawful for His Majesty from time to time by any commission under the great seal to authorize and empower any such persons so appointed justices of the peace as aforesaid to sit and hold Courts of Record for the trial of criminal offences and misdemeanors, and also of civil causes, and it should be lawful for His Majesty to order, direct, and authorize the appointment of proper officers to act in aid of such courts and justices within the jurisdiction assigned to such courts and

justices in any such commission, provided that such courts should not try any offender upon any charge or indictment for any felony made the subject of capital punishment, or for any offence or passing sentence affecting the life of any offender, or adjudge or cause any offender to suffer capital punishment or transportation, or take cognizance of or try any civil action or suit in which the cause of such suit or action should exceed in value the amount or sum of 2007., and in every case of any offence subjecting the person committing the same to capital punishment or transportation, the court, or any judge of any such court, or any justice or justices of the peace before whom any such offender should be brought, should commit such offender to safe custody, and cause such offender to be sent in such custody for trial in the court of the Province of Upper Canada:

From and after the proclamation of this Act in British Columbia the said Act of the 43rd year of King George III, and the said recited provisions of the said Act of the second year of King George IV, and the provisions contained in such Act for giving force, authority, and effect within the Indian territories and other parts of America to the process and Acts of the said courts of Upper Canada, shall cease to have force in and to be applicable to British Columbia.

V. Provided always, that all judgments given in any civil suit in British Columbia shall be subject to appeal to Her Majesty in Council, in the manner and subject to the regulations in and subject to which appeals are now brought from the civil courts of Canada, and to such further or other regulations as Her Majesty, with the advice of Her Privy Council, shall from time to time appoint.

VI. No part of the Colony of Vancouver's Island, as at present established, shall be comprised within British Columbia for the purpose of this Act; but it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, on receiving at any time during the continuance of this Act a joint address from the two Houses of the Legislature of Vancouver's Island, praying for the incorporation of that island with British Columbia, by order to be made as aforesaid, with the advice of her Privy Council, to annex the said island to British Columbia, subject to such conditions and regulations as to Her Majesty shall seem expedient; and thereupon and from the date of the publication of such order in the said island, or such other date as may be fixed in such order, the provisions of this Act shall be held to apply to Vancouver's Island.

VII. In the construction of this Act the term "Governor' shall mean the person for the time being lawfully administering the Government of British Columbia.

VIII. This Act shall continue in force until the 31st day of December, 1862, and thenceforth to the end of the then next