And whereas, if some provision of that sort was extended to his Majesty's American dominions, it may be a means of preventing an illicit trade therewith, and tend to enforce an Act made in the twelfth year of the reign of King Charles the Second, intituled,-An Act for the encouraging and increasing of shipping and navigation, and another Act made in the seventh and eighth year of the Reign of King William the Third, intituled, An Act for preventing frauds, and regulating abuses in the Plantation trade, so far as those laws do prohibit any goods or commodities to be imported into or exported out of any British Colony or plantation in America, in any foreign ship or vessel:" To which end therefore be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the twenty-ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, if any foreign ship or vessel whatsoever shall be found at anchor, or hovering within two leagues of the shore of any land, island, plantation, colony, territory, or place, which shall or may be in the possession or under the dominion of his Majesty, his heirs or successors, in America, and shall not depart from the coast, and proceed upon her voyage to some foreign port or place, within forty-eight hours after the master or other person taking the charge of such ship or vessel shall be required so to do by any officer of his Majesty's Customs, unless in case of unavoidable necessity and distress of weather, such ship or vessel, with all the goods therein laden, shall be forfeited and lost, whether bulk shall have been broken or not; and shall and may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of his Majesty's Customs, in such manner and form as herein after is expressed.

XXIV. Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any ship or vessel belonging to the subjects of the French King, which shall be found fishing, and not carrying on an illicit trade, on that part of the Island of Newfoundland which stretches from the place called Cape Bonavista to the Nothern point of the said island, and from thence running down to the Western side, reaches as far as the place called Point Riche.

XXXV. And, in order to prevent any illicit trade or commerce between His Majesty's subjects in America and the subjects of the Crown of France in the Islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty-ninth day of September one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, if any British ship or vessel shall be found standing into, or coming out from, either of those Islands, or hovering or at anchor within two leagues of the coast thereof, or shall be discovered to have taken any goods or merchandizes on board at either of them, or to have been there for that purpose; such ship or vessel, and all the goods so taken on board there, shall be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of His Majesty's Customs; and the Master or other person having the charge of such ship or vessel, and every person concerned in taking any such goods on board, shall forfeit treble the value thereof.

XXXVI. And, to prevent the concealing any goods in false packages, or private places, on board any ship or vessel arriving at any of the British Colonies or Plantations in America, with intent to their being clandestinely landed there, Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the twenty-ninth day of

September one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, all goods which shall be found concealed in any place whatsoever on board any such ship or vessel, at any time after the Master thereof shall have made his report to the Collector or other proper officer of the Customs, and which shall not be comprised or mentioned in the said Report, shall be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted by any officer of the Customs; and the Master or other person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel (in case it can be made appear, that he was any wise consenting or privy to such fraud or concealment) shall forfeit treble the value of the goods so found.

XXXVII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty-ninth day of September one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, if any goods or merchandizes whatsoever, liable to the payment of duties in any British Colony or Plantation in America by this or any other Act of Parliament, shall be loaden on board any ship or vessel outward bound, or shall be unshipped or landed from any ship or vessel inward bound, before the respective duties due thereon are paid, agreeable to law; or if any probibited goods whatsoever shall be imported into, or exported out of, any of the said Colonies or plantations, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this or any other Act of Parliament; every person who shall be assisting, or otherwise concerned, either in the loading outwards, or in the unshipping or landing inwards, such goods, or to whose hands the same shall knowingly come after the loading or unshipping thereof, shall, for each and every offence, forfeit treble the value of such goods, to be estimated and computed according to the best price that each respective commodity bears at the place where such offence was committed; and all the boats, horses, cattle, and other carriages whatsoever, made use of in the loading, landing, removing, carriage, or conveyance of any of the aforesaid goods, shall also be forfeited and lost, and shall and may be seized and prosecuted, by any officer of His Majesty's Customs, as herein after mentioned.

XXXVIII. And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That from and after the twenty-ninth day of September one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four, if any officer of His Majesty's Customs shall, directly or indirectly, take or receive any bribe, recompense, or reward, in any kind whatsoever; or connive at any false entry, or make any collusive seizure or agreement; or do any other act or deed whatsoever by which His Majesty, his heirs or successors, shall or may be defrauded in his or their duties, or whereby any goods prohibited shall be suffered to pass either inwards or outwards, or whereby the forfeitures and penalties inflicted by this or any other Act of Parliament relating to His Majesty's Customs in America may be evaded; every such officer therein offending shall, for each and every offence, forfeit the sum of five hundred pounds, and be rendered incapable of serving His Majesty in any office or employment civil or military: And if any person or persons whatsoever shall give, offer, or promise to give, any bribe, recompense, or reward, to any officer of the Customs, to do, conceal, or connive at, any Act, whereby any of the provisions made by this or any other Act of Parliament relating to His Majesty's Customs in Amer533 ica may be evaded or broken, every such person or person shall,

for each and every such offence (whether the same offer proposal, or promise, be accepted or performed, or not) forfeit the sum of fifty pounds.

No. 13.-1763, October 7: Extract from Royal Proclamation. BY THE KING.

GEORGE R.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas we have taken into our royal consideration the extensive and valuable acquisitions in America, secured to our Crown by the late definitive treaty of peace concluded at Paris, the 10th day of February last; and being desirous that all our loving subjects, as well of our kingdom as of our colonies in America, may avail themselves with all convenient speed, of the great benefits and advantages which must accrue therefrom to their commerce, manufactures, and navigation, we have thought fit, with the advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our royal proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our loving subjects, that we have, with the advice of our said Privy Council, granted our leters patent, under our Great Seal of Great Britain, to erect, within the countries and islands ceded and confirmed to us by the said treaty, four distinct and separate Governments, styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida and Grenada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz.

First-The Government of Quebec bounded on the Labrador coast by the River St John, and from thence by a line drawn from the head of that river through the Lake St. John, to the south end of the Lake Nipissim; from whence the said line, crossing the River St Lawrence, and the Lake Champlain, in 45. degrees of north latitude, passes along the high lands which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the said River St Lawrence from those which fall into the sea; and also along the north coast of the Baye des Chaleurs, and the coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence to Cape Rosieres, and from thence crossing the mouth of the River St Lawrence by the west end of the Island of Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid River of St. John.

Secondly-The Government of East Florida, bounded to the westward by the Gulf of Mexico and the Apalachicola River; to the northward by a line drawn from that part of the said river where the Chatahouchee and Flint Rivers meet, to the source of St Mary's River, and by the course of the said river to the Atlantic Ocean; and to the eastward and southward by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Florida, including all islands within six leagues of the sea coast. Thirdly-The Government of West Florida, bounded to the southward by the Gulf of Mexico, including all islands within six leagues of the coast, from the River Apalachicola to Lake Pontchartrain; to the westward by the said lake, the Lake Maurepas, and the River Mississippi; to the northward by a line drawn due east from that part of the River Mississippi which lies in 31 degrees north latitude,

to the River Apalachicola or Chatahouchee; and to the eastward by the said river.

Fourthly-The Government of Grenada, comprchending the island. of that name, together with the Grenadines, and the Islands of Dominico, St. Vincent's and Tobago.

And to the end that the open and free fishery of our subjects may be extended to and carried on upon the coast of Labrador, and the adjacent islands, we have thought fit, with the advice of our said Privy Council, to put all that coast, from the River St John's to Hudson's Straits, together with the Islands of Anticosti and Madelaine, and all other smaller islands lying upon the said coast, under the care and inspection of our governor of Newfoundland.

We have also, with the advice of our Privy Council, thought fit to annex the Islands of St John's and Cape Breton, or Isle Royale, with the lesser islands adjacent thereto, to our Government of Nova Scotia.

And whereas it is just and reasonable, and essential to our interest, and the security of our colonies, that the several nations or tribes of Indians with whom we are connected, and who live under our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the possession of such parts of our dominions and territories as, not having been ceded to or purchased by us, are reserved to them, or any of them, as their hunting grounds. We do therefore, with the advice of our Privy Council, declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, that no governor or commander in chief in any of our colonies of Quebec, East Florida, or West Florida, do presume, upon any pretence whatever, to grant warrants of survey, or pass any patents for lands beyond the bounds of their respective Governments, as described in their commissions; as also that no governor or commander in chief in any of our other colonies or plantations in America do presume for the present, and until our further pleasure be known, to grant warrants of survey, or pass patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from the west and northwest, or upon any lands whatever, which, not having been ceded to or purchased by us as aforesaid, are reserved to the said Indians, or any of them.

534 And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty, protection, and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the lands and territories not included within the limits of our said three new Governments, or within the limits of the territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, as also all the lands and territories lying to the westward of the sources of the rivers which fall into the sea from the west and north west as aforesaid.

And we do hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking possession of any of the lands above reserved, without our especial leave and licence for that purpose first obtained.

And, we do further strictly enjoin and require all persons whatever who have either wilfully or inadvertently seated themselves upon any lands within the countries above described, or upon any other lands which, not having been ceded to or purchased by us, are

still reserved to the said Indians as aforesaid, forthwith to remove themselves from such settlements.

And whereas great frauds and abuses have been committed in purchasing lands of the Indians, to the great prejudice of our interests, and to the great dissatisfaction of the said Indians; in order, therefore, to prevent such irregularities for the future, and to the end that the Indians may be convinced of our justice and determined resolution to remove all reasonable cause of discontent, we do, with the advice of our Privy Council strictly enjoin and require, that no private person do presume to make any purchase from the said Indians of any lands reserved to the said Indians, within those parts of our colonies where, we have thought proper to allow settlement; but that, if at any time any of the said Indians should be inclined to dispose of the said lands, the same shall be purchased only for us, in our name, at some public meeting or assembly of the said Indians, to be held for that purpose by the governor or commander in chief of our colony respectively within which they shall lie; and in case they shall lie within the limits of any proprietary government, they shall be purchased only for the use and in the name of such proprietaries, conformable to such directions and instructions as we or they shall think proper to give for that purpose; And we do, by the advice of our Privy Council, declare and enjoin, that the trade with the said Indians shall be free and open to all our subjects whatever, provided that every person who may incline to trade with the said Indians do take out a licence for carrying on such trade from the governor or commander in chief of any of our colonies respectively where such person shall reside, and also give security to observe such regulations as we shall at any time think fit, by ourselves or by our commissaries to be appointed for this purpose, to direct and appoint for the benefit of the said trade:

And we do hereby authorise, enjoin, and require the governors and commanders in chief of all our colonies respectively, as well those under our immediate Government as those under the Government and direction of proprietaries, to grant such licences without fee or reward, taking especial care to insert therein a condition, that such licence shall be void, and the security forfeited in case the person to whom the same is granted shall refuse or neglect to observe such regulations as we shall think proper to prescribe as aforesaid.

And we do further expressly enjoin and require all officers whatever, as well military as those employed in the management and direction of Indian affairs, within the territories reserved as aforesaid for the use of the said Indians, to seize and apprehend all persons whatever, who standing charged with treason, misprisons of treason, murders, or other felonies or misdemeanours, shall fly from justice and take refuge in the said territory, and to send them under a proper guard to the colony where the crime was committed of which they stand accused, in order to take their trial for the same. Given at our Court at St. James's the 7th Day of October 1763, in the Third Year of our Reign.

God save the King.