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806
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 28TH AUGUST, 1886.
If any ship of war or merchant-vessel of one of the High Contracting Parties should run agrouíu or be wrecked upon the coasts of the other, such ship or vessel, and all parts thereof, and all furniture and appurtenances belonging thereunto, and all goods and merchandize saved therefrom, including any which may have been cast into the sea, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, as well as all papers found on board such stranded or wrecked ship or vessel, shall be given up to their owners, or their agents, when claimed by them from the officers, British or Equatorian, as the case may be, who are by the laws or Government of their respective countries entrusted with the protection, preservation, and custody o shipwrecked property; and if there are no such owners or agents on the spot, then the same shall be delivered by the above-named officers to the British or Equatorian Consul-General, Consul, or Vice- Consul, in whose district the wreck or stranding may have taken place, upon being claimed by him within the period fixed by the laws of the country; and such Consuls, owners, or agents, shall pay only the expenses incurred in the preservation of the property, together with the salvage, or other expenses, which would have been payable in the like case of a wreck of a national vessel.
The goods and merchandize saved from the wreck shall be exempt from all duties of Customs, unless cleared for consumption, in which case they shall pay the same rate of duty as if they had heen imported in a national vessel.
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In the case either of a vessel being driven in by stress of water, run aground, or wrecked, respective Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall, if the owner or master, or other agent of the owner, is not present, or is present and requires it, be authorized to interpose, in order to afford the necessary assistance to their fellow-countrymen.
ARTICLE XXI.
The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of each of the High Con- tracting Parties residing in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall receive from the local. authorities such assistance as can by law be given to them for the recovery of deserters from the merchant-vessels of their respective countries.
ARTICLE XXII.
For the better security of commerce between the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty and the citizens of the Republic of the Equator, it is agreed that, if at any time any interruption of friendly intercourse or any rupture should unfortunately take place between the two Contracting Parties, the subjects or citizens of either of the two Contracting Parties residing upon the coast shall be allowed six months, and those residing in the interior a year, to wind up their accounts and dispose of their property; and a safe-conduct shall be given them to embark at the port which they shall themselves select. All subjects or citizens of either of the two Contracting Parties who may be established in the dominions or territories of the other, in the exercise of any trade or special employment, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing such trade or employment therein, without any manner of in- terruption, in full enjoyment of their liberty and property, as long as they behave peaceably and commit no offence against the laws: and their goods and effects, of whatever description they may be, whether in their own custody, or intrusted to individuals or to the State, shall not be liable to seizure or sequestration, or to any other charges or demands than those which may be made upon the like effects or property belonging to native subjects or citizens. In the same case, debts between indi- viduals, public funds, and the shares of Companies, shall never be confiscated, sequestered, or detained.
ARTICLE XXIII.
The present Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, when ratified, shall be substituted for the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation concluded between the High Contracting Parties at Quito on the 3rd day of May, 1851. It shall remain in force for ten years from the date of the exchange } of the ratifications, and further, until the expiration of twelve months after either of the High Con- tracting Parties shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same, each of the High Contracting Parties reserving to itself the right of giving such notice to the other at the expiraĮ tion of the first nine years, or at any time afterwards.
ARTICLE XXIV.
The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Quito in eight - months from this date, or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms.
Done at Quito, the eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- dred and eighty.
(L.S.) FRE. DOUGLAS HAMILTON.
(L.S.) CORNELIO E. VERNAZA.