SULU.
PROTOCOL RELATIVE TO THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO, BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN, SPAIN, AND GERMANY.
SIGNED AT MADRID, MARCH 7TH, 1885.
The undersigned, Sir Robert B. D. Morier, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty, His Excellency Don José Elduayen, Marquis del Pazo de la Merced, Minister of State of His Majesty the King of Spain, and Count Solms Sonnenwalde, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the German Emperor, duly authorised to bring to a close the negotiations conducted in London and at Berlin during the years 1881-82 by the Representatives of His Majesty the King of Spain at the Courts of Great Britain and Germany, for the purpose of obtaining from these two Powers the formal recognition of the sovereignty of Spain over the Archipelago of Sulu (Joló), have agreed upon the following Articles :--
Art. I. The Governments of Great Britain and of Germany recognise the sovereignty of Spain over the places effectively occupied, as well as over those places not yet occupied, of the Archipelago of Sulu (Joló), of which the limits are laid down in Article II.
Art. II.-The Archipelago of Sulu (Joló), conformably to the definition contained in Art. I. of the treaty signed September 23, 1836, between the Spanish Government and the Sultan of Sulu (Joló), comprises all the islands which are found between the western extremity of the island of Mindanao on the one side, and the continent of Borneo and the Island of Paragua on the other side, with the exception of those which are indicated in Art. III.
It is understood that the Islands of Balabac and of Cagayan-Joló form part of the archipelago.
Art. III.-The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the Continent of Borneo, which belong, or which have belonged in the past to the Sultan of Sulu (Joló), and which comprise the neighbouring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which form part of the territories administered by the company styled the "British North Borneo Company."
Art. IV. The Spanish Government engages to carry out, in the Archipelago of Sulu (Joló), the stipulations contained in Articles I., II., and III. of the Protocol signed at Madrid March 11th, 1877, that is to say:-" (1.) The commerce and the direct traffic of vessels and subjects of Great Britain, Germany, and the other powers, with the Archipelago of Sulu (Joló), and in all parts thereof, are declared to be, and shall be, absolutely free; as well as the right of fishing, without prejudice to the rights of Spain recognised by the present Protocol, conformably to the following declarations. (2.) The Spanish authorities shall not be able to require in future that vessels and subject of Great Britain, Germany, and the other Powers, freely repairing to the Archipelago of Sulu, or from one point of it to another indiscriminately, or thence to any other part of the world, shall be under the necessity of touching, before or after, at a point indicated in the archipelago or elsewhere; or of paying any dues whatsoever; or of procuring permission from the said authorities; who, on their side, shall abstain from all obstruction and all intervention in the above-named traffic. It is well understood that the Spanish authorities shall not hinder in any manner, or