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PEKING CONVENTION, 1860.

have and to hold as a dependancy of Her Britannic Majesty's Colony of Hongkong, that portion of the township of Cowloon, in the province of Kwang-Tung, of which a lease was granted in perpetuity to Harry Smith Parkes, Esquire, Companion of the Bath, a Member of the Allied Commission at Canton, on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty's government, by Lan Tsung-kwang, Governor-General of the Two Kwang. It is further declared that the lease in question is hereby cancelled, that the claims of any Chinese to property on the said portion of Cowloon shall be duly investigated by a mixed Commission of British and Chinese officers, and that com- pensation shall be awarded by the British government to any Chinese whose claim shall be by that said Commission established, should his removal be deemed necessary by the British government.

Art. VII.-It is agreed that the provisions of the Treaty of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, except in so far as these are modified by the present Convention, shall without delay come into operation as soon as the ratifications of the Treaty aforesaid shall have been exchanged. It is further agreed, that no separate ratification of the present Convention shall be necessary, but that it shall take effect from the date of its signature, and be equally binding with the Treaty above mentioned on the high contracting parties.

Art. VIII.-It is agreed that, as soon as the ratifications of the Treaty of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight shall have been exchanged, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China shall, by decree, command the high autho rities in the capital, and in the provinces, to print and publish the aforesaid Treaty

and the present Convention, for general information.

Art. IX.-It is agreed that, as soon as the Convention shall have been signed, the ratifications of the Treaty of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight shall have been exchanged, and an Imperial Decree respecting the publication of the said Convention and Treaty shall have been promulgated, as provided for by Article VIII. of this Convention, Chusan shall be evacuated by Her Britannic Majesty's troops there stationed, and Her Britannic Majesty's force now before Peking shall commence its march towards the city of Tientsin, the forts of Taku, the north coast of Shun- tung, and city of Canton, at each or all of which places, it shall be at the option of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, to retain a force, until the indemnity of eight millions of taels, guaranteed in Article III., shall have been paid. Done at Peking, in the Court of the Board of Ceremonies, on the twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty.

(L.S.) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE,

Seal of

Chinese

Plenipotentiary

Signature of Chinese Plenipotentiary.

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