Numb. 5.

75

SUPPLEMENT
TO THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
OF THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 1876.
Published by Authority.

WELLINGTON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1876.

Despatch from the Secretary of State.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 28th January, 1876.

THE following Despatch, with its enclosure, from
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
the Colonies, is published for general information.

CHARLES C. BOWEN,
(in the absence of the Colonial Secretary).

CIRCULAR.

Downing Street, 2nd November, 1875.

SIR, I have the honour to transmit to you, for
publication in the colony under your Government, a
copy of a General Convention between the Govern-
ments of Great Britain and Tunis, signed on the 9th
of July last.

I have, &c.,
CARNARVON.

The Officer Administering the Government
of New Zealand.

GENERAL CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERN-
MENTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND OF TUNIS.

Signed in the English and Arabic Languages,
July 19, 1875.

THE Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
His Most Serene Highness Mohammed Essaddock
Bey, Lord of the Regency of Tunis, being desirous to
maintain and improve the relations of friendship and
commerce which have long subsisted between them
and between British and Tunisian subjects, have re-
solved to proceed to a revision and improvement of
the Treaties subsisting between the respective coun-
tries, in consequence of which the following stipula-
tions have been entered into and concluded between
His Most Serene Highness the Bey, and Richard
Wood, Esquire, Companion of the Most Honorable
Order of the Bath, Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-
General, duly authorized to that effect.

ARTICLE I.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland may appoint, besides her
Political Agent, such Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and
Consular Agents in the Regency of Tunis as she may
deem necessary; and such Consuls, Vice-Consuls,
and Consular Agents shall be at liberty to reside in
any of the seaports or cities of His Highness the
Bey, which they or the British Government may
choose and find most convenient for the affairs and
service of Her Majesty, and for the assistance of her
subjects.

ARTICLE II.

Every mark of honor and respect shall at all
times be paid, and every privilege and immunity
allowed, to Her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General
accredited to His Highness the Bey, which is paid or
allowed to the Representative of any other nation
whatsoever; and respect and honor shall be shown
to the British Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular
Agents who shall reside in the Regency of Tunis.
Their houses and families shall be safe and protected.
No one shall interfere with them, or commit any act
of oppression or disrespect towards them, either by
word or deed; and if any one should do so, the
Tunisian authorities shall take immediate measures
for the punishment of the offender. The British
Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall,
moreover, continue to enjoy, in the most ample sense,
all the privileges and immunities which are now or
may be hereafter accorded to the Consuls, Vice-
Consuls, and Consular Agents of the most favoured
nation.

ARTICLE III.

The British Agent and Consul-General shall be at
liberty to choose his own interpreters, brokers,
guards, and servants, either from among the natives
or others. His interpreters, brokers, guards, and
servants shall be exempt from the conscription, and
from payment of any poll-tax, forced contribution,
or other similar or corresponding charge. In like
manner, the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular
Agents residing at the Tunisian ports, under the
orders of the said Agent and Consul-General, shall
be at liberty to choose, that is to say, the Consuls,
each one interpreter, one broker, two guards, and
three servants; the Vice-Consuls and Consular