line south of the fourth parallel secured to it by the Convention of February, 1885.” There were, however, on the part of the Congo State, the advantages of possession and effective occupation of the territory north of the Uelle and the right bank of the Mbomu, which had now been geographically established as the uppermost course of the Ubanghi. An offer was made by the Congo State to arbitrate the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Berlin Act. France, however, declined to submit the case to such tribunal. Finally, after three years’ delay, a convention between France and the Congo Free State was signed in Paris on 14th August, 1894, which contained six articles. The first conceded part of the Belgian claim by constituting the river Mbomu the upper course of the Ubanghi. Article 1. The frontier between the Independent State of the Congo and the colony of the French Congo, after following the thalweg of the Ubanghi to the confluence of the Mbomu and the Uelle, shall be formed in the following manner:—First, the thalweg of Mbomu to its source; second, a straight line joining the crest of the water-parting between the basins of the Congo and the Nile. From this point the frontier of the Independent State is constituted by the said crest of the water-parting to as far as its intersection with the 30th degree of east longitude (Greenwich). Article 2. It is understood that France will exercise, under conditions which shall be determined by a special arrangement, the right of police on the course of the Mbomu, with the right of pursuit on the left bank. This right of police will not be exercisable on the left bank, but exclusively along the course of the river, and so long as pursuit by the French agents is indispensable to effect the arrest of the authors of offences committed on French territory or on the waters of the river. France shall have, when necessary, a right of passage on the left bank, to assure her communications along the course of the river. The third article stipulated for the gradual surrender to the French of the posts established by the State north of the Uelle; and the fourth and the final articles “bound the State to renounce all political action of any kind to the west or north of the following line—the 30th degree of east longitude, from its point of intersection with the crest of the water-parting of the basins of the Congo and the Nile to as far as the point where this meridian meets the parallel 5° 30´, and thence that parallel to the Nile.”