These quarrels of the pinching shoes had little to do with the Oregon Question. They reveal, however, some of the qualities of the men destined to cling to the question for many years. Oregon is not mentioned in the completed treaty. In general terms it is included in the following language of Article 1: "All territory, places and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereinafter mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction or carrying away any of the artillery or other public property originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private property."[220] The islands mentioned were those in Passamaquoddy Bay and Gallatin suspected that the British commissioners desired to pave the way for securing in the future a part of Maine "in order to connect New Brunswick and Quebec."[221] That Oregon was included in the treaty's general terms is shown by the instructions from Secretary of State Monroe to the American commissioners under date of March 22, 1814: "Should a treaty be concluded with Great Britain, and a reciprocal restitution of territory be agreed on, you will have it in recollection that the United States had in their possession, at the commencement of the war, a post at the mouth of the river Columbia, which commanded the river, which ought to be comprised in the stipulation, should the possession have been wrested from us during the war. On no pretext can the British Government set up a claim to territory south of the northern boundary of the United States. It is not believed that they have any claim whatever to territory on the Pacific Ocean. You will, however, be careful, should a definition of boundary be attempted, not to countenance, in any manner, or in any quarter, a pretension in the British Government to territory south of that line."[222]