As long ago as 1823, the sovereignty of the island was adjudicated upon by the American courts, on the occasion of the confiscation near its shore, of “sundry barrels of rum” by alert Customs officers. Judge Ware made an elaborate decision, in which the whole case was admirably presented.[1] [1] Ware’s Reports, 1823. His construction of the Report of the Commission was “that it assigns to each party a title according to its possession, as it was held in 1812,” and he finds that the island is within the domain of the United States. If further evidence were necessary, it could be found in the early cartography of this region. In a map entitled “A Map of Campobello and other Islands in the Province of New Brunswick, the property of Will Owen, Esq., sole surviving grantee, _etc._, drawn by John Wilkinson, Agt., to Wm. Owen Esq., Campobello, 30th September, 1830,” there is drawn a broken straight line extending from the southern end of Deer Island to the eastern point of Lubec Neck, which line is designated “Filium Aquae” which must be interpreted as meaning water line or boundary. Pope’s Folly is on the American side of this line. Moreover, it is an historical fact that English and American vessels formerly exchanged cargoes on such a line, not far from Eastport, which was assumed to be the boundary line. A British Admiral’s chart of that region, dated 1848, shows a dotted line intended to represent the boundary, which runs to the eastward of Pope’s Folly. Moreover, the principal ship channel is between the island and Campobello. In the light of all of this evidence, and more of a similar character, it seems unreasonable to suppose that the Commission under the treaty of 1814 ever intended this island to be included in the general declaration “all other islands shall belong to His Britannic Majesty.” According to all recognized geographical principles, to traditional ownership and continued possession, and to early and authoritative maps and charts, it is a part of the State of Maine. To deflect the boundary line so as to bring the island under British control, would distort it to an unreasonable degree, and would result in greatly increased difficulty and confusion in the administration of customs laws and regulations. Against all of this the British Commission could only set up a literal interpretation of the report of the Commissioners under the treaty of Ghent, to which the representative of the United States felt compelled to refuse assent.