sign-manual and signet, and with the advice of our Privy Council, all of which persons and officers shall hold their places in the said Councils during our pleasure.

5. And we do further, by this our Commission under the Great Seal aforesaid, delegate to the persons who within each of our said Settlements shall compose the Legislative Council thereof, full power and authority, subject always to such conditions, provisions, and limitations as aforesaid, to establish such Ordinances not being repugnant to the law of England, or to any order made or to be made by us with the advice of our Privy Council, and to constitute such Courts and officers, and to make such provisions and regulations for the proceedings in such Courts, and for the administration of justice as may be necessary for the peace, order, and good government of such Settlements,

6. And we do further declare our pleasure to be that our said Governor shall have a negative voice in the passing of all such Ordinances as aforesaid; and we do also hereby reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, our and their right and authority to disallow any such Ordinances as aforesaid, in the whole or in part, such disallowance being from time to time signified to him through one of our Principal Secretaries of State; and also to make and establish from time to time, with the advice and consent of Parliament, or with the advice of our or their Privy Council, all such laws or Ordinances as may to us or them appear necessary for the order, peace, and good government of our said Settlements or either of them as fully as if these presents had not been made. And we do further declare our pleasure to be that, in the making and establishing of all such Ordinances, such Legislative Councils shall conform to and observe all such rules as may from time to time be directed or appointed by any instruction or instructions issued by us with the advice of our Privy Council.

7. And we do further declare our pleasure to be that, for the purpose of advising our said Governor, there shall be within our Settlement of Sierra Leone an Executive Council, which shall be composed of such persons and constituted in such manner as may be directed by any instructions addressed to him by us uuder our sign-manual and signet, and all such persons shall hold their places in our said Council at our pleasure.

8. And we do further authorize and empower our said Governor to keep and use the public seals of each of our said Settlements, for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said seals.

9. And we do authorize and empower our said Governor to make and execute in our name and on our behalf, under the said public seals, grants and dispositions of any lands which may be lawfully granted or disposed of by us within each of our said Settlements.

10. And we do further authorize and empower our said Governor to constitute and appoint all such Judges, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary officers and ministers in our said Settlements, as may lawfully be appointed by us, all of whom shall hold their offices during our pleasure.

11. And we do further give and grant unto our said Governor full power and authority, as he shall see occasion, in our name and on our behalf, to remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures which may accrue or become payable to us in such Settlements.

12. And we do further authorize and empower our said Governor, subject to the exception hereinafter mentioned, as he shall see occasion, in our name and on our behalf, when any crime has been committed within our said Settlements, or for which the offender may be tried therein, to grant a pardon to any accomplice, not being the actual perpetrator of such crime, who shall give such information and evidence as shall lead to the apprehension and conviction of the principal offender; and further to grant to any offender convicted of any crime in any Court, or before any Judge, Justice, or Magistrate within our said Settlements, a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions, or any respite of the execution of the sentence of any such offender for such period as to him may seem fit. But in the case of any offender who shall have been condemned to suffer death by the sentence of any Court within our said Settlements, such power of pardon or reprieve shall only be exercisable by him. in the Settlement of Sierra Leone, and after receiving the advice of our Executive Council of our said last-mentioned Settlement.

13. And we do further authorize and empower our said Governor, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, to suspend from the exercise of his office within our said Settlements any person exercising the same, under or by virtue of any Commission or Warrant granted, or to be granted by us in our name, or under our authority; which suspension shall continue and have effect only until our pleasure therein shall be made known and signified to him. And we do hereby strictly require and enjoin him, in proceeding to any such suspension, to observe the directions in that behalf given to him, by any instructions under our sign-manual and signet as may be hereafter addressed to our said Governor for the time being.

14. Our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby direct that, in the execution of this our Commission, and in the exercise of the command hereby vested in our Governor for the time being, he be resident in our Settlement of Sierra Leone, except when the interests of our service may render his presence desirable in our said Settlement on the Gambia.

15. And whereas it is necessary that provision be made for the execution of this our Commission in the event of the death or in

ruor, or of his removal from his command, the limits of his said Government : now, er declare our pleasure to be that, in any such

and every the powers and authorities hereby De, and the same are hereby vested in such perpointed by us under our sign-manual and signet to ...ant-Governor of our said West Africa Settlements, or

be no such Lieutenant-Governor, then in such person as may be appointed by us under our sign-manual and administer the Government of our said Settlements, and here shall be no person or persons within our said Settleappointed by us, then in the person for the time being siering the Government of our said Settlement on the who shall, for such time as he administers the Government said Settlements, be called the Administrator of our West Settlements: Provided always, and we do further declare our

to be, that our Governor for the time being, during the d of his passage by sea from either of the Settlements afore to the other of the said Settlements, or while visiting or coding at any place in any of the territories adjacent thereto, shall for any of the purposes aforesaid, be considered as being absent re the limits of his said command.

1. And we do further declare and direct that, during his Ssence from our said Settlement of Sierra Leone, but while he is w.thin the limits of his said command as aforesaid, our Governor way, if he think fit, appoint some person to act as his deputy in

ministering the Government of our said Settlement of Sierra cone, upon such terms and conditions, and for such time, as he may think desirable for the good government of our said Settlement; and all or such of the powers and authorities aforesaid as our said Governor, in his discretion, shall from time to time think it necessary or expedient to assign to such deputy, shall, so far as the same shall be exercisable within such Settlement, be vested in such deputy.

17. And we do further declare that, so long as our said Governor or (as the case may be) Lieutenant-Governor or Administrator of our West Africa Settlements shall be absent from our Settlement on the Gambia, all and every the powers and authorities, except the powers of suspension and pardon, hereby vested in our said Governor, and so far as the same shall be exercisable within such Settlement, shall be vested in such person within the same as may be appointed by us by warrant under our sign-manual and signet dminister the Government thereof; and in case there shall not be

uch Settlement any such Administrator, then we declare said powers and authorities shall, in our said Settlement on

the Gambia, be vested in such person and upon such terms and conditions and for such time as our said Governor, LieutenantGovernor, or Administrator of our West Africa Settlements, as the case may be, shall provisionally from time to time appoint, subject to our approval. And we do further declare and provide, that the officer for the time being administering the Government of our said Settlement on the Gambia shall, in the discharge of such his office, conform to and observe such instructions as shall, for that purpose, be addressed to him by our said Governor in the execution of this our Commission: subject, nevertheless, to all such rules and regulations in that behalf as may from time to time be contained in any instructions under our sign-manual and signet, addressed to our Governor for the time being of our said West Africa Settlements.

18. And we do further direct and enjoin that this our Commission shall be read and proclaimed within our said respective Settlements of Sierra Leone and on the Gambia, and that a transcript thereof shall be deposited and duly recorded in our said Settlements, this our original Commission being preserved within our said Settlement of Sierra Leone,

19. And we do hereby require and command all officers, civil and military, and all others the inhabitants of our said Settlements to be obedient, aiding and assisting unto our said Governor for the time being, and to the officer appointed to administer the Government of our said Settlement on the Gambia in the execution of this our Commission, and of the powers and authorities herein contained.

20. And we do hereby reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend this our Charter as to us or them shall seem meet.

In witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent. Witness ourself at Westminster, the 17th day of December, in the 38th year of our reign.

By warrant under the Queen's sign-manual.

C. ROMILLY.

BRITISH CHARTER for erecting the Fiji Islands into a separate Colony, to be called the Colony of Fiji, and for providing for the government thereof.-Westminster, January 2, 1875.

VICTORIA, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting:

WHEREAS the Chiefs and people of certain islands in the South

Pacific Ocean, commonly known as the Fiji Islands, and hereinafter more particularly described, have ceded to us the said islands, and the sovereignty thereof, which we have been graciously pleased to accept:

And whereas it is expedient to make provision for the better government of the said islands:

Now, know ye that we, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, have thought fit to erect, and do hereby erect, the said Fiji Islands, under which designation are included all islands, rocks, reefs, foreshores, and waters lying between the 15th and 22nd degrees of south latitude, and between the 177th degree of west longitude and the 175th degree of east longitude from the meridian of Greenwich, into a separate Colony, and the said islands are hereby erected into a separate Colony accordingly, to be known and designated as the Colony of Fiji.

2. And we do declare and appoint that the Government of our said Colony shall be administered by a Governer duly commissioned by us in that behalf.

3. And we do hereby further declare and appoint that there shall be, within our said Colony, a Legislative Council, which shall consist of the said Governor for the time being, and of such other public officers and persons within the same, not being less than two in number, as shall be named or designated for that purpose by us by any instruction or instructions, or warrant or warrants, to be by us for that purpose issued under our sign-manual and signet, and with the advice of our Privy Council: all of which persons or officers shall hold their places in the said Council during our pleasure.

4. And we do further declare and appoint that the Governor for the time being of the said Colony, with the advice of the said Legislative Council, shall have full power and authority to make and enact all such Laws and Ordinances as may from time to time be required for the peace, order, and good government of our said Colony; and that in the making of all such Laws and Ordinances the said Governor shall exercise all such powers and authorities, and that the said Legislative Council shall conform to and observe all such rules and regulations, as shall be given and prescribed in and by such instructions as we, with the advice of our Privy Council, shall from time to time make for his and their guidance therein: Provided nevertheless, and we do hereby reserve to ourselves, our heirs and successors, our and their right and authority to disallow any such Ordinances in the whole or in part, and to make and establish from time to time, with the advice and consent of Parliament, or with the advice of our or their Privy Council, all such laws as may to us or them appear necessary for the peace, order, and good