Terrero.
A seal which says: Office of the Minister of State.—Translation.—The undersigned, his Excellency Señor José Elduayen, Marquis of Pazo de la Merced, Minister of State of his Majesty the King of Spain; His Excellency Señor Count Solms Sonnerwalds, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of Germany, and His Excellency Sir Robert B. D. Morier, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of her Britannic Majesty, authorized in due form to carry on the negotiations followed in London and Berlin during the years 1881 and 1882 by the representatives of his Majesty the King of Spain with the Governments of Great Britain and Germany, for the purpose of obtaining from these two powers the solemn recognition of the sovereignty of Spain over the archipelago of Sulu, have agreed on the following articles:
I
The Governments of Germany and Great Britain recognize the sovereignty of Spain over the parts which are effectively occupied as well as over those which are not yet occupied, of the archipelago of Sulu, whose limits are established in Article II.
II
As expressed in Article I of the treaty signed on September 23, 1836, between the Spanish Government and the Sultan of Sulu, the archipelago of Sulu includes all the islands between the western extremity of the island of Mindanao on one side and the mainland of Borneo and the island of Palawan on the other, except those mentioned in Article III. It is understood that the islands of Balabak and Kagayan Sulu belong to the archipelago.
III
The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the mainland of Borneo which belong or may have belonged to the Sultan of Sulu, including the neighboring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, Malawati, and all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which are part of the territories administered by the company known as “The British North Borneo Company.”
IV
The Spanish Government pledges itself to carry out in the archipelago of Sulu the stipulations contained in Articles I, II, and III of the protocol signed in Madrid on March 11, 1877, viz.: (1) Commerce and direct trading by ships and subjects of Great Britain, Germany and the other powers are declared to be and shall be absolutely free with the archipelago of Sulu and in all parts thereof, as well as the right of fishery, without prejudice to the rights recognized to Spain by the present Protocol, in conformity with the following declarations: (2) The Spanish authorities shall no longer require ships and subjects of Great Britain, Germany and the other powers, going freely to the archipelago of Sulu, or from one point to another point in the world, to touch, before or after, at any specified place in the archipelago or elsewhere, to pay any duties whatsoever, or to get a permit from said authorities, who, on their side, shall refrain from obstructing or interfering in any way with the above mentioned trade.