stefansson-wrangel-09-37-033

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Portuguese Government that the forces of Portugal will not be
permitted to interfere with the British settlements on the
Shire and Nyasa, or the country of the Makololos, or the count-
ries under the government of Lo Bengula, or any other country
which has been declared to be under British protection; and,
further, that there will be no attempt to establish and exercise
Portuguese jurisdiction in any portion of those countries without
previous arrangement between the two countries."

The matter was fina11y settled by a treaty in 1891, in
which Portugal yielded to the demands of Great Britain. 83
British and Foreign State Papers, 27. The correspondence is to
be found in 79 British and Foreign States Papers, 1062-1152,
81 British and Foreign State Papers, 977-1033, 82 British and
Foreign State Papers, 297-339, and, finally, 83 British and
Foreign State Papers, 833-896.

Of course it is impossible to say, with the claims of the
parties as our only evidence, whether Great Britain or Portugal
had the better right to the territory. Whether the claims were
based on fact cannot be ascertained from their mere statement.
The feature of the incident which seems to bear the greatest
interest is that it occurred almost immediately after the act of
the Berlin Conference of 1885, which laid down rules for the
occupation of territory in Africa. It does not seem, however,
that Great Britain and Portugal used these rules as a test of
their claims.

A boundary dispute of interest, which was settled by