A.—2b,

4

and to respect, in all and each of them, the exercise of those belligerent rights which we and our Royal predecessors have always claimed to exercise. And we hereby further warn all our loving subjects, and all persons whatsoever entitled to our protection, tbat if any of them shall presume, in contempt of this our Royal Proclamation, and of our high displeasure, to do any acts in derogation of their duty as subjects of a neutral Sovereign in a war between other Sovereigns, or in violation or contravention of the law of nations in that behalf, as more especially by breaking, or endeavouring to break, any blockade lawfully and actually established by or on behalf of either of the said Sovereigns, or by carrying officers, soldiers, despatches, arms, ammunition, military stores or materials, or any article or articles considered and deemed to be contraband of war according to the law or modern usages of nations, for the use or service of either of the said Sovereigns, that all persons so offending, together with their ships and goods, will rightfully incur and be justly liable to hostile capture, and to the penalties denounced by the law of nations in that behalf. And we do hereby give notice that all our subjects and persons entitled to our protection who may misconduct themselves in the premises will do so at their peril, and of their own wrong; and that they will in nowise obtain any protection from us against such capture, or such penalties as aforesaid, but will, on the contrary, incur our high displeasure by such misconduct. Given at our Court at Windsor, this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, in the fortieth year of our reign. God save the Queen !

No. 2. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 3rd May, 1877. I enclose, for your guidance, a copy of a letter which I have received from the Earl of Derby, from which you will learn Her Majesty's pleasure on various matters connected with the hostilities which have broken out between Russia and Turkey. You will not fail to conform to Her Majesty's commands, and to give them publicity throughout the colony under your government. I have, &c, CARNARVON. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 2. (Extract from the London Gazette Extraordinary, of Monday, 30th April, 1877.) The Earl of Derby to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.* My Lords,— Foreign Office, 30th April, 1877. Her Majesty being fully determined to observe the duties of neutrality during the existing state of war between the Emperor of all the Russias and the Emperor of the Ottomans, and being moreover resolved to prevent, as far as possible, the use of Her Majesty's harbours, ports, and coasts, and the waters within Her Majesty's territorial jurisdiction, in aid of the warlike purposes of either belligerent, has commanded me to communicate to your Lordships, for your guidance, the following rules, which are to be treated and enforced as Her Majesty's orders and directions : — Her Majesty is pleased further to command that these rules shall be put in force in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islauds, on and after the sth of May instaut, and in Her Majesty's territories and possessions beyond the seas six days after the day when the Governor, or other chief authority of each of such territories or possessions respectively, shall have notified and published the same; stating in such notification that the said rules are to be obeyed by all persons within the same territories and possessions. 1. During the continuance of the present state of war, all ships of war of either belligerent are prohibited from making use of any port or roadstead in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands, or in any of Her Majesty's colonies or foreign possessions or dependencies, or of any waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the British Crown, as a station or place of resort for any warlike purpose, or for the purpose of obtaining any facilities of warlike equipment; and no ship of war of either belligerent shall hereafter be permitted to sail out of or leave any port, roadstead, or waters subject to British jurisdiction, from which any vessel of the other belligerent (whether the same shall be a ship of war or a merchant ship) shall have previously departed, until after the expiration of at least twenty-four hours from the departure of such last-mentioned vessel beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty. * Similar letters have been addressed to the Treasury, Home Offioe, Colonial Office, War Office, and India Office.