Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/291

Rh N A Y N A V 279 separating or traversing the states that were parties thereto should be open for commercial purposes to the vessels of all nations, subject to a uniform system of police and tolls. The treaty of Paris, 1856, extended this principle to the Danube. In America the cases of the Mississippi and the St Lawrence are important. By the treaty of Versailles, 1783, it was provided that &quot;the navigation of the Missis sippi shall for ever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.&quot; But the United States afterwards acquired Louisiana and Florida; and, the stipulation as to British subjects not being renewed in the treaty of Ghent, 1814, the United States maintain that the right of navigating the Mississippi is vested exclusively in their citizens. As to the St Lawrence, after disputes for a long period between Great Britain and the United States, the right of free navigation for purposes of commerce was secured to the United States by the treaty of Washington, 1871. There are some waters, such as the Bosphorus and the Suez Canal, which are subject to peculiar engagements by treaty or agreement. But as a rule it may be said that in time of peace the territorial waters of a state are open to foreigners for commercial purposes, subject to observance of any rules as to police, pilotage, &c., imposed by the state. For instance, a system of compulsory pilotage is in existence in many ports, and a vessel refusing to conform to the pilotage regulations might incur serious liabilities. Most of the general law of England on this subject is contained in Part V. of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854. Tolls may be imposed by the state upon foreigners. This right is expressly recog nized in most commercial treaties. A notable instance was the claim of Denmark to charge what were called the &quot; Sound dues &quot; from all vessels passing Elsinore, though the Sound was not strictly her territorial water. The right was not universally recognized, though it had prescription in its favour, and was invariably paid. In 1857 the dues were abolished, and compensation paid to Denmark for the loss of her alleged right. (j. w.f) NAVIGATORS ISLANDS, or SAMOA, a group in the southern Pacific, 420 miles north-east of the Fiji Islands, lying between 13 30 and 14 20 S. lat., and between 169 and 173 W. long. It numbers in all thirteen islands, but most of these are little more than barren rocks, and three only Sawaii (Pola), Upolu (Oyalava), and Tutuila (Manna) are large enough to be of any importance. Sawaii (700 square miles) is almost entirely occupied by lofty and barren mountains. It has no rivers or streams, the water filtering away through the porous soil; and there is but one harbour. Upolu (550 square miles) is also mountainous, but it is well- wooded and fertile, and possesses several considerable streams. Apia, the chief town, lies at the head of an oval bay on the north coast. Since 1879 it has been under a municipality directed by the consuls of Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Tutuila (55 square miles, 17 miles long and 5 broad) is almost cut in two by the harbour of Pago-pago (Pango-pango), one of the best in the South Pacific, In general character the island is like Upolu. The Samoans are physically a fine race of men, and those on Upolu are all nominally Christian ; but they discover a great lack of industry and perseverance. Both LTpolu and to some extent Tutuila have attracted a considerable number of American and European (mostly German) capitalists, and a large portion of the land has passed into the hands of foreign residents (who number about three hundred). The bulk of the foreign trade belongs to the successors of the famous Hamburg firm of J. C. Godeffroy & Son. Cotton, cocoa-nuts, and breadfruit are cultivated for export, and maize, sugar, coffee, ifcc., for local consumption. Copra or cobra (i.e., dried cocoa-nuts) is the most important article of trade. In 1881 the planters had about 1800 labourers from the Line Islands, New Britain, New Hebrides, &c., the Samoans being too independent to hire themselves out. A series of petty wars, continued with little intermission from 1868, has greatly interfered with the prosperity of the native population, whose numbers have decreased from 56,600 in 1840 to 35,000 in 1872 and 30,000 in 1880. The Samoan group are possibly the Baumann s Islands of the Dutchman Roggeveen (1722); but it was Bougainville who made them definitely known and who called them lies des Navigateurs, owing to the skill with which the natives managed their canoes. At Asu or Massacre Bay La Perouse lost two of his assistants De Lamanon and De Langle and a boat s crew. Christianity was introduced by John Williams in 1830. See Meade, New Zealand and the South Sea Islands (1870), which has views of Pango-Pango and Apia ; Dr Forbes in Proc. Roy. Gcog. Soc., 1877; Journal dcs Museums Godeffroy, Hamburg, 1871-74. NAVY THE beginnings of the British navy may be traced back to the long-continued struggle of Alfred and his suc cessors with Danish invaders and pirates. Alfred has been called the first English admiral, as he was, it is supposed, the first English sovereign who commanded his own fleet in battle ; and it was still to check these marauders, and protect the coasts of the kingdom, that &quot;William I., in 1066, established the Cinque Ports, and gave them certain privileges, on condition of their furnishing 52 ships, with 24 men in each, for fifteen days, in cases of emergency. We should not, perhaps, be far amiss in dating the period of English naval architecture from the Conquest; but there is little to record of the navy till the period of the French wars. In these very numerous fleets were some times engaged. King John is said to have fitted out 500 ships in 1213 against Philip of France; and in 1293, in the reign of Edward I., a battle took place in mid Channel where both the French and English fleets met in force, and about 240 ships of the former were captured. In the reign of John a close approach was made to a : regular naval establishment, and encouragement given to foreign commerce by a declaration of safe-conduct to all foreign merchants to pass to or repass from England. There cannot be any doubt that the earlier fleets com prised many private ships pressed into the king s service. A fleet of Edward the Confessor in 1049 consisted partly of &quot; king s ships,&quot; partly of &quot; people s ships.&quot; In the Black Book of the Admiralty (which is a collection of sea-laws and customs drawn up for the use of the judge of the Court of Admiralty) it is provided that &quot; in case a man be indicted that he hath broken the arrest of his ship, arrested for the king s service, and be thereof convicted by twelve men, he shall lose his ship unless he obtaineth pardon of the king or the high admiral.&quot; Richard I. at Grimsby expressly combated by an ordinance the notion that ships were not liable to be pressed ; and in a mandate of Sir Thomas Beaufort, admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitania, temp. Hen. IV., are to be found instructions to his lieutenant of the North to arrest twenty-four vessels for service abroad, &quot;upon certain weighty matters.&quot; Orders were sent at the same time to press mariners for one of the king s barges. In an action with the French fleet off the harbour of Sluys (1340), Edward III. is said to have slain 30,000 of the enemy, and to have taken 200 great ships, &quot;in one of which only there were 400 dead bodies.&quot; All writers