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Rh Such freedom, however, shall not withdraw him from the competent jurisdiction if he has been guilty of any crime or offense at common law.

Any slave detained against his will on board of a native vessel shall have the right to demand his liberty. His release may be ordered by any agent of any of the signatory powers on whom the present general act confers the right of ascertaining the status of persons on board of such vessels, although such release shall not withdraw him from the competent jurisdiction if he has committed any crime or offense at common law.

The signatory powers engage to exercise a strict surveillance over native vessels authorized to carry their flag in the zone mentioned in Article XXI, and over the commercial operations carried on by such vessels.

The term "native vessel" applies to vessels fulfilling one of the following conditions:

1. It shall present the outward appearance of native build or rigging.

2. It shall be manned by a crew of whom the captain and the majority of the seamen belong by origin to one of the countries on the coast of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, or the Persian Gulf.

The authorization to carry the flag of one of the said powers shall in future be granted only to such native vessels as shall satisfy at the same time the three following conditions:

1. Fitters-out or owners of ships must be either subjects of or persons protected by the power whose flag they ask to carry.

2. They shall be obliged to prove that they possess real estate situated in the district of the authority to whom their application is addressed, or to furnish bona fide security as a guaranty of the payment of such fines as may be incurred.

3. The above-named fitters-out or owners of ships, as well as the captain of the vessel, shall prove that they enjoy a good reputation, and that in particular they have never been sentenced to punishment for acts connected with the slave-trade.