y
commercial treaty. The action of the Portuguese Government in allowing
this to be accomplished was a gross breach of the duties incumbent upon
a neutral State in time of war.

CHAPTER III.

CONTRABAND OF WAR AND NEUTRAL PORTS.

During the war the question of blockade could not arise for the reason
that neither the Transvaal nor the Orange Free State possessed a
seaport. Lorenzo Marques being a neutral Portuguese possession could not
be blockaded by the English. General Buller, commanding the British land
forces in South Africa, had indeed urged that such a declaration be
made, but it was realized by Great Britain that such a step was not
possible under the laws of war.[1] More stringent measures, however,
were taken to prevent the smuggling of contraband through Delagoa Bay, a
transaction which the English alleged was an everyday occurrence. A
number of neutral merchantmen bound for this port were seized, but the
difficulty experienced by England was her inability to prove that the
goods on board were really intended for the enemy, or that the men shown
as passengers were actually proceeding to the Transvaal as recruits for
the Boer forces in the field.

[Footnote 1: Sessional Papers of the House of Commons, Royal Commission
on the War in South Africa, Appendices to Minutes of Evidence being C.
1792 (1903).]

On October 18 the ship _Avondale Castle_ had been arrested by the
English gunboat _Partridge_ and ordered to return under escort to
Durban. The British cruiser _Tartar_ there took over L25,000 in gold
which, it was alleged, had been intended for the Transvaal Government.
It was found, however, that the gold was consigned to the Delagoa branch
of the Transvaal Bank from the Durban branch of the same institution.
The allegation against the consignment, it was considered by the prize
court, did not sufficiently contaminate the shipment since the
destination was proved to be a neutral one and the point of departure an
English port. In February the gold was returned to the Bank of Durban
because the ultimate destination of the consignment did not warrant the
presumption that it was enemy's property.

In November a French steamer, the _Cordoba_, was hailed by the British
cruiser _Magicienne_. The _Cordoba_ refused to recognize the signal to
halt seventy miles out from Lorenzo Marques and was brought to by a
blank shot. Her papers, however, failed to show any guilt on her part
and she was allowed to proc