6. The steamer and plundered property were promptly restored by the Canadian authorities.

7. These authorities (with the exception of the two magistrates referred to) have expressed an earnest desire to secure the guilty parties and bring them to punishment, and are believed to be acting in good faith to accomplish the object, under instructions from the government at Quebec. The action of the U. S. district attorney at Detroit previous to my arrival is shown in Exhibit E. I avail myself of the reference to his proceedings to acknowledge my indebtedness to his assistant, Mr. H. B. Brown, Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, acting assistant provost-marshal-general, and H. H. Emmons, esq., of Detroit, for their valuable assistance to me in pursuing the investigation.

The parties concerned in this piratical enterprise (for such it is prima facie) have committed within our jurisdiction chromes for which we have a right, under the treaty of the 9th of August, 1862, between the United States and Great Britain (commonly called the Ashburton treaty), to demand their delivery. I assume the Government will either treat it, as it is in all its essential features, as an act of piracy, or as a robbery, or as an assault with an intent to murder, and that a formal demand will be made on the Government of Great Britain for the surrender of the guilty parties under the tenth article of the treaty. Piracy as contemplated by theirs article is the crime of piracy when committed within our jurisdiction, and there may be a technical difficulty in establishing it in this case. By the eighth section of the act of Congress of the 30th of April, 1790, the crime must be committed out of the jurisdiction of any particular State. The act of Congress of 15th of June, 1836, section 1, defines the northern boundary of the State of Ohio to be "the boundary line between the United States and the Providence of Canada." This line runs north of the Bass Islands, leaving them within the State of Ohio. They constitute one of the organized counties of the State. The Island Queen was captured at the dock at Middle Bass Island and several miles farther within the northern boundary line.

The Supreme Court of the United States (12th Howard, 453) declares the lakes to be inland seas, subject to admiralty jurisdiction. The British courts, it is understood, do not so hold them. If crimes committed on these lakes were regarded by the judicial tribunals of both countries as committed on the high seas, this being on act of privacy under the law of nations, the perpetrators would be common enemies, triable by the courts of both countries and not subject to extradition under the treaty of 1842. If committed within the jurisdiction of a State it would not constitute the chrome of piracy as defined by the act of Congress, and it would be very likely to be considered by the British courts as coming within the proviso of the tenth section of the treaty that the delivery of the persons charged with certain specific crimes "shall only be done on such evidence of criminality as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial if the crime or offense had there been committed." In other words, it must be a crime or offense under the laws of Great Britain. I make these suggestions in regard to a demand for the surrender of the guilty parties as pirates for the consideration of the law officer of the Government. Should they be regarded as having such force as to make the surrender of the criminals doubtful under the clause of piracy, it is not supposed that there will be any hesitation on the part o the British authorities in surrendering them on a charge of robbery, or assault