UN General Assembly
1968

(4) The report of the British Acting Consul-General W.H. Treacher to the Earl of Derby dated 22 January 1878. Mr. Treacher accompanied Baron de Overbeck to Jolo to negotiate with the Sultan of Sulu; he was present before and during the signing of the Deed on 22 January 1878. He acted as adviser to both Baron de Overbeck and the Sultan; and he signed the document as the only witness. His report to his superiors in London, made on the same day the Deed of 22 January 1878 was signed, should therefore carry considerable weight. He explained the basis for fixing the amount of $5,000 Malayan mentioned in the Deed. He stated in his report that at that time the Sultan’s annual income from his dominions in North Borneo was $5,000 Malayan — $3,000 from his pearl fisheries and $2,000 from his birds’ nest caverns. And Mr. Treacher called the grant a concession — not a cession.