The undersigned, Sir Robert B.D. Morier, Envoy Extra-ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty, his Excellency Don Jose Elduayen, Marquis del Pazo de la Merced, Minister of State of his Majesty the King of Spain, and Count Soloms Sonnenwale, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentairy of His Majesty the German Emperor, duly authorized to bring to a close the negotiations conducted in London and at Berlin during the years 1881–82 by the Representatives of His Majesty the King of Spain at the Courts of Great Britain and Germany, for the purpose of obtaining from these two Powers the formal recognition of the sovereignty of Spain over the Archipelago of Sulu (Jolo), have agreed upon the following Articles:-
ARTICLE I
The Government of Great Britain and of Germany recognize the sovereignty of Spain over the places effectively occupied, as well as over those places not yet occupied, of the Archipelago of Sulu (Jolo), of which the limits are laid down in Article II.
ARTICLE II
The Archipelago of Sulu (Jolo), conformably to the definition contained in Article I of the treaty signed September 23rd, 1836, between the Spanish Government and the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), comprises all the islands which are found between the western extremity of the island of Mindanao on the one side, and the continent of Borneo and the Island of Paragua on the other side, with the exception of those which are indicated in Article III.
It is understood that the Islands of Balabac and of Cagayan-Jolo from part of the archipelago.
ARTICLE III
The Spanish Government renounces, as far as regards the British Government, all claims of sovereignty over the territories of the Continent of Borneo, which belong, or which have belonged in the past to the Sultan of Sulu (Jolo), and which comprise the neighbouring islands of Balambangan, Banguey, and Malawali, as well as all those comprised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast, and which form part of the territories administered by the company styled the “British North Borneo Company”.