Lord Ashburton reached Washington in April, 1842, and the negotiation at once began.
It is impossible and needless to give here a detailed account of that negotiation.

We can only glance briefly at the steps taken by Mr.Webster and at the results achieved by him.

There were many difficulties to be overcome, and in the winter of 1841-42 the case of the Creole added a fresh and dangerous complication.

The Creole was a slave-ship, on which the negroes had risen, and, taking possession, had carried her into an English port in the West Indies, where assistance was refused to the crew, and where the slaves were allowed to go free.

This was an act of very doubtful legality, it touched both England and the Southern States in a very sensitive point, and it required all Mr.Webster's tact and judgment to keep it out of the negotiation until the main issue had been settled.
The principal obstacle in the arrangement of the boundary dispute arose from the interests and the attitude of Massachusetts and Maine.