<P> Terra nullius (/ ˈtɛrə. nʌˈlaɪəs /, plural terrae nullius) is a Latin expression meaning "nobody's land", and is a principle sometimes used in international law to describe territory that may be acquired by a state's occupation of it . </P> <P> Terra nullius stems from the Roman law term res nullius, meaning nobody's thing . According to the Roman law ferae bestiae, things without an owner, such as wild animals, lost slaves and abandoned buildings, were res nullius and could be taken as property by anyone by seizure . </P>

Explain what the british understood by the term terra nullius