mbox file behavior on Apple Mail

Mac OSX 10.13.3

2013 (late) iMac Fusion

Apple Mail 11.2

I have recently downloaded old emails from Gmail in an archived .mbox format. I have stored them on an external drive connected to my iMac. I understand that I can import these into Apple Mail to view them. I have not tried that out yet, however, because I want to be sure that Apple Mail will leave (continue to store) the .mbox files on the external hard drive after the import, as opposed to than relocating them into a different email server (e.g., back into Gmail). Am I correct in believing that Apple Mail will not change where I have the .mbox files stored when I "import" them into Apple Mail. (The use of the word "import" is ambiguous enough that before I act I thought I should ask first.)

Many thanks.