limits, comprehends all the conditions which are ordinarily attached to shut seas (mers fermées), and the Russian Government might consequently judge itself authorized to exercise upon this sea the right of sovereignty, and especially that of entirely interdieting the entrance of foreigners. But it preferred only asserting its essential rights, without taking any advantage of localities.

It thus became evident that the Emperor considered as belonging to him alone, not only the Bering Sea, but also, as a closed sea, all that portion of the Pacific Ocean which lies north of latitude 51°; and that he further considered it a generous act on his part to leave all his imperial domain of sea, except a mere hundred-mile belt about its shores, free to the world for its commerce and navigation. Mr. Adams replied to Mr. Poletica's note on March 30:

This pretension is to be considered not only with reference to the question of territorial right, but also to that prohibition to the vessels of other nations, including those of the United States, to approach within one hundred Italian miles of the coasts. From the period of the existence of the United States as an independent nation, their vessels have freely navigated those seas, and the right to navigate them is a part of that independence.

The Russian Emperor's position, in asserting mare clausum over the Pacific Ocean as bounded by his own possessions on either side, was made absurd by Mr. Adams' simple statement that "the distance from shore to shore on this sea in latitude 51° north is not less than 90 degrees of longitude, or four thousand miles."

England had no important interests directly violated by the Russian ukase of 1821, but she possessed territory vaguely and indefinitely bounded in the northwest part of North America, and she detected in Russian claims of enlarged jurisdiction over so great an extent of sea a precedent that might in the future operate adversely to her own interests. Her protest, which was quite as vigorous as the one from Washington, is found in the Duke of Wellington's letter of November 28, 1822, to the Russian Ambassador at London:

The second ground on which we object to the ukase is that His Imperial Majesty thereby excludes from a certain considerable extent of the open sea vessels of other nations. We contend that the assumption of this power is contrary to the law of nations; and we cannot found a negotiation upon a paper in which it is again broadly asserted. We contend that no power whatever can exclude another from the use of the open sea; a power can exclude itself from the navigation of a certain coast, sea, etc., by its own act or engagement, but it cannot by right be excluded by another. This we consider as the law of nations. . . .

These protests from the eagle and the lion succeeded in enlightening the bear, for Russia immediately began to recognize the feebleness of her asserted right to control the North Pacific Ocean. After a short period of correspondence, Russia yielded all these exaggerated pretensions and made a treaty with the United States (April 17, 1824), in which it was agreed:

that, in any part of the Great Ocean, commonly called the Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, the respective citizens or subjects of the high contracting powers shall be neither disturbed nor restrained, either in navigation or in fishing, or in the power of resorting to the coasts, upon points which may not already have been occupied, for the purpose of trading with the natives, saving always the restrictions and conditions determined by the following articles.

The "conditions and restrictions" referred to illicit trading and the formation of settlements.

By the fourth article of this convention Russia granted to United States vessels, for a period of ten years, the privilege of frequenting "without any hindrance whatever the interior seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks upon the coasts mentioned in the preceding article for the purpose of fishing and trading with the natives of the country." By this treaty also Russian possessions in North America were limited on the south by the 54° 40' parallel of latitude.

When the stipulated period of ten years had elapsed, the United States sought to renew the privilege of trading with the natives of Alaska and of navigating the inner waters of

the coast north of latitude 54° 40'. This favor Russia obstinately refused to grant, although the remaining articles of the treaty continued always in force. It seems to have been suspected in the United States that Russia would consider her jurisdiction over a hundred-mile marine belt reëstablished by the expiration of the fourth article of her treaty, notwithstanding the fact that that part of the treaty surrendering all claims to exclusive navigation of the Great Ocean or South Sea remained operative. John Adams at the time expressed himself in his diary as able to down Russian argument, but unable to silence Russian cannon. American vessels continued, however, to navigate the Bering Sea with perfect freedom, and Russia never again actually asserted the right of mare clausum over that body of water, nor apparently considered it otherwise than as a part of the great Pacific Ocean, or "South Sea."

Such, then, was the situation in 1867, when the United States purchased the territory of Alaska and came into possession of all Russian rights of trade and navigation in Bering Sea. Beyond its several thousand miles of coast line, this great territory was practically a terra incognita to all but a few adventurous explorers and trappers who had penetrated its vast wilderness. Its purchase was largely brought about through a friendly feeling on the part of the United States to meet half-way Russia's desire to dispose of her American possessions, while at the same time she hoped rather than expected that the future might develop valuable natural resources in this far-away region, when civilization, in its westward progress, should gain its shores and ascend its great river.

The description of the western boundary of the cession, already referred to, led to some ambiguity, even at that day, as to what extent of jurisdiction the United States might rightfully claim over the waters of Bering Sea. The question whether Russia intended to convey, or even could convey, within the limits of law, dominion over the waters of Bering Sea, outside the ordinarily recognized three-mile limit of marine jurisdiction, did not at once assume great importance.

In framing laws for the territory the following year (1868), Congress did not clearly signify the extent to which the United States claimed jurisdiction in Bering Sea, but simply enacted that the "laws of the United States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation, are extended to and over all the mainland, islands, and waters of the territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia . . .", and further enacted that, "no person shall kill any otter, mink, martin, sable, or fur-seal, or other fur-bearing animals within the limits of Alaska territory, or in the waters thereof.

Thus the United States asserted its dominion over Alaska and the waters thereof, the phrase "waters thereof" unfortunately being left to the various interpretations of public opinion, as shaped or fashioned by future national interests. This ambiguity of expression was destined finally to play an important part in a serious international complication.

Two great industries at once developed in Alaska, — the salmon fisheries and the capture of fur-bearing animals. Of these by far the most important was the pursuit of sealing. The fur of seals is exceptionally fine, and being always in demand, has commanded high prices in the markets of the world.

The fur-seal, known to zoologists as Callorhinus ursinus, resembles biologically a form of marine bear, and should not be confounded with the true seal of our Pacific coast, from which it differs in several respects.

There are three herds of these marine creatures that annually visit the islands of the North Pacific. These herds do not mingle, but have each their own particular breedingground, to which they annually repair. One herd inhabits Robin Island, in the Okhotsk Sea; one the Commander Islands which lie on the Russian side of Bering Sea; and the third (in point of numbers the most important, and known as the "American herd" in contradistinction to the other two, or "Asiatic herds "), inhabits the Pribyloff Islands - a group of small islands on the American side of Bering Sea. To these islands the seals resort in great numbers during the latter part of May or the first part of June. The males

arrive first, and taking positions along the shore, each preempts, so to speak, a certain space sacred to himself, and there awaits the coming of the females. As they appear, arriving day by day from the sea, great confusion reigns along the shores of the rookeries. Desperate struggles for the females follow, and when a degree of peace is restored in the course of a few days, there results an establishment of many approximately permanent polygamous family groups more or less densely crowded along the littoral of the islands. The younger male seals, known as "bachelors," are unable to cope with the older and stronger ones in their fierce contests for possession of the females. They retire and herd together, a discontented throng, at some distance from their jealous elders. The old males keep constantly on the alert to protect their homesteads from the intrusion of other males, or to prevent the members of their own households from deserting them. So jealous are they of their" wives" that they dare not venture away from their positions on shore during the entire breeding season, not even in search of food. The females, soon after landing, give birth to their young, each bearing a single "pup." These helpless little creatures are carefully nurtured by their mothers until they learn to swim and can shift for themselves. The females in search of food make frequent excursions to sea during the breeding season, often going as far as two hundred miles from the island rookeries, at which distance they have been frequently observed disporting themselves, or quietly sleeping upon the surface of the water. They always return to the care of their young and to the protection of their watchful lords and masters.

Thus the seals constituting the "American herd" live upon the Pribyloff rookeries from the time of their annual coming in May and June until the late autumn, when the forces of Boreas besiege the islands and the northern seas become tempestuous. The seals then slip into the surf for their long annual swim to the south. They migrate leisurely through various passes between the Aleutian Islands, thence southward in the open Pacific to about latitude 35° (opposite San Francisco), then making a long sweep inland they