CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 13 



l.i CHAPTER I. 



Head A. — The User, up to the year 1821, of the Waters of 

 Behring Sea and other Waters of the North Pacific. 



It IS shown in the following' series of historical notes, 

 chronologically arranged, that the waters subsequently , 

 included in the claim made by Russia under the Ukase of 

 1821, had been freely navigated over, aiul frequented for 

 I)urposes of trade and for other purposes, by ships of 

 various nations, from the earliest times. Further, that the 

 discovery and exi^loration of these waters and the coasts 

 and islands washed by them, was largely due to the navi- 

 gators of various nations, and in particular to those of 

 Great Britain. 



AREA TO BE CONSIDERED. 



The waters affected by the Russian Ukases of 1799 and 

 18LJ1* include not only the entire area of Behring Sea 

 (though that sea is not specifically mentioned by any name 

 in either Ukase), but also other parts of the Pacific Ocean, 

 and in considering the nature of the user of the waters 

 now in (juestion, the entire area affected by the Ukase of 

 1821 is included, the facts relating to all parts of this area 

 being of equal significance. 



It will be noted in this connection that the limit claimed 

 uiidei- the Ukase extended southward to the 51st parallel 

 of north latitude on the American coast; and that, there- 

 fore, any events occurring to the north of 54° 40', which is 

 the soutliernmost point of the territory now known as 

 Alaska, are well within this limit. 



"pacific ocean." 



The Pacific Ocean as a whole, was, in the last century 

 and in the earlier part of the present century, variously 

 named the Pacific, or Great Ocean or South Sea, the last 

 name arising from the circumstance that it had been 

 reached by sailing southward round the Cape of Good 

 Hope or Cape Horn. 



" IJEHIUNG .SEA." 



Behring Sea is, and was at the time of the negotiations 



which arose immediately on the promulgation of the Ukase 



of 1821, recognized by geographers as a part of the 



14 Pacific Ocean. The name by which it is now known 



is that of the navigator Behring, but in earlier times 



it was often named the iSea of Kamtchatka. 



• OE.SCKIPTION OF BEHRIXG SEA. 



The sea washes the northern parts of the coasts of North 

 America and of Asia, and is regarded as extending from 

 Behring Strait on the north to the Aleutian and Com- 

 mander Islands on the south. Its area is at least two- 

 thirds of that of the Mediterranean, and more than twice 



" The text of the Ukase of 1799 will be found at p. 25 of tbia Case; 

 that of the Ukaso of 1821 at p. 37. 



