CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 49 



A. map, published officially by Eussian authorities, of ^o"" '^^P' /''^e 

 which a copy is included among the documents annexed to ivI'No. i.^' 

 this Case, was forwarded from St. Petersburg by Sir ^J'^^jAPP^J^^'i^- 

 Charles Bagot to Lord Londonderry, in a despatch dated No.' 4. ' 

 the 17th November, 1821, in which it is thus described : 



I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship, under a separate 

 cover, an English translation of the Ukase, and I at the same time 

 inclose a map of the north-west coasts of America, and the Aleutian 

 and Kurile Islands, which has been published in the Quartermaster- 

 General's Department here, and upon which I have marked all the 

 principal Russian Settlements. 



"north-west coast." 



It will be seen on reference to this map that the words 

 "part of the north-west coast of America" include the 

 whole coast line from a point north of Behriug Straits 

 down to latitude 54° north. 



Again Lord Londonderry writes to Count Lieven: 



The Undersigned has the honour hereby to acknowledge the note, Lord London- 

 addressed to him by Baron de Nicolay of the 12th November last, cov- ^erry to Count 

 ering a copy of an Ukase issued by His Imperial Majesty tlie Emperor ig'^i802 Seo'A7> 

 of All the Russias, and bearing date the Ith September, 1821, forpeudix, voL 11, 

 various purposes, therein set I'orth, especially connected with theter- Fart I, No. 7. 

 ritorial rights of his Crown on the north-iveftiern coafit of America, 

 boidcriiig upon the Pacific, and the connnerce and navigation of His 

 Imi)erial Majesty's subjects in the seas adjacent thereto. 



And Mr. S. Canning writing in February 1822 to Lord 

 Londonderry from Washington, where he was then British 

 Minister, observes: 



I w^as informed this morning l)y Mr. Adams thnt the Russian Envoy Mr. Stratford 

 has, within the last few days, communicated officially to the Ameri- Canning to the 

 can Government an Ukaf5e of the Emperor of Russia, which has lately ^''*^"''' °i, l"""' 

 appeared in the public prints, appropriating to the sovereignty and arv 19"822.^ See 

 exclusive use of His lm])erial Miijesty the )iorlh-Hest coast of J (nericft Appendix, vol. ii, 

 down to the 51st parallel of latitude, together with a considerable Part I, No. 9. 

 portion of the opposite coasts of Asia, and the neighbouring seas to 

 the extent of 100 Italian miles from any part of the coasts and inter- . 

 vening islands so appropriated. In apprising me of this circumstance, 



Mr. Adams gave me to understand that it was not the intention 

 63 of the American Cabinet to admit the claim thus notified on the 



part of Russia. His objection appears to lie more particularly 

 against the exclusion of foreign vessels to so great a distance from the 

 shore. 



Again M. de Poletica, writing to Mr. Adams on the 28th See Appendix, 

 February, 1822: ^"^'j"' ^'"^^^ "• 



The hrst discoveries of the Russians on the north-west continent of 

 America go back to the time of the P]mperor Peter I. They belong to 

 the attempt, made towards the end of the reign of this great Monarch, 

 to find <a passage from the icy sea into the Pacific Ocean. 



* * * * * 



When, in 1799, the Emperor Paul I granted to the present American 

 Company its first Charter, he gave it the exclusive possession of the 

 north-icest coast of America, yv\i\c\\ belonged to Russia, from the 55th 

 degree of north latitude to Behring Straits. 



From this faithful exposition of known facts, it is easy, sir, as ajipears- 

 t(4me, to draw the conclusion that the rights of Russia, to the extent 

 of the north-west coast, specified in the Regulation of the Russian- 

 American Company, rest, &c. 



S. Ex. 177, pt. 1 4 



