74 CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



maiider Islands, in some it is restricted to a portion of the 

 chain now recognized by that name. Similar diversity in 

 usage, with frequent instances of the inclusion ot the 

 Commander Islands as a jDart of the Aleutian Islands is 

 found in geographical works of various dates. 



From this uncertainty in usage in respect to the name of 

 the Aleutian I'slands (though these are now commonly con- 

 sidered to end to the westward at Attn Island), it is obvious 

 that, in defining a general boundary between the Kussiau 

 and United States possessions, it might have given rise to 

 grave subsequent doubts and questions to have stated 

 merely that the whole of the Aleutian Islands belonged to 

 the United States. Neither would this have covered the 

 case ijresented by the various scattered islands to the north 

 of the Aleutian chain proper, while to have enumerated 

 the various islands, which often appeared and still some- 

 times appear on different maps under alternative names, 

 would have been perplexing and unsatisfactory, from the 

 very great number of these to be found in and about Behr- 

 ing Sea.' 



It was thus entirely natural to define conventionally a 

 general division fixed by an imaginary line so drawn as 

 according to the best luiblished maps to avoid touching 

 any known island, 



IMPKRFECT SURVEY OF BEIIUINC SEA. 



97 The occasion for a western limit of the kind 



adopted is the more obvious, when it is borne m 



mind that many of the islands in and about Behring Sea 



are even at the present day very imperfectly surveyed, 



and more or less uncertain in position. 



Appendix Xo. 2 The following is from the "Coast Pilot of Alaska" 



cUstfir^vey' (United states Coast Survey 18G9): 



Coast Pilot of ^ n ■ T i. i- ii 1-1 •■-■ i- 1 ■ ■ 



Alaska, 18G9. Jiieiollownig list ot the fteogiapiiiciu positions ot places, priiici- 



Partl, p. 203. pally upon the coast of Alaska, has beeu compiled chietly from 

 Russian authorities In its preparation the intention was to intro- 

 duce all dexerminations of ])osition that ap])eared to have liecu made 

 by actual observation, even when the localities are quite close In 

 tlie Archipelago Alexander most of Vancouver's latitudes have been 

 introduced, although in sucii waters they are not of great practical 

 value. 



It is believed the latitudes are generally within 2 miles of the 

 actual position, and in many cases wheri; several observers had deter- 

 mined them independently, the errors may be less than a mile. The 

 longitudes of harbours regularly visited by vessels of the Russian- 

 American Company appear to be fairly determined, excejit toward the 

 western termination of the Aleutian chain, where large discrepancies, 

 reaching 30' of arc, are exhibited by the comparison of results 

 between Russian authorities .and the United States Exploring I^x]>c- 

 dition to the North Pacific in 1855. Positions by dirt'ereiit authorities 

 are given in some instances to show these discrepancies. The com- 

 parison of latitudes and longitudes at N'ictoria, ]''ort Siin]>s()n, Sitka, 

 Chilkaht, Kadiak, and Unalaska, between English and liussian and 

 the United States coast survey determinations, exhibit larger errors 

 than might have been expected. 



The uncertainties that exist in the geographical position of many 

 islands, headlands, straits, and reefs, the great dissimilarity of out- 

 line and extent of recent examinations of some of the \Vest«;rn Aleu- 

 tians, the want of ridiable data (concerning the tides, currents, and 

 winds, the almost total want of detailed descriptions of headlands, 

 reefs, bays, straits, Ac, and \ho, circumstantial testimony of the 



