ORAL ARGUMENT OF JAMES C. CARTER, ESQ. 13 



I have said that there was no immediate answer to this call of the 

 British Government, because owino- to the remoteness of the locality 

 the necessary information could not be procured. It was followed up, 

 therefore, very properly by Her Majesty's representative, and on the 

 iilst of October, 1880, he addressed to Mr. Bayard another note, which 

 will also be found on page 153 of the same volume, as follows : 



Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard. 



Washington, Octoler 21, 1886. (Received October 22.) 

 Sir: With reference to my note of tlie 27th ultimo, requesting to be furnished 

 with any particulars which the United States Government may possess relative to 

 the seizure in the North Pacific waters of three British Columbian seal schooners by 

 the United States revenue cruiser Corwin, and to which I am without reply, 1 have 

 the honor to inform you that I am now instructed by the Earl of Iddesleigh, Her 

 Majesty's principal secretary of State for foreign affairs, to protest in the name of 

 Her Majesty's Government against such seizure, and to reserve all rights to compen- 

 sation. 



I have, etc., L. S. Sackville West. 



The state of mind in which the representatives of the British Gov- 

 ernment appear to be at this time is exhibited by a note from the Earl 

 of Iddesleigh to Sir Lionel Sackville West, which preceded the sending 

 of the note which I have last n^entioned. This was written on the 30th 

 of October 1880. It begins with mentioning the fact that Her Majesty's 

 Government was still awaiting the result of the application to the 

 United States for information. 



Sir Charles Russell. It did not precede the other. It is later. 



Mr. Carter. Yes, it is a later note. I am much obliged to you. It 

 is a later note, dated October 30th : 



£arl of Iddesleigh to Sir L. S. Sackville West, 



Foreign Office, Octoler 30, 1SS6. 



Sir : Her Majesty's Government are still awaiting a report on the result of applica- 

 tion which you were directed by my dispatch No. — 181. of the 9th ultimo, to make 

 to the Government of the United States for information in regard to the reported 

 seizure by the United States revenue cutter Corwin of three Canadian schooners 

 while engaged in the pursuit of seals in Behriug's Sea. 



In the meanwhile further details in regard to these seizures have been sent to this 

 country, and Her Majesty's Government now consider it incumbent on them to bring 

 to the notice of the United States Government the facts of the case as they have 

 reached them from British sources. 



It seems the British Government had obtained some information 

 which they had expected from the Government of the United States. 

 This note proceeds thus : 



It appears that three schooners, named respectively the Carolina, Onward and the 

 Thornton, were fitted out in Victoria, British Columbia, for the capture of seals in 

 the waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean adjacent to Vancouver's Island, Queen 

 Charlotte Islands and Alaska. 



According to the deposition enclosed herewith from some of the officers and men 

 these vessels were engaged in the capture of seals in the open sea, out of sight of 

 land, when they were taken possession of, on or about the Ist of August last, by the 

 United States revenue cutter Corwin — the Carolina in latitude 55 degrees 50 minutes 

 North, Longitude 168 degrees 53 minutes West; the Onward in latitude 50 degrees 52 

 minutes North and Longitude 167 degrees 55 minutes West; and the Thornton in 

 about the same latitude and longitude. 



They were all at a distance of more than sixty miles from the nearest land at the 

 time of their seizure, and on being captured were towed by the Corwin to Ounalaska, 

 where they are still detained. The crews of the Carolina and Thornton, with the 

 exception of the Captain and one man of each vessel detained at that port, were, it 

 appears, sent by .the steamer St. Paul to San Francisco, Cal., and then turned adrift, 

 >vhile the cjew of the Onward were kept at Ounalaska. 



