G4 PERIOD FROM 1825 TO 1867. 



Waters f re-|i^y Company, and whicli was to he camecl out 



quented by i u r- -l 'J ' 



seals patrolled by |jy i^s vessels clurin"- the summer of 1854: 



armed cruisers. J o 



'' 2. One of the larger vessels should leave the 

 port of New Archangel (Sitka) for Ayan not later 

 than the 15th of May, to arrive at the latter port 

 at the end of June, This ship, which must be 

 armed, will carry passengers, stores, and sup- 

 plies for our Asiatic stations. On the outward 

 voyage, the course of this vessel should be laid 

 to the northward of the chain of the Aleutian 

 Islands, in order to meet foreign ships entering 

 Bering Sea and to warn them against cruising in 

 pursuit of whales in the vicinity of the seal islands 

 of the Pribilof and Commander groups. . . . 



'' 3. A second small vessel, the swiftest of the 

 fleet, probably the Menshikof, with a naval crew 

 and commanded by a naval officer, must sail from 

 Sitka at the end of April for the sole purpose of 

 watching the foreign whale ships in the southern 

 part of Bering Sea and along the chain of the Ale- 

 utian Islands On this vessel supplies may be for- 

 warded to Copper and Bering Islands and per- 

 haps to Attn and Atka. . . . This vessel 

 must be kept cruising constantly over the waters 

 mentioned above, and must not enter any of the 

 harbors except for the purpose of obtaining water 

 and wood, on whicli occasions the stay of the 



