20 IMPERIAL RUSSIAN EDICTS. 



at such an hour, and in such a place lie met such and such a foreign 

 vessel, and vshall give a brief account of the circumstance, i)ursuit, and, 

 finally, of the seizure. After signing" the same he shall desire the caj^taiu 

 of the captured vessel to confirm the same in his own handwriting. 



Should he, however, refuse to sign the same, the Russian ofticer is to 

 repeat his summons in presence of all the officers, and if on this it be 

 again refused, and nobody will sign in lieu of the captain, he is then to 

 add this circumstance, signed by himself. 



After this arrangement the Journal, list of the crew, passports, in- 

 voices, accounts, and all further p<ii)ers respecting the views and pur- 

 suits of the voyage of the vessel shall be put up in one parcel, as well 

 as all ])rivate papers, viz, the journals of the ofiicers, letters, etc., and 

 sealed with the seals of the Russian officer and those of the captain and 

 first officer of the foreign vessel. This i)acket shall remain unsealed 

 Avitli the commander of the Eussian vessel until their arrival in the port 

 of St. Peter and Paul, where it shall be deposited in the court, as men- 

 tioned in sec. 33. Besides this, everything else must be sealed by the 

 Russian officer and the foreign captain that is liot requisite for the con- 

 tinuation of the voyage to tlie i)ort of St. Peter and Paul, excepting the 

 effects for the immediate and sole use of the shii)'s crew, which shall 

 not be withheld from them. 



Sec. 2S. Having thus fixed all means of precaution, the officer sent 

 to arrest the foreign vessel shall instantly make his report to his chief 

 and await his orders. 



Sec. 29. Thus, should by any cause stated in the second, eleventh, 

 twelfth, and twenty-first sections of these regulations a foreign vessel 

 be subjected to confiscation in any port near the settlements of the 

 Russian American Company, the commander of that settlement is 

 obliged either to ask the assistance of the Russian man of-war, if there 

 be any, and the commander of which, on receipt of a written recpiest, is 

 obliged to arrest the vessel and use all the precautions prescribed in 

 the foregoing article; or, if there be no Russian man-of-war in the har- 

 bor or its neighborhood, and the commander of the settlement find that 

 he and his people can arrest the vessel by themselves, he is then to act 

 according to the twenty-sixth, twenty- seventh, and twenty- eighth sec- 

 tions, and putting ashore the captain aiul every means of getting the 

 vessel away, he must endeavor as soon as ])ossible to give information 

 of this event eitlier to the governor of the colonics of the Russian 

 American Company or the commander of the imi)crial man of-war, if it 

 be known where she lie. 



Sec. 30. When, in consequence of snch a report, the go vennn^ of the 

 colonies shall send a company's vessel, or a Government vessel arriving, 

 then the connnander of the place shall deliver up the vessel seized, and 

 all belonging to her, and shall report respecting his reasons for confis- 

 cating the vessel. 



Sec. 31. The commander of the vessel taking charge of the seizure 

 prize inventory shall examine immediately into all circnmstances men- 

 tioned and compare it with the acconnts of the comuumder of the settle- 

 ment, who will give every elucidation required. 



Sec. 32. All vessels detained by Russian men-of-war are ordered by 

 these regulations to be brought to the i)ortof St. Peter and Paul, where 

 the sentence is to be passed on them by a court established for adjudg- 

 ing such cases. 



Sec. 33. This court, under the presidency of the commander of 

 Kamtchatka, shall consist oltiirce senior ollicers under him and of the 

 comniisisioner of the Russian American Company. 



