THE FUR-SEALS AND THE BERING SEA AWARD 9 



the coast north of latitude 54 40'. This favor Russia obsti- 

 nately refused to grant, although the remaining articles of 

 the treaty continued always in force. It seems to have been 

 suspected in the United States that Russia would consider 

 her jurisdiction over a hundred-mile marine belt reestablished 

 by the expiration of the fourth article of her treaty, notwith- 

 standing the fact that that part of the treaty surrendering all 

 claims to exclusive navigation of the Great Ocean or South 

 Sea remained operative. John Adams at the time expressed 

 himself in his diary as able to down Russian argument, but_ 

 unable to silence Russian cannon. American vessels contin- 

 ued, however, to navigate the Bering Sea with perfect free- 

 dom, and Russia never again actually asserted the right of 

 mare clausum over that body of water, nor apparently con- 

 sidered it otherwise than as a part of the great Pacific Ocean, 

 or " South Sea." 



Such, then, was the situation in 1867, when the United 

 States purchased the territory of Alaska and came into pos- 

 session of all Russian rights of trade and navigation in 

 Bering Sea. Beyond its several thousand miles of coast line, 

 this great territory was practically a terra incognita to all but 

 a few adventurous explorers and trappers who had pene- 

 trated its vast wilderness. Its purchase was largely brought 

 about through a friendly feeling on the part of the United 

 States to meet half-way Russia's desire to dispose of her 

 American possessions, while at the same time she hoped 

 rather than expected that the future might develop valuable 

 natural resources in this far-away region, when civilization, 

 in its westward progress, should gain its shores and ascend 

 its great river. 



The description of the western boundary of the cession, 

 already referred to, led to some ambiguity, even at that day, 

 as to what extent of jurisdiction the United States might 

 rightfully claim over the waters of Bering Sea. The ques- 

 tion whether Russia intended to convey, or even could convey, 

 within the limits of law, dominion over the waters of Bering 

 Sea, outside the ordinarily recognized three-mile limit of ma- 

 rine jurisdiction, did not at once assume great importance. 



