598 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



its sovereignty. Among the parts so comprised are (1) the 

 sea adjoining the continental territory of a state at all events, 

 "according to the generally received opinion," to the extent 

 to which it can be reached by cannon-shot from the shore ; 

 (2) parts extending into the land, as bays and gulfs, which 

 can be commanded by guns on shore; (3) straits which are 

 equally commanded by guns ; (4) gulfs, straits, and seas adjoin- 

 ing the continental territory of a state, which, though not 

 entirely under the range of guns on shore, are recognised by 

 other Powers as closed seas that is, under one dominion, 

 and inaccessible to foreign vessels without permission. 



Wheaton, an eminent American jurist, whose first work 

 was published about this time, likewise accepted the principle 

 of cannon range, or, as an alternative, a distance of three 

 miles from the shore. 1 The territorial jurisdiction of a neutral 

 Power, he says, "extends to the ports, harbours, bays, and 

 chambers formed by headlands of the neutral Power. The 

 usual addition allowed to this is a distance of three English 

 miles, or a marine league, or as far as a cannon-shot will 

 carry from the coasts or shore." His statement is based on 

 the decisions in the English Admiralty Court, and on the 

 writings of Vattel, Bynkershoek, Von Martens, and Azuni. In 

 his great treatise on the law of nations, first published in 1836, 2 

 the same views are expressed, it being stated that the general 

 usage of nations superadds "to bays, ports, &c., a distance 

 of a marine league, or as far as a cannon shot will reach, 

 along all the coasts of the state " ; and, incorporating into 

 his text Lord Stowell's observation, he says, " The rule of law 

 on this subject is terrce dominium finitur, ubi finitur 

 armorum vis, and since the introduction of fire-arms, that 

 distance has usually been recognised to be about three miles 

 from the shore." Wheaton also states that the exclusive 

 territorial jurisdiction of the British crown over the enclosed 

 parts of the sea along the coasts of Great Britain has imrnemo- 

 rially extended to those bays called the " King's Chambers," 3 



1 A Digest of the Law of Maritime Captures or Prizes, New York, 1815, 

 c. ii. p. 55. 



2 Elements of International Law, c. iv. ss. 6-10. London, 1836. 



3 The King's Chambers were, however, confined to the coast of England. 

 See p. 122. 



