COUNTER-CASE OF GEEAT BRITAIN. 29 



Article I. 



PACIFIC OCEAN COMPREHENDING THE SEA WITHIN BEHRING STRAITS. 



It is agreed between the High Contracting Parties that their 

 respective subjects shall enjoy the right of free navigation along the 

 whole extent of the Pacific Ocean, coniprehendin;/ the sea within Behring's 

 Straits, and shall neither be troubled nor molested in carrying on 

 their trade and fisheries, in all parts of the said ocean, either to the 

 northward or southward thereof. 



It being well understood that the said right of fishery shall not 

 be exercised by the subjects of either of the two Powers, nearer than 

 2 marine leagues from the respective possessions of the other. 



30 Article II. 



The line which separates the possessions of the two High Contract- 

 ing Parties upon the continent and the Islands of America to the 

 north-west, shall be drawn in the manner following: 



Commencing from the two points of the island called "Prince of 

 Wales' Island," which form the southern extremity thereof, which 

 points lie in the i>arallel of 54"^ 40', and between the L31st and 133rd 

 degree of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the line of fron- 

 tier between the British and Russian possessions shall ascend north- 

 erly along the channel called Portland Channel, till it strikes the 

 coast of the continent lying in the 56th degree of north latitude. 

 From this point it shall be carried along that coast, in a direction 

 parallel to its windings, and at or within the seaward base of the 

 mountains by which it is bounded, as far as the 139th degree of lon- 

 gitude west of the said meridian. Thence the said meridian line of 

 139th degree of west longitude, in its extension as far as the Frozen 

 Ocean, shall form the boundary of the British and Russian posses- 

 sions on the said Continent of America to the north-west. 



Article III. 



It is, nevertheless, understood, with regard to the stipulations of 

 the preceding Article : 



1. That the said line of coast on the Continent of America, which 

 forms the boundary of the Russian possessions, shall not, in any case, 

 extend more than marine leagues in breadtli from the sea 

 towards the interior, at whatever distance the aforesaid mountains 

 may be. 



2. That British subjects shall for ever freely navigate and trade 

 along the said line of coast, and along the neighbouring islands. 



3. That the navigation and commerce of those rivers of the con- 

 tinent which cross this liue of coast shall be open to British subjects, 

 as well as those inhabiting or visiting the interior of this continent, 

 as to those coming from the Pacific Ocean, who shall touch at these 

 latitudes. 



Article IV. 



The port of Sitka or Novo Archangelsk shall be, and shall for 

 ever remain, open to the commerce of the subjects of His Britannic 

 Majesty. 



Article V. 



With regard to the other parts of the north-ivest coast of Ame7-ica, 



and of the islands adjacent thereto, belonging to either of the two 



High Contracting Parties, it is agreed that, for the space 



31 of years from the April. 1824, their respective vessels, 

 and those of their subjects, shall reciprocally enjoy the liberty 



of visiting, without hindrance, the gulfs, havens, and creeks of the 

 said coast, in places not already occupied, for the purposes of fishery 

 and of commerce with the natives of the country. 



It being understood : 



1. That the subjects of either of the High Contracting Parties 

 shall not land at any spot where there may be an establishment of 

 the other, without the permission of the Governor or other authority 

 of the place, unless they should be driven thither by stress of weather 

 or other accidents. 



