338 



APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



it would appear that on the coast 

 below the 55th degree of latitude, 

 or at auy great distance from the 

 sea-coast in the interior, there ex- 

 ist no Settlements of the Company 

 or native inhabitants converted to 

 the Greco-Eussian faith, and as to 

 any extension of our Settlements 

 to the northward I venture to con- 

 sider it somewhat improbable. 



Having acquainted you (as far as 

 I may while respecting the secrecy 

 of diplomatic negotiations) with 

 the present status of our arrange- 

 ments with England, I turn to 

 another subject of interest to your 

 Excellency and all the members of 

 the Company's Board of Managers, 

 the negotiations with the North 

 American Eepublic, which have 

 been brought to a successful con- 

 clusion. 



The Convention which was en- 

 tered into on the 5th April, 1824, 

 and of which I inclose an abstract 

 for your information, consists of an 

 agreement arrived at by mutual 

 consent, and the clauses of which, 

 in my opinion, will be mutually sat- 

 isfactory and highly beneficial. In 

 Article HI the United States ac- 

 knowledge the sovereignty of Eus- 

 sia over the west coast of America 

 from the Polar Sea to latitude 54° 

 40' north, while we, on our side, 

 promise to establish no Settlements 

 below that latitude, with the excep- 

 tion of such as have been already 

 made, especially the Eoss Colony 

 in California. By Article II the 

 States undertake to forbid their 

 citizens and subjects from landing 

 in any part of the Eussian Colonies 

 without special permission of the 

 local authorities. In Article I* it 

 is agreed that tbe Americans will 

 not sell to the savage inhabitants 

 of the territory belonging to Eus- 



subjects who have voluntarily sub- 

 jected themselves to his sceptre, 

 and are sons of the Eussian 

 Church, would, of course, always 

 be regretted by our noble-minded 

 Monarch ; but, according to all the 

 information I have gathered, it ap- 

 pears that neither along the coast, 

 below 55 degrees, nor yet in the 

 interior of the country at a great 

 distance from the sea, are there 

 any Settlements of the Company, 

 nor any natives professing the 

 Eusso-Greek faith; at the same 

 time our apprehended retirement 

 to the north is, I venture to opine, 

 not very probable. 



Having thus denoted (as far as 

 the secrecy necessary in diplomatic 

 negotiations permitted) the present 

 position of our negotiations with 

 England, I hasten to inform your 

 high Excellency and the whole 

 Board of Management of the Com- 

 pany that the other negotiation 

 concerning its affairs with the 

 North American Eepublic has been 

 brought to a conclusion, and with 

 the success desired. The Conven- 

 tion concluded on the 5th April, 

 1824, and herein inclosed in copy 

 for your information, contains the 

 ratified conditions mutually con- 

 sented to, and these are, in my opin- 

 ion, reciprocally and completely sat- 

 isfactory. In Article III the United 

 States recognize the sovereign 

 power of Eussia over the western 

 coast of America, from the Polar 

 Seas to 540 40' of north latitude; 

 while we, on our part, promise not 

 to found Settlements below this 

 parallel, as a matter of course only 

 in those places and without extend- 

 ing this provision to the Colony of 

 Eoss, far distant to the south. By 

 Article II the States bind them- 

 selves not to allow their citizens 

 and subjects to land at Eussian 

 Colonies without the distinct per- 

 mission of the local authorities. 

 Article I provides that Americans 

 will not sell to the wild natives of 

 the region belonging to us either 

 strong liquors, so baneful to those 



*Sio. It was doubtless intended to refer to Article V, 



