348 



APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



and tlie 2ncl April, 13tb May, and 

 23rd September, 1852, your Excel- 

 lency must have perceived that 

 one of the principal objects on the 

 part of the Board of Administra- 

 tion has been to make the best 

 possible arranoeinents for regulat- 

 ing the navigation of the vessels 

 belonging to our colonial fleet. 

 During the last few years this part 

 of our manifold duties has not al- 

 ways been attended to with due 

 regard to the best interests of the 

 Company, and consequently a few 

 of the vessels have been detained 

 in harbours for prolonged periods, 

 while others have been con- 

 37 stantly employed and in- 

 trusted with duties for which 

 they were but ill fitted, returning 

 to New Archangel late in the season 

 and at the most dangerous time of 

 the year. 



With a view to remedy this de- 

 fect, the Board of Administration 

 has now agreed upon a system of 

 employment for our various vessels 

 which is to be strictly followed in 

 dispatching our colonial vessels 

 upon their annual or semi-annual 

 voyages in the summer and win- 

 ter season under normal circum- 

 stances. This system will be 

 strictly adhered to by the Chief 

 Managers of the Colonies, un- 

 less unforeseen circumstances arise 

 which would make this observance 

 inconsistent with the Company's 

 interests. 



For the season of 1853 the colo- 

 nial fleet will consist of eight sail- 

 ing-vessels, of which number the 

 larger ones are : the "Czarevitch," 

 the "Nikolai I," the "Kadiak," 

 and the "Shelikof;" and the 

 smaller ones: "Menshikof," "Kon- 

 stantin," "Okhotsk," and "Tun- 

 guss ; " and since the " Czarevitch," 

 which is to leave the Colonies in 

 the autumn of 1853, will be relieved 

 by the "Sitka," of 700 tons, now 

 in course of construction, and 

 which is to sail for New Archangel 

 in 1853, the number of the Com- 

 pany's ships in colonial waters will 

 remain the same. Consequently, 



Nos. 525 and 1478, and those of the 

 2nd April, 13th Mav, and 25th 

 September, 1852, Nos. 447, 682, and 

 1219, your Excellency will see that 

 it has been one of the chief aims 

 of the Board of Administration to 

 make the best possible arrange- 

 ment of the voyages of the vessels 

 of the colonial fleet, since of late 

 that arrangement has been made 

 without sufficient reference to the 

 true interests of the Company, and 

 hence some vessels have frequently 

 been kept lying idle in port, and 

 others have received such confused 

 instructions that tliey would often 

 be unable to execute them all, or 

 would return to New Archangel at 

 the very latest and most dangerous 

 time of the year. 



Bearing in mind the fact that 

 the approaching voyages of the 

 colonial fleet are well arranged, 

 and that they are repeated every 

 year with only slight variations, 

 the Board of Administration has 

 found it possible and expedient to 

 establish a regular schedule for the 

 voyages of the colonial fleet, for 

 the navigation of both the summer 

 and winter months, and to transmit 

 it to the Colonial Government for 

 its guidance and execution, leaving 

 it, however, to the discretion of the 

 Chief Manager of the Colonies to 

 deviate from this schedule on those 

 occasions when, owing to local 

 and unforeseen circumstances, it 

 appears to the interest of the 

 Company to do so. 



In the performance of the voy- 

 ages of 1853 in the Colonies there 

 will be employed eight sailing- 

 vessels, of which the following are 

 of the first class : The " Cesare- 

 vitch," the "Nicholas I," the 

 " Kadiak," and the " Shelekoff ; " 

 and the following of the second 

 class: the "Menshikofif,"the "Con- 

 stantine," the "Okotsk," and the 

 "Tungus;" and, as in exchange 

 for the ship "Cesarevitch," which 

 has to be sent back from the Col- 

 onies in 1853, the ship " Sitka," of 

 700 tons, which is now being built, 

 will enter into the composition of 

 the colonial fleet of 1854, and will 



