APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 39 
{Inclosure 2 in No. 12.] 
Sir L. West to Mr. Bayard. 
WASHINGTON, October 21, 1886. 
Sir: With reference to my note of the 27th ultimo, requesting to be furnished with 
any particulars which the United States Government may possess relative to the 
seizure in the North Pacific waters of three British Columbian seal schooners 
23 by the United States Revenue cruizer ‘‘ Corwin,” and to which I am without 
reply, I have the honour to inform you that [ am now instructed by the Earl of 
Iddesleigh, Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to protest, 
in the name of Her Majesty’s Government, against such seizure, and to reserve all 
rights to compensation. 
I have, &c. 
(Signed) L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. 
No. 13. 
Admiralty to Foreign Office.—( Received November 5. 
y c é 
[Extract. } 
ADMIRALTY, November 4, 1886. 
Referring to my letter of the 20th of September last and to previous 
correspondence, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the 
Admiralty to transmit herewith, for the perusal of the Secretary of 
State for Foreign Affairs, cuttings from a newspaper called the “ Daily 
British Colonist,” at Victoria, respecting the seizure of British Colum- 
bian sealing schooners in Behring’s Sea. 
{Inclosure in No. 13.] 
Extract from the ‘“ Daily British Colonist,” Victoria, of October 7, 1886. 
{From the ‘‘ Brooklyn Eagle.’’] 
Tue ALASKA SEIZURES.—The recent seizure of vessels in Behring’s Sea by the 
United States Revenue steamer ‘‘ Corwin,” for the alleged illegal capture of seals in 
the waters of the United States, has attracted a surprisingly small amount of atten- 
tion, in this quarter at least. This is probably due to the fact that the Cabinet has 
not had a meeting for some time, and that but one Cabinet Minister remained in 
Washington, so that there was a lack of information on the subject, which was 
unfavourable to its discussion. Now, however, we have something like an official 
Report of what has taken place from the Captain of the ‘‘ Corwin,” and the matter 
is ripe for the attention of the press of the United States. No one who gives the 
subject his notice can fail to recognize the fact that it is one of the most important 
questions this Government was ever called upon to discuss, and that it may involve 
consequences of the highest moment. 
The Captain of the ‘‘Corwin,” it appears, was acting under positive instructions 
received at San Francisco, commanding him to seize and deliver to the United States, 
District Court of Alaska, for condemnation and seizure, all vessels found engaged in 
the capture of seals within Alaskan waters, which were defined to include all of 
Behring’s Sea east of the line from Behring’s Strait to a point west of the most 
western of the Aleutian Islands. Under this interpretation a vessel might be more 
than 500 miles from the mainland of America, and still a trespasser in Alaskan waters, 
and therefore liable to seizure. The complaints which led to the issuing of these 
instructions came from the Alaska Fur Seal Company, who lease the seal fisheries 
from the Government for the payment of 317,000 dollars annually. 
