104 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
Again, in answer to another letter, Mr. Munsie received the following reply: 
“OTTAWA, July 26, 1887. 
““DraR Sirs: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, 
addressed to the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, in which you state, ‘We have not 
received a single word from the United States Government about the “release of 
the vessels,” ’ referring, of course, to those seized last season. 
‘On the 2nd April last I communicated to you the decision of the President of the 
United States, in so far as releasing the vessels, &c., which letter you acknowledged. 
“Have you made any application for the surrender of the vessels, or have you 
reason to suppose the United States Government would communicate the action to 
you by other means than the ordinary official channel? 
‘This Department lost no time in communicating the decision in question to you, 
with the expectation that you would at once take steps to regain possession of the 
vessels. 
“Tam, &c. (Signed) “JOuN TILTON, 
“ Deputy Minister of Fisheries.” 
From the above official orders of the American authorities and the correspondence 
of the Dominion Government, sealers here were quite natural in believing that no 
further seizures would be made during the present season. However, the reverse is 
the case, and the American authorities have evidently fully prepared in order to do 
as much injury as possible to the sealing interests outside those controlled by the 
Alaska Commercial Company. 
British and American sealers have fared alike. The latter probably the worst. 
Owners of vessels here are naturally indignant at the turn of affairs, and think that 
more definite information should have been given them before their vessels sailed as 
to the intentions of the Americans. Now that they are seized they consider the 
Imperial authorities should move at once in the matter, and demand instant redress 
from the United States for a breach of international law, and for the damages sus- 
tained by British subjects while legally fishing on the high seas. They are beginning 
to wonder if, indeed, England is mistress of the seas when such high-handed pirat- 
ical acts as those perpetrated last year, and again repeated this, are allowed to 
occur without some protection being given to British subjects or redress secured 
for damage done to property and interests at the hands of Americans. 
From the ‘‘Alaskan” is also gathered the following in regard to the disposition of 
this and last year’s seizures: 
“Marshal Atkins has been notified by Deputy-Marshal Anderson of Ounalaska, 
that the Commander of the steamer ‘Rush’ has delivered into his custody 964 
fur seal-skins seized from the different prize vessels, the American schooner ‘Chal- 
lenger,’ and the British schooners ‘W. P. Sayward’ and ‘Anna Beck.’ All the 
above-mentioned seal-skins were packed and salted in a kinch in one of the 
Alaska Commercial Company’s warehouses, awaiting further instruction from the 
Marshal. 
87 ‘The ‘Anna Beck’ has been dismantled and a complete inventory taken of 
everything on board. 
“The 2,082 seal-skins, the result of last year’s seizures, were shipped consigned to 
the Marshal on the Alaska Commercial Company’s steamer ‘Dora,’ which left Ouna- 
laska on the 8th July bound to San Francisco. 
‘“Nineteen Indians and three sailors, belonging to the ‘W. P. Sayward,’ and two 
of the ‘Challenger’s’ crew, left Sitka in the early part of the week on board several 
canoes and one boat, en route for Victoria and Seattle. They took with them a large 
supply of provisions furnished by the commander of the ‘Sayward.’ 
‘*Marshal Atkins has received advices from the Deputy-Marshal at Ounalaska 
under a recent date, stating that the three British schooners seized last August in the 
Behring’s Sea and now lying at Ounalaska are in good condition, every care having 
been taken to protect them from injury. One of the vessels, which was in a leaky 
condition when first captured, was beached in order to save continuous pumping. 
“In the District Court on Tuesday morning, H. B. Jones, captain, and Carl Erick- 
son, mate of the schooner ‘Challenger,’ Louis Olsen, captain, and Michael Keefe, 
mate of the steam schooner ‘Anna Beck,’ and George R. Ferry, captain of the 
schooner ‘W. P. Sayward,’ appeared before Judge Dawson and made an application 
that they be permitted to surrender their bonds on the ground that they were devoid 
of the funds necessary for their subsistence. The Court granted the application, and 
ordered that the defendants be placed in the custody of the United States Marshal. 
“The arms and ammunition seized on the schooners ‘City of San Diego’ and 
‘Sierra’—comprising in all nine rifles and guns and about 1,400 cartridges—will be 
sold by auction in Sitka on Monday, the 8th proximo, by the Marshal. The seized 
arms and ammunition taken from the schooners ‘San Diego,’ ‘Thornton,’ and 
‘Onward,’—comprising some fifty rifles, breech-loading guns and rifles, and several 
thousand rounds of ammunition,—will be offered for sale at Juneau as soon as the 
necessary instructions are received from Washington.” 
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