THE A LASKAN BOUND AR Y ,443 



selected one which appeared in 1844, first, because it was based 

 upon the actual observations of a voyage of exploration made 

 by a French official, and, second, because it was " published by 

 order of the King, under the auspices of . . . the president of 

 the council of ministers and of the minister of foreign affairs.' 1 

 It will be seen that on this map is inscribed the line of the 

 " Traite entre la Russie et V Angleterre du 28 Fevrier, 1825" as in- 

 dicated on the Russian imperial map (see map No. 8). 



No map accompanied the treaty of 1867 between Russia and 

 the United States for the cession of Alaska, but immediately 

 after it was signed the Secretary of State caused a map to be 

 compiled and published to indicate the territory acquired by 

 that convention, and it delineates the strip of territory on the 

 mainland just as it had been claimed by Russia forty years before 

 (see map No. 9). 



A multitude of maps might be reproduced to show that, with 

 the exception of certain maps published in British Columbia 

 in and after 1884, all such publications, whether emanating 

 from British and Canadian or from disinterested foreign sources, 

 from the time the treaty of 1825 became known up to the meet- 

 ing of the Joint High Commission in 1898, were of the same char- 

 acter as those already described and reproduced ; but I will 

 limit myself to one of the most recent. This was published 

 in the Scottish Geographical Magazine, Edinburgh, the Juty 

 number, 1898, to accompany an article entitled " The Yukon 

 District, by Wm. Ogilvie, astronomer and. land surveyor." This 

 map, it will be seen, lays down the line according to the Amer- 

 ican claim (see map No. 10). It is not cited to establish 

 any authoritative fact, but simpl} r to show that even after the 

 Joint High Commission had been agreed upon the best informed 

 British cartographers had not become aware of any conflicting 

 claim. 



Soon after the expiration of the ten years' privilege enjoyed 

 by British vessels and traders to visit "the inland seas, the 

 gulfs, havens, and creeks" enclosed by the Russian strip on 

 tin' mainland, an important event occurred which is decisive of 

 the interpretation of the treaty given to it by the two nations 

 who were the contracting parties. I have referred to the two 

 competing trading companies in whose interest the negotiations 

 writ' carried on and for whose benefit, mainly, the treaty was 

 made. The Russian American Company, which was the virtual 

 government of the territory of Russian America, is described 



