No. 955.
Mr. Bayard
to Mr. Wurts.
Department
of State,
Washington, September 12,
1888.
No. 141.]
Sir: I have to inclose herewith a copy of a letter
of the 6th instant from the Acting Secretary of the Navy, accompanied by a
report of commander of the U. S. S. Thetis,
communicating to the Navy Department a copy of a notice served upon the
American whaling ship Belvedere by the commanding
officer of the Russian corvette Aleut during the
whaling season of 1887. The Belvedere was at the time
in Plover Bay, in Bering Sea, into which harbor she had put for the purpose
of making necessary repairs, and among other things the notice contains is a
statement that the captains of foreign vessels can not repair or obtain
stores for their ships on the coasts of Bering or Okhotsk Seas or of the
peninsula of Kamschatka, but for all such purposes must go to
Petropaulovski, a settlement on the lower end of the peninsula above
mentioned.
The Department is informed that the reason for this order is the desire of
the Russian Government to prevent an illicit traffic in intoxicating
liquors, which has been carried on by foreign whaling vessels with the
native Indians on the coasts and islands in the quarter referred to. To the
accomplishment of this important design, this Department does not desire to
interpose any obstruction; and it recognizes the practical difficulties
which the subject presents to the Russian Government, with the long line of
coast to be policed. But the Department is reliably informed, and its
information is readily supported by an inspection of the extent of the coast
in question, that vessels of the whaling fleet are compelled by stress of
weather and other casualty to seek such places of refuge as Plover Bay to
repair and refit. For example, the distance from that harbor to
Petropaulovski is believed to be about 800 miles.
This fact alone establishes the impossibility of American whaling ships
pursuing their ancient and accustomed occupation in the remote waters in
question, under such an interdiction as the notice apparently seeks to
impose.
You will bring this matter to the attention of the Imperial Government, with
a view of securing the American whaling fleet against molestation when
seeking the harbors of the coasts and islands referred to, for purposes
legitimately connected with or incident to the object of their voyage.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 141.]
Commodore Harmony
to Mr. Bayard.
Navy
Department,
Washington, September 6,
1888.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith, for
the information of the Department of State, a copy of a letter from the
commanding officer of the Thetis, dated July 19
last, covering the original of a notice given by the commanding officer
of the Russian corvette Aleut to the master of
the American whaling ship Belvedere, for the
government of foreigners engaged in the whaling trade on the coast of
East Siberia.
Very respectfully, etc.,
[Page 1411]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 141.]
Mr. Emory to Mr.
Whitney.
United
States Steamer Thetis,
Ounalaska,
Alaska, July 19,
1888.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a notice that
was served upon the whaling ship Belvedere by the
commanding officer of the Russian corvette Aleut
during the whaling season of 1887. The Belvedere
at the time was at anchor in Plover Bay, to which harbor she had gone to
make necessary repairs. Captain Sherman, the present master of the Belvedere, gave me this letter, with the request
that I would forward it through the proper channels in order that the
vessels of the whaling fleet may be allowed to anchor in the ports of
the Siberian coast other than Petropaulovski. I am informed from
reliable sources that from stress of weather or accident the vessels of
the whaling fleet are obliged to seek such ports as Plover Bay in order
to repair damages, and that they can not comply with the regulations of
the inclosed notice, and are therefore, if forced into harbors other
than Petropaulovski, liable to seizure. It is a matter of great
importance to our whaling industry that the vessels composing the fleet
should be permitted to seek a harbor of refuge at any port of the
Siberian coast without molestation.
If the limited supply of coal in these waters permits, the Thetis, after her departure from the whaling
ground, will visit Plover Bay, and communicate with the commanding
officer of the Aleut, and request his kind
offices should any of our vessels need a harbor or assistance.
For the information of the Department, I would add that some of our
whaling ships have bartered whisky with the Indians, and that the
difficulty, of ascertaining what ships engage in this illegal traffic is
the cause of this prohibitory notice.
I have, etc.,
W. H. Emory,
Lieutenant-Commander, Commanding.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 141.]
Notice.
- (1)
- It is not allowed to the foreigners hunting for the whales to
enter in our bays and gulfs, or approach to our shores and islands
of Bering and Okhotsk Seas and of Peninsula Kamsckatkas nearer than
five miles, because in these places the owners of whale fishing are
Russian traders.
- (2)
- The captains of foreign vessels by no means can not leave off
their men for punishment, or any other reason, on desert coasts of
Russian Empire; they can not also repair at these coasts their ships
or store them, but for all that it is allowed to the captains go in
Petropaulovski. During the anchorage here the whale fishing is
forbidden, and all the foreigners are obliged to perform all the
reglaments (sic) of this port.
- (3)
- Without permission of local government it is not allowed to
foreigners to trade on our shores with natives, or to wood, or to
boil the whale’s oil. The permission on all that must be received
from the government of East Siberia in Vladlvostock.
J. Podispolsay,
I. R. N., Commander of the
Aleut
