EXHIBIT I.
Asiatic Department , June 12 (24), 1893.
Mr. Envoy: In reply to the letter which you had the goodness to address me, dated May 3 (15) last, I have the honor to communicate to you the following data upon the inquiry, made by a commission appointed by the commandant of the Pacific squadron, on the subject of the arrest of the Cape Horn Pigeon, flying the American flag, in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Lieutenant of the Imperial navy von Cube, commanding the English schooner Maria, seized for illegal sealing in Russian waters, encountered the Cape Horn Pigeon on the night of August 20 (September 10), 1892, at 46° 31′ north latitude, 146° 30’ longitude east. The latter having made signals which seemed to him suspicious, Lieutenant von Cube invited Captain Scullen, of the Cape Horn Pigeon, to come on board of his vessel. He declared that he was engaged in whaling in the Sea of Okhotsk, but an examination of the log book and charts caused Lieutenant von Cube to believe that the whaler in question had visited Aniva and Patience bays, where fishing is forbidden to foreign vessels, and decided him to take the Cape Horn Pigeon to Vladivostok in order to establish whether he had a right to navigate those waters.
You must admit, Mr. Envoy, that this version differs materially from that of Captain Scullun, according to which he had been arrested for having engaged in whaling in the Sea of Okhotsk, which he says Lieutenant von Cube considered closed to foreign whalers.
Nevertheless the commission of investigation to which this case was referred, while stating also that the Cape Horn Pigeon had navigated within Russian territorial waters, found no cause to order her confiscation. It was then admitted that the arrest of this vessel had been made as the result of a misunderstanding, and the vessel was returned to her owners without delay.
With regard to the indemnity claimed by the latter, it is sufficient to point to the figures $45,000 profit, representing the price of five whales, alleged to have been lost by the interruption of her voyage, to demonstrate the exaggerated estimate of Captain Scullen.
The remainder of his claims are as follows:
| Remuneration of the officers and crew who had to follow the schooner Cape Horn Pigeon to Vladivostok. | $1,000 |
| 2. Provisions which were on board. | 200 |
| 3. Support of the crew of the Cape Horn Pigeon. | 210 |
| 4. Expenses of Captain Scullen on land. | 50 |
| 5. Various expenses, such as cost of telegraphing, hire of boats and carriages, clerk hire, etc. | 3,040 |
This last point in particular requires the production of vouchers, in default of which the Imperial ministry of marine could by no means admit the justice of all its items. The said ministry supposes that in a general way, apart from this, the sum of $2,500 represents a just and sufficient indemnification for the real losses sustained by Captain Scullen and his crew by reason of the temporary detention of the Cape Horn Pigeon.
I will only mention in passing the allegation of Captain Scullun to the effect that the authorities at Vladivostok left him and his men, at the end of the affair, without lodging or food, Mr. Wurts, then chargé d’affaires of the United States, having himself done justice to this allegation in his letter of September 9/21, 1892. I confine myself to the statement that, according to the testimony of the superior authorities of the Navy, it was Captain Scullun himself who declined for himself and his crew the lodgings and food offered to them, according to custom, by the authorities at Vladivostok.
Please to accept, Mr. Envoy, the assurance of my most distinguished consideration.
To Mr. White,
Envoy,
etc.