EXHIBIT K.
[Stamp.]
[James G. Swan, Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Wash.]
United States of
America,
State of Washington, County of
Jefferson, ss:
To all people whom these presents shall or may concern:
I, James G. Swan, a notary public in and for the county and State aforesaid, duly commissioned by the governor of said State in accordance with the laws thereof, dwelling in the city of Port Townsend, send greeting.
Know ye, that on this 31st day of August, A. D. 1892, before me, the said notary, at my office, personally appeared L. M. Furman, late master of the American schooner C. H. White, belonging to the port of San Francisco, Cal. (the said master having previously noted in due form of law his intention to protest), who, together with Andrew Romney, mate, and Niels Wolfgang, hunter, belonging to the aforesaid vessel, being by me duly sworn according to the laws of said State and of the United States of America, voluntarily and solemnly did depose and declare as follows, to wit, that they, the said appearers, on the 7th day of May, A. D. 1892, set sail and departed in and with the said vessel from the port of San Francisco, Cal., having on board a hunting and fishing outfit and bound for the North Pacific Ocean, the said vessel being then stout, staunch, and strong; her ballast, cargo, and stores well and sufficiently stowed and secured; well masted, manned, tackled, victualed, appareled, and appointed, and in every respect fit for sea and the voyage she was then about to undertake; that we proceeded on our voyage without disaster of any kind until the 15th day of July, A. D. 1892, when, being at that time on the high seas, in latitude 54° 18’ north, longitude 167° 19’ east, by correct observation; on the high seas, more than 30 miles from land, we were boarded by an officer from the Russian cruiser Zabiaca, Captain Deleveron, who ordered me to go on board the Zabiaca with all my papers, as the captain of the cruiser wanted to see my papers and me also.
I accordingly went on board in the officer’s boat, and when Captain Deleveron had examined my papers and found that I had cleared for hunting and fishing, he arrested me and put me under a guard of four marines armed, and ordered me to be kept separate from the crew and not to be allowed to speak to anybody. He then took all hands out of the schooner, except the mate, and put them under guard on board the cruiser, after searching them and taking from them everything they had, but the clothes they stood in. He then took the steamer in tow, and towed her to Nicolavisky Bay, Bering Island. It took twelve hours to tow us from where we were seized to Bering Island, where we arrived on the 16th of July at 10 o’clock a.m. The cruiser and schooner were anchored near each other. After we had anchored Captain Deleveron called me into his cabin and told me that the United States steamer Albatross, Captain Tanner, had been to Bering Island and had instructed him to seize any vessel he might come across which had a sealing outfit on board. He also [Page 243] showed me a list which Captain Tanner had given him of all the vessels which had cleared at San Francisco for hunting and fishing. The C. H. White’s name was not on that list, as I left San Francisco after the Albatross had sailed for the north. Captain Deleveron also showed me the proclamation and other American Government papers which Captain Tanner had left with him, but I did not read those papers. Captain Deleveron also told me that he could seize any sealing vessels from 1 mile to 1,000 miles off shore, he did not care where they were. I told him that I had a clearance from the San Francisco custom-house for a hunting and fishing voyage in the North Pacific Ocean, and I claimed that I was in the North Pacific Ocean at the time I was seized. He said it did not matter it was in Russian waters. I said that the fishing limits are 3 leagues or 9 miles off shore, and I was a long way outside of that limit. He said that it made no difference.
By actual measurement of the General Chart of Alaska, No. 900, United States Coast Survey, 1890, I make my position latitude 54° 18’ north. The Russians made it latitude 54° 30’ north. My distance by my measurement was 80 miles to the south of Bering Island, and the Russians make it 70 miles by their own statement. I consider my vessel as being at least 70 miles outside the limit set by all civilized nations as their jurisdiction over the high seas.
After I had undergone this court-martial I was told by Captain Deleveron that I might go on board the schooner and get my personal effects. I went on board the schooner the same day, July 16, and found that my room had been robbed and everything of value taken away. A list of articles lost is herewith filed and becomes a part of this protest, together with the bills of the officers and Indians as claims. The next day (July 17) I was called to the cabin, and a paper in the Russian language, which I do not understand, was presented to me to sign. I refused to sign what I did not comprehend, and protested against this injustice. Captain Deleveron told me I could have my choice, either to sign the paper or go to Vladivostock and be court-martialed and sent to Siberia, as I would have no one to defend me. I then signed the paper under protest, which I was given to understand was an acknowledgment on my part that I had been sealing in Russian waters.
July 18 we left Bering Island for Petropaulousk and arrived there on the 20th.
On the 5th of August I noted a protest with the governor of Petropaulousk, which was translated into Russian language for me by a Russian who could speak and write English. The governor read the protest, and then signed my original in English.
On the 8th of August I went on board the cruiser to see the captain, but he refused to see me, and I was driven out of the ship. After I got ashore a detachment of marines was sent from the cruiser, and drove us all on board the American bark Majestic, then lying at anchor in Petropaulousk Harbor. She left on the following morning for Victoria, B. C., where we arrived August 30 at 2 o’clock p.m.
During the time we were prisoners at Petropaulousk we were only allowed 7 cents per day for our subsistence, the regular allowance to Russian prisoners, and provisions being high we could only obtain three biscuits, or half a pound of bread, which constituted our food each day. And I, in behalf of the owners of said schooner C. H. White, the crew and myself, do protest against said seizure of said vessel and the total confiscation of all our property by the said Russian cruiser Zabiaca and her commander, Deleveron, reserving to myself the right, on behalf of all parties concerned, to still further extend this protest if need be.
And the said appearers further declare that as all the damage and injury which already has or may hereafter appear to have happened or accrued to the said vessel, her freight, and cargo has been occasioned solely by the circumstances hereinbefore stated, and can not or ought not to be attributed to any insufficiency of the said vessel, the neglect or default of him, this deponent, his officers, or crew. He now requires me, the said notary, to make his protest and this public act thereof that the same may serve and be of full force and value, as of right shall appertain. And thereupon the said master protested, and I, the said notary, at his special instance and request, did, as by these presents I now do publicly and solemnly, protest against winds, weather, and seas, and against all and every accident, matter and thing, had and met with as aforesaid, whereby or by means whereof the said vessel, her freight, or her cargo already has or hereafter shall have suffered or sustained loss, damage, or injury, and for all losses, costs, charges, expenses, damages, and injury which the said vessel, or the owner and owners of the said vessel, or the owner or owners or shippers of her said cargo, or any other person or persons interested or concerned in it either, already have been or may hereafter be called upon to pay, sustain, incur, or be put unto, by or on account of the premises, or for which the insurer or insurers of the said vessel, her freight, or her cargo, is or are respectively liable to pay or make contributions or average according to custom, or their respective contract or [Page 244] obligations, so that no part of any losses, damages, injuries, or expenses already incurred Or hereafter to be incurred do fall on him, the said master, his officers, or crew.
In testimony whereof, as well as the said appearers, I, the notary, have subscribed these presents, and I have also caused my seal of office to be hereunto affixed the day and year before written. [seal.]
Signatures of appearers:
Andrews Romney, Mate.
Niels Wolfgang, Hunter.