You will ascertain as far as practicable the number, character, and disposition of all natives living in that Territory, how subdivided into tribes or bands, the section of country they inhabit, their relations to each other, and especially their disposition toward the Russian Government in the past, and the feeling that exists among them towards the present Government and the white people that are making their way into that Territory.

You will further examine and ascertain their modes of life and means of communication from one part of the country to the other, the amount and kind of weapons of war in their possession, and from where obtained.

You will further obtain such information as practicable of the character of the country and the best means of using and sustaining a military force, if one should be needed in that Territory.

You will make especial inquiry as to the kind and extent of the native grasses that would sustain animals ordinarily used in military operations, also the character of the -climate, especially inland, the severity of the winters, and any other information that would be important to the military service.

You will endeavor to impress the natives with the friendly disposition of the Government, and in no case will you move in any section of the country where you cannot go without provoking hostilities or inciting the natives to resistance, as you are not authorized to exercise any control of affairs in that Territory.

You will consider this duty especial and confidential, making your reports to me, accompanied as full as possible with itineraries, maps, traces, and field-notes.

Asst. Surg. George F. Wilson, and four enlisted men, will be directed to report to you, and such Indian scouts as may be hereafter authorized. You are authorized to employ an interpreter when needed, and you will exercise strict economy in your necessary expenditures.

In making your investigation you will endeavor to complete all information in each section of the country before proceeding to another, in order that, should time not permit your full completion of this work, it may be taken up the following

season.

The chiefs of the several staff departments at these headquarters will, on presentation of this letter of instructions, furnish you with the means and necessary equipments to enable you to accomplish the duty assigned to you.

Upon completion of this duty you will return to these headquarters.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

NELSON A. MILES, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE OF 1886.

[NOTE. In the Appendix to the British Case, pp. 248-255, there are published letters from Messrs. Bayard and Phelps, and one letter from Lord Iddesleigh to Mr. Phelps, dated August 27, 1886, but the intervening correspondence between the two Governments does not appear. To supply that omission the following notes are reproduced. The correspondence was published in Senate Ex. Doc. 143, Fortyninth Congress, first session.]

Lord Salisbury to Mr. Phelps.

FOREIGN OFFICE, January 26, 1886. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, forwarding a statement of the facts relating to the boundary between the British possessions in North America and the Territory of Alaska, as embodied in a dispatch which you have received from your Government, accompanied by copies of the maps referred to in Mr. Bayard's dispatch.

In reply I have the honor to inform you that the proposal of the United States Government for the appointment of a joint commission for the purpose of arriving at an understanding in regard to the boundary line separating the territories in question will receive the immediate attention of Her Majesty's Government.

I beg leave at the same time to acquaint you that I have instructed Her Majesty's minister at Washington to send home some copies of the work called "United States Pacific Coast Pilot," and I shall not fail on receiving them to return the volume which you have been so good as to forward to this department.

In the meanwhile application will be made to the proper department of Her Majesty's Government for copies of the British and Canadian official maps, referred to in the statement inclosed with your letter of the 19th instant, and I shall have much pleasure in supplying you with copies of the same as soon as I receive them.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

SALISBURY.

Mr. Helyar to Mr. Bayard.

BRITISH LEGATION, Washington, March 12, 1886.

SIR: With reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the Alaska boundary question, I have the honor to inform you that I am authorized by his excellency the Marquis of Lansdowne to state that he has communicated to Her Majesty's Government the agreement of

the Government of Canada in principle to a preliminary survey of the Alaska boundary by a commission.

I have the honor to be with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant,

H. O. HELYAR.

Sir Lionel West to Mr. Bayard.

BRITISH LEGATION, Washington, April 3, 1886.

SIR: With reference to the memorandum which I had the honor to hand to you on the 19th ultimo, expressing the general agreement of the Dominion Government to a preliminary survey of the Alaska boundary, such as was suggested in the President's message to Congress, I have now the honor to inform you that Her Majesty's Government agree in principle to this preliminary investigation of the boundary, but that such agreement must not be understood necessarily to imply the appointment of a joint commission.

I have, &c.,

L. S. SACKVILLE WEST.

Mr. Bayard to Sir Lionel West.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, April 8, 1886.

SIR: With reference to previous correspondence concerning the Alaska boundary question, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note on the 3rd instant, in which you state that the proposed agreement must not be understood necessarily to imply the appointment of a joint commission.

I have the honor to be, with highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant,

Lord Roseberry to Mr. Phelps.

T. F. BAYARD.

FOREIGN OFFICE, April 15, 1886.

DEAR MR. PHELPS: With reference to our conversation of the 12th instant, about the Alaska boundary, I find that the views of the Canadian Government on the proposal contained in your letter of the 19th of January, which inclosed the purport of a dispatch from Mr. Bayard, were communicated to the foreign office on the 31st ultimo.

Sir L. West has, in consequence, been instructed to inform the Government of the United States that Her Majesty's Government are prepared to take part in a preliminary investigation of the boundary question. This would not commit the two Governments to a joint commission such as that suggested in your note of the 19th of January. Meanwhile, we do not propose to move further in the matter until we know what action is taken by the United States Government in regard to applying to Congress for an appropriation.

Believe me, sincerely,

ROSEBERY.

No. 280.]

Mr. Bayard to Mr. Phelps.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, April 26, 1886.

SIR: With reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the Alaska boundary question, I transmit to you herewith, for the files of your legation, a copy of a memorandum in reference to the matter which was left at this Department on the 19th ultimo by Sir Lionel West. I am, sir, your obedient servant,

T. F. BAYARD.

Alaska boundary.

Mr. Phelps's proposal was for the appointment of a joint commission. The Dominion Government, however, while expressing its general agreement to a preliminary survey, has not expressed its assent to such a commission. They consider that a preliminary survey, such as was suggested in the President's message to Congress, is preferable to a formally-constituted joint commission, which would involve a large expenditure of public money and lead perhaps to interminable discussions.

We are of opinion that the survey which they are prepared to agree to would enable the two Governments to establish a satisfactory basis for the delimitation of the frontier and demonstrate whether the conditions of the convention of 1825 are applicable to the now more or less known features of the country.

THE DALL-DAWSON DISCUSSION.

[NOTE. The following papers appear in Senate Executive Document No. 146, Fiftieth Congress, second session, and are now published to complete the correspondence which was partially printed in the British Case, Appendix, Vol. I, pages 257-263.]

Mr. Dall to Mr. Bayard.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Washington, February 13, 1888.

SIR: I have the honor to report that the suggested informal conference between Dr. George M. Dawson, of Ottawa, Canada, and the writer has been held. Dr. Dawson and myself conferred on several occasions (February 4-11) and discussed matters connected with the Alaska boundary question freely and informally.

It was mutually announced and agreed that the meeting was entirely informal; that neither party had any delegated powers whatever, and that its object was simply the arrival at a consensus of opinion as to some reasonable and business-like way of settling upon a line satisfactory to both countries, and the most practicable means of demarkating the line if one was accepted. It was thought that if Dr. Dawson and myself could unite in recommending some plan as practicable, that opinion or plan would be entitled to some consideration, from the fact that both of us are tolerably well acquainted with the nature of the country and its exploration.

In considering those points to which, in his opinion, Canadian interests give prominence, Dr. Dawson referred to

(1) Freedom of intercourse as between the channels and inlets of Alaska and the British territories of the interior, for British subjects and their vessels, boats, or other means of transportation, especially on the Stikine and Taku Rivers and the portage at the head of Chil

koot Inlet.

Also, for American citizens, between the latter point through British territory to the Yukon River in Alaska, west of the one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude from Greenwich; since there is no doubt that, by this route, intercourse with the Upper Yukon country is more easy than by any other route.

(2) This freedom of intercourse for Canada, Dr. Dawson, thought,' should include the mutual concession of the right of river steamers flying either flag to cut wood for fuel from the river banks of either. territory, which by the letter of the law is now illegal even for American citizens in Alaska Territory. It should include the right or concession of the right of navigating the salt-water channels and so called inland passages of the coast archipelagos and inlets in British Columbia and in Alaska, respectively, by the citizens of the United States and subjects of Great Britain.