tinned by the Uiiitt'd States after the cession nf
Alaska in 1807, the business beinir leased to the
North American Commercial Company and the
slaughter carefully restricted to 100,000 seals
annually. This represented in 1885 a capital of
about .t";?0,000.000. and, at a royalty of $10 per
skin, yielded the Government a yearly revenue
of .m.OOO.OOO. In ISSli a fleet of vessels was
fitted out in British Columbia by Canadian and
American capital to hunt seals while feeding
in the water beyond the territorial three-mile
limit. This business increased rapidly, until in
1893 there were about seventy craft engaged in it.
The niimber of seals captured was estimated at
30,000, and the depredations on the herd neces-
sitated the reduction of the licensed slaughter
to 21,000. This pelagic sealing was especially
deslruetive, because the majority of the animals
killed were females.
Secretary ilainiing, of the Treasury Depart- ment, ruled that Bering Sea, to the western limit covered by the Russian cession, was closed, or under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and seizures of Canadian schooners were made b,y the .-Vmerican ]>atrols. This was fol- lowed by protests from Sir Sackville-West, then British Minister. Jleanwhile, Secretary Bayard sent a circular letter to Great Britain, France, Germany, .Japan, Russia, and Sweden, asking for cooperation to prevent destruction of the in- dustry. Negotiations conducted between Great Britain and the United States resulted finally in the Blaine-Pauncefote Treaty of 1802, provid- ing for an arbitration of the questions at issue. The Court of Arbitration, composed of Baron de Courcel (France), ilarquis Emilio Vi.sconti- Venosta (Italy), Judge Gregers W. W. Gram (Sweden and Norway), Lord Hannen (England), Sir John Thompson ( Canada ) , and .Justice John M. Harlan and Senator John T. ISIorgan (United States), met in Paris, March 23, 1893. The United States based its case upon three grounds: First, a prescriptive right of territorial jurisdiction over the Bering Sea; second, a right of private projierty in the seals; third, the com- mon interest of mankind in the preservation of the species and the prevention of its ultimate annihilation for temporary gain. On Augiist 1.5 the tribunal rendered a decision mainly unfavor- able to the American contention, to the effect that Ru.ssia did not assert or claim exclusive jurisdiction over Bering Sea or rights in seal- fisheries beyond the three-mile limit; that the body of water known as Bering Sea was included In the phrase 'Pacific Ocean' in the Treaty of 182.5, by vliich Russia granted Great Britain commercial privileges in those waters; that the United St.Ttes had no right to protection of prop- erty in seals frequenting the islands of the Unit- ed States beyond the three-mile limit. But regu- lations were adopted establishing a close season from May 1 to .July 31, forbidding pelagic seal- ing within 60 miles of the Pribvlov group, and prohil)iting the use of steam vessels or explosive weapons, and provided for licensing of the ves- sels and proper qualifications of the parties en- gaged in the biisiness, these regulations to be enforced liy the governments of the United States and Great Britain acting concurrently. These restrictions proved inefl'ectual, and after much friction between the two powers a meet- ing of experts was arranged for November, 1897. The American offer to suspend seal-killing for a year meantime, provided .the Canadian Gov- ernment wonld i)revent pelagic sealing, was re- fused, unless the Canadian vessels received com- pensation. Congress retaliated by prohibiting sealskin importation unless the skins were from the Priljylov Islands. The rajiid depletion of the herd that had taken place was claimed by the British experts to be due to unscientific killing on the islands. :Ieanwhile, in accordance with the treaty of 1890, a conuuission in 1897 had assessed the damages to Canadian ship-owners by reason of American seizures at $473,151.26, which was accepted by Congress and was paid in the following year. The whole question was finally referred to the Anglo-American Com- inission, whicii had reached no conclusion upon its indefinite adjournment in February, 1899, because of the deaths of Uord Herschel and Mr' Dingle.v. All efi'orts to restrict the wholesale de- struction of seals have tluis far proved unavail- ing, and the species bids fair to be exterminated. Consult: Henderson, Amencaii Diplomatic Ques- lions (New York, 1901); Snow, Treaties and Topics in American Diplomaci/ (Boston, 1894) ; and Stanton, The Bering Hea Controversy (New York, 1892).
BERING STRAIT. A water passage sepa- rating Asia from America, and connecting the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean (Jlap: America, North, B 3). It was first di.scovered and ex- plored by a Cossack named Deshnefl", in 1648; again explored by Bering in 1728; later by Cook and Beechey. The narrowest part is near latitude 66°, between East Cape in Asia and Cape Prince of Wales in America. The distance between the two capes, in a direction from northwest to southeast, is about 40 miles. About midway are three uninhabited islands. The greatest depth, from 150 to 250 feet, is toward the middle, the water being shallower toward the American coast than the Asiatic.
BER'INGTON, Joseph (1746-1827). An English Roman Catholic theologian. He is re- membered for his Faith of Catholics (London, 1813; 3d ed., 1846; 3 vols.) and Literary His- tori/of the Middle Ages (1814; 3d ed., 1883).
BERIOT, bft're-iV, Charles Augu.ste de (1802-70). A Belgian violinist and composer, born at Louvain. He was a precocious and orig- inal nuisician, remarkable for pure tone and re- fined taste. In 1830 he married the famous singer, Malibran. In 1842 he was made pro- fessor in the Conservatory of Music in Paris, and later in that of Brussels; but he resigned his position nine years after, in consequence of failing eyesight. He was the author of a complete manual for the violin, and of seven concertos, besides a great number of popular compositions for that instrument, all distin- guished for noble sentiment, melodiousness, and brilliancy, showing great progress in the treat- ment of the instrument, as compared with his predecessors. By dint of his admirable technique and his eminence as a composer, he became the head of the Belgian school of violinists, which through him and his pupils, Vieuxtemps and Leonard, attained to well-deserved fame.
BERISLAV, bil're-slaf, or BORISLAV (Russ., 'take glor>'.' referring to its capture from the Turks). A fortified town in the Russian Government of Kherson, on the right bank of the Dnieper, 46 miles northeast of Kherson (Map:
