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Title: The Far West Coast
Author: Denton, Vernon Llewllyn (1881-1944)
Date of first publication: 1924
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Toronto: J.M. Dent, 1924
   (first edition)
Date first posted: 11 December 2009
Date last updated: 11 December 2009
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #431

This ebook was produced by: Al Haines




[Illustration: Cover art]




THE

FAR WEST COAST


BY

V. L. DENTON



WITH 12 ILLUSTRATIONS

AND 7 MAPS





1924

TORONTO

J. M. DENT & SONS LTD.




_All rights reserved_

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN




{v}

INTRODUCTION

The sixteenth century may be said to have belonged to Spain.  Hers was
the glory of exploration and conquest in a new-found hemisphere; great
colonies were added, almost overnight, to her empire, and she stood
strong and arrogant, ready to challenge a world.  Then came disastrous
defeats on land and sea.  The gage so recklessly thrown down had been
as dauntlessly accepted by the Island Power of the North, and the
seventeenth century as truly belonged to England as the sixteenth had
belonged to Spain.

But our story is not of warring empires whose great navies line on line
swept grandly through the tiny seas of the Eastern Atlantic; nor may we
dwell for long upon that ocean's western shore.  Far into the heart of
the vast Pacific the tale shall lead us, where men and ships are
dwarfed to veriest specks which crawl laboriously a little space and
then are lost to view.  Bordering so vast a sea, with so long a
coast-line, the western coast of America remained an unknown,
mysterious waste long after a million hardy sons of France and England
tilled the nearer Atlantic slope.

The lure of the west, the love of adventure in rough, uncharted spaces,
will soon remain but as fragrant memories to be revived from time to
time by those of us who curiously open a dusty volume and read in
quaint and stilted phrase the simple record of a wondrous age.  For now
great cities grace our western gates.  Where once the sea-otter slept
{vi} peacefully, cradled in the long Pacific swell, great ships of
steel throw the hollow waves aside, hurrying to bear a nation's
commerce.

Could a short one hundred years have wrought such a change?  In the
tales here to be related, some of the halting steps which led to the
present lusty youth of our Pacific littoral are described.  It is hoped
that these stories may help in the truer appreciation of those who led
the way to the far west coast.

      *      *      *      *      *

One who would seek the trails of long ago must plod many a useless
mile, unless he be so fortunate as to have guidance and direction along
the way.  In this regard Mr. Forsyth and his staff at the Provincial
Library, Victoria, have been of the greatest assistance.  Valuable
comments upon the proof sheets were provided by Judge F. W. Howay of
New Westminster and by Professor W. N. Sage of the University of
British Columbia.  To my good friend E. W. Reid of Vancouver I am
indebted for many an hour of inspiration and many a prod to flagging
zeal.

V. L. D.

PROVINCIAL NORMAL SCHOOL.
  _May_ 30, 1924.




{vii}

CONTENTS


CHAP.                                                             PAGE

       INTRODUCTION  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     v

    I. THE STRAITS OF ANIAN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     1

   II. HOW THE RUSSIANS CROSSED SIBERIA  . . . . . . . . . . . .    12

  III. VITUS BERING  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    18

   IV. THE SECOND VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    31

    V. CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, THE GREAT CIRCUMNAVIGATOR . . . . . .    47

   VI. EXPLORATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC . . . . . . . . . . . .    47

  VII. THE SEARCH FOR ANTARCTICA--THE SECOND VOYAGE,
       1772-1775 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    85

 VIII. COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   102

   IX. ALONG THE COAST OF NEW ALBION . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   123

    X. KARAKAKOOA BAY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   139

   XI. LIEUTENANT JOHN MEARES AND THE FUR TRADE ON
       THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . . .   161

  XII. MEARES MAKES A SECOND VENTURE, AND DECIDES TO
       ERECT A PERMANENT FACTORY AT NOOTKA . . . . . . . . . . .   169

 XIII. THE NOOTKA SOUND CONTROVERSY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   190

  XIV. CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   215

   XV. THE MAKING OF THE GREAT CHART . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   235

  XVI. VANCOUVER AND QUADRA MEET AT NOOTKA . . . . . . . . . . .   260

 XVII. COMPLETING THE SURVEY, 1793, 1794, AND THE
       RETURN TO ENGLAND IN 1795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   273

       BIBLIOGRAPHY  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   293

       INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   295




{ix}

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                                  PAGE

AN ELIZABETHAN GALLEON OF THE TYPE OF "THE GOLDEN HIND"  . . . .     9
  From the Armada Section of the Naval History Portfolio
  (British Museum).

A RUSSIAN SABLE  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    30
  From a specimen in the Natural History Museum, London

CAPTAIN COOK'S HOUSE, GRAPE LANE, WHITBY . . . . . . . . . . . .    49
  From a photograph.

THE "ENDEAVOUR" BARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    58

MAORI TRIBESMAN  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    97

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   103
  From an engraving after the original portrait by Dance
  in the Gallery of Greenwich Hospital.

AUSTRALIAN BUSHMAN WITH BOOMERANG  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   109

BREAD-FRUIT  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   115

THE ISLAND OF OTAHITI  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   119

LIEUTENANT JOHN MEARES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   173
  From an engraving after the picture by W. Beechey in
  Meares' Voyages.

CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   221
  From a photograph of the original in the National Portrait
  Gallery.

SOUTH-SEA ISLANDERS IN THEIR CANOES  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   230



LIST OF MAPS

North America to illustrate the Straits of Anian, De Fonte
  and Juan de Fuca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     4

Sketch showing Route of Captain Bering across Siberia  . . . . .    21

Sketch showing Track of Captain Bering's Voyages, 1728 and 1741     39

New Zealand as Captain Cook charted it, 1769-1770  . . . . . . .    69

Sketch showing track of Captain Cook's Second Voyage . . . . . .    89

North American Coast visited by Captain Cook on Third Voyage . .   129

Captain Vancouver's Circumnavigation of Vancouver Island . . . .   249




{x}

I BELIEVE

    That God has poured the ocean round this world
  Not to divide, but to unite the lands.
  And all the English captains that have dared
  In little ships to plough uncharted waves--
  Davis and Drake, Hawkins and Frobisher,
  Raleigh and Gilbert--all the other names--
  Are written in the chivalry of God
  As men who served His purpose.  I would claim
  A place among that knighthood of the sea;
  And I have earned it, though my quest should fail,
  For, mark me well, the honour of our life
  Derives from this: to have a certain aim
  Before us always, which our will must seek
  Amid the peril of uncertain ways.
  Then, though we miss the goal, our search is crowned
  With courage, and we find along our path
  A rich reward of unexpected things.
  Press towards the aim: take fortune as it fares!

From _Henry Hudson's Last Voyage_, by Henry Van Dyke.




{1}

THE FAR WEST COAST


CHAPTER I

THE STRAITS OF ANIAN

In which is related the story of Juan de Fuca.


Always in the heart of man springs Desire.  It may be good or it may be
evil.  It may be one of pleasure or it may be one which moulds itself
around the commercial pursuits of the time.  And men yet congregate in
the marts and discuss, as from time immemorial they have done, how much
easier it would be to do this or that if only such and so were
available.  Through this budding process of vain desire and speculation
come the first faint tentative beliefs, which soon wax strong and
sturdy and blossom forth as accepted facts.  For there are always those
who are willing to help the doubter by most positive statements, and
then, presto!  "Of course we were right, does he not say he has been
there, right through them?"

Once established, such beliefs die slowly; Dame Rumour is a hardy
wench.  Then the world, ready at length to hang its head and admit
itself in error, straightway turns about and smilingly says: "Oh! that
was a myth!"  Such a one was once the famed Straits of Anian.  It ranks
with the tales of an Ophir, an Atlantis, or of a land of warrior
Amazons.

The desire for a passage through North America from the Atlantic to the
Pacific was but intensified by the discoveries of Magellan and the
golden harvest which Spain began to reap in Mexico and Peru.  England's
merchants were particularly anxious to find a short, direct, and
commodious passageway around or through North {2} America.  To this end
many small and privately financed expeditions were despatched westward
across the Atlantic, there to search the rocky shore for such an
opening.  France had definitely explored and rejected the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and the openings behind Newfoundland.[1]  No passageway
there.  The Cortereals, Espanola and Verrazano, had cruised the coast
from Newfoundland to the tip of Florida.--No opening there.  Then it
must lie farther north.

So farther north the hardy English sailors pushed the bluff bows of
their tiny fifty-ton sloops and pinnaces.  Up between Greenland and
Labrador, trending a little westward at last; how eloquent of old
desire are the names of those cold and stormy passages--Frobisher Bay,
Davis Strait, Hudson Bay and Fox Channel!  But the elusive passage lay
always just beyond; the very difficulty of the task seemed but to rivet
the more firmly the belief that a passage did exist, that it would be
found, and then if England found it, what a pre-eminence of trade would
be hers!

Martin Frobisher (1576-8) was no whit behind the rest in his belief
that the inlet which now bears his name would have led him to the South
Sea if only he could have gone on.  Sir Humphrey Gilbert was one of the
noted men of his day who wrote at length upon the possibility of such a
passage and the necessity for the discovery and use thereof.

It was then that fact gave way to fancy, when tales of an old pilot who
had cruised the Spanish Main were listened to with eagerness and gained
credence as they spread from mouth to mouth.  Or again it might be some
sentence in an old forgotten manuscript which, suddenly brought to
light, revived men's fainting hearts to further trials across the
ice-strewn sea.  Whatever the tales brought back to an expectant Europe
may have related, in 1570 geographers began placing in their charts of
the land we now call North America a northern passageway through the
continent.  {3} This passage or strait was generally made to extend
from the region of Labrador, south-westerly to the Pacific between
latitudes 40 to 50 north.  Ortelius in his _Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_ of
1574 places the Kingdom of Anian at the western entrance to this
passageway.  Later the passageway itself became known as the Straits of
Anian.

======================================================================

{4}

[Illustration: NORTH AMERICA TO ILLUSTRATE THE STRAITS OF ANIAN, DE
FONTE AND JUAN DE FUCA]

======================================================================

Just where the name of Anian was discovered or how it came into general
use is not exactly known.  Bancroft says that "there was once a
province of Ania somewhere in Asia, as described by the early
travellers and geographers."  Hakluyt mentions a voyage by Annus
Cortreal, who


... about the yeere 1574, which is now about eight yeeres past, sent a
Shippe to discouer the Northwest passage of America, and that the same
shippe arriuing on the coast of the saide America, in fiftie eyghte
degrees of latitude, found a great entrance exceeding deepe and broade
without all impediment of ice, into which they passed aboue twentie
leagues, and founde it alwaies to trende towarde the South, the lande
lying lowe and plaine on eyther side; And they perswaded them selues
verely that there was a way open into the south sea.


Martin Chacke, a Portuguese, and N. de Morena, a Spaniard, both
affirmed the existence of the Straits; the former that he went through
them on his way home from the Indies; the latter that Drake had put him
ashore at the Straits of Anian when that Englishman was on his way home
in 1579.  Morena even offered to lead the Spaniards of Mexico to the
Straits.  This does not exhaust the fables perpetrated on a gullible
public between 1550 and 1600.  Now let us consider the chief
prevaricator of them all:


JUAN DE FUCA

His real name was Apostolos Valerianos: of Greek parentage, he was born
on the island of Cephalonia, but had early entered the Spanish marine,
where he rose to be a pilot.  In November, 1587, he was pursuing his
usual {5} vocation when Cavendish captured the _Santa Anna_ off the
coast of Southern California.  The English privateer, having made a
thorough search of the vessel, burned her, while the crew were
permitted to make the best of their way to Mexico, there to relate all
that had happened.  Five years later de Fuca claims to have been
despatched by the Viceroy of Mexico in charge of two ships to cruise
northward, find the Straits of Anian, and follow said Straits through
to the Arctic or Atlantic as the case might be; it being the purpose
evidently of the Viceroy to fortify the Straits in the interests of
Spain.

It is from the pages of _Purchas His Pilgrimes_ that we learn of the
home-coming of the old Greek pilot, and that which befell in the
far-off days of 1596.  At that time there resided in Venice one Michael
Lok, an Englishman.  Lok was, as he relates, engaged in a lawsuit
"against the Companie of Merchants of Turkic, and Sir John Spencer,
their Governour in London," to recover a pension due to him for agent's
services at Aleppo.  While awaiting the settlement of the lawsuit,
there arrived in Venice one John Douglas, a sea captain, and the
Spanish pilot Juan de Fuca.


And John Dowglas being well acquainted with me before, he gave me
knowledge of this Greeke Pilot, and brought him to my speech: and in
long talke and conference betweene us, in presence of John Dowglas:
this Greeke Pilot declared in the Italian and Spanish languages, thus
much in effect as followeth.

First he said, that he had bin in the West Indies of Spaine by the
space of fortie yeeres, and had sailed to and from many places thereof,
as Mariner and Pilot, in the service of the Spaniards.

Also he said, that he was in the Spanish Shippe, which in returning
from the Ilands, Philippinas and China, towards Nova Spania, was robbed
and taken at the Cape California, by Captaine Candish Englishman,
whereby he lost sixtie thousand Duckets, of his owne goods.

Also he said, that he was Pilot of three small Ships which the Vizeroy
of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with one {6} hundred men, Souldiers,
under a Captain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the
coast of the South Sea,[2] and to fortifie in that Strait, to resist
the passage and proceedings of the English Nation, which were feared to
passe through those Straits into the South Sea.  And that by reason of
a mutinie which happened among the Souldiers, through the [misconduct]
of their Captaine, that Voyage was overthrowne, and the Ships returned
backe from California coast to Nova Spania, without any effect of thing
done in that voyage.  And that after their returne, the Captaine was at
Mexico punished by justice.

Also hee said, that shortly after the said Voyage was so ill ended, the
said Viceroy of Mexico, sent him out againe Anno 1592 with a small
Caravela, and a Pinnace, armed with Mariners onely, to follow the said
Voyage, for a discovery of the same Straits of Anian, and the passage
thereof, into the Sea which they call the North Sea, which is our
North-west Sea.  And that he followed his course in that Voyage West
and North-west in the South Sea, all alongst the coast of Nova Spania,
and California, and the Indies, now called North America.  (All which
Voyage hee signified to me in a great Map, and a Sea-card of mine owne,
which I laied before him) vntill hee came to the Latitude of fortie
seuen degrees, and that there finding that the Land trended North and
Northeast, with a broad Inlet of Sea, between 47. and 48. degrees of
Latitude: hee entred thereinto, sayling therein more than twentie
dayes, and found that Land trending still sometime North-west, and
North-east, and North, and also East and South-eastward, and very much
broader Sea then was at the said entrance, and that hee passed by
divers Ilands in that sayling.  And that at the entrance of this said
Strait, there is on the North-west coast thereof, a great Hedland or
Hand, with an exceeding high Pinacle, or spired Rocke, like a piller
thereupon.

Also he said, that he went on Land in diuers places, and that he saw
some people on Land, clad in Beasts skins: and that the land is very
fruitfull, and rich of Gold, Silver, Pearle, and other things, like
Nova Spania.

And also he said, that he being entred thus farre into the said Strait,
and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the Sea wide
enough euerywhere, and to be about {7} thirtie or fortie leagues wide
in the mouth of the Straits, where hee entred; hee thought he had now
well discharged his office, and done the thing which he was sent to
doe: and that hee not being armed to resist the force of the Salvage
people that might happen, hee therefore set sayle and returned
homewards again towards Nova Spania, where hee arrived at Acapulco,
Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded greatly of the Viceroy, for this
service done in this said Voyage.

Also he said, that after his comming to Mexico, hee was greatly
welcommed by the Viceroy, and had great promises of great reward, but
that having sued there two yeares time, and obtained nothing to his
content, the Viceroy told him, that he should be rewarded in Spaine of
the King himselfe very greatly, and willed him therefore to goe into
Spaine which Voyage hee did performe.


The account continues the story of how de Fuca came to Spain; that he
was welcomed at Court with many pleasant words, but that no material
reward could be secured.  Accordingly he "stole away out of Spaine" and
journeyed through Italy on his way to Cephalonia, where he desired to
spend the remainder of his days, "he being very old."  And now we come
to the crux of the matter.  Because the Spaniards had treated him so
cavalierly and slighted his just demands,


... and understanding of the noble minde of the Queene of England, and
of her warres maintayned so valiantly against the Spaniards, and hoping
that her Majestie would doe him justice for his goods lost by Captaine
Candish, he would be content to goe into England, and serve her
Majestie in that voyage for the discoverie perfectly of the North-west
passage into the South Sea, and would put his life into her Majesties
hands to performe the same, if shee would furnish him with onely one
ship of fortie tunnes burden and a Pinnace, and that he would performe
it in thirtie dayes time, from one end to the other of the Streights,
And he willed me[3] so to write into England.


Accordingly Lok wrote to the Lord Treasurer Cecil, to Sir Walter
Raleigh, and to Master Richard Hakluyt.  He {8} prayed that these
gentlemen would "disburse one hundred pounds of money, to bring him
into England with myself, for that my owne purse would not stretch so
wide at that time."  Lok heard that the idea met with favour but that
the money was not to be had.  In the meantime the pilot had journeyed
on to his countrymen in Cephalonia.

In July, Lok about made up his mind to return to England.  Thinking
that he could possibly afford to take de Fuca with him, he wrote to the
old man and in November received a reply.  Other letters followed back
and forth all of the same tenor.  De Fuca was willing to go at any
time, if Lok would send him the money to make the journey.  Apparently
Lok was not able to do so and there the matter rested till 1602, when
no reply was received from the last letter sent, and the old pilot was
supposed to have died.

This is all that is known of de Fuca.  Diligent search among the
voluminous Spanish Archives and in all that relates to Mexican affairs
of that date (1592) fails to find any reference, either to the
expedition de Fuca claimed to have made, or to the pilot himself.  That
he was a pilot on the Mexican and Californian coasts there is no need
to doubt.  He may even have made the voyage across the Pacific to the
Philippines and back.  But that he ever saw the strait which to-day
bears his name is seriously held in doubt by modern historians.  It is
a curious fact, not without its droll humour, that John Meares in 1788
should have been one of the first to affix de Fuca's name to the strait
to the north of Cape Flattery, for Meares was himself a prevaricator of
most magnificent proportions.

[Illustration: AN ELIZABETHAN GALLEON OF THE TYPE OF "THE GOLDEN HIND"
From the Armada Section of the Naval History Portfolio (British
Museum).]

Now let us try to put ourselves back into the days of 1600, and examine
the conditions which made such statements possible of belief.  The art
of shipbuilding was in its infancy; not only were the vessels of rude
construction, but their lines were poor.  They were indifferent
sailers, and there was a tendency to build a high unwieldy stern, which
did not help the sailing qualities.  Voyages in such {9} vessels were
slow and uncertain.  If the coast along which they voyaged proved
barren, if harbourage could not be found, if storms drove them out to
seek safety in the open sea, then the water supply would fail, the
health of the crews would give way, and the dread scurvy would appear.
Thus would the voyage be cut short, a return must be made, and the
whole purpose of an expensive expedition set at naught.  What a
temptation then to invent a few stories to indicate that something had
been accomplished in return for the cost of the venture!  Then, too,
the art of finding the latitude and longitude of places, or of a
vessel's station at any given time, was but rudely developed.  The
instruments in use were crude, the results often from a degree to five
degrees out.  So that to-day in trying to locate just where some old
navigator made a landfall, we are often sadly at a loss where to place
his cape or bay.  Within a {10} hundred miles of coast there may be
several similar promontories--mere verbal description does not always
satisfy by any means.  The charts themselves varied as greatly as the
tales and records brought home by the sailor men.  What was once
correctly delineated, as in 1550, has been known to be incorrectly
shown on a chart of 1650.

What wonder, then, if in an age of world discovery, in an age when
colonial empires were rising on the vaguely delineated shores of two
great continental masses each larger than Europe itself--what wonder if
a few should trade upon the ignorance of the stay-at-homes and seek to
make capital out of fantastic lies?  And especially were perfectly
honest men likely to be led astray by reasoning upon insufficient data.
It was accepted as a fact, for instance, that since a passage had been
found around South America by way of Cape Horn, that therefore a
similar passage must prevail around North America in order that the
tides and currents and circulation in the several oceans might be
properly maintained!  It remained but to find this passage.  Then would
the English, Dutch, or French have a short and easy route to the
Indies, then would Spain and Portugal meet a greater challenge than
ever before.  It was just as much to the interests of the Spanish to
prevent such a measure if possible.  But as decade after decade passed
away and still the expected passageway could not be found, Spain was
lulled to sleep in her secure possession of almost the whole of South
America, all of Central America and the Pacific coast of North America,
far into the misty north.  Spain ceased to explore, and settled down
into a decadent and satisfied middle age; from 1600 to 1774 she rested,
passive, mighty, opulent, and apparently secure.

We shall learn in a little, how, towards the beginning of the
eighteenth century, the Russians awoke to their Siberian possibilities
and, under the urge of Peter the Great, set in motion the designs which
gave them a firm foothold on what is now Alaska; and how their daring
{11} traders pushed their way farther along the Alaskan Peninsula until
the success of their operations awoke the Spanish government to renewed
activity.  But all too late.  Not only did Captain Cook chart the
unknown coast from forty-three degrees to the Arctic Ocean, but the
hungry fur traders of other nations began to infest the western shores
of America, exploring, charting, trading, giving to the world the bits
of their knowledge.  Spain was forced to act in very self-defence.  The
outcome was the celebrated Nootka affair, the virtual elimination of
Spain and the arrival of two lusty contenders--Britain and the United
States.



[1] Jacques Cartier, 1534-42.

[2] The Pacific.

[3] Michael Lok.




{12}

CHAPTER II

HOW THE RUSSIANS CROSSED SIBERIA

A tale of Cossack daring and brutality.


From the days of Drake (1579) and of the Juan de Fuca myth (1592) the
western coast of America north of the California peninsula remained an
unexplored, uncharted waste bordering an equally unknown Pacific Ocean,
down to the day of Vitus Bering (1725-1741).  Instead of a gradual
northward expansion by Spain, or failing that, a leap westward by the
French of the St. Lawrence and Great Lake region, we have the strange
spectacle of a self-taught Russian potentate setting in motion the
forces which should first solve the mystery of the North Pacific.

It will therefore be in order to present this phase of the exploration
by a short account of the Russian development of Siberia, and then
recount the voyages of Bering and Chirikoff.


Eight years before the famed Armada entered the English Channel to
sweep the hated English from the seas, Yermac, the Cossack, with five
thousand followers crossed the Urals.  He encamped at Tchingi, a small
town on the banks of the Tura.  There he mustered his troops, but found
his army considerably reduced, for "part had been exhausted by fatigue,
part carried off by sickness and part cut off in skirmishes with the
Tartars."  With a bare fifteen hundred effective men at his command,
Yermac boldly advanced against Kutchum Chan.  And the Tartar prince,
having made every preparation to resist the invader, resolved to defend
his crown to the last extremity.

For in those days Siberia was partly divided among a number of separate
princes, and partly inhabited by tribes of independent Tartars.
Kutchum Chan ruled over that tract of country which stretched from the
banks of the Irtish and Obi to those of the Tobol and Tura.  And who
{13} was Yermac?  A fugitive Cossack of the Don, who for years had
terrorised the province of Astrakan and the trade route across the
Caspian Sea.  But Tsar Ivan Vassilievitch in 1577 sent a large force to
these regions, and, as the tale is told, "part were slain, part made
prisoners, and the rest escaped by flight."  Retiring northward through
the province of Kasan, Yermac and his band next appeared at Orel, on
the banks of the Kama, where an outpost Russian settlement was located.
There the finger of fate lured him over the Urals, and down to conquest
in the Tartar Kingdom of the Obi.

Battle was joined on the banks of the Irtish, near the confluence of
the Tobol with that stream.  The Tartars, although superior in numbers,
were routed, and Kutchum Chan escaped with difficulty, so complete was
the victory, and Yermac, pressing hard upon the heels of the flying
foe, marched without delay to Sibir, the residence of the Tartar
prince.  But the news of the defeat had sped before him, and, making
triumphal entry, this erstwhile outlaw Cossack of the Don seated
himself upon the throne without the least opposition.

With no reinforcements to recruit his dwindling forces, Yermac soon
perceived the growing insecurity of his position.  He therefore decided
to tender his newly-won domain to the Tsar at Moscow.  An ambassador
was despatched with a tale of all that had happened, and a present of
the choicest and most valuable furs.  Arriving at Moscow, he was
received with every mark of satisfaction; service was held in the
cathedral; Yermac and his followers were pardoned, and presents were in
turn sent to all who had taken part in the enterprise.  To Yermac the
Tsar Ivan sent a fur robe which His Royal Highness had worn, "and which
was the greatest mark of distinction that could be conferred upon a
subject."  Five hundred Russian soldiers were also sent as
reinforcements under Prince Balkosky, and the conquest of Siberia had
begun in earnest.

At the junction of the Tobol and the Irtish a fortified {14} post or
Ostrog was built and Tobolsk became in time the metropolis of all that
region.  The same process was repeated on the Obi, and Tomsk was
constructed to dominate the upper valley of that great Arctic river.
By ascending any one of a dozen eastern tributaries it was found that a
low irregular height of land separated them from streams flowing to the
West.  There Yeniseisk was established, and the disunited Tartar tribes
forced to pay tribute.  Ever eastward the course of empire held its
way; by 1630 the steady Russian penetration of Siberia had reached the
Lena.  First Irkutsk, then a few years later Yakutsk, were built, and
the third great Arctic river valley of Northern Asia was added to the
Tsar's eastern empire.  Within ten years hardy spirits voyaged up the
Aldan, then up the Maya.  Now on horseback and snowshoes across the
Stanovoi Range they made their way by the rugged Yudomskaya Krest.
Here a boiling mountain torrent, the Urak, led them to the sea, and
Okhotsk Ostrog arose amid the sand dunes and beach stones.  The great
continent had been mastered by 1640.

No similar feat is known to history.  By the middle of the seventeenth
century no white man had penetrated even half-way across what is now
Canada or the United States.  Montreal, the product of Maisonneuve's
daring, eked out a precarious existence subject to constant Iroquois
attack.  The New England colonies were just taking root, and Virginia
felt no need of crossing the Alleghanies in quest of land or adventure.

For the ensuing hundred years the story of Siberia is the story of the
trade in sables.  What had been so dashingly won was as gallantly held;
not for purposes of settlement, nor that mines, fisheries and timber
resources might be developed, but that each year a great rich caravan
of furs might wend its way to Moscow, the governing centre of that vast
new territory.  Within general terms the Siberian fur trade was
conducted as a state monopoly from Moscow, with the beautiful sable the
standard of {15} exchange.  Over each province was a voivode or chief
factor, who was an employ of the state, and supposed to carefully
guard its interests in the collection of the rich fur harvest from the
territory under his control.  But the value of his trust, the distance
from the centre of control, and the lawlessness of the times proved too
much for the average voivode, whose sole endeavour seemed to be to
increase the returns brought in by each prikaschik, not that he might
win golden opinions from his Tsar, but that he might sequester yearly a
larger amount for himself, and thus retire at the end of his term a man
of wealth and substance.

The mode of operation of this far-flung government monopoly may have
still further perverted the morals of those engaged in it.  Instead of
barges carrying articles of trade with which to entice the Yakuts and
Tunguses to part with their furs, we would find good store of arms and
ammunition, and food supplies for the semi-military posts scattered
along the great rivers of the north.  In the province of which Yakutsk
was the commercial centre there were, in the year 1675, some
twenty-five stations, many of them hundreds of miles from the governing
centre on the banks of the Lena.  Upon each tribe adjacent to the
station a tribute was laid, and each year at agreed time and place the
natives gathered for this purpose.  If tribute was refused, then war
was declared, and the recalcitrant band exterminated.  It was also the
custom to demand hostages, not only to secure the prompt payment of
tribute but to act as some safeguard against sudden attack and
destruction from an outraged people.  What furs remained after the
tribute had been paid were secured in the usual way of barter.

Such a system based upon the ever-ready appeal to force could not but
still further brutalise those who employed it, and a mutiny at some
far-off station was not uncommon; a marauding band of deserting
Cossacks would sometimes terrorise a whole river valley until in the
course of time {16} failing ammunition, disease, and mutual jealousies
drove the survivors to the nearest agent for pardon and reinstatement.
Roads, bridges, settlements, there were none.  The great river systems
of the Obi, Yenisei, and Lena, with their thousands of lateral
tributaries, provided an almost continuous system of waterways from the
Stanovoi Mountains to the Urals.  Rafts, barges and long partly decked
boats or "koshi" were quickly constructed from the adjacent forests.
Hastily constructed, they were as quickly discarded once their purpose
had been served.  Instead of the picturesque Indian of the Great Lakes
in his birch-bark canoe, we see in those far-off Siberian days surly
Yukagirs ground down under the merciless heel of a Cossack jack-boot.
No staid Hudson's Bay Company ever entered Siberia to supply the
natives with their hearts' desire in trinkets or with fowling-piece and
trap, that the valuable peltries might be the more readily secured.

In addition to his routine duties, an agent would occasionally
construct a rude map of the district surrounding his post.  These
drawings were for years the only means of gaining any idea of the
general contour of the country.  One of these men, Michaelo Staduchin,
rose above the ordinary level of his compatriots through his bold and
adventurous journeys along the frozen Arctic shore of the continent.
In 1644 he discovered and explored the Kolyma River, and five years
later Deshnef led a party of hunters to the Anadyr.

There the Russians came in contact with the warlike Chukchees who
inhabited this far north-eastern corner of Asia.  But the severity of
the climate, added to the hostility of the natives, long prevented
exploration of the peninsula between the mouths of the Kolyma and
Anadyr.  It became in time a _terra incognita_, and around it grew up a
mass of guess-work and fable usual to those times.  Geographers became
more and more curious about the northern extent of Asia, and equally
curious were they regarding its eastern extent.  Did Siberia connect
with {17} America, or did a great wide sea exist between them?  In the
year 1700 no one knew.  No exploration had been made of the coast of
North America beyond Cape Blanco, nor had adventurers pushing westward
advanced much beyond Lake Superior and the line of the Mississippi.

In the light of exploration westward across America by either French or
English, the rapidity with which the Russians overran Siberia during
the seventeenth century is little short of marvellous.  In fact the
exploitation of the Siberian fur trade antedates its North American
counterpart by a clear hundred years.  But there the comparison ceases
to weigh against us, and nothing in later Siberian history compares
with the marvellous Anglo-Saxon development of the resources of North
America from 1750 to 1850.




{18}

CHAPTER III

VITUS BERING

1681-1741

How he crossed Siberia and voyaged to the Arctic.


The story of Bering is the concluding chapter to the Russian
exploration and conquest of Northern Asia.  It is a tale of vast
spaces, of wind-swept wastes, of frozen tundra and of tossing seas.
Again, it is a tale of bearded men, toiling with heavy loads over the
rocky ledges of a frozen mountain torrent.  Betimes the scene will
change; it is summer, and all is bustle and preparation as the bags of
flour are tumbled into the rude koshi.  Down the main river, up a
branching tributary, ever eastward, the voyagers strain to far Yakutsk
or even to remote wind-swept Kamchatka.  Shall they find what there
they seek?  Mayhap 'twill be a grave in some lonely isle far from the
ken of human kind.  No friendly chart to guide them on their way, they
can but face the dangers boldly and trust as blindly to a safe return.


The time now drew near for the solution of the question as to the
juncture of Asia and America, and of many another fable which had grown
up around the seas to the south of Kamchatka.  The remarkable reign of
Peter the Great was drawing to a close, but the restless mind of the
Tsar continued to plan and put into execution great projects for the
glory and advancement of his empire.  In 1719 he had sent Luzhin and
Yevreinof across Siberia with secret instructions to explore certain of
the northern Kurile Islands.  A boat had been built at Okhotsk and
these navigators had ventured as far south as the fifth island of the
Kurile group, but, losing their anchors in a storm, they had returned.
No attempt had been made to carry out certain instructions to explore
the Kamchatkan coast northward, to ascertain a possible juncture with
America.  {19}

Upon the submission of their report, the Tsar determined upon an
expedition which should finally settle the geographical extent of his
dominions eastward and northward.  If a sea separated the two
continents, then it might be possible, he thought, to establish a trade
route through the Arctic, round north-eastern Siberia, and down the
coast to Japan and China.  English and Dutch attempts to find a similar
route to the northward of America had come to naught; where they had
failed the Russians might succeed, and thus win both honour and profit
for their empire.

As best fitted to carry out the undertaking, Peter chose a captain from
his navy, that navy upon which so much of the great ruler's time and
energy had been expended.  When all others failed him, surely this
creation of his own heart and brain would not falter.  Vitus Bering, to
whom this signal honour was given, was then in his forty-fourth year.
Although a Dane by birth, he had entered the Russian Navy as a
sub-lieutenant at the age of twenty-two.  He steadily rose in the
service and early won the confidence of his superiors by his energy,
foresight, and excellent seamanship.  At twenty-six a full lieutenant,
three years later a lieutenant-captain, 1710 found him serving in the
Black Sea squadron.  There he distinguished himself in a dash through
the Dardanelles, bringing his ship safely around to the rendezvous in
the Baltic.  By 1720 he had risen to a captaincy of the second rank,
"and took part until peace was concluded,[1] in the various manoeuvres
in the Baltic under the command of Gordon and Apraxin."

Owing to the failing health of the Tsar, the assembling and outfitting
of the expedition was turned over to the Admiralty, which was at that
time controlled by Count Apraxin.  Bering received written instructions
from the Emperor substantially as follows:


I.  At Kamchatka or somewhere else two decked boats are to be built.
II.  With these you are to sail northward along {20} the coast, and as
the end of the coast is not known this land is undoubtedly America.
III.  For this reason you are to inquire where the American coast
begins, and go to some European colony; and when European ships are
seen you are to ask what the coast is called, note it down, make a
landing, obtain reliable information, and then, after having charted
the coast, return.


Bering was given as his lieutenants Martin Spangberg and Alexei
Chirikoff.  In this he was fortunate.  Both men proved to be capable,
trustworthy officers, and the latter, Chirikoff, has been spoken of as
the brains of the Russian navy.  Subordinate officers as well as
sailors, carpenters, and mechanics were commissioned in St. Petersburg,
and left the capital in charge of Chirikoff, 24th January, 1725.  It
was the dead of winter, and the snow, instead of impeding the venture,
but lent speed to the flying hoofs of the shaggy ponies as the great
sleigh-loads of supplies were rushed eastward on the long journey to
the Pacific.

======================================================================

{21}

[Illustration: SKETCH SHOWING ROUTE OF CAPTAIN BERING ACROSS SIBERIA]

======================================================================

On the 28th the Tsar died.  The master mind that had so boldly planned
for his loved country was now at rest, and it speaks well for the
organisation which he had gathered together that the Kamchatkan
expedition suffered no delay in its initial stages.  The remainder of
the party under the command of Bering left the capital on the fifth of
the ensuing month.  They overtook the advance guard on the fourteenth
and by the middle of March all had arrived at Tobolsk.  After a rest of
several weeks, during which boats and barges were collected and stores
of food replenished, the command embarked on the Irtish.  Down to the
junction with the Obi, then up that river to the Ketya, they followed
the latter eastward to Makofska Ostrog.  Here a portage of about
forty-five miles brought them to the Yenisei.

Two months had been passed since leaving Tobolsk.  Spring had given way
to summer, the hills and dales were clothed once again in a resplendent
green to delight the eye of the casual visitor in these vast
unfrequented spaces.  {22} Entering the Tunguska, the great eastern
tributary of the Yenisei, their course was ever against the stream,
making progress slow and wearisome, while the lessening water in August
exposed many a rock to the frail prows of their hastily constructed
boats.  The last of September found Bering and his party at Ilenisk,
where it was decided to go into winter quarters.

During the winter of 1725-26 preparations were actively carried on for
the next season's advance.  Spangberg and thirty men were despatched
overland to the Kut, a tributary of the Lena, and there "fourteen
lodkas and eighteen good sized barges were built."  Bering visited
Irkutsk and made himself thoroughly conversant with the nature of the
task that lay before him.  With the opening of navigation in May the
expedition set out upon the broad waters of the Lena.  Yakutsk was
reached in June.  The capital of Eastern Siberia at that time boasted
three hundred houses and represented the last considerable outpost of
Russian occupation.  It must form the base of supply for the new and
dreaded journey across the Stanoyoi Range to Okhotsk.

Bering now divided his command into three sections, one under each
lieutenant, and the third under the command of the leader himself.
Spangberg got away on the 7th of July with two hundred and four men in
thirteen boats.  To him were given the heavy supplies destined for the
shipbuilding operations which must be undertaken at Okhotsk.  His route
was down the Lena to the Aldan, then up this river to the Maya, then up
the Yudoma, through a pass in the mountains, Yudomskaya Krest, to the
Urak, and down this river to the sea.  For the larger part of the way
the boats must make progress against the current.  They were late in
starting, for winter comes early within latitude 60 north; and the
fact that these men ever reached Okhotsk is due entirely to the pluck
and obstinate courage of Spangberg himself.

Bering was the first to reach Okhotsk.  Travelling {23} overland with
two hundred pack horses, he covered the six hundred and eighty-five
miles in forty-five days, and arrived at his destination on the 1st of
October, 1726.  But here new difficulties met him.  The eleven huts
which comprised the town were already occupied by Russian fishermen,
winter was approaching, and shelter must be secured.  All went to work
with a will, and soon rows of log shanties began to take form to the
noise of hammer, axe and saw.  December found them housed, and with a
ship on the stocks nearing completion.

On the 21st of December a messenger from Spangberg brought news of that
leader's dangerous plight.  Winter had descended on his convoy while
yet over two hundred and fifty miles west of the Krest.  Leaving the
rafts and the bulk of the provisions under guard at the junction of the
Yorbovaya and the Yudoma, Spangberg and his men, "with what provisions
they could take with them on hand-sleds, started out for Okhotsk on
foot.  Meanwhile, the severity of the winter increased, the mercury
congealed, and the snow was soon six feet deep.  This forced them to
leave their sleds, and for eight full weeks after the 4th of November
these travellers sought shelter every night in the snow of Siberia,
wrapped in all the furs they could possibly get hold of."  Their
provisions gave out, and but for the accidental discovery of Bering's
trail, all would have perished.  The frozen flesh from dead horses and
stray bags of abandoned flour sufficed to maintain their strength for
the last lap of this terrible journey to the sea.  Bering had meanwhile
despatched forty-seven sledges to their relief, and on the 6th of
January, 1727, Spangberg was given a warm welcome in the newly-erected
houses by the sea.

With the return of spring, work was resumed on the ship _Fortuna_,
which was successfully launched on 8th June.  In addition an old
vessel, built some years before by the tribute gatherers, was secured
and repaired.  The summer was spent moving the collection of stores at
Okhotsk across the sea to the mouth of the Bolshoya River, in {24}
South-western Kamchatka, a distance of another six hundred and fifty
miles.  As shallow water prevented a near approach to the beach, the
work of unloading proved to be long and laborious.  It had been the
intention to transport all the supplies and material that fall to the
lower Kamchatka Ostrog by way of the Bolshoya and Bistraya, thence
across a portage to the Kamchatka, and down that river to the sea.  In
the estuary Bering planned to build a vessel in which to prosecute his
exploration northward, according to the instructions he had received.

Accordingly, early in the summer, shipwrights had been despatched
overland to the lower Kamchatka to begin the construction of the ship.
But when the main party were ready to begin ascent of the Bolshoya in
September, the low water made navigation, even in small boats,
impossible, and the attempt was abandoned.  So perforce everything must
wait for sledge transport.  Then Bering and his command struggled on
through the winter snows and intense cold of this inhospitable region,
a distance of five hundred and eighty-five miles.  For time was
pressing.  Three years had elapsed, no voyage of discovery had as yet
taken place, and the expense to the government had been large: they
were now far from Yakutsk, their base of supplies: all felt the need of
haste.

A much easier and more rapid route would have been secured had the
_Fortuna_ sailed to the mouth of the Kamchatka by way of Cape Lopatka.
But Bering subsequently justified his choice of the long and tedious
overland route across the peninsula "by saying that he chose the harder
course for fear an accident might happen if he came all the way by
water."  In the light of subsequent voyages, his judgment in this case
was seriously at fault, but in the year 1727 the voyage to the south of
Cape Lopatka was an almost untried route, and Bering was no doubt
strongly opposed to any venturesome course with his precious supplies
so far from any base of renewal.

The new vessel, the _Gabriel_, was launched in June, {25} and measured
sixty feet in length, with a beam of twenty feet.  The vast amount of
labour involved is not indicated in that simple statement.  Let it be
understood that the ironwork absolutely necessary for the construction
of a ship of that size, as well as canvas for the sails, and the rope
for the rigging and anchor cables, all had been freighted by boat along
the tortuous Siberian riverways.  Again, as has been described, long
hauls on sledges had been found necessary over hundreds of miles of
wind-swept tundra or by rocky mountain gorge.  And finally, when these
very necessary articles had arrived at Kamchatka, trees had to be
felled, squared or sawn into the proper shape by hand, and the frame
sheathed with half-seasoned planking.  The tar for the cordage and
caulking of the seams was also prepared from the trees of the near-by
forest, and with an entire absence of the proper facilities for its
manufacture it proved to be a most tedious operation.

At length the little _Gabriel_ stood ready to put to sea.  Provisions
were securely stowed in the hold, and the crew clambered on board to
the cheers of their friends on shore.  Anchor was weighed on 13th July,
and the long-awaited voyage of adventure had begun.  The cape at the
mouth of the river was rounded the next day, and with a fair breeze a
course was laid to the northward with the rugged shore-line of the
peninsula standing out bold and clear to the westward.

Without particular adventure, day followed day with much the same tale
to recount.  A week brought them to the parallel of 60; on the 27th,
Cape St. Thaddeus was sighted.  Rain and fog delayed their progress the
next day, and on the 30th an abortive attempt was made to secure
anchorage and fresh water.  The voyage continued with days of calm
alternating with fog, rain and wind.  Holy Cross Bay was skirted, but
no anchorage could be found along its desolate shore; then two days
later, 6th August, Transfiguration Bay was discovered.  Here fresh {26}
water was secured, and an abandoned dwelling of the Chuckchees was seen.

The next day, still skirting the shore, the sailors spied some natives
in a boat rowing out to the vessel.  Nothing that the Russians could
offer sufficed to entice the wary Chuckchees near the ship, but at a
safe distance they continued to gaze in astonishment at this, to them,
monstrous wooden shape.  At last, one bolder than his fellows jumped
into the sea, and with the aid of two inflated bladders swam to the
ship.  By the aid of Koriak interpreters, the native informed the
Russians that they had passed the mouth of the Anadyr River: that his
people knew of the Russians, and had gone as far as the Kolyma on their
deer sleds, but never by water: that there was an island in the sea on
which dwelt some of their people, but knew of no other islands or
lands.  Pleased with a few presents, the swimmer made his way back to
the boat, and the occupants paddled back to the shore.

On the 9th our explorers doubled Cape Chukotski, which Bering placed in
latitude 64 18' north.  Two days later an island appeared to the
eastward, to which Bering, in honour of the day, gave the name of St.
Lawrence.  During the 12th and 13th of August the _Gabriel_ passed
through the strait, meeting head winds and cloudy weather.  The
Siberian shore was kept in view, and no sign of land was seen to the
eastward.  On the 14th, East Cape was passed in latitude 66 6' north.
Here the Asiatic coast was seen to swing abruptly to the west.  On the
15th they were out of sight of land, and the same northerly course was
held till the next day.  Then in latitude 67 18' north the order was
given to turn the ship about.

No land had been seen to the eastward; for all he knew the continent of
America might be a thousand miles away: no land was now to be seen to
the northward, and the coast of Siberia along which they had been
cruising for the past month had retreated to the westward, and was now
out of sight.  Bering concluded that he had carried out his {27}
instructions,--Asia and America were not joined, but evidently
separated by some great arm of the Pacific.  To determine the exact
position of the American continent another voyage must be undertaken.
The summer was spent, soon stormy autumnal gales would be upon them,
and shipwreck upon such a coast was dangerous in the extreme.  In fact
the weather broke a few days before reaching Kamchatka, the sails were
torn from their fastenings, the anchor cable broken, and the anchor
lost.  In view of these very cogent and weighty reasons, a longer stay
in the Arctic seas was deemed perilous in the extreme, and it was
decided to return with what speed they could to Kamchatka.  It will
always be a matter for regret that a few days' sail to the westward
were not attempted before abandoning the voyage.  That some risk was
present in such a course is not to be denied, and Bering's critics have
made the most out of this over-cautious side of the commander's
character.

On the return, while passing southward through the strait, the island
of St. Diomede was discovered and named.  At its narrowest point, the
strait is only thirty-nine miles in width, and on clear days it is
quite possible to see the low-lying American shore on the one hand, and
the more rugged Asiatic shore on the other.  But once again on the
return southward cloudy weather and heavy fogs prevailed, and no land
was seen to eastward.  This was one of the heart-breaking tragedies so
common to all maritime exploration; a fog, a sudden storm, the night
descending, and an important river mouth is passed, a long-sought inlet
is missed, or, as in this case, the immediate proximity of a great
continent is hidden from its eager searchers.

On the homeward voyage the wind and sea so battered and strained the
_Gabriel_ that the greatest care was needed to reach the Kamchatka
River mouth.  During September the vessel was hauled out near the fort,
and the crew prepared winter quarters.  There the winter of 1728-29 was
passed.

{28}

During this time Bering became convinced of the nearness of some large
body of land to the eastward.  He noted that


The waves were more like those of a sea than of an ocean.  The
driftwood did not indicate the flora of eastern Asia, and the depth of
the sea grew less toward the north; the east wind brought drift ice to
the mouth of the river after three days, the north wind on the other
hand, after five days.  The birds of passage came to Kamchatka from the
east.  The reports of the natives corroborated his inferences.  They
declared that ... in the year 1715 a man had stranded there, who said
that his native land was far to the east and had large rivers and
forests and very high trees.  All this led Bering to believe that a
large country lay toward the north-east at no very great distance.


Accordingly, a second attempt at exploration was made in the summer of
1729.  But three days out from port a strong gale with heavy seas
forced him to turn about.  The little _Gabriel_ scudded before the
storm, a south-west course was taken, and, founding Cape Lopatka, he
touched at Bolsheretsk on his way to Okhotsk.  The observations for
latitude and longitude taken on this short voyage and the maps drawn
therefrom gave to the world the first accurate idea of the form and
extent of the Kamchatkan peninsula.  Added to this was the knowledge
gained of a safe southern passage from Okhotsk to Kamchatka River
mouth, which was to prove of great value in all subsequent voyages and
explorations, by avoiding the long overland route from Bolsheretsk to
lower Kamchatka Ostrog.

Bering now decided to return to St. Petersburg.  Arrangements were made
for the care of the vessels _Gabriel_ and _Fortuna_, and for the upkeep
of the supply depots already established.  The remainder of the command
then set out upon their long return journey across Siberia.  What must
have been the feelings of the hardy explorers when entering Yakutsk
after an absence of three years!  How they would {29} tell of their
trials, of their hair-breadth escapes from death in a thousand forms;
how eagerly would the inhabitants of this far-flung outpost listen to
their absorbing narratives!  There would be talk of Gama Land and other
fabled and mysterious continental masses lying out in these seas beyond
Kamchatka.  There were fabled islands, too, with great store of gold
and silver for the fortunate finder.

But gradually the mists were being brushed aside.  The eighteenth
century did much to clarify the world's geographical concepts.  Bering
on this his first expedition had delineated for the first time the
Kamchatkan peninsula, and the coast of Asia to its most north-easterly
cape.  He had proved that Asia and America were nowhere connected south
of 67 north latitude, that open water extended to the west north of
Siberia as far as he could see, and that the coast trended suddenly in
that direction.  A voyage down the Lena to its mouth and thence
eastward to Kamchatka would of course prove this point.

With, as he thought, these pleasant tidings, the journey across Siberia
to St. Petersburg was undertaken.  The 1st March, 1730, found him in
the capital, his reports ready for delivery, and eagerly looking
forward to re-union with his family.  Then followed a time of most
intense disappointment; certain academicians, Joseph Nicholas d'Lisle,
Gerhard F. Mller, and others, cast doubt upon his maps and his
conclusions.  It is under such circumstances one most admires the
sturdy honesty of Bering.  He refused to exaggerate his statements in
support of his discoveries, nor would he retract one inch from his
statement of discovery made and charted.  He even volunteered to lead
an expedition again into these wilds, and by a further exploration
eastward from the mouths of the Obi and Lena substantiate his
conclusions as to the termination of Siberia at East Cape and prove as
well the untenable position taken by his detractors--that Asia and
America were connected _north_ of 67, the point where Bering had
turned homeward on that August day in 1728.

{30}

It seems to us at this distance laughable, as well as tragic, that
armchair professors who had never been east of the Urals should have
the conceit to attack Bering's worth.  It is unfortunate that these
doubts cleverly cast upon the labours of the great Dane have persisted
even to this day; have given rise to controversy and debate, even to
denial that he accomplished anything of note either on this his first
or on his second and last expedition.  It is of interest to observe
that Captain Cook was one of the first to assert Bering's greatness,
and to perpetuate his name by giving it to the strait between Asia and
America.


[Illustration: A RUSSIAN SABLE From a specimen in the Natural History
Museum, London.]



[1] Peace of Nystad, 1721.




{31}

CHAPTER IV

THE SECOND VOYAGE

Bering and Chirikoff cross the North Pacific.  They find America and
return.


But Bering found his new sovereign, Anna Ivanovna, strongly in favour
of further Siberian exploration.  Even the armchair professors caught
the growing interest.  Learned disputations waxed long and furious.
All available maps and plans were searched.  Bering's delineation of
coast-line was compared and rejected by these and accepted by others.
Exploration suddenly became a craze, a fashionable fad.  So plans were
laid for an expedition greater than any ever before undertaken by a
European state.  It was sought to dazzle Western Europe with the
magnitude of the undertaking, and little regard was had for the
unwieldy personnel which was required.

Three main lines of exploration were to be followed out.  The northern
coast of Siberia from the mouth of the Obi around to Kamchatka was to
be explored and charted.  The North American coast was to be sought and
explored as far south as the Spanish possessions in Mexico.  And the
Asiatic coast from Kamchatka to Japan was also to be visited and
charted.  Added to this were instructions "to supply Okhotsk with more
inhabitants, to introduce cattle-raising on the Pacific coast, to found
schools in Okhotsk for both elementary and nautical instruction, to
establish a dockyard in this out-of-the-way corner, to transport men
and horses to Yudomskaya Krest, and to establish ironworks at Yakutsk
and other places."  As if this were not enough, a scientific
exploration wing was added to the expedition.  There were geographers,
and map {32} makers, those who were to study the flora, others to
observe the fauna, of the great Siberian domain and report their
findings.  But these men could not bear to be separated from their
families--then, the families could accompany them, so ran the
beneficent royal order.  Hundreds of men were employed in moving by
successive stages this part of the expedition alone.  As might be
expected, this part of the expedition accomplished very little, except
in the way of piling up expense and halting the progress of that
section whose ultimate goal was Kamchatka and the discovery of the
North American coast.

To Bering was entrusted the command of the whole affair.  With renewed
courage and unbounded patience he set himself to the task.  And a most
thankless one it proved to be.

A year of planning and gathering of material and the huge unwieldy
expedition was in some sense ready to start from St. Petersburg.
Bering had as captains directly under him the same Spangberg and
Chirikoff, "eight lieutenants, sixteen mates, twelve physicians, seven
priests," and various soldiers and sailors; altogether about five
hundred and seventy men.  Spangberg set out in February with
shipwrights and carpenters for Okhotsk.  They took with them the
supplies necessary for their purpose.  Bering followed with the main
body in March, bound for Tobolsk.  There a boat named the _Tobol_ was
constructed, and launched on 2nd May, 1734.  In a fortnight all was in
readiness, and under the command of Lieutenant Ofzyn set sail down the
Irtish for exploration and survey work eastward from the mouth of the
Obi.

Bering then moved the remainder of the expedition to Yakutsk, which was
to be the far-western base of operations.  Shipbuilding was again
undertaken, and two fair-sized vessels were constructed.  By June of
1735 these were ready to descend to the mouth of the Lena.  The sloop
_Yakutsk_ was to sail westward to the mouth of the Yenisei, the
_Irkutsk_ was to sail eastward, and, rounding the {33} north-east part
of Siberia, sail down to Kamchatka.  The beginning of July found these
expeditions under way.  Two years had passed since Bering had left St.
Petersburg, and although he had spared no efforts much remained to be
done.

It is nearly seven hundred miles from Yakutsk to Okhotsk, and to
transport the heavy supplies of cordage, chain, iron spikes, and nails
for the shipbuilding, as well as the tools used in such construction,
barges must be used.  Three years were required for a convoy of such
material to reach the coast; the suffering and hardships on the way
were most exacting.  To the indomitable pluck and steady perseverance
of the commander we owe it that all these difficulties were overcome,
and that, in the summer of 1737, the main force of the expedition was
once again gathered at Okhotsk.

But food supplies were exasperatingly slow in coming over the mountains
from Yakutsk; Bering was unable to keep his full force of men at work,
and frequently had to send bands of them off on hunting and fishing
expeditions in order to lessen the demands upon the scanty food supply
at his base.  The cost to the government had (1738) reached the immense
sum of three hundred thousand roubles, and letters of complaint,
admonition and warning came through to Bering by every post.  To a man
already worn down by the executive responsibilities connected with such
an immense undertaking, the policy of complaint adopted by the home
government could but tend to drive another than a Bering to despair.

Every energy was now concentrated on the building of two vessels, "with
the result that by June, 1740, two ships were launched.  Each measured
eighty by twenty by nine feet, brig-rigged, two masts, and bearing
fourteen small cannon.  On 4th September, the _St. Peter_ and the _St.
Paul_, accompanied by two others carrying provisions, left Okhotsk."
Crossing the sea to Bolsheretsk, the two freight boats were left
because Bering feared for their safety {34} while the two ships
proceeded around the southern end of Kamchatka and entered the new
harbour of Avatcha on 6th October.  Here the expedition wintered, while
the supplies were brought overland from the mouth of the Bolshoya.  In
the spring two scientists joined the expedition, the astronomer Delisle
de la Croyere and Steller, a naturalist.

Bering took command of the _St. Peter_, Chirikoff the _St. Paul_.  On
board the former was Steller, signed as naturalist and surgeon, and it
is due to his pen that we have such a vivid account of this ill-fated
expedition.  The total complement of each ship amounted to seventy-six
persons.  All was in readiness the latter part of May, but a favourable
wind was not secured till 4th June, 1741, when the order to proceed was
given.  The course was south-east in an endeavour to discover, if
possible, the Gama Land reported by the Dutch to have been seen in that
direction.  By the 12th the boats had reached the latitude of 46 09'
north latitude, with, of course, no land in sight.

It was now decided to give up this vain pursuit and change course to
east by north, striking across the Pacific to locate the western shore
of North America.  Up to the 20th all went well; then stormy weather
was encountered and the ships became separated.  Although both the
commander and Chirikoff spent several precious summer days in an effort
to rejoin one another, their efforts were of no avail.  Left to his own
devices it must be remarked that Chirikoff displayed unusual resource
and decision.  Giving up the fruitless search for the _St. Peter_, on
the 23rd a general easterly course was pursued: day followed night with
monotonous regularity in the waste of waters that make up the bosom of
the broad Pacific.  Three weeks had passed since parting from their
consort: it was now July, and signs of land gladdened their hearts;
driftwood, seals, wild ducks and other aquatic birds which were never
found far from land.  On the 15th land was seen in latitude 55 21'
north (between Capes Addington and {35} Bartholomew of Vancouver's
map).  Skirting the shore toward the north, harbourage was eagerly
sought, but everywhere the rocky coast presented a bold and rugged
appearance.  High mountains, snow-capped and gored with the winter's
avalanche, assured the weary voyagers that this was no island but the
solid bulwark of the long-sought continent of North America.  At last
on the 17th the _St. Paul_ was anchored at what appeared to be the
entrance of a bay in latitude about 58 north (Latuya Bay of La
Prouse).  The pilot, Dementief, with ten armed sailors was ordered to
take the large row-boat and examine the opening; the water was running
low and it was very desirable that the empty casks be filled at the
first opportunity.  Approaching the land, the boat was soon lost to
sight behind a projecting bluff.  After several days of waiting for the
return of Dementief, the captain decided to send the boatswain in
charge of the remaining boat in search of the missing men.  He too
entered the channel to the bay and was lost to view of those on the
_St. Paul_.  Smoke from fires within the bay could be seen from the
ship, but no sign of the unfortunate Russian sailors.  Now ensued
another period of anxious watching; but all in vain: they remain to
this day one of the mysteries of that coast.  Whether set upon and
murdered by the natives or drowned in the dangerous tide rips of the
treacherous entrance we know not.  The sea keeps well her secrets.

On the 26th a council was held aboard ship.  With both boats lost it
was now impossible to make a landing, obtain water or collect wood.  It
was therefore decided to run for Kamchatka, which it was hoped to reach
before their dwindling supply of water gave out.  The great overhanging
arc of the continent in these latitudes continually forced them to the
southward.  August passed with fog, and an occasional gale, anon a
glimpse of a snow-clad mountain warned them of the proximity of the
coast.  During September they passed by the Aleutian Islands.  On the
9th they found themselves embayed, and while awaiting {36} a favourable
wind the Adakh islanders came off in their kyaks to view with fearful
curiosity this monstrous floating house of wood.  Ten days later the
westernmost island of all was passed, and the long journey to Avatcha
was without further incident other than the increasing illness of the
crew.  The dread scurvy had made its appearance, as it always did on
these long voyages with the crew in cramped quarters.  It was further
noted that lack of fresh drinking water tended to greatly aggravate the
distemper.  During the latter part of September nearly all the
officers, including Chirikoff, were unable to leave their bunks, and
when the Kamchatkan coast was sighted on the 8th of October, Yelogin
the mate alone remained on deck.  Two days later the _St. Paul_ entered
the harbour of Petropavlovsk amid the feeble rejoicings of the sick and
decimated crew.


The astronomer, Croyere, who had for weeks been confined to his berth,
apparently keeping alive by the constant use of strong liquor, asked to
be taken ashore at once, but as soon as he was exposed to the air on
deck he fell and presently expired.  Chirikoff, very ill, was landed at
noon the same day.


We have traced thus far the remarkable trip of this Russian navigator
because to Chirikoff is due the honour of first sighting the western
coast of North America in a latitude north of 46.  He is accorded the
further honour of excellent seamanship in bringing his vessel safe to
port and escaping the rigors of a winter on the wild and unknown coast
of America.  The reports of Croyere and copies of the ship's journals
were made up and forwarded to St. Petersburg, where Chirikoff later
appeared and was received with due honour.

Let us follow the fortunes of the commander himself and his ship the
_St. Peter_.  Sailing more to the north of east than Chirikoff, Bering
first sighted land on the 16th of July in latitude 58 14' north.  "The
lookout reported a towering peak and a high chain of snow-covered
mountains, without doubt Mount St. Elias, and the extending {37}
range."  Adverse winds prevented a closer inspection of the coast until
the 20th, when Kayak Island, some miles to the westward, was
discovered.  Here anchorage was secured under the lee shore in
twenty-two fathoms.

It would seem from all accounts that every one on board was delighted
with the happy termination of their long quest.  No one doubted that
the great snow-capped range to the eastward was the coastal range of
the great continent of North America.  Although their reckoning for
latitude was seven minutes over the mark and the longitude eight
degrees out of the way, still great credit is due to these men,
considering the instruments in use at that time.

The captain alone seemed oppressed with forebodings of ill, and
shrugged his shoulders in answer to his officers' eager
congratulations.  Bering was already suffering from the insidious
scurvy, and seemed completely worn out by his past fifteen years of
hardship and privation.  For some days he had been confined to his bed
and seemed unable to share in the general delight of all that the
search for the continental shore had at last been crowned with success.
One account has it that


He had no enthusiasm or joy in life, and his depressing spirit dampened
what little ardour his men possessed....  Later, in his cabin, in the
presence of two of the men, he expressed himself somewhat in the
following manner:

"We think we have now discovered everything, but we do not stop to
think where we are, how far we are still from home, and what may yet
happen.  Who knows but perhaps contrary winds will come up and prevent
us from returning?  We do not know this country, nor have we provisions
enough for wintering here."


It is unfortunately necessary to record the fact that among the
officers of the ship the best of friendliness did not prevail.  This is
particularly true of Steller, the surgeon-naturalist of the expedition.
Although Bering had urged him to join the expedition in the first
place, he now treated Steller with scant courtesy, and Steller was no
whit behind {38} in his attitude to Bering.  After repeated requests,
Steller was permitted to go ashore in one of the boats despatched for
fresh water.  Accompanied by a fellow-student he made the most of the
few hours on shore to examine and collect various plants, and, in a
spot which the natives had recently abandoned, he collected many
interesting articles of curious workmanship.  In a sort of underground
storehouse he found smoked salmon, bows and arrows, hand drills for
making fire, "and herbs dressed in a manner customary with the
Kamchatkans."  These and other articles led Steller to believe that
Asia and America were somewhere much more nearly united than their
present position would indicate, and that intercourse of a sort existed
between the natives of the two continents.

The larger boat under Lieutenant Khitroff had also been busy with
exploration of the several islands in the bay, and similar objects of
native manufacture had been secured.  As some return for their
depredations, the Russians left in one of the native houses an iron
kettle, some tobacco, a Chinese pipe, and a piece of silk.  Repeated
calls brought the ardent naturalist aboard, thirsting for new
adventures on the morrow.  But Bering had other plans.  Rising early,
he found the wind favourable, and at once gave orders to up anchor and
away.  His officers pleaded for delay, both to explore the country they
had come so far to see, as well as to fill some twenty remaining water
casks.  Steller added his note of angry protest.  But Bering was
obdurate; he pointed out the lateness of the season, their ignorance of
the seas and weather, and deemed it best to effect a speedy return.
When one considers the ultimate ending to the voyage, little criticism
can be levelled at this most sage decision of the commander.

======================================================================

{39}

[Illustration: SKETCH SHOWING TRACK OF CAPTAIN BERING'S VOYAGES 1728 &
1741]

======================================================================

Sailing south-south-west, through rain, fog, and stormy weather, the
first portion of the homeward journey passed without mishap or
adventure.  On the 25th the course was changed slightly to south-west,
and on the 31st of July, the weather clearing, a north-west course was
taken in {40} order to keep near the land, and, if possible, gain
further information of its general contour and appearance.  This proved
their undoing; the _St. Peter_ became entangled in the maze of islands
off the Alaskan coast, storm succeeded storm, the scurvy raged
unchecked among the crew, and the water ran low.  If those twenty casks
had only been filled!  The months of August and September are a tale of
misery and bewilderment unsurpassed in seafaring annals.  The coast of
Alaska and the Aleutian Islands curve in a gigantic sweep to the
south-west; time after time the commander, attempting to steer
westward, was frustrated by land, low, barren, lashed by a mighty surf.
Time after time he tried to beat to the southward to weather these
obstructions, only to be baffled by contrary winds, tremendous seas and
strong currents.  A mere rsum of the course pursued can be given here.

On the 2nd of August the _St. Peter_ lay off Ukamak Island; the next
day the coast of the mainland was seen stretching across the horizon to
the north and west; turning toward the south the Kodiak Islands were
encountered; these were no sooner safely weathered than a storm arose,
and it was with difficulty that the ship was kept from being dashed on
the shore.  From the 10th to the 29th of August, storms and baffling
winds permitted but a snail's pace to the south and west clear of the
land.  "Bering had now reached the Shumagin Islands, having spent
nearly forty days in going from Kayak to Nogai, which can be made in
about one tenth of the time in fair weather."  Here the scurvy claimed
its first victim, a sailor by the name of Shumagin, and the islands
were named after him.  The water casks were replenished at this
anchorage, where they were delayed the best part of a week by stormy
and adverse winds.  The 7th of September, however, found the _St.
Peter_ clear of the Shumagin group and well on her way to the south.
By the 24th (seventeen days later), after constant buffeting with
variable winds, the Atka Islands were sighted.  A strong south-west
gale then drove the ship {41} back on her course.  For eight days the
gale continued, and the sailors almost gave up hope.  Twenty-four of
the crew were helpless with the scurvy, two had died, and the commander
himself was growing weaker each day.  The officers considered the
advisability of finding a harbour and wintering on the American coast.
To this Bering refused to agree.  Then the fight with adverse winds
continued--October proved to be as pitiless as September had been
harsh.  The _St. Peter_ was navigated as wind and wave permitted.  On
the 25th Amchitka was sighted, on the 29th Semichi Island was passed.[1]

But the long voyage was nearly at an end.  The Aleutians had been left
behind, and the ship's officers decided on a course along latitude 52
as providing a safe approach to Avatcha.  If the wind should blow from
the north it would be possible to double Cape Lopatka and find a haven
at Bolsheretsk or Okhotsk.  On the 30th two islands came in view, and
some on board maintained that they were two of the northern Kuriles.
Being in doubt, the two lieutenants Waxel and Khitroff, who were now in
virtual charge of the navigation of the vessel, decided to sail to the
northward.  The 4th of November found them in latitude 56; as this was
beyond the latitude of Avatcha the course was changed to the
south-west.  Then on the morning of the 5th, land was sighted to the
westward.  Kamchatka at last!

It would now be but a question of a few hours, a day perhaps, to find
their greatly desired refuge.  Sail was shortened, and the vessel
cruised along the coast.  The glad news spread like wild-fire through
the ship--the sick crawled on deck to cast longing eyes on the
mountains to the westward.  The commander himself as he lay on his cot
gave way to the pervading enthusiasm.

But their joy was of short duration.  At noon an observation showed
them to be still a clear degree too far north for Avatcha.  The bay
into which the _St. Peter_ had been {42} so cheerfully navigated in a
vain endeavour to find the entrance to Avatcha, they were now as
anxious to leave, especially in view of an approaching gale.  During
the night the storm broke in all its fury, the starboard shrouds of the
mainmast were torn asunder, and the mast so badly sprung as to render
it useless.  Morning of the 6th brought a realisation of the perilous
position of ship and crew.  A council of the officers was now convened
in the commander's cabin to discuss their situation.  The state of the
crew was wretched in the extreme; ten sailors were all that could
report for duty, and these men were so weak that they must perforce
assist each other to and from duty at the tiller.  Khitroff and Waxel
were in favour of trying to make a landing in the bay they had found
the previous day, take the sick on shore and prepare to winter.  They
argued that the state of the crew, the condition of the masts, and the
lateness of the season made any further navigation not only dangerous,
but almost impossible.  They affirmed positively that the coast
confronting them was a part of Kamchatka, and that it would be possible
in the spring to find their way to Avatcha either overland or, if the
ship could find safe anchorage, by sea.

To all of this Bering stoutly objected.  He pointed out the herculean
efforts already made, that their observations showed them to be but a
few days' sail from port, and that they still had five water casks and
could use the foremast.  Confined as he had been to his bed for the
past two months, he was unable to judge correctly the state of crew or
vessel; he was daily growing weaker from the ravages of the scurvy, and
it was but natural that he should earnestly desire the comforts to be
found in the post of Petropavlovsk.  It is a question which will always
remain undecided, as to which was the better counsel.  This much is
certain, the indomitable spirit of the commander was not to be crushed
even in this dire extremity.

His counsel was overruled, anchorage was sought in the bay, and this
was successfully accomplished during the {43} night, but not before two
anchors had been lost, and the _St. Peter_ for a time placed in
imminent danger of shipwreck.

The bay into which they had entered lies on the northeast coast of what
has since been called Bering Island.  The island, some ninety miles in
length, lies but a few days' sail from the Kamchatkan coast, between
latitudes 54 and 56.  To the south and west lay Avatcha, to the north
and west could be found the mouth of the Kamchatka River, and the fort
at which Bering had passed the winter of 1728-29.  In his voyage of
1729 he had come very close to these islands,[2] but in storm and rain
had passed them by.  The islands were totally uninhabited, and have so
remained to this day.  Void of the trees or shrubbery which we are
accustomed to see in such profusion along our Pacific seaboard, their
scarred mountains, barren and rocky, wrapped in the swirl and snow of
bleak November, wear no inviting aspect.  A short strand merged into a
bank of varying height which led to the base of the bare and rugged
mountains.  However, to the sea-weary and dying Russians any hillside
of solid earth appeared a welcome refuge.  Steller superintended the
transfer of the sick to the shore, some of whom died upon exposure to
the biting November air.  Shelters of driftwood roofed with canvas were
hastily constructed, and in these the sick were at first housed.  Later
pits were dug in a sandy bank and covered over with driftwood; in these
underground shelters the crew proceeded to pass the winter.  Twelve
sailors had died previous to the landing on the island; by the 10th of
November nine more had succumbed, and when the last death occurred in
January, thirty-one of the crew of seventy-seven had passed to the
great beyond: servants of the Russian government, but martyrs in the
cause of that most fascinating of all adventure, the search for the
unknown land.

The commander was landed on the 10th and placed {44} in a dug-out next
to one occupied by Steller, who did his best to nurse him back to
health.  But "before leaving Okhotsk he had contracted a malignant
ague, which diminished his powers of resistance, and on the voyage to
America scurvy was added to this.  His sixty years of age, his heavy
build, the trials and tribulations he had experienced, his subdued
courage, and his disposition to quiet and inactivity all tended to
aggravate this disease; but he would nevertheless," says Steller,
"without doubt have recovered if he had gotten back to Avatcha, where
he could have obtained proper nourishment and enjoyed the comfort of a
warm room.  In a sandpit on the coast of Bering Island, his condition
was hopeless.  For blubber, the only medicine at hand, he had an
unconquerable loathing.  Nor were the frightful sufferings he saw about
him, his chagrin caused by the fate of the expedition, and his anxiety
for the future of his men, at all calculated to check his disease.
From hunger, cold, and grief he slowly pined away....  He died on the
8th of December, 1741, two hours before daybreak," and was buried not
far from the huts of the encampment.

It is of little avail to lament at length upon the untimely end of this
intrepid seaman.  A word of recapitulation will suffice and the tale is
told.  Let his deeds speak for him.  Born in Denmark in a humble home,
early to sea, enjoying little if any of the advantages of an education,
he rose step by step in his chosen profession by the sheer strength of
his energy.  Bering was at all times a dependable man in an age and in
the service of a country not at all noted for staunchness of character
or integrity of command.  From the deck of a man-o'-war to the head of
an expedition overland through the heart of a great continent is a far
cry, and few there are who seem to have recognised the difficulties he
must have faced in the new undertaking.

Clothed with absolute power over some six hundred men, the records show
him to have been kind and considerate {45} to a fault.  Above all, he
was a patient man; patient in service, long-suffering with the
contemptible Siberian voivodes, with a tenacity of purpose that finally
overrode all mundane obstacles and launched him forth on the sea of his
dreams.  For Bering possessed that qualification which alone lifts one
man above his fellows.  He was gifted with a rare breadth of vision,
which enabled him to visualise a great enterprise, lay out the several
steps, and by perseverance see them through to the end.  "Whatever
faults Bering had," says one, "it cannot be said of him that he shirked
a task because it was hard or unpleasant."  In the final analysis, he
gave his life without complaint in the service of his adopted country.

The survivors were in a sorry plight.  It was now the dead of winter in
latitude 55 north.  Heavy snowstorms added to the discomfort of wind
and cold and the long nights of darkness in rude dug-outs.  A gale had
driven the _St. Peter_ on shore.  The food retrieved from the wreck at
length ran low, and famine would have been added to their already sore
trials had not the island teemed with animal life.  Long uninhabited by
either Kamchadale or Innuit, the wild life on the island knew no fear
of human kind and proved an easy prey to the resolute sailors of the
_St. Peter_.

Arctic foxes proved to be a pest; so numerous and so tame were they
that Steller and his assistant killed sixty their first day on shore.
Along the shores of the bay were to be found sea-otters, whose valuable
fur sold readily in China for one hundred roubles a skin.  Sea-lions
and fur seals provided the shipwrecked crew with food, oil, and
clothing, while from the flesh of the sea-cow excellent food was
obtained.  This was a huge animal twenty to thirty feet long and
weighing about three tons.[3]

With the advent of spring exploring parties determined their insular
position.  It was therefore decided to break {46} up the stranded _St.
Peter_ and build a smaller vessel with which to reach Avatcha Bay.  By
the 10th of August the new craft was ready for launching.  "She had a
thirty-six foot keel, measured forty-two feet from bow to stern, and
drew five and a half feet of water."  A few pounds of flour (all that
remained) and some cured meats provided the utmost in the way of food
for their trip to Petropavlovsk.  On the 13th, forty-six men crowded
themselves on this frail bark and by dint of a sail, supplemented by
long oars, the mainland of the Kamchatkan peninsula was sighted after
four strenuous days.  Coasting slowly southward, they made the harbour
on the 27th, and disembarked.  There they were received with every
manifestation of joy, while the more devout among the crew held service
in the church for their safe return to home and loved ones.

The expedition cannot by any means be considered as void of results.
Apart from the scientific knowledge gained of the relative position of
the continents of North America and Asia, a new fur el dorado had been
disclosed.  The glossy sea-otter furs carried home by the crew of the
_St. Peter_ brought them unexpected riches.  The tales of vast numbers
of seals and other marine and animal life led many an expedition to the
Commander Islands and beyond.  Within a generation the natives of the
whole Aleutian archipelago had been laid under tribute, the Russian
Bear had crossed the straits and begun the quiet penetration of a new
continent.



[1] East of Attu.

[2] The Commander group, of which Bering and Copper Islands are the
largest.

[3] It seems to have frequented the Commander Islands in great numbers,
but within twenty-five years was completely exterminated by hunters
from Kamchatka.




{47}

CHAPTER V

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, THE GREAT CIRCUMNAVIGATOR

His early life and training.  Being the story of the man who earned the
right to be considered the chief explorer and cartographer of the vast
Pacific Seas.


It will be necessary to pass over the next period (1741-1778) with the
remark that during those years the Russians gradually spread their
stations through the Aleutian archipelago of islands, using
Petropavlovsk as their Siberian base, and Unalaska as their American
base.  The news of the Bering explorations soon ceased to excite
curiosity among the court circles of Europe.  The Russian government
threw around the region a mantle of impenetrable silence.  The fact
that very valuable fur lands had been discovered was as jealously
guarded as was the right to hunt in those regions of Eastern Siberia or
the North-West of America.

An English navigator on a quest for the North-East Passage, in charge
of vessels outfitted at the expense of the British government, was the
first to give to the world the general outline of North America from
the latitude of Oregon to Icy Cape, in the far Arctic Sea.  His sailors
found the key to the fur treasure-house of the Russian trading
companies, the news was published broadcast, and he who sailed might
share.


From a clay biggin on the Yorkshire moors to the position of
post-captain in the Royal Navy is a long road to travel by one's own
exertions, but the final reward of tireless industry and never-flagging
zeal.  To become the foremost navigator of his day is an honour which
has been accorded to but few men in our long and glorious history as an
empire; yet this statement may be safely made in regard to Captain
James Cook, with none to deny its simple justice.

{48}

The village of Marton is situated in the northern part of Yorkshire,
about six miles from Stockton-upon-Tees.  There James Cook was born in
the year 1728.  His father was a day labourer, and often worked for a
Mr. Mewburn, who was a well-to-do farmer of the neighbourhood.  The
home of the Cooks at this time was a clay biggin of two rooms, typical
of the humble abodes in which the workmen of that region lived.  When
James was eight years old his father secured a better position with Mr.
Skottowe, of Ayton, and the family moved to Airy Holme Farm.  The lad
was now sent to the village school, where he showed more than the usual
aptitude in his studies.  But school days were over all too soon, and
James must needs help his father and elder brother with the farm work
until he had grown to be a sturdy lad of seventeen.  We can now but
infer what took place, in the absence of any authentic record.  A peep
through the doorway and we would see the family circle in earnest
discussion.  An opening in a general store at Staithes had been found,
and Mr. Skottowe had probably advised the youth to accept it.

So to Mr. Saunderson's store James repaired.  There he found a
picturesque little village nestling "in a narrow cleft in the cliffs"
about ten miles north of Whitby.  The inhabitants were mostly fishermen
who plied their calling in the stormy waters of the North Sea.  And the
tales young James heard no doubt fired his imagination and whetted a
natural desire to engage in something more venturesome than the common
tasks assigned him by Mr. Saunderson.

======================================================================

{49}

[Illustration: CAPTAIN COOK'S HOUSE, GRAPE LANE, WHITBY]

======================================================================

It required but a trivial incident to provide a means of severing the
ties which bound him to the store.  A bright South Sea shilling had
duly come to Staithes in the pouch of a returning sailorman.  It was
exchanged at the little store for some prosaic commodity of stout
Yorkshire manufacture, quite different from a like purchase in the
far-away lands of India and the Spice Islands of renown.  In the course
of the day James had occasion to go to the {50} till and, noticing the
shining silver piece, so unlike its fellows, read its curious legend
and resolved to keep it.  He thereupon deposited one of his own
shillings in the till, pocketed the odd and newer coin, and proceeded
about his daily tasks.  That evening the proprietor noticed its absence
and made inquiries about it.  The matter was explained to the apparent
satisfaction of all concerned; but, if we may be allowed to judge of
the youth's feelings at that time from the haughty temper he evinced in
later years, James did not forget the suspicions of the storekeeper,
and in a short time was able to secure his father's permission to go to
Whitby.  The South Sea had beckoned, and the lad had acknowledged its
salutation.

He now became apprenticed for three years to John Walker, who was a
member of a firm engaged in coal shipping from that port.  The years of
apprenticeship were evidently as pleasant as they were profitable, and
very soon the best of feeling existed between Mr. Walker and his
charge.  In fact this early friendship never waned, and by means of
letters and an occasional visit the celebrated navigator of later years
evinced his esteem and indebtedness to the man who had given him his
opportunity.

In those days Whitby was of some importance as a shipbuilding centre,
and the industry was mainly carried on by the merchants interested in
the coasting trade.  Cook thus early had an opportunity to attend to
the outfitting, as well as to the sailing of vessels, a training which
was to stand him in good stead on more than one occasion.  His early
training in seamanship was acquired in the _Freelove_, employed in the
coal trade between Newcastle and London.  No better school for the
training of mariners is to be found to this day than the stormy waters
of the North Sea.

His heart was in his work, and he studied diligently, when occasion
permitted, to learn the theory of navigation as well as its practice.
This was especially true of the long winter evenings.  With the
_Freelove_ laid up for overhauling and repairs, Mary Prowd, the
housekeeper, would provide {51} him with a table and light in a quiet
place for reading and study.

The years of apprenticeship at an end.  Cook continued to sail in the
North Sea and Baltic trade.  At length in 1752, about five years from
the time of his arrival in Whitby, he secured the appointment of mate
in the Walkers' new vessel, the _Friendship_.  For the ensuing three
years he served in that capacity and learned to wield control over the
horny-handed sailors of the crew.  In his illuminating life of Cook,
Kitson makes the following summary:


This was rapid promotion for a youth with nothing to back him but his
own exertions, and tends to prove that he had taken full advantage of
the opportunities that fell in his way, that he must even then have
displayed a power of acquiring knowledge of his profession beyond the
average, and that he had gained something more than a smattering of
seamanship.


In June of '55 the _Friendship_ lay at anchor in the Thames.  Stirring
times were toward.  The English were girding their loins for a titanic
trial of strength with Imperial France to the southward.  Forces under
Braddock had been despatched to Virginia, and the struggle for the Ohio
valley had begun in earnest.

A press of seamen was taking place in all the great seaports of
Britain, for in those days that method was employed to man England's
ever-increasing navy.  These great oaken walls, though they protected
her from invasion, and enabled her to carry on a war in each of the
seven seas, were now in need of men.  Voluntary enlisting could ill
supply the ordinary peace demand of the Navy, and when emergency called
recourse was had, perforce, to the rough and ruthless press gang.

The moment was propitious; able seamen were scarce, the demand greatly
exceeded the supply; new ships were outfitting in all haste at the
great Navy yards.  Cook had little doubt but that his eight years of
training and his present standing (that of mate) would be welcomed on
{52} some stout ship of His Majesty's Fleet.  So, rather than be
pressed, he decided to enter the Navy as a volunteer, "having a mind,"
as he is reported to have said, "to try his fortune that way."  He
accordingly repaired to a rendezvous at Wapping, and was duly entered
on the muster roll of the _Eagle_ as an A.B.

Letters of recommendation were meanwhile secured from his friends and
employers, the Walkers of Whitby, and within a few weeks he was raised
to the position of master's mate.  Then in October, Captain Hugh
Palliser succeeded Hamer in the command of the _Eagle_.  Cook was
giving most satisfactory service, and, with the friendly assistance of
the Walkers, Captain Palliser recommended him for a master's warrant.
In October of '57, James Cook became master (or navigating officer) of
the new ship _Pembroke_.

The ensuing ten years were full of the most strenuous endeavour.  In
February of '58, the _Pembroke_ became one of Admiral Boscawen's fleet
of seventeen sail, convoying one hundred and twenty-seven transports to
Halifax for the projected attack upon Louisburg.  After the fall of
that fortress the fleet wintered at Halifax, and in the spring acted as
convoy to Wolfe's command in the attack on Quebec.  Cook took part in
and witnessed the stirring scenes of that hectic summer of '59, and in
the fall prepared to pilot the _Pembroke_ down to the winter base at
Halifax.

But Lord Colville, captain of the _Northumberland_, had been appointed
to the command of the North Atlantic squadron, and to Cook fell the
honour of appointment to the master's berth on the flagship.  There is
no doubt that his record during the capture of Louisburg and again at
the siege of Quebec won him this coveted position.

The season of 1760 was spent at anchor near Quebec, and the long summer
days might well have been spent in pleasant ramblings ashore by one so
inclined.  It would appear, however, that the new master of the
_Northumberland_ could find a more profitable manner of employing {53}
his time, something that would be of service to his superior officers
and of value to his country.  And during that summer Cook made himself
master of the navigation of the St. Lawrence, from the sea to Quebec.
The existing French charts were revised, new soundings were taken, and
additional charts were made.  Once again persistent industry added to
native worth brought him merited recognition, and, shortly after the
opening of the new year, Lord Colville awarded him fifty pounds, in
consideration of the extra work he had undertaken that summer of 1760.
Though the sum may seem insignificant, recognition had been won--Master
Cook of the flagship was _different_ from other masters.

Again the fleet wintered at Halifax.  The _Northumberland_, in fact,
spent the whole season of 1761 maintaining watch and ward at that
important naval base.  The fall of '62 brought news of the capture of
St. Johns by the French.  Thither sailed the _Northumberland_ in all
haste, and lent her aid in the re-capture of the city and the policing
of the surrounding waters.  Cook, who had been employing his spare time
in a survey and chart of Halifax harbour (1761-62), was now called upon
to assist Mr. Desbarres, an engineer, in making a survey of the harbour
of St. Johns and the waters adjacent, for it was now decided that a
complete fortification of the harbour should be made, to render it
immune from future raids.  This task completed, the _Northumberland_
returned to England, arriving at Spithead, 24th October.  In the
following month Cook signed off, and, freed from matters nautical, was
at liberty to enjoy a well-earned rest amid the pleasures of London
town.

Before the year was out he had met, courted, and married Elizabeth
Batts, of the parish of Barking.  Shortly afterwards the happy couple
moved into their own home at Mile End, Old Town.  Those who follow the
sea have little time to enjoy the comforts of a home, and yet none
there are among landsmen who appreciate at any {54} truer worth the
strengthening influence of home ties.  With no anchor to windward Jack
cuts but a sorry figure ashore.

A few short months had passed when Cook received an appointment from
the Admiralty to carry out the complete survey of the coasts of
Newfoundland.  As this was special work with good pay, the opportunity
was not one to be lightly turned aside in lieu of some safe billet in
home waters.  The 1st of May, 1763, then, found him aboard the
_Antelope_, outfitting at Portsmouth, and in due course the ship
arrived at St. Johns.  As the Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon were
to be handed over to the French, pursuant to the terms of the Treaty of
Paris, a hurried survey of the coasts of these islands was ordered by
Captain Graves.[1]  Cook carried this out with all speed, much to the
satisfaction of his superior officer and of the Admiralty.  The fall
was spent in coastal survey of the shore contiguous to St. Johns.  The
approach of winter put an end to the work for that year, and Cook
returned to England in November.

He returned to St. Johns in June of the following year (1764), and at
once took charge of the schooner _Grenville_, which the Lords of the
Admiralty had set aside for his use in the survey.  In the meantime
Captain Palliser had succeeded Graves as Governor of Newfoundland and a
distant acquaintanceship now crystallised into a warm friendship.  From
this time onward Cook did not lack the hearty support of a friend well
placed to aid him.

Cook carried on the survey of the Newfoundland coast from Noddy's
Harbour to the Bay of St. Genevieve with great industry.
Notwithstanding a severe injury to his hand through the bursting of a
powder horn, the work was pushed ahead with vigour and only ceased with
the approach of winter weather.  He returned to England in the
_Grenville_, and while the vessel was undergoing needed repairs and
alterations at Deptford, her master proceeded {55} to London and set to
work upon the preparation of his charts for submission to the
Admiralty.  Thus the winter passed.  The return of spring (1765) saw
the crew of the _Grenville_ assembled, and, with stores aboard,
crossing the broad Atlantic to again continue the survey of the rough
and rugged Newfoundland shore.  (Great Garnish--Long Harbour.)

Again in the late fall the return to England--more work on the charts
and the publishing of them.  On the 20th of April, 1766, the
_Grenville_ left Deptford, and arrived at Bon Ton Bay 1st June.  While
off the Burgeo Islands near Cape Ray on the 5th of August, Cook was
fortunate in securing a fine day to observe an eclipse of the sun.  The
survey of the south-west coast was completed this year, and the
_Grenville_ arrived in the Channel the latter part of November.  During
the winter Cook gave a rsum of his observations on the eclipse to Dr.
Bevis, "a prominent Fellow of the Royal Society, who communicated them
to that body on 30th April, 1767."  By means of this Cook once again
raised himself from the ordinary level of surveyors in general.
Something had been accomplished beyond his daily routine duties, and
the favourable notice which he received from that powerful society was
the key which in time unlocked the gates to those far-off South Seas
whence came that bright shilling of boyhood days.

One more year, that of 1767, was spent in the trusty _Grenville_
completing the survey of the Newfoundland coast-line.  Returning to
Deptford in November, the winter was spent in preparing charts and
sailing directions, all of which were published by permission of the
Admiralty.  Five seasons had been spent in the survey, and under the
most trying conditions of weather; days of fog alternating with gales
of wind as only a Newfoundland climate can do.  Besides, the coast of
the island is deeply indented, which made the navigation of the
_Grenville_ most difficult and entailed much work in the small boats.
In writing of this period in Cook's life, Admiral Wharton says that the
charts were "admirable," that "the best proof of their {56} excellence
is that they are not yet wholly superseded by the more detailed surveys
of modern times," and that "their accuracy is truly astonishing."

Work well done merits a reward.  Nor is it needful that the reward be
in gold; rather should it be in the opportunity for more and larger
service.  The next chapter will tell us how these years of toil were
compensated.



[1] Of H.M.S. _Antelope_, and Governor of Newfoundland.




{57}

CHAPTER VI

EXPLORATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Captain Cook visits Tahiti, circumnavigates New Zealand, and charts for
the first time the east coast of Australia.


The year of 1768 loomed large with promise.  While Cook was busily
engaged upon the completion of his charts of Newfoundland, the Royal
Society began active preparations for the observation of the
forthcoming transit of Venus in June of '69.  It was decided to send
trained observers to North Cape, to far-away Fort Churchill on Hudson's
Bay, and to "any place not exceeding 30 degrees of southern latitude
west from Your Majesty's Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park."  So runs
the desire of the society as set forth in a memorial to the King, and
praying for assistance, as the cost of the undertaking was beyond their
means.  The government of the day quickly came to the rescue with a
grant of 4,000, and it remained but to select the personnel of the
various expeditions.

It was necessary that the expedition to the South Seas be gotten under
way at once in order that the slow-sailing vessel of that day might be
able to reach a favourable station prior to the date of the transit.
The society at first offered the position to Mr. Dalrymple.  He had
spent some years in the employ of the East India Company and upon his
return to England had published a book on the discoveries in the South
Pacific, This had brought him prominently before the public and made
him a well-known character, one interested in geographical research and
discovery.  But Dalrymple proved to be somewhat conceited.  He demanded
the entire command and management of the vessel which was to convey him
to his {58} station.  As he held no naval rank the Admiralty refused to
permit such a procedure, and the society determined to find a more
suitable person.

The choice naturally fell upon Cook.  His years of survey; his finely
executed maps and charts just printed; as well as his interest in
astronomy and proven ability to observe such phenomena, a report of
which Dr. Bevis had but recently read to the society's members; all
these things tended in a most natural manner to bring him to the
favourable consideration of the committee of the society.  And then
there was the added and conclusive qualification, naval rank, that of
master of the _Grenville_.

So, on the 25th of May, Cook received an official communication from
the Admiralty to the effect that he had been appointed First Lieutenant
of the _Endeavour_ bark, and that he was to command the expedition to
the South Seas.

[Illustration: THE "ENDEAVOUR" BARK]

Proceeding to Deptford he went on board and began {59} preparations for
the long voyage.  The vessel was a comparatively new, Whitby built,
bark of three hundred and sixty-eight tons burthen.  Bluff of bow, wide
in the waist, narrow of stern, she was well fitted for the task ahead.
Stores of all kinds for a long voyage would find ample room within her
spacious oaken walls; there would be fitting accommodation for the crew
of seventy, and, when occasion demanded it, she could be run ashore
upon some muddy bank, careened and repaired, without danger to masts
and upper works.

The months of June and July were spent in the endless details of
outfitting for sea.  Supplies of every material which would ensure the
success of the venture must be selected and in proper quantities;
supplies ranging from the medicine chest to food and clothing for the
crew; from articles to trade with the natives of the South Seas to
ship's stores, cannon and ammunition.  A complete set of instruments
for the work of observation as well as for the usual navigation of the
ship must be assembled.  In this part of the work Cook received every
assistance from the members of the Royal Society.  Mr. Charles Green
was appointed assistant observer, and the society furnished the
following instruments: two reflecting telescopes of two feet focus,
with a Dolland's micrometer to one of them and movable wires to the
other; an astronomical quadrant of one foot radius and stand; an
astronomical clock and alarm clock; a brass Hadley's sextant; a
barometer, a journeyman clock; two thermometers and a dipping needle.

In addition to his routine duties Cook was also called upon to provide
room for a party of ten, who were to accompany the expedition in the
interests of science and the advancement of knowledge other than that
of astronomy.  Joseph Banks, a Fellow of the Royal Society and a
gentleman of wealth, had become interested in the expedition, and had
received permission to accompany it.  He selected Dr. Solander as
naturalist, with H. Sporin as assistant.  Three artists and four
servants completed the {60} party.  The presence of Banks and Solander
added interest to the voyage from a public viewpoint, but undoubtedly
strained the accommodation of the vessel to the utmost.  It is greatly
to the credit of Captain Cook that he at all times maintained the most
friendly relations with his scientific confrres and that the voyage
terminated without a single unpleasant episode, something unique in
scientific expeditions of those days.

On the 14th of August the _Endeavour_ arrived at Plymouth, where twelve
marines were signed on, and additional stores were taken on board.
Banks and his party arrived from London on the 20th, and six days later
the commander gave the eagerly awaited order to up anchor and away.



THE VOYAGE TO OTAHEITE

While the good ship _Endeavour_ sturdily wings her way to the southward
a line of recapitulation may be in order.  The expected transit of
Venus over the sun's disk was considered an event of the greatest
importance by the astronomers of those days.  Much valuable information
was expected through the proper observation of the transit, and the
locations from which to make the observations were chosen with great
care.  It had at first been thought to use one of the islets of the
Friendly Island group which had been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642.
But while the _Endeavour_ was fitting for sea, Captain Wallis had
returned from his voyage round the world.  He reported to the Royal
Society that a more fitting place would be George's Island,[1] which he
had discovered on his voyage.  Here a good harbour was to be found and
a shore suitable for the erection of a temporary observatory.
Accordingly, Lieutenant Cook was instructed to proceed to this
island--now known as Tahiti--and to observe the transit.

However, this was not the sole object of the voyage.  {61} Kippis tells
us that "when his chief business was accomplished, he was directed to
proceed in making further discoveries in the great Southern Seas."  No
time limit was set for a return to England.  Delays due to wind, wave,
or accident upon some unknown coast prevented any limitation as to
time; nor were the necessary expenses due to such an undertaking at any
stage a bar to its successful completion.  Never had an expedition left
England's shores in higher spirits, with a better personnel, or with
greater opportunity to startle the scientific world with tales of
new-found lands, of strange peoples, and curious animal life.

Let us now follow the _Endeavour_ on her long voyage to the Society
Islands, and thereby learn something of the route chosen, as well as
secure a glimpse of the ports visited on the way.

On the way south through the Atlantic, it was customary for sailing
vessels of those days to stop at ports a moderate distance from one
another, in order to replenish the water casks, and that supplies of
fresh meat and vegetables might be secured.  This lessened the onset of
the scurvy, which was then (1769) the seaman's scourge.  The
_Endeavour_ made her first call at Funchal Roads, the harbour of the
Madeira Islands.  Thence crossing the Atlantic to the Brazilian coast
the ship anchored in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro on the 25th of
November.  No very flattering reception awaited the members of the
scientific expedition in this port.  The Portuguese governor became
very suspicious, would permit no one but the lieutenant on shore, and
even provided an armed guard to accompany him as he made his purchase
of supplies.  In his endeavour to understand the purpose of the
expedition, the doughty governor formed the idea that the transit of
Venus meant the passing of the North Star through the South Pole, and
promptly decided that all Englishmen were crazy.

With stores replenished, the _Endeavour_ headed out to sea, bound
southward round the Horn.  The 11th of January the {62} land of Tierra
del Fuego was in sight and harbourage was sought in the Bay of Good
Success.  Again the water casks were filled, and wood secured for the
galley fire.  Head winds and tempestuous seas tested the staunch bark
off Cape Horn, and for thirty-three days the crew manned the braces,
reefed sail, and tacked ship in a persistent battle with the elements.
Cruising up the Chilean coast, March found the _Endeavour_ in latitude
38 44' south, and longitude 110 33' west, and the weather gradually
growing warmer, much to the joy of the sailors.  Anchor was cast in
Matavai Bay the middle of April.

Permission was secured from a native chief to erect a small fort on a
part of the shore which lay under the protection of the ship's guns,
and soon all was in readiness for the observation of the transit.  The
3rd of June dawned clear and cloudless; a more perfect day could not
have been secured for the observation.  Cook remarks in his
journal--"The whole passage of the planet Venus over the sun's disk was
observed with great advantage by Mr. Green, Dr. Solander and myself....
We all saw an atmosphere or dusky cloud round the body of the planet,"
etc.  The greatest care was exercised in making the observations as
accurate as possible, and we may be sure that the report to the Royal
Society was a model of precision.

In fact Cook had with his usual thoroughness found time to prepare an
elaborate chart of the group of islands of which Tahiti was the most
important.  To these he gave the name Society Islands because of the
friendliness of the natives.  Every means was employed to learn the
language of the people, their customs and religion, and the whole of
this detailed information was duly reported and printed upon the return
of the expedition to England.  It may be said that the manner of
conducting the voyage introduced a standard for scientific exploration
in that and the succeeding century.  The voyages of Captain Cook have
been common property from that day to this, and are still a very
necessary part of every public library.


{63}

THE EXPLORATION OF NEW ZEALAND

South and west of the Society Islands, where the _Endeavour_ swung at
anchor in Matavai Bay, stretched a vast unknown waste of water from the
longitude of Cape Horn to the position of Tasman's track in 1642.  A
hundred years and more had passed since that courageous Dutch navigator
had seen the southern end of Van Diemen's Land[2] and the north-west
coast of Staten Land.[3]  A part of the unknown ocean was now to be
explored.  Leaving Tahiti on the 18th of July (1769), Cook gradually
increased his latitude until he was well south of the tracks of other
navigators.  Cruising westward, the 25th of August was celebrated as
the anniversary of leaving England.  A month later, the _Endeavour_ was
in latitude 33 south and 162 west longitude.  The 3rd of October
found them a few degrees farther south, and a good ten degrees farther
west.

Various signs now indicated to their experienced eyes nearness to
land--at first birds were seen, then a seal asleep upon the water,
floating sea-weed, then a piece of wood covered with barnacles, and on
the 6th of October land was seen to the westward.  As the ship
approached the shore it appeared to be of large extent both to the
north and to the south--while back from the shore the ground rose in a
series of hills, terminating in a lofty range of mountains far inland.
On the afternoon of the 7th the opening to a bay, which seemed to
extend well inland, was seen, but it was not until noon of the next day
that they were able to find safe anchorage therein and make a landing.
Smoke ascending from different places along the shore proved that this
part of the land was inhabited, but no canoes came off to greet the
arrival of the ship as was the custom amongst the natives of the
Society Islands.  Some natives were seen standing on the shore near the
mouth of a small river, but upon the approach of the {64} pinnace and
yawl they ran away.  The next day every effort was made to make friends
with the Maoris, but to no avail.  As the water in the river proved to
be salty, the natives hostile, and no supplies other than a little wood
could be secured, Cook named it Poverty Bay.  Cook had fallen in with
the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, which had never
before been visited by Europeans.  Abel Tasman in 1642 had discovered
the western coast and had named it Staten Land.[4]  He too had found it
impossible to open friendly relations with the natives and gave the
name of Murderer's Bay (now Golden Bay) to the place where the
_Heemskirk_ and _Leehaan_ for a short time lay at anchor.

Cruising southward, Cape Table was discovered and named.  "It is of
considerable height, makes a sharp angle, and appears to be quite flat
at the top," writes Cook.  Below the cape an island was found to which
the name Island of Portland was given, "from its very great resemblance
to Portland in the English Channel."  In this manner the coast was
followed as far south as latitude 40 34', where Cook deemed it wise to
alter his course.  No really good harbour had been found, and the
coast-line continuing in its regularity there seemed to be little
likelihood of finding one, so the ship was brought round, and stood to
the north, with a fresh breeze from the west.  The high bluff head,
with yellowish cliffs, which they were abreast of at noon, was called
Cape Turnagain, "because here we turned back."  By the 22nd of the
month (October) the _Endeavour_ was well to the northward of Poverty
Bay, and a small bay was at length discovered where wood and water
could be secured in safety.  The natives also appeared to be more
friendly, and a brisk trade in fish, sweet potatoes and yams was begun.

With stores aboard the voyage was continued.  East Cape was rounded on
the 30th, and on the 9th of {65} November fine weather permitted the
observation of a transit of Mercury across the sun's disk.  Several
days were spent in exploring the bay in which the ship now lay at
anchor.[5]  Through the courtesy of the natives a party of officers
from the _Endeavour_ was conducted to one of the peculiar, fortified
Maori villages.  Many such palisaded forts had been seen at different
times during the preceding months, and the scientists were most anxious
to become acquainted with the interior design.  Upon returning to the
ship all agreed that the hill-top upon which it stood had been
converted into a very strong position where a few determined men could
defend themselves against many times their number.  The _Endeavour_
sailed on the 15th, and the cruise to the northward was continued.

The remainder of November and the month of December were spent in the
leisurely survey of the coast; now rounding a promontory, now exploring
and charting a bay--gaining in every possible manner an accurate idea
of the country, its vegetation, the natives and their customs.  At work
of this nature Cook was an adept.  His long years of training as
surveyor of Newfoundland stood him in good stead, and the many dangers
to be encountered on an unknown shore were skilfully avoided.  By the
17th (December) the ship was off the northern extremity of the land,
and to this Cook gave the name of North Cape.  Keeping at a good
distance from the shore, owing to the strong currents encountered; the
Cape was at length weathered (21st December).  Christmas Day was spent
at sea amid such cheer as the ship afforded.

Violent storms ushered in the new year, and but for the excellent
seamanship displayed by the commander the voyage might easily have
terminated in shipwreck and disaster.  In summing up this part of the
voyage, Cook very candidly remarks: "We were three weeks in getting
fifty leagues, for at this time it was so long since we passed Cape
Brett.  During the gale we were happily at a {66} considerable distance
from the land, otherwise it is highly probable that we should never
have returned to relate our adventures."

Cook now sailed down the western coast of the North Island, keeping as
close to the shore as possible.  But meeting in turn with squalls from
the north-west, winds from the west and gales from the south, the
exploration was carried out with great difficulty and not without
considerable danger.  That he fully realised his position is shown by
the following observation: "Nothing is to be seen but long sand hills,
with hardly any green thing upon them, and the great sea which the
prevailing westerly winds impel upon the shore must render this a very
dangerous coast.  This I am so fully sensible of, that were we once
clear of it I am determined not to come so near again if I can possibly
avoid it, unless we have a very favourable wind indeed."  For two weeks
the battle was maintained.  Cook was determined to keep in sight the
western shore line as he tried to weather his way to the southward, and
he did it.  No better example of the man's persistence is to be found
in this voyage than the exploration of the northern and western coasts
of this island.

On the 12th (January) the _Endeavour_ came in sight of a high peak,
towering into the clouds like that of Teneriffe (12,180 ft.).  To this
was given the name of Mount Egmont, in honour of the Earl of that
name.[6]  But the weary buffeting with adverse winds on a lee shore was
soon to be at an end.  Two days later land was seen stretching along
the southern horizon almost across their course, and some leagues to
the westward.  Away to the east of south the sea was clear as far as
they could see.  A course was laid which would bring the ship over to
the new land, which was seen to be "of a considerable height,
distinguished by hills and valleys, and the shore seems to form several
bays, into one of which I intend to go with the ship in {67} order to
careen her (she being very foul) and to repair some few defects,
recruit our stock of Wood, Water, etc."  The next day a commodious
inlet was entered, and soon a safe anchorage was secured in a snug cove.

To this inlet they gave the name of Queen Charlotte Sound, while the
large bay, of which they thought this inlet formed a part, was in
reality the passage between the North and South Islands, known to-day
as Cook's Strait.

While the operations necessary to the repair of the ship were
proceeding, Cook and the other gentlemen on board occupied their time
in exploration.  The sound was found to extend for some twenty-five
miles into the land, and its shores were inhabited by small tribes of
Maoris, who soon came off in their canoes to stare at the ship, cast a
few stones, and, as ever, stood ready to open an attack if the
opportunity could be secured.  But by mingled firmness and kindness the
natives were at length won over.  A few presents, a desire to trade,
yet instant readiness to defend the ship from attack were the means
employed.  Evidence was soon forthcoming that the Maoris were
cannibals, and that they made a common practice of eating those of
their enemies whom they slew in battle.  This horrible custom made the
whole ship's company doubly careful, and no untoward incident marred
their stay in the sound.

On the 22nd, while exploring the eastern side of the inlet.  Cook
decided to land, climb a near-by hill, and thus get a better view of
the surrounding country.  Higher hills cut off his view to the
southward up the inlet, but he was well rewarded for his trouble.  From
his new vantage point he could see below him a great strait or passage
extending far to the eastward.  He resolved to explore this passage at
the first opportunity, and remove any doubt as to its connection with
the ocean to the eastward.  But there was to be no hurried departure of
the ship from the present secure berth.  The captain was as thorough in
his repair of the ship as he had been persistent in his survey {68} of
the North Island, as the following extract from his Journal will
testify.


_Saturday_, 27_th_.  Fresh Gales, Westerly.  This day we got the Tiller
properly secured, which hath been the Employment of the Armourers and
part of the Carpenters since we anchor'd at this place; the former in
repairing and making new Iron work, and the latter in fixing a transom,
for the want of which the Tiller has often been in danger of being
broke.  Coopers were employ'd repairing the Casks; some hands with the
long boat getting on board stones to put into the bottom of the bread
room to bring the ship more to the stern; while others were employ'd
cutting wood, repairing the rigging, and fishing.


At the end of three weeks all was in readiness to continue active
exploration of the strait.  The _Endeavour_ cleared the entrance to the
sound on the 7th of February and stood to the eastward.  Passing
through the strait, the coast of the North Island was cruised as far as
Cape Turnagain, which completed the circumnavigation of this island.  A
course to the southward was now decided upon in order to explore the
shore-line to the southward of the strait they had just passed through.
Each day brought new vistas of mountain, bay and cape.  Each night an
offing must be secured lest they find themselves dashed upon some
projecting arm of this unknown shore--a shore never before coasted by
any European.  The remainder of February passed in this manner, the
ship being navigated ever farther to the southward.  The 10th of March
found them in latitude 47 19' south, a heavy swell coming from the
south-west by west, and no land in sight in that quarter.  To the
southernmost land of Stewart Island Cook gave the name of South Cape.
This was successfully weathered, and the voyage prosecuted to the
westward.  An attempt was made to find an anchorage off the
south-western extremity of the land, but darkness coming on Cook was
afraid to venture farther up the inlet he had selected.  He gave to it
the name of Dusky Bay, and on his second voyage was {70} fortunate
enough to explore it and admire the magnificent scenery which this bay
affords.

The ensuing two weeks were spent in a run up the coast to Cape
Farewell, the unsettled condition of the weather making a landing out
of the question.  Rounding the Cape on the 24th, they passed across the
mouth of Tasman Bay, and, on the 26th, entered an inlet just to the
west of Queen Charlotte Sound.[7]  There the empty water casks were
refilled, wood was secured, and final preparations made to leave the
New Zealand coast.  Cook tersely remarks: "As we have now
circumnavigated the whole of this country, it is time for me to think
of quitting it."  But what a wealth of perseverance, what a nicety of
seamanship, what an eternal vigilance is compressed within that short
statement!  A century and a half later Captain Wharton is moved to
write the following appreciation, discussing the accuracy of the charts
made during the exploration of the New Zealand coast:


But the astonishing accuracy of his outline of New Zealand must be the
admiration of all who understand the difficulties of laying down a
coast; and when it is considered that this coastline is 2400 miles in
extent, the magnitude of the task will be realised by everybody.  Never
has a coast been so well laid down by a first explorer, and it must
have required unceasing vigilance and continual observation, in fair
weather and foul, to arrive at such a satisfactory conclusion; and with
such a dull sailer as the _Endeavour_ was, the six and a half months
occupied in the work must be counted as a short interval in which to do
it.


======================================================================

{69}

[Illustration: NEW ZEALAND as Captain Cook charted it.  1769-1770]

======================================================================

After some deliberation it was decided to continue the voyage in a
westerly direction to the coast of New Holland,[8] thence along this
coast to its northern extremity.  Once this point was reached a further
decision must be made for the voyage home.  Accordingly the ship was
got under sail and the 1st of April found her out of Admiralty Bay and
the mountains of New Zealand showing low on the {71} eastern horizon.
For the next two weeks the journal of the voyage makes mention of
gentle breezes, light airs next to a calm, and calm serene weather.  On
the 16th April, 1770, strong gales were encountered: "Before 5 o'clock
we were obliged to close reef our Top sails, having a strong gale, with
very heavy squalls."  This weather continued for several days.  Birds
were then seen, a Port Egmont hen, a pintado bird, some albatrosses,
sure signs of approaching land.  On the 18th at 6 p.m. "saw land
extending from N.E. to W., distance 5 or 6 leagues."  This proved to be
the south-eastern shore of Australia,[9] and the ship was now steered
to the northward along the coast.  To the prominent and unusual
contortions of the coast-line names were given.  Thus Cape Howe, Cape
Dromedary, and Cape St. George received the names which they bear to
this day.  Jervis Bay was seen, but no entry was made.  "The N. point
of this bay, on account of its Figure, I nam'd Long Nose ... 8 leagues
to the northward of this, is a point which I call'd Red Point; some
part of the Land about it appeared of that Colour."  So the voyage
continued, until, the weather moderating, it was possible to approach
nearer to the shore, and on the 28th anchor was cast in a large bay.
Some natives were seen on the beach, but when the captain, accompanied
by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander and Tupia, went ashore in the boats they all
made off into the woods, except two men who seemed bent upon opposing
the landing.  Cook describes the scene very well, and as it illustrates
his method of dealing with the inhabitants of these regions it is given
as written in the journal:


As soon as I saw this I order'd the boats to lay upon their oars, in
order to speak to them; but this was to little purpose, for neither us
nor Tupia could understand one word they said.  We then threw them some
nails, beads, etc., ashore, which they took up, and seemed not ill
pleased with, in so much that I thought that they beckoned to us to
come ashore; but {72} in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put
the boat in they again came to oppose us, upon which I fir'd a musquet
between the 2, which had no other effect than to make them retire back,
where bundles of their darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and
threw at us, which caused my firing a second musquet, load with small
shott; and altho' some of the shott struck the man, yet it had no other
effect than making him lay hold on a Target.  Immediately after this we
landed, which we had no sooner done than they throw'd 2 darts at us;
this obliged me to fire a third shott, soon after which they both made
off, but not in such haste but what we might have taken one; but Mr.
Banks being of opinion that the darts were poisoned, made me cautious
how I advanced into the Woods.


The next morning, while the sailors were busy with the usual routine of
securing wood and water, the captain took the pinnace with the intent
of sounding and exploring the bay.  Again the natives fled at his
approach and it was quite impossible to make friends with them.
Landings were made at places where the natives were seen to have been
busy around small fires, and here fresh mussels were found broiling in
the hot embers.  Great heaps of oyster shells bore a mute testimony to
the habits of the inhabitants, and the size of the shells was
particularly remarked upon.  But to the scientists of the _Endeavour_
this bay proved to be a veritable wonder-house of new and strange
plants.  Because of the number of specimens secured by Banks and
Solander the name Botany Bay was decided upon.  Cook describes it as
capacious, safe, and convenient; with an entrance a little more than a
quarter of a mile broad.

With necessary stores aboard, the _Endeavour_ sailed out of Botany Bay
on the 6th of May.  About noon the entrance to another large bay was
seen, to which Cook gave the name of Port Jackson.  No attempt was made
to enter as there were many hundred miles of coast ahead, and the ship
stood in no need of refreshment.  But in the year of 1788, Captain
Phillip decided upon Port Jackson as the most favourable location for
the establishment of the first {73} penal colony sent to these shores,
and in this manner the city of Sydney was begun.  Broken Bay was passed
in the evening, and with a favourable wind the ship was steered along
the shore all night, "at the distance of about 3 Leagues from the land,
having from 32 to 36 fathoms, hard sandy bottom."

On the 10th Port Stephens was passed; the next morning they were
abreast of a high point of land, "which made in 2 hillocks; this point
I called Cape Hawke."  Farther up the coast Smoky Cape received its
name, as one may easily conjecture, from the great quantity of smoke
arising from a bush fire in the vicinity.  The shore continued to be
low and sandy, with here and there hills, none of any great height.  On
the 15th Cape Byron received its name.  The next day a low ledge of
rocks stretching out some six miles from the coast arrested their
hitherto somewhat uneventful passage and gave the captain an anxious
hour.  Inland could be seen a "peaked mountain, which bears S.W. by W.
from them, and on their account I have named it Mount Warning."  And to
the point of land off which these shoals lay, Cook gave the name of
Point Danger.[10]  On past Morton Bay, where the city of Brisbane now
stands; around and over Breaksea Spit they held their way, ever keeping
as near the land as possible, charting the coast, selecting names, many
of them most appropriate, for the more prominent coastal features.
Life on board the _Endeavour_ was no sinecure for the ship's officers.
Yet no hint of weariness is to be found within the covers of the
journal.  Always the restless energy of the man drove him on to farther
and still farther shores.  Imbued with the thirst for accurate
discovery and exploration, only inaction was painful.  These must have
been the supreme days of all days for Cook; the transit happily
observed, New Zealand charted, and now the unknown shore of a vast
island continent undergoing a similar {74} treatment at his capable
hands.  Truly a wonderful day to have lived, to have enjoyed to the
very last dregs: what then could matter?

Anchor was cast in Bustard Bay[11] on 22nd May.  But a short stay
sufficed, and early in the morning of the 24th they weighed, and with a
gentle breeze at south made sail out of the bay.  Cape Capricorn was
passed the next day, and soon shoal water caused Cook to anchor inside
Keppel Island and send the boat ahead to sound.  Although he did not
know it, he had entered upon a most dangerous course.  From Cape
Capricorn to Torres Strait shoals infest the coast; in places there
were innumerable small flat islets; outside of these, at some
considerable distance from the shore, stretches the great Australian
Barrier Reef.  The wonder is that he ever got through.  From Saturday
the 26th to Sunday the 3rd of June the account is the same.  Shoals,
dangerous and strong tides, muddy bays, flow land--to seaward chains of
islands paralleling the coast.  The latitude of Cape Conway was found
to be 20 26' south, a small advance in eight days.

From the 3rd to the 10th the same tale is told.  Their latitude was now
15 45' south.  Evening coming on, Cook decided to haul off shore and
get, as he thought, into deeper water, and by morning be in a position
to examine a few islands which could be seen in the distance.  These he
thought might be the islands discovered by Quiros, and which the
geographers of those days placed in this very latitude.

The breeze was favourable, the night was moonlit, and in standing off
shore the water deepened gradually from fourteen to twenty-one fathoms.
What a relief it would be to get well away from the lagoon-infested
sandy shore-line of this New Holland coast, whose navigation had proved
to be so dangerous and trying for the past fortnight.  But now the
water as suddenly shoaled to twelve, ten, eight fathoms.  {75} Before
an anchor could be let go, however, the lead as suddenly showed twenty
and then twenty-one fathoms.  All went well till just before eleven
o'clock, when the depth lessened to seventeen fathoms--"and before the
Man at the Lead could heave another cast, the ship struck and stuck
fast."  Boats were manned in all haste, sails were taken in, and
soundings were made.  These showed that the ship had struck upon a
coral reef, parts of which were bare at low tide.

No time was lost in repining.  Anchors were skilfully placed in an
endeavour to pull the vessel off, but to no avail.  Every effort was
then made to lighten her.  Water casks were emptied overboard, some of
the guns were unceremoniously dumped into the sea, stone ballast was
got up from below and rumbled over the side.  Then followed much of the
usual useless paraphernalia which is bound to accumulate on a long
voyage--empty casks, hoop-staves, "oil jars, decay'd stores, etc."  In
this manner the vessel was lightened of between forty and fifty tons of
material, but as this was found to be insufficient to float her, "we
continued to lighten her by every method we could think of."

It was a busy scene, yet orderly.  Cook was everywhere, directing,
encouraging and at the same time careful that no indispensable material
was carelessly discarded.  Daylight came at last, but only to mock them
with its brilliance and show to one and all their desperate situation.
Night descended on exhausted bodies and a ship stuck fast on a coral
reef miles from the nearest shore of an unknown island continent.

Their situation was indeed one of great danger.  Fortunately there was
little wind, and the weather continued fine the whole twenty-four hours
the ship remained upon the reef.  But their labours were not to go
unrewarded, and about twenty minutes past ten (p.m.) the ship floated,
"and we hove her into Deep Water, having at this time 3 feet 9 inches
Water in the hold ... after this {76} turn'd all hands to the Pumps,
the leak increasing upon us."  In this wise it was now thought best to
make for the mainland as quickly as possible.  Sail was forthwith got
upon the ship, and she stood in toward the shore.  As the ship
continued to leak in a most dangerous manner it was decided to try
fothering, as a last resource.  For this purpose a sail upon which
oakum and wool were lightly sewn was drawn under the ship's bottom by
means of ropes.  When the sail came in contact with the leak some of
the oakum would be drawn into the torn places by the inrush of the
water, and so help to plug the larger apertures of the badly damaged
hull.  This device proved successful, and in a short time one pump
could keep the water down with ease.  Hope now revived of being able to
save the vessel if a convenient place could be found for laying her
ashore.  Diligent search was made by the officers in the small boats,
while the ship remained at anchor in shallow water a mile from the
shore.  A narrow channel was at length discovered leading into the
mouth of a small river, upon whose gently sloping banks the ship could
be laid while repairs were made to the broken planks.  But stormy
weather prevented them from entering until late on the 17th of June,
1770.  All had good reason to be thankful for their deliverance from
the dangers of the past week, and the crew set to work with a will to
remove the stores on shore, lighten the ship of everything she
contained, then lay her on a carefully selected sloping bank so that
the carpenters might make the necessary repairs.

While these operations were being successfully carried out, the
gentlemen, Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, the captain and others had
opportunity for rambles ashore, and a fairly thorough exploration of
the surrounding country was made.  On the 24th a most curious animal
was seen, and I shall give the description in the captain's own words:
"It was of a light mouse colour, and the full size of a Grey Hound, and
shaped in every respect like one, with a long tail, which it carried
like a Grey Hound; in short, I should {77} have taken it for a wild
dog, but for its walking or running, in which it jump'd like a Hare or
Deer."  About two weeks later Mr. Gore, while on a short excursion up
the river, shot one of these peculiar animals.  The following
description completes the tale:


The head, neck and shoulders very small in proportion to the other
parts.  It was hair lipt and the Head and Ears were most like a Hare's
of any animal I know; the Tail was nearly as long as the body, thick
next the Rump, and Tapering towards the end; the fore legs were 8
inches long, and the Hind 22.  Its progression is by Hopping or Jumping
7 or 8 feet at each hop upon its hind Legs only, for in this it makes
no use of the Fore, which seem to be only design'd for Scratching in
the ground, etc.


This animal was called by the natives Kanguroo, and the name has been
retained to the present day with slightly different spelling.[12]

July passed, August came, and the ship had been successfully repaired,
floated, re-laden, and made ready for sea.  To the estuary they now
quitted Cook gave the name of Endeavour River.  On its banks to-day
stands Cooktown, the seaport to a near-by gold-mining district.
Proceeding with great caution, the ship followed a winding channel out
to the north-east.  Past Cape Flattery and Higard Island an opening in
the Barrier Reef was discovered, and on the 13th of the month the ship
passed through to the deep water beyond.[13]  For nearly three months
they had been tangled among sandy islets, shoals and reefs.  They had
sailed "360 leagues by the Lead without ever having a Leadsman out of
the chains when the ship was under sail."  Probably the like had never
happened before nor since.

Sailing northward, the _Endeavour_ eventually passed out of sight of
land, and Cook, being anxious to prove whether New Holland connected
with New Guinea or no, gave orders {78} to steer west in order to again
get within sight of land.  By evening of the 15th they were not only in
sight of land, but the dreaded Barrier Reef lay there as before,
extending away to the southward as far as could be seen and a like
distance to the northward.  The wind now changed to east and north,
which made it a practical impossibility to weather a northerly spur of
the reef.  Then it fell quite calm.  Daybreak showed the mountainous
surf breaking on the reefs a bare mile to leeward, and the waves
carrying the ship toward them with relentless progress.  The pinnace
and longboat were manned, and sent ahead to tow, but their united
efforts were barely sufficient to delay the onward drift of the ship
toward certain destruction.  Anchoring was out of the question; no
bottom could be found with one hundred and forty fathoms of line, the
reef rising almost perpendicularly from the ocean depths.  They were
now so near the reef that but one wave length separated them from
instant destruction, when a light breath of air was observed to just
distend the sails.  With the aid of the boats, whose crews had not
ceased to row with the greatest energy, the course of the ship was
stayed and a hundred yards gained.  At length the ship was worked into
comparative safety some two miles to the eastward and away from the
reef, but the flood tide beginning, their utmost endeavour could barely
maintain their present position.  In this predicament it was resolved
to try a narrow opening which was now observed to lie about a mile to
the westward.  Mr. Hicks was sent to examine it in one of the boats,
and upon reporting favourably, the ship was steered toward it.  Passing
safely through, anchor was cast in the calm lagoon-like sea within the
reef, where soundings gave them nineteen fathoms over a coral and
shelly bottom.  To this opening in the reef Cook gave the name
Providential Channel, and truly Providence aided the crew of the
_Endeavour_ at the most critical time of the whole voyage.[14]

{79}

After consultation with the other officers it was agreed not to again
attempt the passage of the reef, but to stay within, and make the best
of their way to the northward through the shoals, keeping the mainland
in sight and in this way prevent a similar occurrence to the one just
described.  Cook was determined to find out whether New Holland was
connected with New Guinea or no, and to do this it was necessary to
keep the mainland in sight, lest he over-run the passage if one there
was.  It was a bold policy to pursue, yet one indicative of the
pertinacity of the man and the only one which would with certainty lead
to discovery of importance.

The daily record is the same, as the _Endeavour_ was navigated with the
greatest care through the maze of shoals and islets which dot the broad
expanse of water between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef.  Two
boats were generally kept constantly ahead sounding.  Look-outs high up
in the rigging swept the sea for a fair passageway up which the vessel
might advance.  Progress was necessarily slow.  In five days they had
not made a hundred and fifty miles to the northward.  But on the 21st
of August, 1770, the mainland was seen to end in a long and moderately
high promontory.  This was named Cape York, after Edward Augustus, Duke
of York, a brother of George III.

A course was then laid to the westward in order to establish this
point.  The ship was then successfully navigated through a channel
between the innumerable islands which infest the sea between Australia
and New Guinea.  To this passage Cook gave the name of Endeavour
Strait, after the ship.  Before leaving the vicinity of Cape York, Cook
had landed on an island, named Possession Island in honour of the
ceremony performed there, and had taken formal possession of the
country whose coast he had been the first to explore and map, naming it
New South Wales.

Once clear of the islets and shoals of Torres Strait the {80} course of
the ship was toward the north-west in an endeavour to fall in with the
coast of New Guinea, where refreshment for the crew might be secured
and thus help out the dwindling stores aboard.  The 26th of August
found them out of sight of land and well on their way.  Three days
later the low-lying shore of New Guinea was sighted.  Cape Valsche was
weathered on the 31st, and the coast was kept in sight for several days
as the _Endeavour_ now pursued a more northerly course.  On the 3rd of
September the ship was anchored as close to the shore as the shallow
nature of the sea would permit, and Cook went ashore in a small boat
accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander.  The natives (Papuans)
proved hostile and no attempt at trade was made.  Upon regaining the
ship Cook decided to leave New Guinea at once, and, by sailing to the
southward of Java, pass through the Sunda Straits, and so to Batavia,
where a large Dutch settlement and convenient harbour would permit of
examination and proper repairs to the vessel, which still continued to
leak.

Rounding Timor Island, the north side of Sayu was skirted.  Here a
landing was made on the 18th and negotiations opened with the Dutch
governor for supplies of fresh beef, fruits, etc.  Fair promises were
made by this individual, but there proved to be a sad lack in their
performance.  Indeed at this time the Dutch frowned upon any foreign
vessel attempting to touch upon or trade with the natives of these
islands over which the Dutch claimed sovereignty.  But the captain was
altogether too adroit for the worthy governor and, by judicious
presents to the native chiefs, secured at a reasonable price nine
buffaloes, a number of fowl, and a large quantity of syrup.  With these
welcome stores aboard sail was set and the vessel pursued her westerly
course.

The 1st of October found them rounding Java Head and entering Sunda
Strait.  But adverse winds, powerful currents and the slow sailing
qualities of the _Endeavour_ made the {81} passage of the straits a
most tedious procedure.  From Java Head to Batavia is one hundred and
twenty miles, yet it took the ship nine days to complete this part of
the trip and it was also found necessary to anchor upon fifteen
different occasions.  At four o'clock in the afternoon of the 10th of
October the _Endeavour_ swung idly at anchor in Batavia Road.  There a
gladsome sight met the eyes of the sea-weary mariners, two years away
from home, and for the larger part of that time completely out of touch
with their own kith and kin.  Cook mentions sixteen large ships as
present in the harbour (three of them English, the remainder Dutch),
besides a number of small vessels.  It will thus be seen that Batavia
was a busy port in those days and the centre for Dutch East India trade
amongst the islands contiguous to Java.

The long two years' voyage thus far fortunately concluded, let us note
one extraordinary feature.  Not one man was on the sick list when the
_Endeavour_ arrived in Batavia harbour.  Not one case of scurvy was to
be found.  Lieutenant Hicks, Mr. Green, and Tupia were the only men
aboard the ship who were at all below the average of the general good
health of the entire crew.  Surely the scientific world of those days
did well to recognise the merit of a commander who could so
successfully overcome the seamen's scourge of the preceding centuries.
"Of the many ships which had arrived at Batavia after voyages across
the Pacific, none but had come to an anchor with crews decimated and
enfeebled through scurvy."

To the governor of the island Cook now addressed himself, desiring to
secure permission to heave down the ship so that proper repairs might
be made to the damaged hull.  This worthy functionary, His Excellency
the Right Honourable Petrus Albertus Van der Parra, was pleased to lend
every assistance the port provided.  Accordingly the _Endeavour_ was
warped alongside a wharf, the stores taken out, and the ship keeled
over, first to starboard, then to port.  The keel was found to be in a
very damaged {82} condition; a great quantity of the sheathing was gone
and two of the planks were within an eighth of an inch of being cut
through.  And "here the worms," so runs the journal, "had made their
way quite into the timbers, so that it was a matter of surprise to
every one who saw her bottom how we had kept her above water, and yet
in this condition we had sailed some hundreds of leagues, in as
dangerous a navigation as in any part of the world, happy in being
ignorant of the continual danger we were in."  This entry bears the
date of the 9th of November.  The rainy, unhealthy season was
approaching, but much remained to be done.

By the 16th the repairs were complete and the ship began taking on
stores.  This proceeded slowly, owing to the increasing illness of the
crew.  Nearly every one was now down with fever, some indeed died, and
Cook was able to muster but an odd dozen hands to forward the work of
loading and getting ready for the long voyage homeward which still
remained to be accomplished.  A month later this entry
appears--"Employ'd taking on board Provisions; Scraping and Painting
the ship."  It was not until the day after Christmas that the
_Endeavour_ passed out to sea.

The long, dreary, heat-infested days were over.  The good ship, once
more stout and firm, gladly lifted her wave-worn bow to the rolling
breakers and the fever-stricken crew stretched out gaunt faces to the
clean fresh breeze of the ocean spaces.  Seven of the crew had died at
Batavia, including Mr. Monkhouse, the surgeon.  Forty were on the sick
list when the _Endeavour_ put to sea, with the remainder of the crew in
a weakened condition.  Throughout it all Cook himself seems to have led
a charmed existence.  He was continually alert and active,
superintending every phase of the repairs, yet he was able to come
through the three plague months in Batavia in perfect health.  Men of
lesser mould would not have lived to tell the tale.

Passing out through the Straits of Sunda, a course was {83} laid for
the Cape of Good Hope.  Between the 24th of January and the 6th of
February sixteen of the crew entered upon the seaman's last long
voyage.  Cook redoubled his efforts to keep the ship clean and in a
healthy condition.  On the 26th he "clear'd ship between decks and
washed her with vinegar"; on the 1st of February this operation was
repeated, lime was put in the water casks in an endeavour to purify the
drinking water.  But every precaution seemed of little avail, and the
sick grew gradually worse and succumbed one by one.  This was a most
distressing circumstance when viewed in the light of the fine record of
the preceding two years.  Before the end of February five more
succumbed, making a total of twenty-three members of the crew who died
during the voyage to the Cape from the dysentery contracted at Batavia.

On the 5th of March the _Endeavour_ fell in with the coast of Africa
off Point Natal in latitude 32 south.  With a south-east wind it was
necessary to secure an offing, and then beat down the coast.  The
_Endeavour_, while staunch, was not a fast sailer, and this part of the
voyage proved to be most wearisome to the decimated crew.  Cape
L'Agulhas was passed on the 11th, and, rounding Cape of Good Hope on
the 13th, anchor was cast in Table Bay two days later.  The first
consideration was to find quarters ashore for some twenty-eight
convalescent members of the crew.  This was speedily accomplished, and
then the usual procedure of taking on fresh stores was begun.  The
latter part of March was spent in this manner, as well as in
overhauling and repairing sails, a never-ending task for the nimble
fingers of the sailors detailed for this work.

While in Table Bay Cook took advantage of the opportunity afforded him
to sign on a sufficient number of sailors to make good the losses he
had suffered through illness, and when the _Endeavour_ put to sea on
the 14th of April, 1771, it was once more with a full complement.  Just
prior to his departure word was brought by an {84} incoming vessel that
war was daily expected between England and Spain.  This news, however,
did not deter the captain from his decision to sail at once for
England.  The voyage as far as St. Helena passed without incident.
Anchoring in the roadstead of St. Helena on 1st May, Cook found two
British warships swinging at anchor and twelve Indiamen.

The _Endeavour_ joined the convoy which put to sea on the 14th.  But
her slow sailing qualities made Cook decide to let the convoy proceed
homeward ahead of him, and on the 24th, when some eight degrees north
of the equator, the rearmost ships of the convoy were out of sight.
June came, and dragged its weary length through to the end.  No time is
so long as that which counts each day the lessening hours which
separate us from a sight of home and dear ones there.  The 10th of July
this entry appears in the journal: "At noon we saw land from the Mast
Head, bearing N., which we judged to be about the Land's End....  At 2
in the P.M. saw the Lizard land, and at 6 o'clock the lighthouse bore
N.W., distant 5 Leagues."  Two days later this entry appears: "At 3
o'clock in the P.M. anchor'd in the Downs, and soon after I landed in
order to repair to London."--(Signed) JAM^s COOK.

The long voyage was at an end.



[1] Named Otaheite in Cook's _Journals_.

[2] Now Tasmania.

[3] Now New Zealand.

[4] The map as Tasman left it in 1644 remained practically unaltered
until after this voyage of the _Endeavour_.

[5] Cook's Bay.

[6] Earl of Egmont, First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763 to 1766.
Altitude of mountain, 8,300 feet.

[7] Admiralty Bay.

[8] Australia.

[9] Cook's landfall was Cape Everard of present charts.

[10] Point Danger is the boundary point on the coast between New South
Wales and Queensland.

[11] A seventeen-and-a-half pound bastard was shot here, hence the name.

[12] The first time this animal was properly identified.

[13] Now known as Cook's Passage.

[14] No other navigable opening is to be found within a score of miles.




{85}

CHAPTER VII

THE SEARCH FOR ANTARCTICA--THE SECOND VOYAGE, 1772-1775

In which the demon scurvy is roundly trounced.


After interviewing the Lords of the Admiralty, we may be sure that Cook
repaired to his cosy home at Mile End.  There he learnt that his
youngest child had died, as well as his daughter Elizabeth, who had
just passed her second birthday when he sailed from Plymouth in August
of 1768.  Such were the pangs of disappointment which tempered the joys
of family reunion in those far-away days.  The returning sea-farer,
through lack of any means of communication, was kept perforce in
complete ignorance of his family's welfare until port had been made and
friendly faces met him at the wharf.

One would naturally think that the leader of such a strenuous
expedition would be entitled to a long period of rest and recuperation
on shore; that time would be given in which to renew old acquaintances
about town, visit his parents at Marton, and see the Walkers of Whitby.
Even a jaunt down to old Saunderson at Staithes, were the good man
alive, would, no doubt, add to the pleasure of a week in Yorkshire.
Had not his fame spread far and wide?  Out of the vast spaces of the
southern ocean great fertile islands had been re-discovered, completely
charted, and in a manner added to the Empire's possessions.  A large
part of the New Holland coast had been likewise treated, and formal
possession of that land announced by the lieutenant of the _Endeavour_.
His brother officers, the Royal Society, all those who followed the sea
in a sea-girt isle gave him due meed of praise and acclaim.

{86}

But the business of the Admiralty may not wait.  Besant sums up the
next few months very well: "It would seem, however, as if there were
little leisure for anything but business.  He had first to put in
order, and to deliver to the Admiralty, all his notes, journal, log
books, and observations, with the drawings and charts."  This done he
found time to write a paper for the Royal Society, called "An Account
of the Flowing of the Tides in the South Sea, as observed on board His
Majesty's Bark, the _Endeavour_."  A further paper on the scientific
results of the voyage soon followed.  James Cook, one-time mate of the
coal barge _Freelove_, was coming into his own.  His opinions in the
nautical world of Britain were eagerly read, and the Admiralty, in
recognition of his services, promoted him to the rank of commander.

November brought new responsibilities.  In the previous year Dalrymple
had published a Collection of Voyages.  This stay-at-home geographer
and dry-land sailorman had managed to swallow the Antarctic Continent
fable.  His book raised the controversy afresh.  When Cook returned in
'71 those who firmly believed in the existence of such a continent were
eager to point out that Cook's discoveries in no wise proved them in
the wrong, and, in fact, his discovery of New Zealand seemed but to add
fresh fuel to the controversy.  The Admiralty at length became
interested in the question and Lord Sandwich was instrumental in
securing the consent of the government for an expedition "which should
endeavour to clear up and finally settle the controversy concerning the
continent."  The command of this expedition was offered to Cook, and he
accepted it at once, 28th November, 1771.

From that time until he sailed we must think of him as attending in his
usual thorough manner to the thousand and one details of the selection
and preparation of the vessel for the projected voyage to the Antarctic
Seas.  The Admiralty had decided to once and for all lay the Antarctic
Continent Ghost, and had wisely selected, as leader, {87} the one man
who, above all others, had shown himself efficient in seamanship,
dogged of purpose, skilled in observation, and in every respect master
of his craft.  Owing to the dangers consequent upon such an
undertaking, Cook prevailed upon the Admiralty to purchase and outfit
two vessels, for, true to the resolve he had made after those harrowing
hours upon the coral reef of Australia, Cook had decided never again to
venture upon such a lengthy voyage in a single vessel, the danger of
loss of the vessel, crew, and records of the expedition being too great
to warrant the less expensive method.

In his introduction to the second voyage, Captain Cook gives a clear
and lucid account of the initial preparations as undertaken by the Navy
Board.  Excerpts from this account are given below in order to throw an
added light upon the painstaking care with which he went about the
preparations for the voyage.

"Soon after my return home in the _Endeavour_, it was resolved to equip
two ships, to complete the discovery of the Southern Hemisphere.  The
nature of this voyage required ships of a particular construction, and
the _Endeavour_ being gone to Falkland Isles, as a store-ship, the Navy
Board was directed to purchase two such ships as were most suitable for
the service.  At this time various opinions were espoused by different
people, touching the size and kind of vessels most proper for such a
voyage...."  Here follow the proposals--large ships of forty guns, East
India Company ships, good sailing frigates, three-decked ships, etc.
After discussing at some length the necessity for care in selection of
the type of ship, Cook decides that a vessel used in exploration should
be "of a construction of the safest kind, in which the officers may,
with the least hazard, venture upon a strange coast.  A ship of this
kind must not be of a great draught of water, yet of a sufficient
burden and capacity to carry a proper quantity of provisions and
necessaries for her complement of men, and for the time requisite to
perform the voyage.  She must also {88} be of construction that will
bear to take the ground; and of a size which, in case of necessity, may
be safely and conveniently laid on shore, to repair any accidental
danger or defects.  These properties," he declares, are to be found
only in "north country built ships, or such as are built for the coal
trade....  In such a vessel an able sea-officer will be most
venturesome, and better enabled to fulfil his instructions, than he
possibly can in one of any other sort of size."

To the lack of care and foresight in selecting their vessels, Cook lays
the true cause of the many failures and even disasters which dogged the
track of many a would-be discoverer of that century.  In nearly all
authentic and short accounts of the life and voyages of Captain Cook,
this point has been quite overlooked, although without doubt it was one
of the chief assets of the three great voyages undertaken by this
navigator, and it is the point most strongly emphasised by the captain
himself.

Two such ships were accordingly purchased of Captain William Hammond,
of Hull.  They were both Whitby built by the same person who built the
_Endeavour_, and were, in the opinion of the captain, as well adapted
to the intended service as if they had been built for the purpose.  The
larger of the two was of 462 tons burthen, and was named _Resolution_.
The other was of 336 tons burthen, and was named _Adventure_.

Space will not permit of remarks anent copper sheathing, which was just
at that time coming into vogue, but Cook was averse to the new method
and preferred to have them sheathed with wood.  Cook took command of
the _Resolution_ and Tobias Furneaux, who had been second lieutenant
with Captain Wallis, was promoted to the command of the _Adventure_.
Several of the officers who had accompanied Cook in the _Endeavour_
were to fill similar positions on the _Resolution_, and amongst the
roster of able seamen is a name afterwards to become famous in the
settlement of the Nootka Sound controversy, George Vancouver.

{90} The crew of the _Resolution_ numbered 112; that of the _Adventure_
81 men.

Probably no vessels ever before this time sailed from a port so well
and thoroughly equipped.  All the knowledge which science in those days
could supply was called upon to this end.  It was resolved to test out
every kind of anti-scorbutic thought to be of use in fighting this
dread disease of the slow-sailing vessel of 1771.  Wheat was
substituted in the place of so much oatmeal, and sugar in lieu of so
much oil; and when completed, each ship had two and a half years'
provisions on board.  In addition the following were supplied as
anti-scorbutics--malt, sour-crout, salted cabbages, portable broth,
saloup, mustard, marmalade of carrots, and inspissated juice of wort
and beer.  We shall see later how Cook handled this phase of the voyage
and the additions made to science in this regard.  It may be stated
here that had the voyage no other result than the finding of proper
means for the prevention of scurvy on long voyages, then the voyage
might be termed an entire success and Captain Cook deserving of every
honour as a benefactor to all those who go down to the sea in ships.

======================================================================

{89}

[Illustration: SKETCH SHOWING TRACK OF CAPTAIN COOK'S SECOND VOYAGE]

======================================================================

In order that every contingency might be provided for in case of
shipwreck upon some barren coast, "the frame of a small vessel, of
twenty tons burthen, was properly prepared, and put on board each of
the ships."  Fishing nets, lines, hooks of all kinds and description
were among the stores provided by a generous Navy Board, as well as
articles of trade with the natives of such islands or lands where the
ships might touch for refreshment.  Since the voyage was to take the
vessels to high latitudes in the southern hemisphere, supplies of warm
clothing were requisitioned: these were to be issued to the seamen as
occasion might demand.

"In short, nothing was wanting that could tend to promote the success
of the undertaking, or contribute to the conveniences and health of
those who embarked in it."

In addition to the usual complement of lieutenants, {91} master, and
master's mates, midshipmen, sailmakers, armourers, sailors and marines,
the Admiralty engaged the services of William Hodges, a landscape
painter.  He was to make drawings and sketches of places of interest
visited during the voyage, of the aboriginal people met with, their
dress and modes of life.  Nor was natural history neglected, and John
R. Forster and his son were selected to fill this position.  Wales and
Bayley were selected by the Board of Longitude to make observations and
thus relieve the captain from much routine work.  The Board furnished
them with the very best instruments obtainable and the results of their
labours were published upon the return of the expedition in 1775.



EXPLORING THE ANTARCTIC

For our purposes it will suffice to note briefly the route followed,
and state the results of this expedition.  The _Resolution_ and
_Adventure_ sailed from Plymouth the 13th of July, 1772.  The first
stop was at Funchal Roads, the line was crossed on the 8th of
September, arriving at Table Bay the end of October.  While lying at
anchor there, Cook noted the arrival of two Dutch East Indiamen from
Holland.  They had been five months _en voyage_, and from the crew of
the first, forty-one had died "by the scurvy and other putrid
diseases," while the second vessel had lost one hundred and fifty in
the same manner.  Added to this a large number of the remaining seamen
were so ill that they were conveyed to hospital on shore at once.  This
terrible record was no exception to the rule in those days, and
explains to some extent the length of time it had taken to forward
exploration in the far reaches of the Pacific.  Of the crews of the
_Resolution_ and _Adventure_ it may be said that they were in excellent
health.  There had been but two deaths since leaving England; one by
drowning, one by illness.  Attention to some of the ordinary {92} rules
of sanitation so well known by all to-day was bringing its own reward.

The latter part of November the expedition sailed to the southward.
Three weeks later the floating ice islands of the Antarctic were
sighted, and the middle of December found the ships on the edge of an
immense field of solid ice in latitude 55 south.  A course was then
laid to the eastward, following the edge of the ice pack.  By the 8th
of January (1773) Cook had reached 61 south along the 31st meridian.
Sailing on eastward, a week later he crossed the 67th parallel, where
further progress was found impossible, solid fields of ice blocking the
way.

Turning northward to the latitude of 48, an easterly course was
followed through part of February, during which time the vessels became
separated.  The _Resolution_ again sought the ice pack, this time in
the longitude of 95 east.  Cook was determined to comb the Antarctic,
and either discover or dispose of for ever the fabled continents of
that sea.  At 62 south he was forced to select a more northerly course
and continued to the east between the parallels of 58 and 59.  The
middle of March found him on the 146th meridian; still no land in
sight, nor any signs of land in the vicinity.  He was actually sailing
over lands which had for two hundred years fancifully bedecked the
mariners' charts.  He was pushing back the northern limits of
Antarctica to within the parallel of 60 south, and to the same amount
extending the limits of the great cold southern ocean.

Cook now steered for New Zealand, and on the 26th moored in Dusky Bay.
They had been one hundred and seventeen days at sea, had covered three
thousand six hundred and sixty leagues in that time, and without once
sighting land.  But one sailor on board was ill of the scurvy.  This
was entirely due to the precautions taken before leaving England, in
supplying the ship with sweet wort, portable broth and sour-crout.
Already the voyage had been a success in proving the efficacy of these
as {93} anti-scorbutics.  Cook also gives credit to the frequent airing
and cleansing of the men's sleeping and living quarters, a course which
he rigorously followed on all his voyages.

Exploration was resumed in May.  The _Adventure_ was located in Queen
Charlotte Sound.[1]  A few weeks later the ships again put to sea.
Passing through Cook Strait, that part of the sea east of New Zealand
was cruised as far south as latitude 45, and as far east as the 133rd
meridian of west longitude, a space that had not been visited by any
preceding navigator.  Due to the appearance of scurvy on board the
_Adventure_, it was decided to re-victual at Tahiti, and port was made
the middle of August.  In October, the expedition revisited New
Zealand, the _Adventure_ again losing touch with her consort.  The
_Resolution_ then pursued her way alone down the 179th meridian to
latitude 62 south.  Steering eastward, Cook followed the ice edge as
close as he dared go, finally reaching 66 south in longitude 159
west.  Again a thrust north to 47, then a zig-zag south-east to 62;
longitude now 116 west.  Cook came to the conclusion that no large land
mass existed between New Zealand and South America.  The previous year
he had demonstrated the same thing to be true from the longitude of
Africa to New Zealand.  He had now, the latter part of January and in
longitude 106 west, latitude 71 11' south, proved the same to be true
of that part of the Antarctic from the longitude of New Zealand to that
of South America.  In March, refreshments were secured at Tahiti, and
June, July and August were spent in a leisurely survey of the
Polynesian islands to the westward of the Society group, arriving
eventually in Queen Charlotte Sound of New Zealand.  With the return of
spring to the southern hemisphere, Cook again set out on an easterly
course, this time along the 50th parallel.  He made the run to the
Straits of Magellan in thirty-eight days, the first time such a thing
had been attempted.  At this point Cook sums up his explorations {94}
in these words: "I have now done with the Southern Pacific Ocean, and
flatter myself that no one will think that I have left it unexplored;
or that more could have been done, in one voyage, towards obtaining
that end, than has been done in this."  Here was the consciousness of
work well and truly done, and posterity has answered in the affirmative.

Founding Cape Horn, January of 1775 found the _Resolution_ cruising the
Southern Atlantic.  There ice-scarred South Georgia was discovered.
Continuing easterly along the 58th parallel, Cook finally linked up
with his exploration of 1772 south of Africa.  The _Resolution_ was
accordingly headed to the northward, having, as Cook tersely remarks,
"no business farther south."

He had now completed his circuit of the great Antarctic Ocean in a
latitude ranging from 55 to 65 south.  It had been traversed in such
a manner "as to leave not the least room for the possibility of there
being a continent, unless near the pole, and out of reach of
navigation....  Thus I flatter myself that the intention of the voyage
has, in every respect, been fully answered; the southern hemisphere
sufficiently explored, and a final end put to searching after a
southern continent."  Of the continental mass which Cook did believe
existed over the South Polar regions, it was found to lie in such a
high latitude and to experience such an extreme of cold that he was
positive no commercial importance could in any manner attach thereto.
Nor could large areas ever be seen, ringed as it was with floating ice
islands of huge size and of enormous extent.  On parting from them he
wrote: "Lands doomed by nature to perpetual frigidness; never to feel
the warmth of the sun's rays; whose horrible and savage aspect I have
not words to describe--such are the lands we have discovered; what then
may we expect those to be which lie still farther to the south?"

And what were the conditions of crew and vessel after all these years
at sea?  Of the former it may be said that {95} not one man was ill;
all were in good health, due to the precautions taken by the lieutenant
commander.  At every anchorage fresh water had been secured, without
which no crew could long remain in good health.  Diligent search had
been made for fresh meat to supplant the heavily salted or pickled
meats.  Whenever an over-supply had been secured the remainder had been
put in pickle, but one of considerably less strength than that in
general use.  Fresh vegetable material of every description which could
be boiled and made into a soup or broth had also been procured whenever
diligent search rewarded their efforts.  From the standpoint of the
health of the crew it would seem that the voyage might have been
continued indefinitely.  And this will bear repetition, that of no
voyage of like duration could this have been said.  Always the dread
scurvy had made its appearance, always a large number of the crew
sickened and died miserably at sea.  The brave remainder, often more
dead than alive, navigated the vessel to the nearest port, there to
remain for many weeks recuperating, while the officers sought far and
wide for more sailors to fill the empty hammocks.  It may be truly said
that in this, his second great voyage, Captain James Cook mastered the
demon scurvy, and, by giving his record to the world, was the direct
cause of promoting and adding to the security and happiness of all who
go down to the sea in ships.

Other features now made a return to England an imperative matter.  The
biscuits were by this time in a state of decay, so infested with weevil
as to burn the mouths of those who tried to eat them.  The sails and
cordage were much worn, so much so that something was giving way every
hour; and little was left in the great store rooms of the vessel with
which to effect replacement or repairs.

A course which would bring them to Table Bay was accordingly decided
upon, and one and all bade farewell to the Antarctic which had been
their goal of endeavour {96} for the past three years.  With what speed
the baffling winds would permit, the good ship made her way all too
slowly for the anxious hearts of the crew, now longing for a sight of
bronzed English faces on the ships of the East India Company, surely to
be found at call in the spacious Cape Town harbour, and the 21st of
March found them safely at anchor in the much-desired haven.

A salute of thirteen guns was made, the compliment as duly returned by
the Dutch officer in command of the port.  Boats put off from the
_Resolution_, one to the _Ceres_, an English East Indiaman homeward
bound from China, another to the quay to present Cook's compliments to
the governor and politely ask for supplies.  By the _Ceres_, due to
sail, letters, charts, etc., were sent to the Admiralty Board in
London.  From the governor came kind permission to purchase needful
stores.  A spectacular and fitting entry to the fringe of civilisation
after years of wanderings in far distant seas!

News now came, in the shape of a letter, bearing intelligence of the
_Adventure_.  It appeared that, after the separation from the
_Resolution_ in the storm near the New Zealand coast, the _Adventure_
had gained the shelter of Queen Charlotte Sound about a week after the
departure of the _Resolution_ from that anchorage.  While refitting,
the large cutter had been sent to a distant part of the sound to gather
wild celery, where the natives had attacked the boat, captured her and
killed the crew of ten.  When Captain Furneaux learned of this sad
occurrence, he had no other recourse than to leave the sound and
proceed, by way of Cape Horn, to Cape Town.  Refitting there, he sailed
for England, where the _Adventure_ arrived on the 14th of July, 1774.

[Illustration: MAORI TRIBESMAN]

This was in a manner satisfying intelligence to those who had for long
feared the total loss of their consort.  Repairs to the _Resolution_
were hastened, and on the 26th of April, 1775, the homeward journey was
begun.  The middle of May found her at St. Helena, where Governor {97}
Skettowe treated his distinguished visitors with every courtesy.  The
voyage was resumed on the 21st, and a week later, Cross Bay on the
north-west side of Ascension Island was entered, and for several days
the crew of the _Resolution_ were actively engaged catching turtles.
Twenty of these monsters were secured, averaging 400 pounds each.  They
proved to be a welcome addition to the larder, and no doubt Cook's idea
was to proceed in such a leisurely fashion as to bring home his crew in
as fine a state of health as possible, besides avoiding the high prices
he would have paid for fresh beef, either at the Cape from the Dutch or
at St. Helena from the English East India Company.  His native thrift
ever showed itself in such devices.  And what an illuminating picture
of those days, of the manner in which voyages were conducted, before
the days of the {98} squat, rust-streaked tramp drove the picturesque
white wings from the sea lanes.

Cruising northward past the island of Fernando de Noronha, off the
Brazilian coast, past the eastern edge of the Sargasso Sea, 13th July
found our company off the Island of Fayal, one of the Azores.  A week
was spent here, the officers as guests ashore were most hospitably
treated; then once more the voyage was resumed.  Ever northward the
ship bore them, nearer and nearer came the beloved shores of the
homeland--at last land was sighted on the 29th near Plymouth.  The next
morning the _Resolution_ was anchored at Spithead, and that same day
Cook and several of the gentlemen on the ship landed at Portsmouth, and
set out for London.  Another long voyage had come to a happy end, weary
seamen might now receive their dearly loved shore leave, then, in some
tidy inn, the centre of an admiring throng, relate a tale of distant
lands far down below the old earth's brim.

      *      *      *      *      *


SPAIN ENTERS THE LISTS

In order to understand the exploration and subsequent development of
trade along the western coast of America between the years 1776 and
1800, it seemed advisable to give the preceding brief account of the
man who made such voyages a possibility.  While it is true that a
rsum of Captain Cook's life takes us far from the west coast of North
America, we see where the great additions were made to geography during
the years following Bering's voyages from Kamchatka.  With the southern
hemisphere delineated in 1775 in a manner approaching the charts of
to-day, there remained but three hazy outlines: the Arctic shores of
America from Hudson's Bay to the vicinity of East Cape in Siberia; the
Pacific Coast of America from San Francisco Bay to Kodiak Island, and
that part of the Alaskan shore northward to the Arctic Sea; the coast
of Japan and China from the Kurile Islands southward to the vicinity of
Formosa.  In an age of discovery, when {99} the tools at hand had been
greatly improved, it would be strange indeed were there no revival of
interest regarding these dim coasts.  The following chapters tell the
tale and introduce Captain Cook in charge of the first English
expedition to the North Pacific.[2]

      *      *      *      *      *

The country most concerned in these Pacific explorations was
undoubtedly Spain.  Her government had heard with grave misgiving of
Russian encroachment in the far north.  She now witnessed the further
discoveries by the English in the far southern Pacific waters.  It
behoved her to do something to assert her claim to the sovereignty of
that ocean and its bordering American coast.  Accordingly, about the
year 1774, the port of San Blas was fortified, warehouses were erected,
and shipbuilding actively carried on.  That same year Juan Perez, in
command of the corvette _Santiago_, was despatched northward from San
Blas on a reconnaissance voyage.  He was instructed to examine the
coast as far as the 65th degree of north latitude.  If Russians were
encountered, their posts were to be noted, and the amount of coast-line
which they had occupied.  Sailing late in January of '74 and touching
at Monterey, the trend of the coast was followed in a vague manner to
the 53rd parallel, where mountains were seen to the eastward--the Queen
Charlotte Islands of to-day.

Although badly in need of water, no anchorage could be found, and Perez
turned southward without attempting to reach latitude 65.  On the
homeward voyage an attempt was again made to anchor, this time in the
vicinity of Nootka Sound, midway of the west coast of Vancouver Island.
But a sudden storm almost drove the _Santiago_ on a dangerous reef, and
Perez continued on his way southward without having once landed on that
coast which he had come so far to explore.  He arrived at Monterey 27th
August.  "Beyond a cursory examination of one or {100} two points, and
ascertaining the general trend of the coast line, little was
accomplished by this expedition."

Nothing daunted, the Mexican viceroy outfitted another expedition the
following year.  Don Bruno Heceta took command of the _Santiago_, and a
little schooner, the _Sonora_, was assigned to Lieutenant Quadra, an
enterprising official in the San Blas district.  In July of '75 the
expedition had reached latitude 47, and came to anchor near Point
Grenville, a few miles north of the Grays Harbour of to-day.  Upon
landing, formal possession of the country was taken in the name of the
Spanish monarch.  These were the first Europeans to set foot, so far as
we know, upon the west coast south of the confines of Alaska, and north
of the Spanish settlements in Southern California.

In a brush with the Indians the _Sonora_ lost part of her crew, and
Heceta was for returning to Monterey at once.  Quadra on the other hand
held out for a continuation of the voyage northward.  Becoming
separated in a storm, Heceta improved the opportunity to sail homeward,
but Quadra carried on, and reached the Alaskan coast islands in the
vicinity of Mount Edgecumbe and Norton Sound.  He had sailed to
latitude 57, two hundred miles beyond Perez, and in a schooner but
twenty-seven feet in length, mustering a crew of fifteen.  The voyage
has been aptly described as "an effort as heroic as it was foolhardy in
such an unseaworthy and ill-equipped craft."

On the homeward voyage Quadra landed on the west coast of Dall Island,
and took formal possession of the country for his sovereign.  The
_Sonora_ reached San Blas in November, and was welcomed with much
acclaim.  While the endeavours of Quadra deserve the highest praise,
they exemplify more the bold and resourceful nature of the man than the
record of any practical addition to geographical knowledge.  The most
that may be said is that a few widely separated bits of coast had been
seen along a hitherto unknown shore-line.  No continuous exploration
had been made of even a hundred miles of coast.  What inlets, bays,
{101} gulfs or islands lay along that shore no one in San Blas could
tell from a perusal of the charts brought home.  In a very general way
the _trend_ of the coast had been laid down almost up to that portion
seen by Bering thirty-four years before.  With the voyage of Captain
Cook along these shores, and the multitude of fur traders who followed,
the shore-line of the far west coast of America began to take on actual
form and contour.



[1] Not far from Tasman Bay at the north end of the island.

[2] At least since the days of Drake, 1579.




{102}

CHAPTER VIII

COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE

A voyage to the Pacific Ocean to determine the position and extent of
the west side of North America; its distance from Asia; and the
practicability of a Northern Passage to Europe.  Performed under the
direction of Captains Cook, Clerke and Gore, in His Majesty's Ships the
_Resolution_ and _Discovery_, in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780.


THE LAST YEAR AT HOME

After reporting to the Admiralty, Cook repaired to his little home at
Mile End, Old Town.  But he was almost immediately summoned to attend
an audience with the king (9th August).  In reward for his services the
king handed him his commission as post-captain, and appointed him to
the command of H.M.S. _Kent_.  Three days later he was further rewarded
by a captaincy in Greenwich Hospital.  This carried a salary of 200
per annum, together with certain other emoluments, and was considered
to be an easy, well-paid billet.  It was thought that he who had led so
strenuous a life would enjoy the relief from exacting cares which this
appointment ensured.  Cook, however, had no notion of rusting out on
shore like some worn discarded anchor, and he was careful to reserve
for himself the right to re-engage in active service at any time,
should occasion warrant the move.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN JAMES COOK.  From an engraving after the
original portrait by Dance in the Gallery of Greenwich Hospital.]

The 19th of August, 1775, found him again at Mile End, writing to his
old friend Walker of Whitby.  Then came months of worry and much hard
work preparing the journal of his voyage for publication.  This seems
to have kept him busy till June of '76, and the manuscript was {103}
completed just prior to setting sail on his third voyage of discovery
and exploration.  At the same time other matters of moment were
attended to in the captain's usually thorough manner.  On the 29th of
February, 1776, Captain Cook was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The week {104} following he was formally admitted to this distinguished
body, and there read a paper on the "Prevention and Cure of Scurvey."
In this he embodied the facts learned by investigation and experiment
during his two voyages to the southern seas.  It may be said to mark a
decided change for the better in the lot of the common sailor, both of
the mercantile as well as of the purely naval service.  In recognition
of his valuable services to mankind, the Society later in the year
awarded to Cook the Copley Gold Medal for the best paper contributed
during the year.

Now it had been noised abroad that the Admiralty had in mind the
sending out of still another expedition to the Great South Sea, and
even into the far reaches of the North Pacific.  It was proposed that
two vessels be sent to the Pacific by way of the Cape of Good Hope;
thence by way of New Zealand to the Society Islands where Omai[1]
should be repatriated.  From there a northward course would be taken to
the coast of North America.  Somewhere north of 45 north latitude[2] a
port was to be found, and refreshments for the crew secured.  The coast
was then to be investigated in the hope of finding a passage either
through the continent to Hudson's Bay, or failing in that, by way of
Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean.  If no passage were found the first
season the expedition was to winter at Petropavlovsk, and make another
attempt the next year.  All new lands discovered were to be formally
taken possession of by the expedition in the name of the king.

At the same time the Admiralty proposed to send an expedition by way of
the Atlantic to explore Davis Strait and Baffin's Bay "with a view of
obtaining information as to the existence of any passage into the
Pacific."  Perhaps the two expeditions might join hands in mid-Arctic
regions, {105} and be of assistance to each other!  For some years
there had been a standing offer from the Admiralty of 20,000 to any
British merchant ship discovering a passage from Hudson's Bay to the
Pacific.  The offer was now enlarged to include the Royal Navy, and the
passage might be either east or west so long as it was north of
latitude 52.  By both sending out expeditions and offering a huge
reward, the Admiralty hoped to find such passage should one there be,
and at the same time obtain control of the passage in the interest of
the empire.

It was an ambitious plan.  Not since the days of Peter the Great and
Vitus Bering had such inducements been offered, nor had such large
government expenditure been authorised in behalf of that elusive
will-o'-the-wisp the North-East Passage.  It might also be noted that
the conflict with the Thirteen Colonies had begun its chequered career,
but the preparations for this great struggle do not seem to have had
any effect upon the prosecution of the venture under review, nor is any
mention made of it in the early part of the journal of the voyage.

After discussion of the plan with Lord Sandwich, Sir Hugh Pallister and
Mr. Stephens, Cook decided to apply for the command of the Pacific
Coast expedition.  The quiet backwaters of Greenwich Hospital did not
appeal to his active mind and in fact he had never taken up his
residence there.  His offer was immediately accepted by the Lords
Commissioners of the Admiralty and Cook at once repaired to Deptford,
where the _Resolution_ was undergoing extensive repairs.  As consort,
the _Discovery_, another Whitby built ship, was secured, and the
command given to Charles Clerke, who had been second lieutenant on
board the _Resolution_ during the second voyage.

From the 9th of March to the 15th of June, 1776, the vessels were
taking on stores.  These included not only the usual food supplies for
the sailors but all that had been found so successful during the
preceding voyages in conquering the scurvy.  Warm clothing was also
carried {106} in addition to the usual allotments, as the voyage was to
lead this time to the far northern Pacific and possibly well within the
Arctic Circle itself.  Both ships were provided with a proper
assortment of iron tools and trinkets, which Cook informs us would
enable them "to traffic and to cultivate a friendly intercourse with
the inhabitants of such new countries as we might be fortunate enough
to meet with."  The most accurate watches obtainable were furnished
them by the Admiralty in order that the observations should be accurate
and the charts made be of service to future navigation.  It is notable
that on this voyage Cook decided to perform the duties of observer in
person, a position which heretofore had been filled by a trained
astronomer.  The captain was now considered competent to fill this
difficult post as well as carry the responsibility of the whole voyage
and the general oversight of both vessels; a task fit to try the best
of men.  But Cook at this time seemed the embodiment of tireless
energy.  No multiplicity of detail ever worried him--and his journals
are full of the joy of endeavour which brimmed his cup with the sweets
of accomplishment.

To Mr. Anderson was given the dual post of surgeon and naturalist, and
to Mr. Webber that of artist.  Many members of the crews of the second
voyage enlisted for service in this voyage, and probably no expedition
ever sailed from England's shores carrying a more experienced and more
loyal crew.

An element of interest also attaches to Omai, the South Sea Islander,
who had accompanied Captain Furneaux from Huahaine to England.  "Being
the first native of the South Sea Islands brought to England he was
sought after as a wonder, and became the 'lion' of a season; he was
introduced to fashionable parties, conducted to the splendid
entertainments of the highest classes, and presented at court.  When he
departed from England he was loaded with presents, but few of which
were calculated to be of real service.  He carried with him a coat of
mail, {107} a suit of armour, a musket, pistols, cartouch-box,
cutlasses, powder and ball; a portable organ and an electrical
machine."  One can but smile at the curious array of material.  Yet the
possession of such a collection of warlike implements and the knowledge
of their use could not but make Omai a most wonderful person when set
down in his native habitat.  In fact we shall learn that the King of
Huahaine made him a chief, "gave him his daughter in marriage, and
honoured him with the name of Paari (wise or instructed)."

For his own part Omai left London with a mixture of regret and
satisfaction.  When the conversation would be about England and those
who had honoured him with their protection or friendship his spirits
were sensibly affected and it was with difficulty he could refrain from
tears.  But the instant the conversation turned to his own islands, his
eyes began to sparkle with joy.  The captain and his charge boarded the
_Resolution_ where she now lay at anchor off the Nore, and on the 30th
of June joined the _Discovery_ at Plymouth.

Contrary winds detained the vessels in the sound for the best part of a
fortnight; then the _Resolution_ sailed for the Cape of Good Hope with
orders for the _Discovery_ to follow.  Captain Clerke was detained in
London, having taken refuge "within the Liberties of the Fleet prison."
He had become financially involved through the inability of a friend to
meet certain obligations which Clerke had guaranteed, and the worthy
captain had taken this novel means of eluding the moneylenders, who, as
usual, wished to extract their pound of flesh.

Let us then follow the fortunes of the _Resolution_.  On the 14th of
July, 1776, she was within sight of the Lizard, five days later
sufficient sea room to the west had been gained and the long southern
route was begun.  "We passed Cape Finisterre, on the afternoon of the
24th, with a fine gale at north-north-east."  On the 30th of July, "at
six minutes and thirty-eight seconds past ten o'clock {108} at night,
apparent time, I observed with a night-telescope, the moon totally
eclipsed."  A call was made at the island of Teneriffe for supplies and
the ship anchored in the road of Santa Cruz.  No less than eighteen
sail of various nationalities were found at anchor in the road, an
interesting side-light on the sea-borne commerce of those days, when it
was the custom to make calls at convenient ports for refreshment of
crew and officers alike.

Continuing southward past the Cape Verde Islands, the close sultry
weather with continual rains caused much discomfort.  The deck seams
had been poorly caulked and there was not a dry spot between-decks.  To
combat this condition Cook redoubled his efforts, drying the interior
of the vessel by fires, and airing spare sails and the men's bedding on
such days as the weather permitted.  The line was crossed on the 1st of
September, with the usual ceremony of ducking those who had not crossed
the equator before.  Day followed day in monotonous tropical sameness.
The least sign of bird life was sufficient to cause a flutter of
excitement, an albatross, a few petrels, and after passing the southern
tropic some penguins were seen.  At last the Cape of Good Hope was
sighted on the 17th of October and the following day anchor was let go
in Table Bay.

The _Discovery_ arrived on the 10th of November and Captain Clerke
informed his commander that he had sailed from Plymouth on the 1st of
August.  Cook's journal omits to tell us how Clerke escaped from the
Fleet Street sanctuary and gained the security of his own quarter-deck.
The remainder of November was occupied in fitting out each ship for the
long journey into the heart of the Pacific.  The 1st of December found
both vessels out beyond Penguin Island and heading south-east to get
into the track of the roaring forties.

Christmas Day was spent in a small harbour among the islands discovered
by Kerguelen in 1772, but it was not until the 27th that leave could be
granted the {109} hard-working sailors in which to celebrate the day.
Christmas Harbour, as their anchorage was named, was but a barren spot,
the weather was wretched, fog alternating with wind and rain, so that
small cheer was to be had from a ramble ashore to explore the mysteries
of this practically unknown land.  For some days the vessels coasted
the shore-line of this lonely island group, then, on the last of the
month, a course was laid for New Zealand.[3]

[Illustration: AUSTRALIAN BUSHMAN WITH BOOMERANG]

After three weeks and three days of voyaging ever eastward, the welcome
shores of Van Diemen's Land[4] came in sight to the northward.  The
ships put into _Adventure_ Bay on the south-east shore of the island,
and proceeded to recruit their wood and water.  The following day they
were agreeably surprised by the appearance of some natives, eight men
and a boy.  Let the journal tell the story:


They approached us from the woods, without betraying any marks of fear,
or rather with the greatest confidence imaginable; for none of them had
any weapons, except one, who had in his hand a stick about two feet
long, and pointed at one end.  They were quite naked, and wore no
ornaments; unless we consider as such, and as a proof of their love of
finery, some large punctures or ridges raised on different parts of
their bodies, some in straight, and others in curved lines.  They were
of the common stature, but rather slender.  Their skin was black, and
also their hair, which was as woolly as that of any native of Guinea;
but they were not distinguished by remarkably thick lips nor flat
noses.  They had pretty good eyes and their teeth were tolerably even,
but {110} very dirty.  Most of them had their hair and beards smeared
with red ointment; and some had their faces also painted with the same
composition.


So much for the appearance of the native Tasmanian in the days of long
ago, when the white man first saw him under natural conditions.

The captain tried them with presents, but the natives either threw them
down in disgust or returned them.  But two pigs, which had been brought
on shore, were at once seized upon by the Tasmans as prizes of great
value.  The native carrying the stick was at length persuaded to show
its utility.  He set up a piece of wood as a mark at about twenty yards
distance, and proceeded to throw at it.  "But we had little reason to
commend his dexterity," so runs the account, "for after repeated
trials, he was still very wide from the object."  Then follows an
amusing touch.  "Omai, to show them how much superior our weapons were
to theirs, then fired his musket at it, which alarmed them so much,
that notwithstanding all we could do or say, they ran instantly into
the woods."

The next day a larger group of natives were encountered, and some of
the women were observed to wear large pieces of kangaroo skin tied over
the shoulders and round the waists.  It seemed to be used mainly as a
support for their children when carried on their backs.  All these
natives seemed to be in a most wretched or shall we say primal state of
civilisation.  Blackened coals near the beach, and ascending columns of
smoke in the distance, gave every evidence to their use of fire, while
large heaps of mussel-shells showed the Englishmen what food the
natives were in the habit of eating.  But their refusal to eat
freshly-caught fish, the absence of weapons, and the miserable shelters
made of sticks covered with bark, alike bore mute witness to the simple
habits of the native inhabitants.[5]

{111}

THE VOYAGE TO NEW ZEALAND

The 30th of January, 1777, dawned bright and clear--and with a light
breeze from the west the ships cleared the bay and made all sail to the
eastward.  Twelve days later anchor was cast in Queen Charlotte Sound.
Preparations were at once begun for a stay of several weeks.  Empty
water casks were got on shore, tents were erected, and an observatory
made in order to check up the ships' watches.  Two men were appointed
to brew spruce beer; the carpenter and his men set about cutting a
supply of firewood for the vessels; "a boat, with a party of men, under
the direction of one of the mates, was sent to collect grass for the
cattle; and the people that remained on board were employed in
refitting the ship, and arranging the provisions.  In this manner, we
were all profitably busied during our stay."  A busy scene, full of
action and colour.  It needed but the native Maoris to complete the
tableaux, and these were not wanting.

The ships had been at anchor but a short time when several canoes
filled with Maoris came alongside.  Few of them would venture on board
until Omai, who understood their dialect, assured them of the captain's
kindly intentions and that no revenge was to be taken for the massacre
of the boat's crew belonging to the _Adventure_.[6]  The news spread
along the sound to the other Maoris and soon the shores in the
immediate vicinity of the tents were dotted with the rude huts of the
natives.  This was considered a very fortunate state of affairs by the
captain, as the natives were expert fishermen, and every day, when the
weather would permit, some of them would go out to catch fish.  By the
simple process of barter large quantities of fresh food were then
easily secured for the crews of both vessels.  It was by attending at
all times to the securing of fresh food that the excellent state of
health of the crews was maintained.

{112}

Nor does Cook appear in the least to have held the Maoris in fear.
Their numbers did not cause him alarm; ever he seems to have trusted in
his ability to get along with the natives by peaceful means.  He did
not neglect any necessary precaution on the other hand; boats were not
permitted to go far up the sound, and those away on short errands went
well armed.  The captain at length, with a well-armed boat's crew,
visited the cove where the crew of the _Adventure's_ boat had been set
upon and killed.  By means of Omai every possible circumstance
surrounding the affair was gathered from the natives, who told about it
in the frankest manner.  It would seem that there had been no
premeditation in the assault which had been made.  A Maori had been
caught stealing some object from the boat, and had been severely
whacked by the lone member of the crew left in charge.  His cries had
aroused the assembled natives.  They at once fell upon the other
members of the crew, who were seated at some distance, peacefully
eating their supper.  In a few moments every Englishman was dead, and
shortly afterwards the boat itself was torn in pieces.

Cook, in the most generous and broad-minded manner, wisely decided to
pass over the incident as an unfortunate occurrence, which no attack of
his could remedy or repair.  Rather did he try the more to make fast
friends of the natives of the sound, and in this it would seem he quite
succeeded.



THE VOYAGE TO TAHITI

With everything in readiness, the 25th of February, 1777, found the
_Endeavour_ standing out of the sound, the _Discovery_ following, and,
passing through the strait, a course to the eastward was laid.  March
passed and April came as the ships pursued their eastward journey, ever
tending to the northward to reach Matavai Bay, and once again renew old
friendships.  A few new coral-rimmed {113} islands were discovered, but
the absence of good anchorage forbade any but the most cursory
investigation of them.  By the middle of the month the small islets of
the Palmerston group were seen.  A landing was effected, and several
boat-loads of fresh cocoa-nuts were secured, but of the much desired
fresh water there was none.  Cook now decided to touch at Anamooka,
where he hoped to secure the necessary supplies of fresh water and
grass.  The first fortnight of May was accordingly spent at a snug
anchorage on the north side of the island.  The natives of this
group--the Friendly Isles--as their name implies, gave a most cordial
welcome to their unexpected visitors; trade was brisk, all the products
of which the land boasted could be easily secured for a few nails,
beads, a hatchet, etc.  One can gain but a remote idea of the
extraordinary value a South Sea Islander was wont to set upon a bit of
iron.

Proceeding to Lefooga, a most enjoyable week was spent by one and all.
The natives brought down from their plantations great heaps of yams,
cocoa-nuts, plantains and bread fruit.  The chiefs presented the
captain with hogs and fowls, while in return presents were duly
despatched from the ships to the chiefs.  Nor did the entertainment
cease with these exchanges.  On one afternoon the islanders formed
themselves into a great circle around an open grassy space.  To this
carnival the English were invited.  The first number on the programme
might be called single combat with native clubs made from green
branches of the cocoa-nut tree.  After parading around the circle, the
club men divided, half to one side, half to the other.


Soon they successively entered the lists and entertained us with single
combats.  One champion, rising up and stepping forward from one side,
challenged those of the other side, by expressive gestures more than by
words, to send one of their body to oppose him.  If the challenge was
accepted, which was generally the case, the two combatants put
themselves in proper attitude, and then began the engagement, which
continued till one or the other owned himself {114} conquered, or till
their weapons were broken.  As soon as each combat was over, the victor
squatted himself down facing the chief, then rose up and retired.  At
the same time some old men, who seemed to act as judges, gave their
plaudit in a few words, and the multitude, especially on the side to
which the victor belonged, celebrated the glory he had acquired in two
or three huzzas.


This was followed by wrestling matches, boxing matches, and other feats
of strength.  About three thousand people viewed the exhibition, and
throughout there was the best of good humour on all sides, though, as
Cook relates, "some of the champions received blows, which, doubtless,
they must have felt for some time after."

Feenou, the head chief of this group, now asked that the marines be
paraded so that he might see the English manoeuvre.  Cook readily
granted the request and never were British seamen more vociferously
applauded.  Several volleys were fired at the conclusion of the
entertainment, and this lent a fitting climax to an afternoon of
friendly sport.  That evening Cook arranged to set off fireworks which
quite astonished the islanders.  In return, a dance by a chorus of
twenty young women was arranged for, and the English visitors were
delighted with the soft music of the rude orchestra, the beauty of the
performers, as well as by the intricate mazes of the dance.

Thus ended a gala day at Lefooga.  The mild nature of the climate, the
tropical luxuriance of the surrounding foliage, the bright lights at
night, the concourse of happy people, all left a most pleasing
impression on the visitors.  Coming as it did after many months of
sailing, buffeted by wind and wave, this seemed the Lotus Land of all
endeavour.  Why journey on to the far north, to the cold and ice of
Alaska?  Why not remain here, mid sunny glades, in a gentle clime, with
friendly joyous people?  But England's sons have sterner duties to
perform, the island was soon low on the horizon's edge, as the vessels
resumed their voyage to Tahiti.

{115}

[Illustration: BREAD-FRUIT]

It was now the 17th of July, and high time that the voyage be
continued, if the Society Isles were to be visited, Omai repatriated
and the objects of the northern cruise undertaken.  Cook had apparently
given up the idea of searching the North American coast this season
(1777).  Contrary winds had assailed them after leaving New Zealand,
and in order to save the cattle he had on board, it had been deemed
best to put in at the Friendly Isles rather than risk the run to Tahiti
with scanty stocks of fodder.  The cattle, which the journal frequently
mentions, consisted of male and female kine, sheep, goats, swine, and
turkeys.  It was the intention of the Admiralty to leave pairs of them
at different places throughout the South Pacific in the hope that the
natives would care for them, that these new shores would soon be
stocked with these useful animals and thus be of much value to the
natives as well as providing varied means of refreshment {116} to
trading vessels of the future.  Surely this was a laudable undertaking.
But the mildness of the climate, added to the apathy of the native
inhabitants, led Cook to frequently remark that he had little hopes of
the scheme succeeding.  It is true that the islands of Polynesia
boasted hogs of a kind, but they were small of size and in no way
comparable to the heavy English breeds.  There are those who believe
that the Maoris of New Zealand did save some swine left there, or that,
becoming wild, they propagated themselves under natural conditions; for
when the English took formal possession of those islands the Maoris
were found in possession of good-sized herds of a large breed.  The
like cannot be said of the gifts to the chiefs of the Friendly or
Society Islands.

Nature had been too lavish with her gifts, life was easy, the
temperature mild, the food abundant.  Fish were a never failing source
of supply; the yam was their potato; the bread-fruit their loaf, the
cocoa-nut furnished them with sweetest milk.  Why should one care for
the stubborn goat, or the ever hungry cow and her troublesome
offspring?  To the end that some ship might call and pay much in iron,
beads or cloth for these animals?  The South Sea Islander could not
understand that condition, could not see into the future that far.  His
thought was on his present happiness.  What else mattered?

The journal of the voyage tells us in a most pleasing manner of the
reflections of officers and crew upon leaving the Friendly Isles, a
portion of which is reproduced:


Thus we took leave of the Friendly Islands and their inhabitants, after
a stay of between two and three months; during which time, we lived
together in the most cordial friendship.  Some accidental differences,
it is true, now and then happened, owing to their great propensity for
thieving; but, too often encouraged by the negligence of our own
people.  But these differences were never attended with any fatal
consequences; to prevent which, all my measures were directed, and I
believe, few on board our ships left our friends here without regret.
The time employed amongst them was not thrown {117} away.  We expended
very little of our sea provisions; subsisting in general upon the
produce of the islands, while we staid; and carrying away with us a
quantity of refreshments sufficient to last till our arrival at another
station, where we could depend upon a fresh supply....  We found that
the best articles for traffic at these islands are iron tools in
general....  Axes and hatchets; nails, from the largest spike down to
the tenpenny ones; rasps, files, and knives are much sought after.  Red
cloth, and linen, both white and coloured; looking-glasses and beads,
are also in estimation; but of the latter, those that are blue are
preferred to all others; and white ones are thought the least valuable.


Of the people Cook has this to say:


The natives of the Friendly Isles seldom exceed the common stature; but
are very strong and well made, especially as to their limbs.  They are
generally broad about the shoulders; and though the muscular
disposition of the men, which seems a consequence of much action,
rather conveys the appearance of strength than of beauty, there are
several to be seen who are really handsome.  Their features are very
various; ... we met with hundreds of truly European faces....  Their
eyes and teeth are good; but the last neither so remarkably white, nor
so well set, as is often found amongst Indian natives, though, to
balance that, few of them have any uncommon thickness about the
lips....  The general colour is a cast deeper than the copper brown;
but several of the men and women have a true olive complexion....
There are few natural defects or deformities to be found amongst them
... they may be considered as uncommonly healthy; not a single person
having been seen, during our stay, confined to the house by sickness of
any kind.


All the officers were struck with the attention to personal cleanliness
exhibited by the natives.  They were seen to bathe frequently in the
warm pools of brackish water near the low-lying coral strands.
Afterwards they would anoint themselves with quantities of cocoa-nut
oil, rubbing the whole body over briskly, and producing thereby that
smooth skin which was the constant envy of the sailor folk.

{118}

On the morning of the 12th of August the familiar shores of the island
of Tahiti appeared on the horizon's edge.  Cook decided to draw what
provision he could from the south-eastern part of the island before
proceeding to Matavai Bay, on its northern shore, where the principal
settlements were to be found.

Accordingly the vessels came to anchor in Oheitepepa Bay.  Omai was at
once recognised by his friends of former days and lost no time in
making a triumphal landing, where, some time afterward, the captain
found him mightily haranguing the multitude who gathered to hear his
story.  On the 23rd the vessels proceeded to Matavai Bay.

The next morning Otoo, the king of the whole island, attended by a
great number of canoes full of people, came from Oparee, his place of
residence, and having landed at Matavai Point, sent a message on board
expressing his desire to see the captain.  Cook, accompanied by Omai
and a number of the officers, at once landed and found the king seated
in the midst of a vast concourse of curious natives.  After the
exchange of suitable presents the king and his retinue repaired on
board the _Resolution_, where the officers entertained them with a
suitable repast.  During the following weeks both vessels were
thoroughly overhauled against the long cruise to the northward.  The
natives maintained a friendly demeanour and no untoward incident marred
the stay of the vessels and their crews.  This was largely due to the
careful oversight and strict control exercised by Captain Cook and his
officers.  Every detail was carefully arranged; trade was carried on
each day for produce which the islanders brought to the ships' sides in
their canoes; the sailors were permitted to purchase such articles of
native manufacture as appealed to them, but any departure from the
strictest honesty was severely punished, be it English sailor or
Otaheitan native.  And it may be readily seen that the Society
Islanders soon came to anticipate with trust and pleasure the visits of
the {119} English who came so mysteriously over the horizon's edge in
their great white-winged vessels.

[Illustration: The Island of OTAHITI]

But one thing remained to be done.  Omai had yet to be repatriated.  He
had selected the island of Huahaine as his future residence, and Cook,
in his usual thorough manner, decided to see Omai properly established
there before bidding farewell to the Society Island group.  The middle
of October, accordingly, found the ships anchored in a snug bay on the
west side of the land.  Negotiations were at once begun with the
principal chiefs of the island, land was secured, and a house was built
for Omai.  Cook also supplied him with a stallion and a mare, a boar
and two sows, and a goat and kid.  It was hoped that Omai had seen
enough of these animals in his travels to appreciate their utility, and
that through his care the islands would become stocked with these
animals.  Of weapons he had a liberal supply--"a musket, bayonet, and
cartouch-box, a fowling-piece, two pairs of pistols, and two or three
swords or cutlasses."  The possession of these articles seemed to give
Omai the greatest satisfaction.  They no doubt raised him in the
estimation of the tribal chiefs, who might have been inclined to
belittle Omai's accomplishments.  But the mysterious power latent in
{120} such weapons was for long to hold them in awe and wonderment, and
Omai soon became a man of means and authority in the island.

It was the 8th of December before Captain Cook was ready to leave on
his long sail to the northward.  With mingled feelings of regret and
expectation the crews saw the shores of Ulietea and Bolabola fade away
in the distance.  Those sunny isles were left; far to the northward
they must fare.  What awaited them in their new adventure?  Would they
discover another New Zealand and chart its indented shore?  Would more
groups of coral islets to the north be encountered, where curious
natives would throng the beach to give them joyous welcome?  No one
knew: the great Pacific lay before them; theirs to sail it and unravel
some of its mystery.

The principal object of the voyage was now under way.  Seventeen months
had elapsed since leaving England--months of leisurely progress from
port to port.  It is true that baffling winds had delayed them in their
voyage from New Zealand to Tahiti, but it was excellent management on
the other hand that the crews of both vessels be given several months
in which to recuperate from the long voyage to that point.  Else the
ever-latent seeds of scurvy might break forth in all their virulence
and thwart the captain in his ultimate design--the search for the
northeast passage to Hudson Bay.  Hence the many weeks spent in and
around the Friendly and Society Islands may not be considered as
wasted.  There quantities of fresh vegetable food could be had, to say
nothing of fresh pork and fresh fish.  And Cook had learned by hard
experience that on such a diet the sailors were most readily fortified
against the ravages of the scurvy.  Had he been aware of the Hawaiian
Islands and the prolific vegetation of those islands, he would no doubt
have acted differently; his northward voyage would have been
accelerated by several months at least.  We must not, however, try to
judge Captain Cook by the light of twentieth century information.

{121}

Just north of the equator, and in longitude 157 west, a low coral atoll
was discovered.  It proved to be uninhabited, but Cook in his practical
way sent the ship's boat in shore to make a more thorough examination.
Fish in abundance were found near the encircling reef, which is always
found in the vicinity of such islets, but to the sailors' great delight
giant green turtles of one hundred pounds or more in weight were
secured.  While the ships swung at anchor the boats made many a trip to
the islet, returning laden with turtle or fish as the case might be.
Both Christmas and New Year were passed at this anchorage, and in view
of this Cook gave the name Christmas Island to the little atoll.

From the 2nd to the 18th of January, 1778, the vessels held their
northward way; but at daybreak in the morning of the 18th an island
made its appearance, bearing northeast by east; and soon after more
land was seen bearing north; "and entirely detached from the former.
Both had the appearance of high land."  A strong easterly wind
prevented the ships coming rapidly up to the distant shore, and it was
not till the 19th that the officers on board the _Resolution_ were near
enough to examine the coast through their glasses, and see that the
land was inhabited.  Canoes were seen putting off, and much to the
delight of the English the islanders were found to speak the same
language as that of Otaheite.  Fairly safe anchorage was at length
discovered in a shallow bay, the boats were sent ashore for fresh
water, and a brisk trade was opened up with the natives for the
vegetable products of the island which resembled closely those secured
at the Society Islands.  To this island group Cook gave the name
Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich.  Five of the
islands were seen by the English at this time, and from the natives it
was learned that still others lay to the eastward.  The island which
afforded them their present anchorage was called Atooi;[7] three
smaller ones to the south-west {122} were Oneeheow, Oreehoua and
Tahoora, while to the eastward lay another larger island, Woahoo.[8]

Owing to the absence of good harbours, the heavy surf which continually
rolled in upon the shores made a protracted stay out of the question,
and the 1st of February found the ships sufficiently well provided with
water and provisions to continue their voyage to the American coast.
This was accordingly done, Cook leaving the group without having seen
the large islands to the east, the principal one, Hawaii, having of
late given its name to the whole archipelago.



[1] A South Sea Islander who had accompanied Captain Furneaux to
England in the _Adventure_.

[2] In order not to conflict with the Spaniards; who occupied the coast
as far to the northward as San Francisco Bay.

[3] The islands mentioned are in latitude 49 S.-68 E.

[4] Tasmania.

[5] The aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, "after a protracted
resistance," have all been conveyed to Gun Carriage Island, in Bass
Straits, "which has been given up to their undisputed possession."

[6] See account of this on page 96, Second Voyage.

[7] Kawai of recent maps.

[8] Oahu; upon its southern coast is the city of Honolulu.




{123}

CHAPTER IX

ALONG THE COAST OF NEW ALBION

From Cape Foulweather to Nootka, and northward to Alaska.


Sailing northward for the next fortnight, "and being now in the
latitude of 37 N.," a more easterly course was pursued.  On the 7th of
March the coast of New Albion was seen "Extending in from north-east to
south-east, distant ten or twelve leagues."  The latitude was now 44
33' north, and a few miles to the northward Cape Foulweather was
located and named.  Strong weather now conspired with the uncharted
coast-line to hinder their progress.  But in such a struggle the
pertinacity of the commander was bound to win through.  Day and night,
in fair and foul weather, he hugged the coast, refusing to admit
defeat.  Long years of experience in such matters made the task merely
one of routine duty.  It was their custom to make a secure offing by
nightfall--ply back and forth--and the next day take up the charting
and examination of the shore where night had interrupted their labours.

Cook noted the regularity of the coast-line at once.  In his journal
the following remarks are recorded, giving us some idea of how the land
appeared to the officers on the vessels:


The land appeared to be of moderate height, diversified with hills and
valleys, and almost everywhere covered with wood ... in some places it
rises higher within.  It was diversified with a great many rising
grounds and small hills; many of which were entirely covered with tall
trees; and others, which were lower, and grew in spots like coppices;
but the interspaces and sides of many of the rising grounds were clear.
The whole, though it might make an agreeable {124} summer prospect, had
now an uncomfortable appearance, as the bare grounds toward the coast
were all covered with snow, which seemed to be of a considerable depth
between the little hills and rising grounds....  The coast seemed
everywhere almost straight, without any opening or inlet; and it
appeared to terminate in a kind of white sandy beach; although some on
board thought that appearance was owing to the snow.


So unsettled and stormy did the weather become that the _Resolution_
and _Discovery_ were a full two weeks battling with gales in a futile
endeavour to maintain their position near Cape Foulweather.  In fact,
on the 13th March, 1778, they had been blown as far south as latitude
42 and it was not until the 22nd that they were able to regain the
coast north of latitude 45.  In doing so Cook missed the mouth of the
Columbia River, his landfall on the 22nd being in latitude 47 3'
north.  From here the shore-line was examined with care until evening,
when the ships lay to and the next day resumed their quest.  And now
let the journal tell its own story:


At this time we were in forty-eight fathoms' water, and about four
leagues from the land, which extended from north to southeast half
east, and a small round hill, which had the appearance of being an
island, bore north three quarters east, distance six or seven leagues,
as I guessed; it appears to be a tolerable height, and was just to be
seen from the deck.  Between this island or rock, and the northern
extreme of the land, there appeared to be a small opening, which
flattered us with the hopes of finding a harbour.  These hopes lessened
as we drew nearer; and, at last, we had some reason to think that the
opening was closed by low land.  On this account I called the point of
land to the north of it Cape Flattery....  It is in this very latitude
where we now were, that geographers have placed the pretended strait of
Juan de Fuca.  We saw nothing like it; nor is there the least
probability that ever any such thing existed.


With the evening shadows creeping over the face of the waters and
rendering further search dangerous.  Cook stood off to the south-west
to gain an offing, intending the next {125} morning to resume his
search north of Cape Flattery.  But during the night another violent
gale descended upon the coast, as Cook says: "having a very hard gale,
with rain, right on shore."  Seven days later the vessels regained the
coast, but in latitude 49 29' north.  Again had stormy weather, like
some diabolical demon, snatched from his grasp a discovery of paramount
importance, for he was now some seventy miles north of the strait and
an equal distance up the coast of Vancouver Island.

Cook's trained eye noted at once the changed appearance of the
shore-line.  The land before him he described as full of high
mountains, whose summits were covered with snow, while the valleys
right down to the shore itself were covered with high straight trees,
"that formed a beautiful prospect, as one vast forest."  An inlet was
soon discovered and, entering this, anchor was cast in a snug cove upon
the north-west side.  Nearly two months had passed since leaving the
sunny shores of Atooi.  Latterly storms and cold, rain and sleet had
been their lot.  This was their first anchorage on the North American
shore, and a most welcome respite after their battle with the elements
for the past month.

The natives viewed these strange floating visitors with mingled
feelings of curiosity and alarm.  A few of the more venturesome spirits
leaped into their canoes and paddled in a wide safe circle around the
_Resolution_ and _Discovery_.  Gaining confidence, other canoes put off
from the shore until more than thirty encircled the ships.  It was an
odd spectacle; from time to time a native would arise and in a loud
tone harangue the ship.  From his gestures the officers thought that an
invitation to land was being extended, for not a word could the English
understand.  Tiring of his efforts, the first orator would seat
himself, when others would arise, and in a similar manner address the
ships.  One native varied the usual procedure by singing a song, whose
melody and sweetness was favourably remarked by the captain.  Another,
by his appearance a chieftain, {126} had arrayed himself in the savage
finery due to such an occasion.  His head was bedecked with white
feathers, and his features brightly painted.  Standing erect in his
canoe, he rattled a large carved bird made of wood, the while he
mightily harangued the vessels and those within them.  Cook tried by
every wile to entice some of the more venturesome Indians on board, but
with no success.

The next day, however, a sort of rude barter was opened up between the
members of the crew and the occupants of the canoes, now grown more
friendly.  In return for knives, chisels, pieces of iron and tin,
nails, looking-glasses, buttons, etc., the Indians gave cleverly tanned
skins of the bear, wolf, fox and deer; "and in particular," says Cook,
"of the sea otters, which are found at the islands east of Kamschatka."
Of all the furs with which the Indians seemed so plentifully supplied,
those of the sea otter were the most beautiful.  The Indians were
accustomed to make great cloaks of this fur, cloaks which encased them
from neck to ankle, but so eager were they for the precious iron, a
knife, a hatchet, or a chisel, that they willingly parted with their
most prized ceremonial robes of state.  A king's ransom for a bauble!
Well did some of the hardy English sailormen know the value of their
purchases from the Indians; well and truly did they improve the
occasion; and, as we shall learn a little later, well did they reap a
rich reward in far-away China.

The third day the number of canoes increased to over one hundred.  Cook
estimated no less than five hundred natives had assembled in the cove,
to which was later given the name Friendly Cove, and to the large inlet
that of Nootka Sound.  The Indians now began to come on board, and,
through the kind treatment they received, seemed to have lost all fear
of the strange white men.  The commander, in his usual precise and
business-like way, lost no time in getting under way the necessary
repairs to the ships.  The caulkers were set to work; the observatories
were carried ashore and placed on a large rock well within gun range of
{127} the _Resolution_.  A party was detailed to cut wood and to make
arrangements for securing a supply of fresh water.  Repairs to masts
and rigging were also undertaken.  Everything was well ordered, proper
guards and look-outs were maintained watch and watch, so that the
naturally observant native found no chance to catch the English off
their guard, overwhelm the vessels and capture the whole of that
wonderful iron which these big winged canoes seemed to possess in such
magic quantities!  The fate of the _Tonquin_ a few years later is ample
proof that such a danger was ever present.

It was not until the 10th of April that Cook was able to leave the
supervision of repairs to less capable hands and in a well-armed row
boat proceed on a tour of the sound, which stretched off to the east
and north with long arms making into the land.  A week later,
preparations for sea having been completed, the ships dropped down the
sound.  Some of the natives remained on board till the last minute
importuning the English to come again and promising to have ready a
large collection of furs.  And Cook makes this very simple yet wise
conclusion:


I make no doubt, that whoever comes after me to this place, will find
the natives prepared accordingly, with no inconsiderable supply of an
article of trade, which they could observe we were eager to possess,
and which we found could be purchased to great advantage.

Everything being now ready, in the morning of the 26th I intended to
have put to sea, but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged
to wait till noon, when the S.W. wind was succeeded by a calm; and the
tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our
boats towed the ships out of the cove.  After this, we had variable
light airs and calms till four in the afternoon, when a breeze sprung
up northerly with very thick hazy weather.  The mercury in the
barometer fell unusually low; and we had every other forerunner of an
approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the
south-ward; this made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand,
whether I should venture to sail or wait till the next morning.  But my
anxious impatience {128} to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of
losing this opportunity of getting out of the Sound, making a greater
impression on my mind than any apprehension of immediate danger, I
determined to put to sea at all events.


The strong signs of an approaching storm did not deceive them.  They
were hardly out of the sound before the wind, in an instant, shifted
from north-east to south-east-by-east, and increased to a strong gale
with squall and rain, and so dark a sky that one could not see the
length of the ship.  "Being apprehensive, from the experience I had
since arrival on this coast, of the wind veering more to the S. which
would put us in danger of a lee shore, we got the tacks on board and
stretched off to the S.W. under all the sail the ships could bear."
By daylight the next morning both vessels were fortunately well clear
of the coast.  But by mid-afternoon "it blew a perfect hurricane."  The
vessels were then brought to with their heads to the southward and rode
out the gale under fore-sail and mizzen stay-sails.  Noon of the 28th
it cleared up sufficiently to take an observation, latitude 50 1'
north, is the record in the journal.  This day the course of the
_Resolution_ was north-west-by-north.  The night brought a return of
wind, squall, and rain.  In such a case a safe offing from an uncharted
shore-line was a vital necessity, although Cook expresses his regret
that he must continue to sail northward out of the sight of coast.  On
the 30th he altered his course, more to the northward "in order to make
the land."  Continuing the narrative he says: "I regretted very much
indeed that I could not do it sooner, for this obvious reason, that we
were now passing the place where geographers have placed the pretended
straits of Admiral de Fonte."

An observation at noon placed them in latitude 53 22' north, longitude
134 46' west.  Between the 26th and the 30th the south-east gales had
blown the _Resolution_ and her consort three hundred miles to the north
and west.  The great gulf lying between Cape Scott and the Queen
Charlotte {130} Islands had been passed by amid storm and lashing of
mighty seas.  The vessels were now (30th April) about one hundred miles
off the coast of Graham Island, but the officers knew naught of the
configuration of the coast to the eastward, nor that the mainland lay a
good 4 east of their present position.  Like one groping in the dark,
earnestly desiring to touch the much-desired object, yet fearful of
traps and pitfalls for unwary feet, Cook now steered north-easterly,
and at seven in the evening of the 1st of May land was sighted in
latitude 55 20' north.

======================================================================

{129}

[Illustration: NORTH AMERICAN COAST]

======================================================================

Cook was off what is now known as Prince of Wales Island.  During the
night he coasted northward under easy sail at a distance of eight or
ten leagues from the shore, the _Discovery_ following.  Passing the
entrance to Chatham Strait in the early morning of the 2nd, noon found
the vessels off Baranoff Island, in the latitude of Sitka Sound.  Here
a large mountain to the northward came into view, and to this Cook gave
the name of Mount Edgecumbe.  On past Salisbury Sound and up the coast
of Chichagof Island the vessels held their way with a fair north-east
wind and settled weather.  No attempt at landing was made, Cook being
anxious to get well north in the early spring so as to prosecute the
main endeavour of the voyage--the discovery of a north-east passage
into either the Atlantic or Hudson's Bay, should such a one exist.

On the 3rd, Cook passed and named the entrance to Cross Straits, while
a high peaked mountain to the northward obtained the name of Mount Fair
Weather.  Here the mainland of the continent was seen for the first
time since leaving the vicinity of Cape Flattery.  It was no ordinary
bulwark which met their curious gaze.  Mount Fair Weather is the
beginning of a great chain of mountains which here parallel the coast
for over a hundred leagues.  When Cook saw them the mountains were
covered with snow "from the highest summit down to the sea-coast."  The
great valleys were filled with glaciers whose scintillating fronts jut
out over the narrow shore, only to break {131} off with resounding roar
and splash into the ocean.  It was in this very latitude that Vitus
Bering in 1741 fell in with the continental shore of America, a shore
which provides neither safe anchorage nor any form of sustenance for
the unwary navigator who should through necessity desire harbourage and
refreshment there.

The next day, far to the northward, "the summit of an elevated mountain
appeared above the horizon ... and, as was afterward found, forty
leagues distant."  What could this be?  Searching the only available
chart, that prepared by Bering over thirty years before, Cook decided
that this must be Mount St. Elias, seen by Bering on his last voyage.
Accordingly, on the chart which Cook and his officers were now
preparing, this giant of the north land was so named.  Throughout his
years as an explorer and cartographer Cook was most punctilious to
perpetuate the names given by former discoverers, a trait which was not
so conspicuous in his contemporaries.

From the 4th to the 9th of May light airs and calms impeded their
progress.  At this time Cook noted the shore trending more and more to
the westward.  On the 11th he discovered and named Kaye's Island in
longitude 143 2' west.  As the _Resolution_ had for some time been
leaking, Cook tried to navigate his vessels into a bay lying behind
this island; but the wind veering to due north made him abandon the
idea.  However, the commander went ashore in a row boat and climbed the
rugged cliffs of the island's southern extremity.  "At the foot of a
tree, on a little eminence, not far from the shore, I left," writes
Cook, "a bottle with a paper in it, on which were inscribed the names
of the ships, and the date of our discovery.  And along with it I
enclosed two silver twopenny pieces of his Majesty's coin of the date
of 1772."  In such wise the navigator of olden days left mute record of
his visit of discovery, and on such evidence did wily diplomats lay
claim to the new places of the earth.  To the break in the coast at
this spot Cook gave the name Comptroller's Bay.

{132}

Coasting westward, another inlet was discovered.  Into this the vessels
were successfully navigated, the wind having changed to south-east,
with every appearance of a break in the weather.  A snug anchorage was
found within Cape Hinchinbroke, and preparations made to await clearer
weather, the fog having shut down on them and excluded the distant
shores from view.  Here Cook came in contact with the Innuits, or
Esquimaux-like inhabitants of Southern Alaska.  Several of these came
off cautiously in their skin canoes or _bidarkas_, but refused to be
enticed aboard.  The next day the ships were moved some distance up the
sound, which was now seen to be of considerable extent, and with great
arms extending into the land.  At length a safe anchorage was found in
what Cook was pleased to call Snug Corner Bay, and, after heeling the
_Resolution_, the carpenters were put to work to stop the leak.  Armed
boats under command of Mr. Gore were sent to explore the inlets at the
head of the sound, but as these were found to terminate it was decided
to put to sea the way they had entered.  However, a shorter passage was
found to the south-westward, and Montagu Island was discovered and
named.  To the broad expanse of land-locked waterways which he had just
left Cook gave the name of Prince William's Sound.  Its shores had
proved to be occupied by several hundred of the Alaskan natives, and
after several days the sailors had begun brisk trade in iron and beads
in return for the valuable sea-otter cloaks of the natives.  The latter
were found to be of as thievish a disposition as any met with at Nootka
or elsewhere, and in addition to this they evinced a readiness to
quarrel and fight which made them treacherous individuals to harbour.

Rounding Kenai Peninsula, the broad expanse of Cook Inlet held out
hopes of a navigable channel through the land to the northward.
Several days were spent in following up this possible clue, only to
find the inlet came to a definite end with a large river flowing in at
the head of it.  {133} It was now June; if the cruise into the Arctic
were to be accomplished that season they must hurry.  To quote from the
journal of the voyage, this is the situation as it appealed to Cook
following his exploration of what is known to-day as Cook Inlet: "The
delay thus occasioned was an essential loss.  The season was advancing
apace.  We knew not how far we might have to proceed to the south; and
we were now convinced that the continent of North America extended
farther to the west than from the modern most reputable charts we had
reason to expect....  It was a satisfaction to me, however, to reflect
that, if I had not examined this very considerable inlet, it would have
been assumed, by speculative fabricators of geography, as a fact that
it communicated with the sea to the north, or with Baffin's or Hudson's
Bay to the east; and been marked, perhaps, on future maps of the world,
with greater precision, and more certain signs of reality, than the
invisible, because imaginary, Straits of de Fuca and de Fonte."  How
Cook did love to score off those old-world map makers and shatter their
fond beliefs!

It was the 8th of June before our seafarers were clear of the inlet and
once again in open water, this time beating down the coast, which here
trends to the southward, extending into the long arm of the Alaskan
peninsula.  Past Kodiak Island, then the Shumagin Islands and scores of
lesser islets, they felt their way through fog and mist, ever fearful
of becoming embayed in some maze of reefs or, on the other hand, if the
open sea were sought, losing touch with the Continental shore and
passing by some favourable passage through to Bering Sea.  But the
winds remained light, and somewhat variable; progress was slow, but the
coast-line was held in sight.  At length, near the latter end of June,
the passage between Unalaska and Unimak Islands was discovered.  On the
northern side of Oonalashka, as Cook spelled it, a harbour was found.
There the vessels lay at anchor several days, replenishing their water
supply and trading with the natives for peltries {134} and fresh fish.
The natives called the harbour Samganoodha, and appeared to be quite
used to Europeans and their ways; as Cook wisely suggests, through
intercourse with Russian fur traders from Kamchatka.  But none of the
Russian traders were met with at this time by the English navigators.

By the 9th of July the northern side of the peninsula had been examined
up to the shallow waters of Bristol Bay.  From here to Cape Newenham
the coast was charted with considerable care.  But farther north the
shoals which extend across Kuskokwim Bay made a close examination of
the shore-line an impossibility except in the small boats, and this was
not attempted.  On the 28th their latitude was 59 55' north, longitude
about 170 west, about midway between Nunivak Island and St. Matthew
Island.  Continuing northward, Cook passed to the east of St. Lawrence
Island and struck the mainland of the continent in latitude 64 27'
north, having passed by the mouths of the Yukon and Norton Sound.
Progress was slow owing to the shallow nature of the water, the almost
incessant fogs, and the variable breezes.  It was not until the 9th of
August, 1778, that the westernmost extremity of the continent was
passed, and to this point Cook gave the name Cape Prince of Wales.

The next day the vessels stood over to the Asiatic shore and cast
anchor in a large bay.  This was necessary in order to secure shelter
from the wind, which bade fair to drive them into the shallows which
everywhere seemed to guard against too close an inspection of the
American shore-line.  During the 10th and 11th the vessels passed
through the strait and proceeded easterly along the northern shore of
Alaska in the direction of what is known to-day as Kotzebue Sound.
Following the trend of the coast north and then east, they at length
reached latitude 70 44' north.  Here great fields of ice were
encountered, stretching as far as the eye could see and effectually
barring their progress.  Turn which way he might Cook could find {135}
no opening or lead through the solid pack in front of him.  He
describes the appearance of the ice in these words:


We were at this time, close to the edge of the ice, which was as
compact as a wall, and seemed to be ten or twelve feet high at least.
But farther north, it appeared much higher.  Its surface was extremely
rugged, and here and there we saw upon it pools of water....  At this
time the weather, which had been hazy, clearing up a little, we saw
land extending from south to southeast by east, about three or four
miles distant.  The Eastern extreme forms a point, which was much
encumbered with ice; for which reason it obtained the name of Icy Cape.


It was now decided to follow the ice pack westward in order to see if
by any chance a channel could be found through it in any direction,
east, north or west.  From the 19th to the 29th the ice sheet was
skirted, generally along latitude 69; then the rocky Asiatic shore
came into view and forced the vessels to turn about.  There was no way
out.  The ice formed a great arc, stretching from Icy Cape across to
the Asiatic shore, which it joined in (about) longitude 180.  The
season was now far advanced, the northern winter would soon set in: it
was therefore decided to pass down through Bering Strait and make for
winter quarters at the Sandwich Islands.  In the spring another attempt
would be made to seek the north-east passage to the Atlantic.

On the evening of the 2nd of September East Cape was rounded and, still
keeping the Asiatic shore in view, they passed by St. Lawrence Bay on
the morning of the 3rd.  Always fair to those who had preceded him on
voyages of discovery, Cook pays a graceful compliment to the great
Bering, who in 1728 sailed up this coast in his little ship the
_Gabriel_.


In justice to the memory of Bering, I must say that he has delineated
the coast very well, and fixed the latitude and longitude of the points
better than could be expected from the methods he had to go by.


{136}

In view of the uncertainty in those days regarding the coast of the
American continent to the east of St. Lawrence Island, Cook now decided
to employ the rest of the period of warm weather in a more particular
survey of the coastline south of Cape Prince of Wales.  A late Russian
map had placed a large island, Alaschka, in this very latitude.  While
doubtful of its existence, Cook was determined to make a closer survey
of the coast down to Cape Newenham than had been possible in his
northward cruise.  Accordingly he sailed north of St. Lawrence Island,
eastward to the American coast, which he fell in with about the present
city of Nome.  The sound which was then explored gave some hopes of a
passage to the Arctic, but as the vessels proceeded up past Cape Darby
the shoaling water indicated that this would prove to be but another
fruitless errand.  The ships' boats were then ordered out, under the
command of Lieutenant King, to make a tour as far as possible to the
head of the sound, and to assure themselves of its eventual ending.
While waiting for the boats to return a cove was found where wood and
water could be secured.  Of the former they were in dire need, no
supplies having been taken aboard since leaving Prince William Sound.
On the evening of the 16th Mr. King returned with the news that the
sound terminated some thirty miles beyond the point where the vessels
had turned back, and that there was no channel of any kind connecting
with the Arctic.  Cook then remarks: "In honour of Sir Fletcher Norton,
Speaker of the House of Commons, and Mr. King's near relation, I named
this inlet Norton's Sound."

Cruising along the southern side of the sound, Stuart's Island was
named.  About thirty miles farther on, the water shoaled to less than
eighteen feet, forcing the vessels off the coast to the westward league
after league.  The small boats were sent ahead to sound, but no channel
could be found.  From Point Shallow Water, which Cook called the most
westerly point of the continent at this part, down to Nunivak Island,
no exploration was made that season.

{137}

In his journal he frankly admits his inability to do so, saying:
"Probably it is accessible only to boats or very small vessels; or, at
least, if there be channels for larger vessels, it would require some
time to find them....  From the mast-head, the sea within us (to the
south and east) appeared to be checkered with shoals; the water was
very much discoloured and muddy, and considerably fresher than at any
of the places where we had lately anchored.  From this I inferred that
a considerable river runs into the sea in this unknown part."  As
usual, Cook's keen observation was not at fault.  The mighty Yukon
pours its flood into the sea at this very part of the coast, and is
building up year by year the vast sandbanks which drove our explorers a
good forty miles out to sea to get around them.

The remainder of the month of September was occupied in the voyage
southward to Oonalashka.  On the way the _Resolution_ sprang a leak,
and, upon arrival at Samganoodha harbour the carpenters were put to
work making the necessary repairs.  During this time some Russian fur
traders paid them a visit.  Their leader, Ismyloff, seemed to be a
bright, intelligent fellow, and gave Captain Cook much valuable
information regarding the islands of the Aleutian archipelago.  The
English gained the impression that the Russians had done little or no
exploration upon the continent itself since the voyages of Bering and
Chirikoff in 1741.  To the mainland the name Alaschka was given by
Russians and natives alike.  With a slight change in spelling it has
been retained to this day for that far northern portion of America.

A stay of three weeks in harbour sufficed to make all necessary repairs
to the vessels, re-stow the cargo, take in ballast, replenish wood and
water, and, that which Cook never neglected, refresh his crew with such
products as the country afforded.  Cranberries, hurtle-berries,
heathberries, and partridge-berries were found at this season in great
profusion on the island.  The sailors in relays {138} of thirty or more
were sent into the country to gather these berries as well as "wild
purslain, pea-tops, a kind of scurvy-grass, cresses, and some others."
These were used either in soups or as salads.  By means of fresh
fish--sea-trout, salmon, cod and halibut--latent seeds of scurvy were
eliminated, the crews were kept in a fine state of health, and ready to
stand those months at sea when exigencies of wind and weather and an
inhospitable coast made a landing out of the question.




{139}

CHAPTER X

KARAKAKOOA BAY

Cook's death--A second attempt to locate the passage--The expedition
returns to England.


Monday, the 2nd of November, found both vessels safely through the
passage to the east of Oonalashka, and heading down the broad Pacific
for winter quarters at the Sandwich Islands.  After an uneventful
voyage of three weeks and three days the volcanic shore of Maui was
seen rising above the southern horizon.

The ships came up under the land, and for some time there ensued a
brisk trade in the vegetable produce of the island.  A course was then
taken to the south-eastward, where a larger island gave promise of
finding a harbour.  Plying off and on along the northern shore of what
we now know to be Hawaii, the officers secured some sugar-cane in way
of trade from the natives, who kept coming off from the shore in their
large double canoes, laden with every product the island boasted.  Cook
decided to brew some of the sugar cane and make a beer for the crew.
But when the cask was broached not one of the crew would taste the
beer.  The commander then gives us a curious insight into the beliefs
and actions of the average British tar of a hundred years ago:


It has the taste of new malt beer; and I believe no one will doubt of
its being very wholesome.  And yet my inconsiderate crew alleged that
it was injurious to their health....  Every innovation whatever, on
board a ship, though ever so much to the advantage of seamen, is sure
to meet with their highest disapprobation.  Both portable soup and sour
krout were, at first, condemned as stuff unfit for human beings.  Few
{140} commanders have introduced into their ships more novelties, as
useful varieties of food and drink, than I have done....  It has,
however, been in a great measure owing to various little deviations
from established practice, that I have been able to preserve my people,
generally speaking, from that dreadful distemper, the scurvy, which has
perhaps destroyed more of our sailors, in their peaceful voyages, than
have fallen by the enemy in military expeditions.


These are high words and were not written in any sense of self-praise,
but rather in a spirit of indignation that all his efforts to promote
the welfare of the men under his care met with so little goodwill on
their part.

From the 1st of December to the 16th of January, 1779, the vessels
plied along the northern, eastern and southern shores of Hawaii,
stopping frequently to allow the natives to come off in their canoes
with fresh vegetables, pigs and fowls for trade.  In this the islanders
proved themselves to be adept canoe men, excellent swimmers and
perfectly at home in the billowing seas which tossed the great English
vessels about like corks and rolled on but to break in tremendous surf
upon the coast.  A harbour in Karakakooa Bay[1] was at length
discovered in the far western side of the island, and there anchor was
dropped on the 17th of January, 1779.

Here ends the journal of the great navigator.  Whatever of further
comment is necessary will be taken from the journal of Captain King,
who succeeded to the command of the _Discovery_ upon the death of
Captain Clerke.

As soon as the native inhabitants of the bay found that the vessels had
anchored, hundreds of them put off from the shore in their canoes and
soon the decks and rigging of both ships were covered with them.  In
the resulting confusion Captain Cook had recourse to the services of a
principal chief named Pareea.  By means of a few presents, Pareea was
induced to clear the decks and have the canoes removed to a convenient
distance.  The common people {141} seemed to obey their chiefs with the
greatest alacrity and goodwill, many of them bounding over the side
into the sea in their hurry to obey.

The story of the succeeding fortnight is one of entire satisfaction and
pleasurable enjoyment on the part of the English sailors and the
natives.  Trade was brisk, and in return for a few bits of iron,
quantities of cocoa-nuts, plantains, sugar-cane, yams, etc., were
secured, as well as fresh meat in the shape of hogs and fowls.  In fact
so many hogs and pigs were brought to the vessels by the natives that
many casks of salted pork were laid down, much to the delight of the
thrifty commander, who well knew that these supplies could not be
purchased elsewhere at one hundred times their present cost.

Officers and sailors alike were given shore leave and everywhere met
with the most courteous treatment from the inhabitants.  Whenever
Captain Cook went ashore he was accorded the greatest possible honour.
Kaireekua and other native priests attended him, and showed a respect
amounting to veneration.  They had conceived the idea that the captain
was a reincarnation of their god Orono, who some time in the legendary
past had left the island in a canoe and sailed away into the heart of
the Pacific.  Believing that Orono had now returned, the priests of
Hawaii clothed Captain Cook "with the sacred cloth worn only by the
god, conducted him to their temples, sacrificed animals to propitiate
his favour," and the people prostrated themselves before him as he
walked through the village or out into the country district.

The beginning of February, 1779, found preparations under way for a
departure from this friendly and contented place.  The rudder of the
_Resolution_ had been repaired as well as the head rail-work.
Provisions too were growing less on shore, and the chiefs had been
making subtle inquiries regarding the probable date of the vessels'
departure; but promising that if the sailors would come again next
bread-fruit season more supplies could be purchased.  {142} Whatever
hallucinations the priests may have had, the chiefs proved themselves
to be hard-headed administrators and foresaw a period of want for their
own people if the present drain upon the resources of the island were
long continued.  Captain Cook was equally alive to this state of
affairs, and, accordingly, early on the morning of the 4th the ships
sailed out of the bay intending to visit in turn the western islands
until such time as it became necessary to fare away to the Alaskan
coast for further exploration.

Then befell a period of stress, storm and accident.  Proceeding
northerly along the coast, about midnight of the 6th they encountered a
violent gale, peculiar to such latitudes.  The fore and main topsails
on the _Resolution_ were split and the sails destroyed.  By noon the
next day there was fair weather and a light breeze.  Midnight of the
7th the gale returned in all its fury; this time it was necessary to
get down the top-gallant yards.  The next morning it was found that the
foremast had been damaged, and a closer inspection proved it to be in a
most dangerous condition.  In this plight it was deemed necessary to
find some safe anchorage immediately, where the mast could be taken out
and the necessary repairs effected.  Captain Cook was in doubt what
course to follow.  Should they proceed to the westward on the chance of
finding a safe cove on some one of the almost unknown islets known to
lie in that direction?  Or should they return to Karakakooa Bay, which
was a day's sail to the east and south--a bay which they knew and one
which afforded them the necessary conveniences for their repairs?

It was decided to return to Karakakooa.  Every evil force of wind and
wave, at whose envious fling and surge the doughty captain had so often
laughed and come off the master, seemed to have merged in a concerted
effort to lure him to his destruction.  Early on the morning of the
11th, anchor was cast in the bay in virtually the same place as one
month before.  It took two days to get the {143} foremast out and
ashore, where the carpenters were at once put to work on it.  The
sailmakers were also sent ashore--all on the south side of the bay near
a "morai" or native rude stone temple--and there set to work repairing
the damaged canvases.

In the meantime what had happened to the natives of the northern and
western shores of the bay where the villages were located?  Where were
the thousands of happy natives who had once so clamorously assailed the
ships?  Mr. King describes the scene in graphic words: "We were
surprised to find our reception very different from what it had been on
our first arrival; no shouts, no bustle, no confusion; but a solitary
bay with only here and there a canoe stealing close along shore....
Our anxiety was at length relieved by the return of a boat, which had
been sent on shore, and brought us word that Terreeoboo[2] was absent
and had left the bay under the taboo."[3]  It is easy to be wise after
the event; we may now conjecture the cause of these actions on the part
of the natives.  The chiefs were not all friendly to the English; some
sort of council had been held, plans had been laid to annoy their
unwelcome visitors so that they would go away.  If intrigue there was,
the old chief, Terreeoboo, was at no time party to it or cognisant of
it.  With this in mind the stage is set for the final scene.

On the morning of the 12th, Terreeoboo and his retainers arrived at the
bay and at once came off to the _Resolution_ to visit Captain Cook.
The taboo was removed and the natives returned at once to their former
friendly intercourse.  This was but the calm before the storm.  The
next afternoon, while the sailors of the _Discovery_ were busy filling
the water casks at a well near the beach, some chiefs arrived and drove
away those of the natives who were helping in the work.  A marine was
detailed to go to the sailors' assistance, but the conduct of the
natives became only the more unfriendly; some picked up stones and
crowded {144} down on the little watering party in a threatening
manner.  Mr. King was sent for, and upon his arrival the islanders
ceased their hostile attitude and permitted the completion of the work.
From other incidents related in the journal it would seem that
Lieutenant King was held in high esteem by the natives, who thought he
was Orono's son.  However, this much is clear; some of the chiefs had
come upon a party of sailors and Hawaiians working together in a
friendly manner and had incited the latter to sudden hostility, showing
not only the design which lay behind the act, but the fickle and
uncertain temper of the mass of the common people.

Shortly after this slight unpleasantness a canoe was seen leaving the
_Discovery_ in great haste and pursued by one of the small boats.
Lieutenant King rightly concluded that some theft had been committed
and gave chase along the shore to head off the fugitives; but to no
avail, the islanders escaping into the woods.  Mr. King and those with
him followed on in a vain endeavour to locate the absconding natives,
only to return about dusk without having caught up with them.  In the
meantime a chief, Pareea by name, had arrived on the scene and demanded
the canoe from the guards who had been left to hold it as security for
the stolen goods.  "A scuffle ensued," Pareea was knocked down, and
some natives, who had collected as crowds will, armed themselves with
beach stones and drove the English sailors into the water.  Pareea then
quieted the natives, restored to the sailors their pinnace, which had
been drawn up on shore, and tried to smooth over the difficulty as best
he might.  He then resumed possession of his canoe and paddled away
across the bay to the village on the farther shore.  Had he forgotten
and forgiven?  He appeared to have done so, but in reality he had not,
and the subsequent happenings show how this must have lent added fuel
to the malcontents amongst the natives.

That night the cutter of the _Discovery_ was stolen, as {145} was
afterward found, by Pareea's order.  Captain Cook now decided to use
stern measures for the recovery of the boat and at the same time teach
the natives a lesson.  In all such cases amongst the Friendly and
Society Islanders, it had been his custom to secure possession of the
person of some noted chief, take him aboard ship, and hold him as
hostage until the stolen article should be returned.  A strong landing
party, under the direct command of Captain Cook, was at once got ready
and proceeded to the village in the row boats.  In the meantime a
cordon of boats had been stretched across the lower end of the bay with
orders to prevent any canoes from leaving.  Before the landing party
were clear of the _Resolution_ two large canoes were seen trying to
slip out of the bay, and the large cannon on the ships had fired a few
shots at them to halt their progress.  Upon this, at the time seemingly
minor incident hangs the deciding issue of the next hour.

Captain Cook, accompanied by Mr. Phillips, and nine marines, then set
off in the pinnace for the village of Kowrowa, where Terreeoboo
resided.  At the same time the launch with its armed party was called
in from picket duty in support of the pinnace.  The captain and his
marines at once landed, marched into the village and inquired for the
chief, Terreeoboo.  He had just wakened; knew nothing of the loss of
the cutter and readily acceded to Cook's invitation to spend the day
aboard the _Resolution_.

While walking toward the pinnace, suddenly one of the king's wives
rushed up and "with many tears and entreaties besought him not to go on
board.  At the same time, two chiefs who came along with her, laid hold
of him, and insisting that he should go no farther, forced him to sit
down."  The natives, to the number of many hundreds, now began to
collect along the beach and to crowd round the central actors in the
tragedy.  To better use their arms in case occasion should require it,
the marines drew up in line along the shore about thirty yards from the
place where Terreeoboo was seated.

{146}

Captain Cook continued to urge the king to accompany him; the chiefs as
firmly refused to let the old king move.  It was now evident to all
that the plan had failed; the numbers of the natives continued to
increase, and if force were to be used, many would be killed.  The
captain accordingly ceased his urging and was proceeding slowly to the
shore when news arrived which set the vacillating temper of the natives
on fire.

A canoe, having attempted to leave the bay, had been fired upon, and a
chief of the first rank had been killed.  This news had just arrived at
the village.  Immediately the women and children scuttled off into the
woods while the men put on their war mats and armed themselves with
spears and stones.  A general mle now ensued.  The marines fired, but
the islanders, excited beyond fear, rushed to the attack and killed
four of them, three more were dangerously wounded, and Lieutenant
Phillips shot his assailant just as the man was in the act of striking
him the second time.

In the meantime Captain Cook had retreated to the water's edge, facing
the natives, who apparently desired to attack him, yet dared not.
Seeing the confusion into which the marines had been thrown, he then
turned round to signal the launch to cease firing and row in to him.
As he did this a native stabbed him in the back and he fell "with his
face into the water.  On seeing him fall, the islanders set up a great
shout, and his body was immediately dragged on shore and surrounded by
the enemy, who, snatching the daggers out of each other's hands, showed
a savage eagerness to have a share in his destruction.  Thus fell our
great and excellent commander!"

Whether or no Cook erred in going ashore on such an errand is of small
moment at this late date.  He was doing his duty as he saw it, in a
fearless manner as was his wont.  We may, however, regret that the life
of the great navigator should be cut off in such a manner by the crazed
natives of an unknown island bay.  Officers and crews of both vessels
{147} were stunned by the sudden catastrophe.  Until that moment they
little realised how much they had one and all come to depend upon the
master-mind of the commander.  Their attachment to him partook of a
most sincere and altogether enviable admiration.  For the past three
years their daily life had been controlled and ordered by the direction
of his masterly will.  Now that he was gone their little universe
seemed shattered, all out of order, and quite disarranged.

The pinnace and launch now returned to the _Resolution_.  No attempt
was made to recover the bodies of the slain, due partly to the
cowardice of the lieutenant in charge of the launch, and partly to the
wholesome dread of the vast concourse of excited natives which now
covered the beach.  A council was hurriedly held on board the
_Resolution_, Captain Clerke presiding, as senior officer.  It was at
length decided to send Lieutenant King and several armed boats over to
the village to hold a parley with the natives and try to secure from
them the body of the captain and those of the marines.  Under no
circumstances were the boats to land, and there was to be no firing
unless attacked.

The islanders in a great crowd assembled on the beach, arming
themselves ready for any attack.  King learned that the captain's body
had been carried up into the country, but that Terreeoboo promised it
should be brought back the following day.  Content with this promise as
the best that could be done under the circumstances, the boats returned
to the _Resolution_.  An uneasy night was spent in hourly expectation
of an attack, but none was attempted.  The next day the hill-sides of
the bay disclosed many additional war parties coming in from the
interior, and the whole population seemed to be girding itself for some
expected trial of strength with the occupants of the two vessels in the
harbour.

Meanwhile work on the foremast of the _Resolution_ was rushed, the
stick having been safely brought off to the ship the previous day, and
certain necessary alterations in the {148} commissions of the officers
were made.  Lieutenant Gore was made captain of the _Discovery_, and
Midshipman Harvey promoted to the vacant lieutenancy.  So the 15th
passed, night came, and the guards were stationed.  No attack had yet
been made by the natives in their canoes; would one be made this night?
Later in the evening a single canoe cautiously approached the ship.  It
was occupied by two natives, who loudly proclaimed their friendship,
and that they had something belonging to Captain Cook.  Coming on deck
one deposited a bundle of flesh on the deck wrapped up in a piece of
native cloth.  As for the rest, he said the body of the captain had
been dismembered, given to the various chieftains, and then burnt.

The disconcerting and revolting news but strengthened the determination
of the officers to secure possession of the captain's remains, and if
necessary teach the natives a lesson that the forbearance of the past
two days could be changed to one of retribution if necessary.  By noon
the next day it was observed that many of the assembled war-parties
were leaving the bay and returning over the hills to their homes.  This
augured well for a change of attitude on the part of the inhabitants.
The next day fully-armed boats of both ships were sent to the watering
place to replenish the casks, but, the islanders proving hostile, the
sailors and marines set fire to the near-by houses, and the cannon of
the _Discovery_ dislodged the assailants.  This had the desired effect,
and during the next two days presents were brought by various chiefs
and a sort of rude peace was concluded.

On the morning of the 20th the foremast was stepped, much to the
satisfaction of the sailors, who now felt more secure than at any time
during the past week.  About noon a procession of natives approached
the beach and the ships' boats sent to meet them brought back the
pitiful remains of the captain.  The following day these were consigned
to the deep with the usual military honours.  On the {149} evening of
the 22nd the ships unmoored and passed silently out to sea past throngs
of the wondering natives who lined the shores, "and, as we passed
along," says Lieutenant King, "received our last farewells with every
mark of affection and goodwill."  With natures like that of their own
clime we may not harshly blame them.  Smiles and sunshine, then a
sudden lowering of black clouds, and the storm breaks loose in fury
unchained.  A few moments the passionate gust will rage--then the sun
breaks through, again we come bearing flowers and smiles.

While the _Resolution_ and _Discovery_ visit the islands to the
westward, let us examine into the life of the brilliant navigator whose
career was so suddenly ended.  Surgeon Samwell of the _Discovery_ has
left a manuscript relating to the serious events just described, and he
has this to say regarding his much-esteemed commander:


The character of Captain Cook will be best exemplified by the services
he has performed, which are universally known, and have ranked his name
above that of any navigator of ancient or modern times.  Nature had
endowed him with a mind vigorous and comprehensive, which in his riper
years he had cultivated with care and industry.  His general knowledge
was extensive and various; in that of his own profession he was
unequalled.  With a clear judgment, strong masculine sense, and the
most determined resolution; with a genius peculiarly turned for
enterprise, he pursued his object with unshaken perseverance;--vigilant
and active in an eminent degree; cool and intrepid among dangers;
patient and firm under difficulties and distress; fertile in
expedients, great and original in all his designs; active and resolved
in carrying them into execution.  These qualities rendered him the
animating spirit of the expedition; in every situation he stood
unrivalled and alone; on him all eyes were turned; he was our leading
star, which, at its setting, left us involved in darkness and despair.

His constitution was strong, his mode of living temperate.  He was a
modest man, and rather bashful; of an agreeable, lively conversation,
sensible and intelligent.  In his temper he was somewhat hasty, but of
a disposition the most friendly, {150} benevolent, and humane.  His
person was above six feet high, and though a good-looking man, he was
plain, both in address and appearance.  His head was small, his hair,
which was a dark brown, he wore tied behind.  His face was full of
expression; his nose was exceedingly well shaped; his eyes, which were
small and of a brown cast, were quick and piercing; his eye-brows
prominent, which gave his countenance altogether an air of austerity.

He was beloved of his people, who looked up to him as a father, and
obeyed his commands with alacrity.  The confidence we placed in him was
unremitting; our admiration of his great talents unbounded, our esteem
for his good qualities affectionate and sincere.


Writing at this late date one cannot hope to approach the sincerity of
appeal contained in such a heart-felt message.  It is well to remember
that this is but one of many such character studies written by
contemporary men in various walks of life, who one and all pay loud
tribute to the greatness of the master circumnavigator.

From the 22nd of February to the 13th of March, Captain Clerke directed
the navigation of the vessels to the westward, calling in turn at the
principal islands of the Sandwich group.  Their course lay across the
Alenuihaha Channel, around the southern coast of Maui, thence south of
Lanai and up to the western part of Molokai.[4]  Contrary winds and
baffling currents prevented a close inspection of the shores they
passed.  Crossing over Kaiwi Channel on the 26th, they coasted the
northern shore of Oahu.  A large bay was seen, but the weather being
hazy and the wind blowing strongly on shore it was not deemed wise to
attempt an anchorage.  Rounding the north-west extremity of the island
a large open road was discovered and anchor was let go "in thirteen
fathoms water, with a sandy bottom."  A little river which entered the
bay held out hopes of a good watering place, but the water proved to be
brackish for some distance up the stream and the design was abandoned.
It is interesting to note here {151} that the officers of the ships
were struck with the unusual beauty of this island, and Mr. King is
fain to remark: "The banks of this river, and indeed the whole we saw
of the northwest part of Woahoo (Oahu), are well cultivated, and full
of villages; and the face of the country is uncommonly beautiful and
picturesque."  This seems quite in keeping with modern ideas of Oahu
and its equally beautiful south-east coast.

The next day the _Resolution_, accompanied by the _Discovery_, crossed
the Kaieie Waho Channel to Kauai, and on the 29th anchored in the
familiar roadstead of the previous year.[5]  Their principal object in
so doing was to obtain a full supply of fresh water with which to begin
their northern cruise.  For it had been decided to once again explore
the Arctic Ocean to the north of Bering Strait in an endeavour to find
if by any chance a north-east passage existed.  A week was spent in the
Kauai road, then a few days at Nihau and the preparations for departure
were considered to be complete.  "On the 15th of March, at seven in the
morning," the ships put to sea, and sailing westward along the 20th
parallel of north latitude, a sharp look-out was kept for new islands
which might lie in these hitherto unexplored wastes.  Two weeks later,
being then in the same latitude but well under the 180th meridian,
their course was changed to north-west-by-north with Avatcha Bay their
rendezvous.

During this voyage the health of Captain Clerke began to give way.  It
is thought by some that he had contracted the germs of consumption
while in the Fleet Street prison prior to joining the _Discovery_ at
Plymouth.  The journal of the voyage mentions his indisposition while
the ships lay at anchor in Karakakooa Bay, but it was now apparent to
all that he was a very sick man and had not long to live.  In such a
state of health the projected voyage to the northward was to him little
better than suicide, but no thought of his own comfort or discomfort
adorns the simple {152} record of the voyage.  There is a quiet bravery
in the mere performance of one's daily duty, which at times transcends
the more spectacular or muscular type.  On the 18th of April, and while
the vessels were approaching the 50th parallel, this entry appears:


To add to Captain Clerke's difficulties, the sea was in general so
rough, and the ships so leaky, that the sail-makers had no place to
repair the sails in, except his apartments, which, in his declining
state of health, was a serious inconvenience to him.


On the 23rd April the coast of Kamchatka was sighted.  The mountains
showing through the mist were seen to be covered with snow, while the
coast showed a straight and uniform outline devoid of inlet or bay,
altogether a "dismal and dreary prospect."  In this connection it may
not be amiss to give the reader some idea of the trials which
navigation upon the Siberian coast in the month of April may entail.


The wind continued blowing very strong from the northeast, with thick
hazy weather and sleet, from the 24th till the 28th.  During the whole
time, the thermometer was never higher than 30.  The ship appeared to
be a complete mass of ice; the shrouds were so incrusted with it, as to
measure in circumference more than double their usual size, and, in
short, the experience of the oldest seaman among us had never met with
anything like the continued showers of sleet, and the extreme cold,
which we now encountered.  Indeed, the severity of the weather, added
to the great difficulty of working the ships, and the labour of keeping
the pumps constantly going, rendered the service too hard for many of
the crew, some of whom were frost-bitten, and others laid up with bad
colds.  We continued all this time standing four hours on each tack,
having generally soundings of sixty fathoms when about three leagues
from the land; but none at twice that distance.  On the 25th, we had a
transient view of the entrance of Awatska Bay,[6] but, in the present
state of the weather, we were afraid of venturing into it.  Upon our
standing off again, we lost sight {153} of the _Discovery_, but, as we
were now so near the place of rendezvous, this gave us no great
uneasiness.  On the 28th, in the morning, the weather at last cleared,
and the wind fell to a light breeze from the same quarter as before.
We had a fine warm day, and as we now began to expect a thaw, the men
were employed in breaking the ice from off the rigging, masts, and
sails, in order to prevent its falling on our heads ... about three in
the afternoon, a fair wind sprang up from the southward, with which we
stood in, having regular soundings from twenty-two to seven fathoms.


However, the welcome accorded our weary mariners by the people of the
little town of St. Peter and St. Paul more than made up for the
inclemency of the weather, and the resulting fatigue.  The commander of
the principal Russian Ostrogs of Southern Kamchatka was at this time
residing at Bolcheretsk, on the western side, 135 miles away.
Accordingly, Captain Gore and Lieutenant King made an overland trip to
Bolcheretsk by dog team.  Wrapped in great bear skins, and guided by
native Kamchadales, the trip proved both novel and entertaining.  Major
Behm met the sailors with every mark of respect, ministered to their
wants in every way he could, and accompanied them back to Petropavlovsk.

What provisions the two small places provided were given the officers,
and the doughty major would not hear of pay, claiming that the work the
English were engaged upon was of a scientific nature and a benefit to
all people; that his sovereign would, he was confident, so consider it,
and would wish him to aid them in every way.  Such consideration
touched the hearts of every man on the ships, and the three rousing
cheers which broke forth when the major went ashore on his way to
Bolcheretsk bore ample testimony that his many kindnesses were
appreciated.

A packet of letters, maps, and journals of the voyage to date had been
made up and were entrusted to the worthy major's care.  By fast express
across the vast Siberian plains it passed from sledge to pony, from
pony to river {154} boat, until six months had elapsed.  Then this
entry appeared one morning in the _London Gazette_ under date of 11th
January, 1780:[7]


Captain Clerke of His Majesty's Sloop the _Resolution_, in a letter to
Mr. Stephens, dated the 8th June, 1779, in the Harbour of St. Peter and
St. Paul, Kampschatka, which was received yesterday, gives the
melancholy account of the celebrated Captain Cook, late Commander of
that Sloop, with four of his private Marines having been killed on the
14th of February last at the island of O'why'he, one of a group of new
discovered Islands in the 22nd Degree of North Latitude, in an affray
with a numerous and tumultuous Body of the Natives.


So the news came to the waiting Admiralty and to the widow at Mile End,
Old Town.

Now let us follow the fortunes of the expedition on their northward
journey.  On the 13th, 14th, and 15th of June the _Resolution_ and
_Discovery_ were employed in getting out of Avatcha Bay, a tedious
process with fog, head winds, and a rudely charted channel.  The next
day they resumed their northward cruise, keeping as close to the shore
as possible in order to chart its general contour.  It is not necessary
to follow the course of this part of the voyage in detail, but the
following may prove to be of interest in marking from time to time the
progress of the expedition.  The 1st of July found them in latitude
62, off the Gulf of Anadyr; three days later they passed by St.
Lawrence Island; on the 5th the straits were navigated, and a course to
the north-east was decided on.  On the 7th solid field ice barred their
passage in latitude 68.  "The whole presented," so runs the journal,
"a solid and compact surface not in the smallest degree thawed and
appeared to us likewise to adhere to the land."  The northern passage
through the Arctic Ocean to Hudson's Bay, Baffin's Bay or any other
bay, it was apparent to all, was a delusion and a dream.  If solid
fields of ice bound {155} the continental shores to the polar regions
in the month of July, what possible chance remained of finding a
channel in any other month of the year?

Yet they had come from afar to prove this thing to the hilt; let
assurance be made doubly sure: so back along the pack-ice edge they
sailed over toward the Asiatic shore, buffeting the floating ice,
ripping the frail sheathing from their bows, until the _Discovery_
signalled she dared go no farther.  Then, and with still no passageway
found, it was decided to abandon the fruitless search and fare away to
Avatcha Bay, make repairs, and then--could it really be true?--then
home!

The end of July, 1779, saw the expedition safely through the strait,
and making as quick a run down the Kamchatka coast as the slow sailing
qualities of the vessels would permit.  On the 17th of August, the
journal tells us, Captain Clerke "was now no longer able to get out of
his bed," and five days later this is entered: "At nine o'clock in the
morning, departed this life Captain Charles Clerke, in the
thirty-eighth year of his age."  He had proved to be a capable, zealous
officer and was much beloved by the crews of both vessels.  Lieutenant
King now assumed the responsibility of navigating the vessel into
Avatcha Bay, which was not many miles distant, and on the 24th the
_Resolution_ and the _Discovery_ swung idly at anchor before the little
village of Petropavlovsk.

There the vessels remained for six weeks, undergoing extensive repairs
to hull, rigging and sails.  Fresh provisions of flour, beef and fresh
fish were also secured during this needed interval.  On the 29th both
crews walked in solemn procession to the grave at the foot of a tree
overlooking the harbour: there the last rites were read over the
remains of Captain Clerke, while the vessels in the harbour boomed
minute-guns, followed by three volleys from the marines.  One cannot
help thinking on how many far-flung shores similar simple rites have
been accorded the empire's sons, who have risked their lives in peace
and in war {156} that the realm they love may endure.  Nay more, that
it may increase and grow strong, a beacon-light to all nations.

The command of the expedition now devolved upon Captain Gore.  He
proceeded to take charge of the _Resolution_, advancing Lieutenant King
to the command of the _Discovery_.  When all was in readiness for
departure, it was agreed to sail down the coast of Kamchatka,
investigate the Kurile Islands, thence along the eastern coast of
Japan, then over to the Chinese shore and to Macao, their next place of
rendezvous in case of separation.  The vessels cleared the bay on the
9th of October, and three days later passed Cape Lopatka.  On the 16th
the vessels were in latitude 45 27', and in the very portion of the
sea supposed to contain the De Gama land of the old chart-makers.  They
accordingly turned more to the eastward in an attempt to find some
trace of this much-charted land, as well as those areas known as
Company's Land, Staten Island, etc.  Although the weather badgered the
ships with violent gales and high seas, a constant search was
maintained along the 150th meridian, and to the westward of it, for six
days, but no lands greeted their view, and once again an arm-chair
theory was annihilated, one which had persisted for upward of a century
and a half.  On the 25th the search was abandoned and the vessels that
day approached the 40th parallel on their journey to the southward.
The next day the coast of Japan was sighted.  As they came up to the
shore the land was seen to be of a moderate height, abounding with
wood, and with a "pleasing variety of hills and dales."  The smoke of
several villages was seen, and the houses near the shore were seen to
be in pleasant and cultivated situations.  No attempt to land was made,
however, and the vessels proceeded on their way down the coast.  Three
days later two large junks were seen, whose crews hurried them to
shelter as the English vessels approached.

A succession of gales then drove the vessels far off the {157} coast,
and, in view of the leaky condition of the ships, the rotten nature of
the cordage, which now broke upon the least strain, it was decided to
make for the China coast without further delay.  This was accordingly
done and the vessels were brought to an anchorage in the Typa on 4th
December, 1779.

After three weeks of negotiations with the Cantonese merchants the
needful ships' stores were purchased, and the officers began to make
preparations for sea.  Captain King, however, had carried ashore with
him in his quest some twenty sea-otter skins, "chiefly the property of
our deceased Commander."  These furs he proceeded to dispose of at the
best price obtainable.  After much haggling eight hundred dollars were
offered by the Chinese fur merchant, and the deal was closed.  When one
stops to realise the great purchasing power of a dollar in those days
the sum Captain King received for the twenty peltries is astonishing.
In the meantime the sailors had not been less active, as the subjoined
account will testify:


One of our seamen sold his stock alone for eight hundred dollars; and a
few prime skins, which were clean and had been well preserved, were
sold for one hundred and twenty each.  The whole amount of the value in
specie and goods, that was got for the furs, in both ships, I am
confident did not fall short of two thousand pounds sterling; and it
was generally supposed that at least two-thirds of the quantity we had
originally got from the Americans were spoiled and worn out, or had
been given away, and otherwise disposed of, in Kamtschatka.  When, in
addition to these facts, it is remembered that the furs were at first
collected without our having any idea of their real value; that the
greatest part had been worn by the Indians, from whom we purchased
them; that they were afterward preserved with little care, and
frequently used for bed-clothes, and other purposes, during our cruise
to the north; and that, probably, we had never got the full value for
them in China; the advantages that might be derived from a voyage to
that part of the American coast, undertaken with commercial views,
appear to me of a degree of importance sufficient to call for the
attention of the public.


{158}

And the subsequent happenings leading up to the Nootka Sound
controversy are proof positive that the "public" did take notice of the
"commercial views" Captain King expresses.

The sailors were wildly excited at their proceeds from the miniature
fur sale, which had been held for some days on the deck of the
_Resolution_.  They were clamorously insistent to return at once to
Cook's River, Prince William Sound, Nootka, anywhere along the rugged
coast, and secure a larger and greater cargo of sea-otter skins, which
the Chinese bought so readily.  The eagerness of the sailors was little
short of mutiny, and they were with difficulty restrained.  Captain
King, himself, was almost persuaded of the feasibility of the plan.  On
the 11th of January two seamen deserted and all search that could be
made for them was of no avail.  It was supposed these men were
determined to engage in the fur trade; with this defection the scene
closes, but we may well imagine the solemn resolves which some of the
crew would make, that when once discharged in England--well, we would
see!

While at anchor in the Typa the officers received further intelligence
of the war between England on the one hand and the revolting colonies,
France, and Spain on the other.  This gave them some alarm lest they be
captured on the way home by some enemy frigate.  But the East India
Company agents at Canton assured them there was little danger of any
such capture being contemplated.  In fact recent despatches from
England were to the effect that all French ships of war carried
directions from their government not to molest the ships that had
sailed under the command of Captain Cook.  The same orders were said to
have been given by the American Congress to the vessels employed in
their service.  In this wise the vessels set sail on 12th January, and
three months later to the very day anchored at the Cape.  Here they
were royally entertained by Baron Plettenberg, the Dutch governor.
{159} He had become strongly attached to Captain Cook during the
latter's stay in that port on former visits, and was now most anxious
to learn complete details of the voyage.

On the 9th of May, 1780, the voyage was resumed.  Their course lay to
the westward of St. Helena and Ascension Islands; about the middle of
June the equator was crossed, "for the fourth time during the voyage."
Still keeping clear of the usual trade routes, and well out in
mid-Atlantic, they steered for the Irish coast, intending to put into
Port Galway.  But strong southerly gales forced them to the northward,
and it was not until the 22nd of August at eleven in the morning that
both ships came to anchor at Stromness.  At this point Captain Gore
despatched Captain King to London to acquaint the Admiralty with their
arrival, "and on the 4th day of October the ships arrived safely at the
Nore, after an absence of four years, two months, and twenty-two days."

Following upon the receipt of the news from Siberia, early in 1780, the
king at once gave orders that a pension of 300 a year be granted to
Mrs. Cook.  A coat of arms was also granted in recognition of the
services rendered the nation by Captain Cook.  Nor was the Royal
Society one whit behind the government in its desire to do honour to a
distinguished member.  A special gold medal was struck in Cook's honour
and duly forwarded to Mrs. Cook by the then president, Sir Joseph Banks.

Of the six children, two sons at that time survived.  James, the
eldest, had been educated at the Royal Academy, Portsmouth, and had
then joined the navy, where he "rose to the rank of Commander in 1793."
Hugh, the youngest, that same year entered Christ's College, Cambridge.
But the scarlet fever made its appearance and the young lad succumbed.
He had been in residence but two months and was but seventeen years of
age.  In January of '94 James took command of the sloop _Spitfire_.
His new command lay at Portsmouth, and in endeavouring to join {160}
the vessel, his row-boat was upset in the rough sea running at the
time, and all the occupants were drowned.  Mrs. Cook was now thrice
widowed, but is said to have maintained the greatest fortitude
throughout her bereavements.  She survived her son James by forty-one
years, and died at Clapham at the ripe old age of ninety-three.



[1] Kealakekua Bay of later maps.

[2] The head chief or king of the island.

[3] A sort of blanket interdict.

[4] On this island there is now a large leper settlement.

[5] On the south-west coast.

[6] Avatcha Bay.

[7] Kitson, page 491.




{161}

CHAPTER XI

LIEUTENANT JOHN MEARES AND THE FUR TRADE ON
  THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AMERICA


FOREWORD

In preparing the narrative of the early fur-trading days along the
North-west coast of America some unusual difficulties were encountered.
In the first place a large part of the subject matter had for long been
one of a controversial nature between Britain and Spain.  Exaggeration,
concealment of this or that important fact, even fair-sized lies, have
alike tended to distort the truth about the exciting events in far-off
Nootka.

Meares himself has been the chief obstacle.  He is a lovable rogue,
full of high-sounding phrases and grand ideas.  Never downcast, always
hopeful, he will tell you a barefaced falsehood on one page, while on
the next he regales you with a beautiful paragraph descriptive of some
islet, bay, or Indian chieftain.  He must have been a born actor and
quite unconscious of the fact, forever seeing things as they ought to
have been, but seldom as they really were.

That he was persistent in what he undertook is amply proven in the
narrative.  Brave to a degree but tricky in the extreme, his seamanship
questionable, his reputed discoveries and "butter pat" maps as
unreliable as they are laughable, he barely escapes the fate history
awards a Juan de Fuca.

Yet John Meares may be said to have set two nations on the verge of war
and then to have recouped a doubtful venture by the acquirement from
one--Spain--of a huge indemnity.  Where may one find a parallel to such
audacity?  {162} This is the story of a fur trader on the North-west
coast of America, and is intended to present in a simple readable form
the picture of the times from the death of Captain Cook in 1779 to the
arrival of Captain Vancouver in 1792.

The complete journals of Cook's last voyage were in the hands of the
British Admiralty in the year 1780.  But owing to the unsettled times
publication was delayed until the year after the Treaty of Versailles,
1783.  Considerable mention is made in the concluding remarks of
Captain King, who brought the _Discovery_ safely home from China, of
the great value set by the Chinese on certain furs of skins of the sea
otter.  These furs had been secured from the Indians for bits of iron,
beads or other trinkets of little value, by the crews of the
_Discovery_ and _Resolution_.  King further recites in his narrative
the great desire of his sailors to return at once to Nootka for further
trade with the Indians.

One would naturally expect that statements from such a reputable and
trustworthy source would encourage some adventurous spirits to make
such a voyage.  Accordingly we find Captain James Hanna in 1785 sailing
from China to Nootka in a small vessel, and returning with a cargo of
560 sea-otter skins, which he successfully disposed of in Macao.  The
undoubted success of this voyage could but add speed to those who might
be making preparations for a similar undertaking.  And the year 1786 is
notable for the number of expeditions which outfitted for the American
coast.

From Bombay sailed the _Captain Cook_ and the _Experiment_, under
Captains Lowrie and Guise.  These vessels spent some time at Nootka and
traded northward as far as Prince William Sound, returning to China in
the autumn.

From London came the _King George_ and _Queen Charlotte_, under
Captains Portlock and Dixon.  Messrs. C. and J. Etches were the prime
bankers of this enterprise and they had secured from the South Sea
Company of that time a licence to enter this trade.

{163}

Meares also mentions the _Sea Otter_ and the _Lark_ as having sailed
from China in pursuit of the fur trade.  In addition to these we have
the _Nootka_ and _Sea Otter_ outfitting from Calcutta under the command
of John Meares--with William Tipping in subordinate command.

Eight vessels of varying tonnage: truly the quest of the sea-otter had
begun in earnest.  It is with the fortunes of the _Nootka_ and _Sea
Otter_, or the Meares expedition, that we wish to deal here, and as the
narrative proceeds sorrowful happenings and strange meetings on far
distant coasts will be recorded.  Not all expeditions have happy
homecomings, and certainly the first attempt of John Meares to enter
the sea-otter trade was anything but pleasant and profitable.  But let
this following brief account tell its own story.


Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles (1783) Lieutenant John
Meares had retired from service in the Royal Navy.  Taking command of a
merchant ship bound for India, he arrived in due course at Calcutta.
There he was instrumental in forming a company to engage in the fur
trade on the North-west coast of America.

Two small vessels were purchased: the _Nootka_ of 200 tons, the _Sea
Otter_ of 100 tons, burthen.  The latter was placed under the command
of Captain Tipping and put to sea the latter part of February.
Proceeding by way of Malacca, where a consignment of opium was
unloaded, she continued her voyage across the Pacific with orders to
rendezvous with Captain Meares in Prince William Sound.

The _Nootka_ sailed from Calcutta by way of Madras, thence to Malacca,
which was left on 29th May, 1786, and the long voyage across the
Pacific really began.  A northerly route was chosen, and the ship
touched at the Bashee Islands 26th June.  "We remained here four days,"
says Meares, "during which time we obtained great plenty of hogs,
goats, ducks, fowls, yams, and sweet potatoes, in return for unwrought
iron."  Meares now steered to the north-east, {164} and after passing
the latitude of 25 north is fain to remark: "we had one continual fog,
which was oftentimes so thick that it was impossible to see the length
of the vessel."

Land was sighted the 1st of August, and it proved to be part of the
island archipelago off the western coast of Alaska, now known as the
Aleutian Islands.  The fog continued to be so thick that it was
impossible to see any object at twenty yards distance from the ship.
Under these circumstances the navigation of the ship was perilous in
the extreme; dangerous swift currents run in and out through this maze
of islands, the sounding line is of little use for they are but the
submerged tops of a sunken coast range and slope precipitously beneath
the waves.  The sound of the heavy surf dashing on the rock-bound shore
was the only warning the mariner of those days could rely upon, and the
vessel sheering off from one danger was as likely to encounter another
as to find open water and safety.

But on the 5th of August the fog cleared, and the vessel was soon in
safe anchorage at Unalaska.  Here a Russian settlement was found.
Meares describes the peculiar manner of life on these frozen and
inhospitable shores so well that the following excerpt from his journal
is given:


The Russians of these isles, came from Ochotsk and Kamschatka in
galleots of about fifty tons burthen, having from sixty to eighty men
in each.  They heave their vessels up in some convenient place, during
their station here, which is for eight years; at the end of which time
they are relieved by another party.  They hunt the sea-otters and other
animals whom nature has cloathed in furs.  The natives of the different
districts are also employed in the same occupation, and are obliged to
give the fruits of their toil, as a tribute to the Empress of Russia,
to whom the trade exclusively belongs.  In return, they receive small
quantities of snuff, of which they are immoderately fond; and,
obtaining that favourite article, they are content with their wretched
condition, from whence, as far as respects any exertion of their own,
they will never emerge.

The houses of the Russians are constructed upon the same {165}
principles as those of the natives, but on a plan of larger extent.
They consist of cavities dug in the earth, and a stranger might be in
danger of falling into them, without having the least suspicion that he
was within the verge of any habitation; as the only entrance into these
subterraneous places of residence, is through a round hole at the top
of them, and by a post with steps cut in it, as the means of descent.
Indeed, such an accident happened, on the first evening of our landing,
to the first officer and surgeon of the _Nootka_.  On their return from
a Russian village, they suddenly disappeared through one of these
holes, and intruded themselves, in a very unexpected manner, to a
household of the natives.  The fright on the occasion was mutual; the
one hurrying out of the place as fast as their fears could carry them,
leaving the fallen gentlemen, in expectation that the invaded people
... would instantly give the alarm, and call their friends to revenge
the innocent invasion by murder and massacre.  They found, however, on
their return above ground, that the natives had fled in extreme
confusion and affright.  The next morning, the accident was explained;
and a small present of tobacco made the poor people ample recompense
for the alarm of the preceding evening.

The sides of these dwellings are divided into compartments for the
purpose of sleeping, the skins of animals serving them for their beds;
and in the centre is the place for dressing and eating their
victuals....  Their diet consists entirely of fish with the oil of the
same for sauce.  The only vegetable these islands produce is wild
celery, which the natives eat as it is pulled out of the ground....
The only animals on these islands are foxes, some of which are black,
and whose skins are very valuable.


The rest of August was spent in a run down the coast of Alaska in an
endeavour to get below the Russian settlements so that furs might be
secured from the natives.  Anchor was cast under Cape Douglas at the
entrance to Cook's River.  The weather proving stormy, it was the 20th
of September before they were able to leave their anchorage and proceed
to the rendezvous at Prince William Sound.  Evidences were found that
some vessel had lately been there, and Meares decided that the _Sea
Otter_, fearing to {166} remain longer in these high latitudes, had
returned to China with her season's trade.  But she was never heard of
again; the Pacific had claimed still another for its mounting tale of
the lost at sea.

Meares was in a quandary--it was now October, gales of wind,
accompanied with sleet and snow, held little hope of finding a safe
harbour to the southward.  Their only alternative once they should quit
their present anchorage was a straight run to the Sandwich Islands.
But the men were becoming dissatisfied with this voyage through fog and
sleet and snow along a rock-bound and dangerous coast.  Once at Hawaii
it might not be possible to persuade them to return for further trade
in the spring.  So he decided, in view of this and the small number of
furs he had been so far able to collect, to remain for the winter in
the sound.  Meares much preferred to face the rigours of a northern
winter within latitude 60 north, than the disappointment and anger of
the Calcutta merchants at the failure of the venture.

Preparations were accordingly made for an inhospitable winter in the
sound.  The vessel was unrigged, a log house was erected on shore;
spars and canvas were used to cover the sides, and form a roof over the
top deck.  The work was partly completed by the time that the snow on
shore became so deep that no more timber could be secured.

Ice formed around the ship, and for a time skating was indulged in,
much to the enjoyment of the crew.  Then the sun almost disappeared,
and they "had at noon but a very faint and glimmering light....  While
tremendous mountains forbade almost a sight of the sky and cast their
nocturnal shadows over us in the midst of day, the land was
impenetrable from the depth of snow, so that we were excluded from all
hopes of any recreation, support or comfort, during the winter, but
what could be found in the ship and in ourselves....  The new year set
in with added cold, and was succeeded by some very heavy falls of snow,
which lasted till the middle of the month.  Our {167} decks were now
incapable of resisting the intense freezing at night, and the lower
parts of them were covered an inch thick with a hoary frost, that had
all the appearance of snow, notwithstanding three fires were kept
constantly burning twenty hours out of the twenty-four."

By the middle of January twelve were down with the scurvy, by the end
of the month four had died, but more were afflicted, until twenty-three
of the crew were seriously ill--including the ship's surgeon.  The end
of February brought no relief, five more were prostrate and so ill
"that none of them had sufficient strength to get out of their
hammocks--four more died in the course of the month."  During March the
surgeon and pilot died, leaving them without the medical advice of
which they stood in such sore need.  It would appear that but three men
of the whole ship's company remained in a state of health that
permitted them to succour the sick seamen.


Every advantage [Meares writes] that the sick could receive from the
most tender and vigilant attention, they received from myself, the
first officer and a seaman, who were yet in a state to do them that
service.  But still we continued to see and lament a gradual diminution
of our crew from this terrible disorder.  Too often did I find myself
called to assist in performing the dreadful office of dragging the dead
bodies across the ice, to a shallow sepulchre which our own hands had
hewn out for them on the shore.  The sledge on which we fetched the
wood was their hearse, and the chasms in the ice their grave.

April passed with stormy winds, but with a welcome rise in the
temperature.  Seven more of the crew succumbed to the disease and were
buried with what ceremony the little company could muster.  With the
return of warm weather in May the spirits of the crew revived and the
Indians daily brought them fresh fish and fowl.  On the 19th there
arrived a boat, conducted by canoes, in which was Captain Dixon of the
_Queen Charlotte_, from London.  He was welcomed [says Meares] as a
guardian angel with tears of joy.


Dixon reported two ships were anchored in the sound {168} some twenty
miles below the _Nootka_ at Port Etches; his own and the _King George_,
under Captain Portlock, who was the commander-in-chief of this
fur-trading expedition, sent out from London in 1785 by the King George
Sound Company; that they had wintered at the Sandwich Islands and were
now on a trading venture along the coast.  Now rival traders of those
days were not noted for their humanity to each other, even in times of
direst want, and although Captain Portlock rendered some assistance to
the crew of the _Nootka_, Meares was made to pay roundly for every
service rendered.

The reduced strength of the crew of the Nootka made it almost necessary
for Portlock to lend some seamen from the strength of his vessels;
accordingly two able-bodied seamen were furnished Meares.  A month was
spent in caulking seams, stowing ballast, and overhauling the rigging,
in which work the ship's carpenter from the _King George_ proved of
invaluable assistance.  In return for their assistance, for which
Captain Meares paid in articles for trade as well as sight drafts on
Canton, Portlock demanded at the last moment a bond of one thousand
pounds that Meares would refrain from fur trade that season, and that
he sail direct to the Sandwich Islands--and thence to Canton; thus
eliminating at least one competitor for that year.  As will readily be
seen, this meant the ruin of the enterprise of which Meares was the
moving spirit.  All his suffering in Prince William Sound would go for
naught.  Ill luck seemed at this stage to dog his every step.  Would
not men of less perseverance have given up in despair?  Meares signed
the document.  Once clear of the sound on the 21st of June, fair
weather and favourable winds wafted them on their way to Owhyhee--where
a stay of a month put every man in condition.  Sailing thence on the
2nd of September, anchor was cast in the Typa, a harbour near Macao, on
the 20th of October, 1787.




{169}

CHAPTER XII

MEARES MAKES A SECOND VENTURE, AND DECIDES TO
  ERECT A PERMANENT FACTORY AT NOOTKA

Neither the hardships of the voyage nor the small returns seemed to
daunt the spirits of Meares and his friends in the venture.  Fortunes
were being made by others; the Indians were anxious to trade valuable
sea-otter and beaver skins for trinkets of iron, beads of glass and
hatchets and knives of steel.  The wealthy Chinese were very anxious to
secure these furs for their ceremonial robes of state, and in turn
willingly paid forty to fifty dollars for a prime sea-otter skin, which
cost the fur trader a mere fraction of that sum.  Captains Portlock and
Dixon are known to have secured on their voyage of 1786-87, 2552 skins,
which brought them in China the sum of 54,857 dollars.  Other traders
that year (1787) secured another 2481 skins, which were probably sold
for a similar amount.

Three months after his arrival, in January of 1788, Meares was
successful in purchasing two vessels for the further prosecution of the
fur trade--the _Felice_ of two hundred and thirty tons and the
_Iphigenia_ of two hundred tons burthen.  He assumed command of the
former, while the latter was entrusted to the care of Captain Douglas.
On this voyage fifty Chinese artisans were employed, in addition to the
usual European crew, it being the intention of the venture to erect a
post or factory at Nootka or some convenient place, and there build a
small vessel for the coasting trade.

Sailing from Typa the latter part of January, 1788, a southerly course
was maintained through the maze of islands of Oceania.  Great heat,
violent storms and constant dangers from sunken and uncharted reefs
were their {170} daily menu.  At the south-eastern end of Mindanao the
_Felice_ parted company with her consort, which lay to in the harbour
of Zamboingan to secure a new foremast.  The _Felice_, baffled by
north-east winds, found herself on 4th April safely north of the
Ladrones, then, with better weather, a general north-east course for
Nootka Sound was maintained.  Anchor was cast "in Friendly Cove, in
King George's Sound, abreast of the village of Nootka, in four fathoms
of water, and within a hundred yards of the shore, after a passage of
three months and twenty-three days from China.

"In a short time the ship was surrounded with a great number of canoes,
which were filled with men, women and children; they brought also
considerable supplies of fish, and we did not hesitate a moment to
purchase an article so very acceptable to people just arrived from a
long and toilsome voyage."

Accompanying Meares in the _Felice_ was an Indian chief, Comekcla by
name.  This enquiring Nootkan had been taken to China the previous
year, and now, decked out in scarlet coat, brass buttons, a breastplate
of shining copper, and a military hat "set off with a flaunting
cockade," prepared to go ashore.  As if this dress were not
sufficiently startling, "he contrived to hang from his hair, which was
dressed _en queue_, so many handles of copper saucepans, that his head
was kept back by the weight of them, in such a stiff and upright
position, as very much to heighten the singularity of his appearance."
In addition to these strange copper ornaments he had succeeded in
wresting from the cook an enormous spit; this Comekcla held in his hand
as a spear.  The whole village came down to the beach to bid him
welcome and, all the while the centre of admiring eyes, he was led to
the principal house of the town where a great feast of whale blubber
and oil was prepared; a delectable repast among the Nootkan Indians,
and one, let us hope, that Comekcla was still able to enjoy.

Now it so happened that the two important chiefs of {171} the sound,
Maquinna and Callicum, were absent when the _Felice_ cast anchor in
Friendly Cove.  But these two personages arrived on Friday the 16th,
accompanied by a number of war canoes.  "They moved with great parade
round the ship, singing at the same time a song of a pleasing though
sonorous melody: there were twelve of these canoes, each of which
contained about eighteen men, the greater part of whom were cloathed in
dresses of the most beautiful skins of sea otter, which covered them
from their necks to their ancles.  Their hair was powdered with the
white down of birds, and their faces bedaubed with red and black ochre,
in the form of a shark's jaw, and a kind of spiral line, which rendered
their appearance extremely savage.  In most of the boats there were
eight rowers on a side, and a single man sat in the bow.  The chief
occupied a place in the middle, and was also distinguished by an high
cap, pointed at the crown, and ornamented at the top with a small tuft
of feathers."

After twice circling the ship the canoes were brought alongside and the
two chiefs came on board.  Maquinna "appeared to be about thirty years,
of a middle size, but extremely well made, and possessing a countenance
that was formed to interest all who saw him....  A present consisting
of copper, iron, and other gratifying articles was made to Maquinna and
Callicum, who, on receiving it, took off their sea-otter garments,
threw them, in the most graceful manner, at our feet, and remained in
the unattired garb of nature on the deck.--They were each of them in
return presented with a blanket,--when, with every mark of the highest
satisfaction, they descended into their canoes, which were paddled
hastily to the shore."

Negotiations were at once opened with Maquinna for the purchase of a
piece of land, upon which a house was begun, for the accommodation of
those members of the crew who were to construct a small coasting
vessel.  The chief "not only most readily consented to grant us a spot
of ground ... but promised us also his assistance in forwarding our
{172} works....  Great advances were made in building the house, which
on the 28th was completely finished."

This was of two storeys--the ground floor was to be used as a workshop,
the second floor as a combined dining-room and dormitory.  To the
natives of the sound it appeared no doubt a wonderful creation.  Around
the house as an added means of protection was thrown up a strong
breast-work, with a cannon placed in such a position as to command the
Indian village near by.  On the beach the carpenters now laid down the
keel of a vessel of some forty tons burthen, and soon all were busily
employed; some in cutting timber in the adjacent forest, others in
shaping the logs into the necessary forms, and still others busy at the
forge making bolts, nails, etc., for the frames.

A month having passed in these activities.  Captain Meares resolved to
sail southward along the coast for some distance in search of further
trade and adventure.  The 10th of June saw the _Felice_ safely out of
the sound and on the way to the village of Wicananish, situated in
Clayoquot Sound, some leagues to the southward of Nootka.  Here a brisk
trade in fine sea-otter skins was carried on for some days.

Proceeding southward the _Felice_ touched at the entrance to the Strait
of Juan de Fuca (which had been discovered by Captain Barkley in the
_Imperial Eagle_ the previous year).  It was desired to carry on trade
with the Indians who inhabited the southern side of the entrance at
Tatooche.  But the chief of Tatooche and the natives in general proving
surly and in some respects openly hostile, the ship continued her
voyage that evening, Captain Meares intending to give the strait some
attention on his return from the south.

[Illustration: LIEUTENANT JOHN MEARES.  From an engraving after the
picture by W. Beechey in _Meares' Voyages_.]

From Cape Flattery to the mouth of the Columbia the coast was observed
and charted with a considerable degree of accuracy.  Meares was anxious
to find harbourage where the ship could remain in security for some
days, while a trade with the Indians was carried on.  Spanish charts of
{173} the time told of a river, St. Roc, somewhere in these latitudes,
and of safe anchorage, but try as he might no place of safety could be
found.  Bays there were, but they were shoal, and sand-bars appeared to
stretch across the entrance in each case.  The captain mentions Shoal
Water Bay, Quicksand Bay, and Deception Bay as names given {174} to
represent the kind and condition of the harbourage to be found in
latitude 46 north.  Although it was July, the weather was stormy and
treacherous.  Meares frequently mentions the difficulties this
occasioned in attempting to find some navigable opening in the
shore-line.

"The wind veered to the north, and blew very strong with a great sea:
... and the land was everywhere covered with a thick mist."  Again: "A
prodigious easterly swell rolled on the shore--as we steered in, the
water shoaled to nine, eight and seven fathoms, when breakers were seen
from the deck, right ahead."

"In the offing it blew very strong, and a great westerly swell tumbled
in on the land."  Continuing the narrative, we read: "As we had met
with nothing but discouragement, we here gave up all further pursuit,
and closed our progress to the southward; we therefore hauled our wind,
in order to proceed again to the northward."

The discovery of the great Columbia River had been almost within his
grasp.  But this was fated to fall to the honour of Captain Gray in the
ship _Columbia_, three years later.[1]  Deception Bay and Cape
Disappointment still stand as indicating how near Meares had been to
the accomplishment of this by no means easy task.  A week had passed
since he left the strait, for it is no business of the fur trader to
pass days exploring an inhospitable coast in thick weather, when his
base of supplies is in China and his ship in constant danger.

On the 11th anchor was cast in Barkley Sound, which Captain Barkley had
explored and named the previous year.  Here a brisk trade with the
Indians was at once begun--while this was in progress the long-boat
under the command of Robert Duffin, the first officer, was despatched
to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  A week later the boat returned
(20th July).  It had entered the strait for some distance and
preparations to land were being made when the Indians had come off in
their war canoes to the {175} attack.  It would appear that the
conflict had been severe and that the Indians had pressed their
onslaught with vigour and determination.  Four of the boat's crew were
suffering severely from barbed-arrow wounds.  "The rest of the people
were bruised in a terrible manner by the stones and clubs of the enemy;
even the boat itself was pierced in a thousand places by arrows, many
of which remained in the awning that covered the back part of it; and
which by receiving the arrows, and breaking the fall of large stones
thrown from slings, in a great measure saved our party from inevitable
destruction."

Meares claims that the long-boat had penetrated thirty _leagues_ into
the strait--that there the strait was fifteen _leagues_ wide, with a
clear easterly horizon.  This is one of his distressing exaggerations.
At any rate the long-boat immediately returned to the _Felice_ in
Barkley Sound, and the next day Captain Meares put to sea.

26th July found him safely at anchor in Nootka Sound.  All now bent
their energies to the completion of the little vessel, which was to
bear the honour of being the first ship launched from these northern
shores.  On the 27th of the ensuing month the little settlement at
Nootka were gladdened by the arrival of the _Iphigenia_.  It will be
remembered that she had parted company with the _Felice_ at the
Philippines; thence choosing a more northerly course had approached the
coast in the latitude of Prince William Sound, and had spent the summer
trading southward.  Captain Douglas had much to relate in the way of
trade and adventure.  But in order to more fittingly celebrate his safe
arrival a holiday was decreed for all and sundry of both crews.  One
may easily imagine the scene: the groups of new arrivals inspecting and
commenting upon the little vessel on the ways; the house and its
miniature earthworks would be examined; the Indian village near by
would be a source of wonder and amusement; over all the August sun
shining through the haze of approaching autumn.  Dangers of the sea
would quickly vanish, to give place to {176} pictures of green forests,
peaceful shores, odd people in strange dress, and the feel of firm land
beneath the feet.  No one can pack more hilarity and enjoyment into a
few hours or days on shore than the deep-water sailorman, and we may
rest assured that the day was fittingly observed.

The next and succeeding days' work was pushed with added vigour, all
hands turning their attention to the speedy conclusion of their
immediate enterprise--the launching of the sloop.  Three weeks had
passed in this manner when, on the 17th of September, a strange sail
was seen in the offing.


The long-boat [says Meares] was immediately sent to her assistance,
which, instead of the British vessel we expected, conveyed into the
sound a sloop, named the _Washington_, from Boston in New England, of
about one hundred tons burthen.

Mr. Grey, the master, informed us, that he had sailed in company with
his consort, the _Columbia_, a ship of three hundred tons, in the month
of August, 1787, being equipped, under the patronage of Congress, to
examine the Coast of America, and to open a fur trade between New
England and this part of the American Continent, in order to provide
funds for the China ships, to enable them to return home teas and China
goods.  These vessels were separated in an heavy gale of wind, in the
latitude of 59 south, and had not seen each other since the period of
their separation: but as King George's Sound was the place of
rendezvous appointed for them, the _Columbia_, if she was safe, was
every day expected to join her consort at Nootka.

The master of the _Washington_ was very much surprised at seeing a
vessel on the stocks, as well as on finding any one here before him;
for they had little or no notion of any commercial expedition
whatsoever to this part of America.


Gray's arrival was quite opportune, for three days later the _North
West America_ was launched.  Meares gives a graphic though somewhat
wordy description of the launching, parts of which are here given:


The vessel was then waiting to quit the stocks; and to give all due
honour to such an important scene, we adopted, as far {177} as was in
our power, the ceremony of other dock-yards.  As soon as the tide was
at its proper height the English ensign was displayed on shore at the
house, and on board the new vessel, which at the proper moment was
named the _North West America_, as being the first bottom ever built
and launched in this part of the globe.

It was a moment of much expectation....  Maquinna, Callicum, and a
large body of their people ... were come to behold it.


He then goes on to describe the presence of the Chinese carpenters, the
Sandwich Island chief, Tianna, and the Americans--and continuing the
narrative we read:


But our suspense was not of long duration; on the firing of a gun the
vessel started from the ways like a shot.  Indeed she went off with so
much velocity, that she had nearly made her way out of the harbour; for
the fact was, that not being very much accustomed to this business, we
had forgotten to place an anchor and cable on board, to bring her up,
which is the usual practice on these occasions; the boats, however,
soon towed her to her intended station, and in a short time the _North
West America_ was anchored close to the _Iphigenia_ and _Felice_.


Four days later Meares sailed for China, leaving Captain Douglas in
charge of the establishment at Nootka, with orders to winter at the
Sandwich Islands, and to return to Nootka the following spring to carry
on the trade with the Indians of those regions.  Captain Gray wintered
at Nootka, where he was in due course joined by Kendrick, his commander
in the venture, in charge of the ship _Columbia_.

All was apparent peace and quiet.  To Meares on his homeward journey
the future held bright prospects.  From his base at Nootka an
ever-increasing fleet of coasting vessels would venture forth to barter
with the Indians in the secluded bays and passages of the tortuous
northern coast.  Surely a monopoly of the whole region could be thus
secured, and annual shipments of great value be received at the
company's headquarters in China.

This was not to be.  Other nations were jealously {178} watching this
growing trade, and, in this very year of 1788, a Spanish expedition
under Martinez and Haro had been investigating the Russian settlements
in Alaska.  Upon returning to San Blas, Martinez had reported to
Florez, the viceroy of Mexico, that the Russians contemplated the
establishment of a settlement at Nootka; this was to be done in view of
"the commerce which the English from Canton are carrying on at
Nootka,"[2] and of the Russian claim to the North-west coast through
the discoveries of Bering and Chirikoff in 1741.  Martinez then urged
upon the viceroy the need of Spain to forestall the Russians and by
immediate action "occupy the said port and establish a garrison in it."
To this end he volunteered his services.  Florez acted quickly, and
instructed Martinez to begin preparations for the expedition.  Two
vessels were outfitted, the _Princessa_ mounting twenty-six guns, and
the _San Carlos_ sixteen guns.  They set sail from San Blas on the 17th
of February, 1789, six weeks after Martinez had reported in his letter
to the viceroy.

The instructions given Martinez were as minute and exact as it was
possible to make them.  He was to endeavour to secure the goodwill of
the Indians; four missionaries accompanied the expedition to assist in
this as well as in the propagation of their religion.  A formal
establishment was to be erected at Nootka, and Spanish sovereignty
proclaimed.  Directions were also given as to the manner in which he
(Martinez) was to deal with (_a_) the English he might meet and (_b_)
the Russians who were expected to arrive, (_c_) the vessels of the
Independent American Colonies, should they appear on the coast of North
California.  The coast from Prince William Sound to San Francisco Bay
was to be fully explored and charted.  Throughout the instructions
there runs a tone of measured regard in relation to the way Martinez
was to conduct himself--and in view of the violence of his actions a
few months later the following excerpt is given, showing in {179} what
manner the letter and the spirit of the instructions by Florez were
disregarded:


No. 10.  If Russian or English vessels should arrive, you will receive
their Commanders with the politeness and kind treatment which the
existing peace demands: but you will show the just ground for our
establishment at Nootka, the superior right which we have for
continuing such establishments on the whole coast, and the measures
which our superior government is taking to carry this out, such as
sending by land expeditions of troops, colonists and missionaries, to
attract and convert the Indians to the religion and the mild dominion
of our august Sovereign.

No. 11.  All this you ought to explain with prudent firmness, but
without being led into harsh expressions which may give serious offence
and cause a rupture; but if, in spite of your greatest efforts, the
foreigners should attempt to use force, you will repel it to the extent
that they employ it, endeavouring to prevent as far as possible their
intercourse and commerce with the natives.


The _Princessa_ arrived in Nootka Sound on 5th May, 1789.  In the
harbour at anchor lay the _Iphigenia_, under the command of Captain
Douglas, and the American ship _Columbia_ in command of Captain
Kendrick.  The _Columbia_ and her consort the _Lady Washington_ had
wintered in the sound, but the latter had lately left on a trading
cruise in northern waters.  The _Iphigenia_ and the _North West
America_ had returned from the Sandwich Islands in April, the latter
also leaving for an initial trading venture.

At first all went well; Douglas was invited to dine with Martinez on
his vessel, then a few days later Kendrick invited the officers of the
_Iphigenia_ and _Princessa_ to dine with him, and the following day
Captain Douglas extended the same courtesies to the Spanish and
American officers.  With the Spaniard in possession of the harbour it
was now necessary for Captain Douglas to present his instructions and
the passport of his ship.  If these were found in good order, under
ordinary conditions the ship would be given clearance and permitted to
put to sea.  And just there the {180} first trouble began.  It would
appear that Meares, in an endeavour to escape the high port charges at
that time levied on all other nationals,[3] had sailed from Macao under
Portuguese colours, and with a Portuguese passport signed by the
governor of Macao, and purporting to belong to John Cavallo, a resident
merchant of that place.  Martinez was unable to reconcile these
apparently correct papers with the visual evidence, viz.: "I found a
packet boat with its captain (flag) and passport of the Portuguese
nation, but its supercargo (who was really the captain), its pilot, and
the greater part of its crew English."  On the 13th, Viana, who was
made to appear to be the captain, Douglas in the rle of supercargo,
and Adamson, the first pilot, repaired to the _Princessa_, there to
undergo a searching oral examination.  The Spaniard took exception to
certain clauses in the instructions, refused to credit any explanation
offered, and placed the officers under arrest.

All accounts agree that errors had been made in the translation of the
instructions from the Portuguese to the Spanish language.  Whether this
error was afterwards discovered, we do not know, but twelve days later
the _Iphigenia_ was restored; the reason for this step as given by
Martinez being "on account of the difficulty of sending the captured
vessel to San Blas, owing to the scarcity of men to man her."

Truly a strange reason in the light of later events.  To safeguard
himself from the possible displeasure of the viceroy of Mexico he had
ordered a complete inventory to be taken of the ship's cargo and a bond
to be executed, obliging the owner Cavallo to pay the value of the
vessel and contents should she be subsequently considered a lawful
prize for "having been found anchored in the port of Nootka without
having a passport, permission, or licence from His Catholic Majesty for
navigating or anchoring in seas or ports belonging to his dominion."
This was signed {181} by Viana and Douglas and witnessed by the
American skipper Kendrick, and by Ingraham.  The 31st (the last day of
May) saw Douglas once again in full command, and with the hills of
Nootka fading in the distance, ostensibly bound for Macao by way of the
Sandwich Islands.  But after darkness hid him from view he daringly
turned his ship to the northward and for the space of a month
prosecuted the trade in furs, refusing, as he said, to run to Macao
"with only between sixty and seventy sea-otter skins which I had on
board."

A week later the _North West America_ returned to Nootka, in quest of
supplies.  She was promptly seized by Don Martinez and her crew held as
prisoners.  A prize crew was put on board, the name changed to
_Gertrudis_, and she was employed the remainder of the season in the
sea-otter trade by the Spaniards.  The 215 otter skins on board at the
time of the seizure were also appropriated by the captors.  While these
events had been transpiring the operations on shore had been actively
prosecuted.  The Spaniards had fortified a hill which commanded the
harbour entrance, and placed a garrison therein.  A lodging house or
barracks, a workshop and a bakery had been built.  Nothing remained but
to take formal possession of the harbour and district in the name of
King Carlos.

But let us pick up one of the other important threads of the story.
What had become of Captain Meares and his ship the _Felice_?  His
passage to China in the previous fall had been without particular
incident, and in due course he arrived at Macao, 5th December, 1788.
He thereupon sold the cargo of furs and also the ship.  Shortly
afterwards two vessels in the employ of Etches and Co., of London, made
port _en route_ to the west coast of America.  On board as supercargo
was Mr. John Etches and with him Meares made an agreement looking
toward the elimination of the existing competition and the
establishment of a monopoly in the growing sea-otter trade.  A joint
stock company was formed, to take over all the vessels and {182}
property employed in this trade, and the command of the spring sailing
was entrusted to Captain James Colnett.  He was also given charge of
all the business of the company on the American Coast (i.e. of the
_Iphigenia_, _North West America_, and the house and land at
Nootka).[4]  The _Princess Royal_, in command of Captain Hudson, left
China in April; the _Argonaut_, Captain Colnett in charge, followed in
May of 1789.  These vessels were fully outfitted for a three years'
cruise, and the _Argonaut_ carried in addition a small vessel in frame,
and a number of Chinese artisans.

The instructions given to Captain Colnett directed him to make Nootka
his base of operations.  There he was to erect a substantial house on
the land purchased the preceding year by Meares, and thus lay the
foundation of a permanent settlement.  Trade was to be carried on with
the Indians and commercial treaties entered into with them.  Each fall
a ship was to be sent to China with the season's furs.  Each spring a
supply ship would leave China for Nootka.  Such in brief were the plans
of the new company, The Associated Merchants of London and India.

In total ignorance of the occupation of Nootka by the Spaniards, of the
seizure of the _Iphigenia_ and the _North West America_, the _Princess
Royal_ approached the harbour on the evening of 15th June.  Two
launches now sped out {183} from the entrance.  They were hailed by
Captain Hudson, who could not ascertain their purpose or intent in the
gathering darkness.  Then Martinez, Kendrick and Funter came on board,
and passed the night as guests of Captain Hudson.  The next morning the
launches towed the _Princess Royal_ into the harbour.  That night was
spent as guests of Captain Kendrick on board the _Columbia_; the
following day, the 17th, Hudson was formally notified by Martinez in a
note that the port of Nootka now belonged to Spain.  A demand was also
made that he give his reasons for anchoring in the sound.  Fitting
reply was made, that owing to the long voyage across the Pacific the
ship stood in need of wood and water and of certain repairs, and that
as soon as these wants were attended to he was ready to leave.  To this
reasonable request Martinez agreed.

While this was going forward the Spaniards proceeded to formally take
possession of Nootka Sound and the lands adjacent thereto.  The
document is a flamboyant affair in the usual style of those days, and
was attended with all the pomp and ceremony the Spaniards were able to
muster.  For a few brief weeks Don Martinez was enjoying his power to
the full.  His subsequent actions would seem to indicate that the wine
of success had turned his head as it has a fashion of doing with those
of a shallow and conceited nature.  The following is an interesting
part of the ceremony, which took place on 24th June, 1789:


Then the chaplains and friars sang _Te Deum Laudamus_, and the canticle
having been concluded, the commander said in a loud voice:

"In the name of His Majesty the King Don Carlos the III., Our Sovereign
whom may God keep many years, with an increase of our Dominions and
Kingdoms, for the service of God, and for the good and prosperity of
his vassals, and for the interests of the mighty lords and kings, his
heirs and successors, in the future, as his commander of these ships,
and by virtue of the orders and instructions which were given to me in
his Royal Name, by the aforesaid His Excellency the Viceroy of New
Spain, I take, and I have taken, I seize, and {184} I have seized,
possession of this soil, where I have at present disembarked ... for
all time to come, in the said Royal Name, and in the name of the Royal
Crown of Castille and Leon, as aforesaid--as if it were my own thing,
which it is, and shall be and which really belongs to the King
aforesaid, by reason of the donation and the bull _Expedio Notu
Proprio_ of our Most Holy Father Alexander VI., Pontiff of Rome, by
which he donated to the Most High and Catholic Monarch Ferdinand V. and
Isabel his spouse ... one-half the world by deed made at Rome on the
4th day of May in the year 1493, by virtue of which these present lands
belong to the said Royal Crown of Castille and Leon...." etc.

And as a sign of such possession he drew his sword which had hung by
his side, and with it he counted the trees, the branches and the lands;
he disturbed the stones on the beach and in the fields without
encountering any opposition, asking those present to be witness of
these facts....  Then taking a large cross on his shoulders, and the
crews of both ships having been formed in marching column, armed with
guns and other weapons, the procession marched out, the chaplains and
friars chanting the Litany of Rogation--the whole troop responding--and
the procession having halted, the commander planted the cross in the
ground, and made a heap of stones at the foot thereof--as a sign and in
memory of the taking of possession in the name of His Majesty Carlos
III. King of all Spain.[5]


The _Princess Royal_ was permitted to sail on the 2nd of July; as she
passed out of the harbour she was observed by her consort, the
_Argonaut_, just arriving from China.  Again two launches approached
the incoming ship, and Martinez, boarding her, introduced himself with
a letter from Captain Hudson.  This time Martinez pretended that his
ships "were in great distress from the want of provisions and other
necessaries and urged the English commander to go into port in order to
supply their needs, inviting him to stay for some time."[6]  Colnett
hesitated.  {185} Funter, of the captured _North West America_, who was
one of the launch party, had informed him of the June happenings, and
had advised him to anchor outside the cove until morning.  Perceiving
that the captain of the _Argonaut_ was unwilling to comply with his
request, Martinez redoubled his persuasions and promised on his honour
"that if I would go into port and relieve his wants I should be at
liberty to sail whenever I pleased."  The _Argonaut_ was thereupon
towed in and anchored about midnight between the two Spanish men-of-war.

The next day Captain Colnett prepared to supply Martinez with certain
stores, which had been agreed upon, and indicated his intention of
sailing out to sea at once.  But the wily Spaniard delayed, making
first one pretext, then another.  Finally he demanded the ship's
papers, and Captain Colnett took them on board the _Princessa_.  He
then refused permission for the _Argonaut_ to sail that day.  Then a
quarrel arose; the English captain "declared that he would sail at
once, with or without permission, unless the Spaniard fired on him, in
which case he would haul down his colours and surrender."  Further
words led to an angry scene, then Martinez, secure in his superior
strength, ordered Colnett to be seized and made prisoner.  The
_Argonaut_ was then boarded by the Spaniards, the crew and officers
made prisoners, and the Spanish flag run up to the masthead.

It is needless to recount the pillage of the ship's cargo, and the
personal belongings of the officers and crew, of how the _North West
America_ was outfitted and employed in the fur trade by the Spaniards,
or of how Captain Colnett, hoodwinked and thus basely used, went
temporarily insane.  The whole proceeding was a miserable blunder for
Martinez to make; within a twelvemonth England and Spain were arming,
and the haughty Martinez, shorn of his command, had been ordered to
Spain to answer to the plea of non-support entered by a neglected wife
and daughter.

{186}

But the tale is yet to be enlivened with one more seizure by the
Spaniards.  On the 13th the _Princess Royal_, having been blown far to
the southward in a gale, had managed to beat back opposite the
ill-fated sound.  Wishing to ascertain whether the _Argonaut_ had
arrived, Hudson left his ship outside and proceeded in with the launch.
He was invited on board the _Princessa_; there friendly disguise was
thrown aside, he was seized, disarmed and made prisoner.  "Seeing the
futility of resisting, he advised his lieutenant to surrender.  The
vessel was taken at midnight and brought in the next morning."

The two prizes were immediately sent to San Blas, where their fate was
to be decided by the viceroy.  On board were the English crews as
prisoners.  Martinez himself reached that port on 6th December.  But
one of his many strange actions remains to this day somewhat of a
puzzle.  Why did he not molest in any way the two American ships, the
_Columbia_ and the _Lady Washington_?  The _Columbia_ lay in the sound
during the whole of the transactions of May, June and July.  Captain
Kendrick accompanied him on every occasion, appeared to be
hail-fellow-well-met and general confidant of the haughty Don.  The
_Washington_ was permitted to enter and leave at will on short trading
cruises up and down the coast.  Mr. Duffin, second in command to
Colnett, and a man of fair and impartial judgment, also notes this
favourite treatment of the Americans.  In writing to Meares he says: "I
am sorry to inform you that the Spaniards have taken the chief part of
our copper, all our guns, shot and powder, with the spare canvas, etc.
The former he means to trade with, as I am informed he sends his furs
to Macao by Captain Kendrick, who also trades for him on shares."  It
would thus seem that, while Martinez dealt in a most harsh, brutal, and
high-handed manner with all British ships, he made it a point to be
very friendly, even to the extent of a trading partnership, with the
American skippers.  It seems that Kendrick had decided to remain on the
coast {187} another winter.  To do this he needed stores and
provisions.  These were transferred from the _Columbia_, which he
quitted, changing places with Gray.  Certain seamen were also taken
from the _Columbia_ and placed on board the _Washington_.  This left
the _Columbia_ short-handed; how could the deficiency be met?
Evidently by making use of some of the captured English seamen.  For
Martinez had agreed to return the crew of the _North West America_ to
China by the _Columbia_.  While Martinez apparently provided these men
with a free passage to Macao, yet the fact that their presence was so
soon made use of is certainly one more proof of the "full friendship
and alliance" which Funter and his men declared to have existed between
Kendrick and Martinez.

On the other hand it may be urged that the American skippers had no
intention of forming a settlement or factory on that coast; the English
did so intend.  More Chinese artisans had been brought by Colnett.  A
second ship, in frame, lay in the hold of the _Argonaut_; land had been
purchased from the Indians the preceding year, and a house had been
erected.  Martinez was fully aware of these happenings and of the
contemplated plans.  Colnett had been at small pains to disguise his
intentions.  If the land actually belonged to Spain then Martinez was
in small measure overstepping his rights, but this point must be
established, else such high-handed actions would be sure to bring a
prompt protest and as prompt action from England.

The first news of these happenings on the far-away coast of North
America to reach England came by way of a letter from Anthony Merry,
the British Charg-d'affaires at Madrid.  The account furnished was
meagre and left much to be imagined.  Later, in February of 1790, an
official letter from the Marquis del Campo arrived, recounting the
Spanish occupation of Nootka, and the presence of certain American and
Portuguese ships at Nootka--and that "the English prisoners have been
liberated through {188} the consideration which the King has for his
Britannic Majesty."  The British Government replied that a just and
adequate satisfaction should be made for a proceeding so injurious to
Great Britain, that the vessel seized must be restored, and that
details of the ultimate satisfaction which might be found necessary
must await further and more complete information on the whole affair.

Meanwhile Meares had learned from the returned men on the _Iphigenia_
certain of the events herein described; from the crew of the _North
West America_, which returned to China and November, 1789, on the
Columbia, he learned the rest of the sad story.  Collecting these
accounts Meares took passage for England, where he arrived in April,
1790, and presented his famous memorial.  This paper, dated 30th April,
was considered by the Cabinet and confirmed them in their attitude.  On
the 5th a brief recital of the main points at issue was sent in a
message from King George III. to both Houses of Parliament.  It was
also pointed out that certain negotiations had been under way with
Spain, but that "no satisfaction is made or offered, and a direct claim
is asserted by the Court of Spain to the exclusive rights of
sovereignty, navigation and commerce in the territories, coasts and
seas in that part of the world."  And "having also received information
that considerable armaments are carrying on in the ports of Spain, has
judged it indispensably necessary to give orders for making such
preparations as may put it in His Majesty's power to act with vigour
and effect in support of the honour of his crown and the interests of
his people."  Parliament at once voted 1,000,000 to enable His Majesty
to act "as the exigency of affairs might require."

The British Government acted quickly, and full preparations were made
for war with Spain.  Meanwhile negotiations continued, the British
Government claiming restitution of the vessels, indemnification to
Meares and refusing to agree to Spain's claim to sovereignty of the
whole Pacific coast.  After many weary months of uncertainty, {189}
popular resentment forced matters to a climax, and Spain, fearing the
growing strength of England, agreed to the terms in the main as
presented by England.  On 28th October, 1790, King Carlos III. signed
the Nootka Sound Convention, war was averted and the great fleets once
more returned to their bases.

In conclusion it might be well to remark that Meares was paid a large
indemnity by the Spanish Government, in satisfaction of a statement of
losses submitted.  The vessels seized, viz. the _Princess Royal_, the
_Argonaut_, and the _North West America_, were all returned to the
Meares-Etches company.  The British prisoners were released.  The land
and buildings at Nootka, "of which the subjects of His Britannic
Majesty were dispossessed, about the month of April, 1789, by a Spanish
officer, shall be restored to the said British Subjects."  And it was
further agreed that, for the future, the subjects of both nations were
to have equal rights in the trade, commerce, and settlement of all that
portion of the Pacific coast of North America north of the parts of the
said coast already occupied by Spain.

The indemnity paid to Meares and his associates amounted to "two
hundred and ten thousand hard dollars in Specie."



[1] See voyage of Captain Vancouver, page 234.

[2] From a translation of Martinez' report: Manning, page 300.

[3] Or perhaps to escape the monopolies of the South Sea Company and
the East India Company.

[4] Permission to use a portion of the beach at Friendly Cove was
undoubtedly secured by Meares in May of 1788.  He built a house and
framed a vessel.  The Indians remained friendly.  Whether a purchase,
outright and in perpetuity, was then contemplated by Meares and so
understood by Maquinna is a very doubtful point.  One is driven to the
conclusion that two years later much more was made of this "purchase"
by Meares than the very simple transaction in 1788 warranted.  De
Roquefeuil, in the ship _Le Bordelais_, visited Nootka in 1818.  Being
curious regarding this point, he questioned Maquinna and learned "that
Meares's house had been built with the permission of Macouina, but that
there had not been any act of cession or treaty between them."

The house which Meares had built was torn down that fall by Captain
Douglas.  He took the boards on board the _Iphigenia_ and gave the roof
to Captain Kendrick before sailing to the Sandwich Islands.  We are
reasonably certain that the house did not exist at the time of
Martinez' arrival in May of 1789.

[5] From the translation in Howay and Scholefield's _History of British
Columbia_, vol. I. page 141.

[6] Manning, pp. 332-334.




{190}

CHAPTER XIII

THE NOOTKA SOUND CONTROVERSY

Now let us examine a little more closely the various happenings in
Europe which led up to the voyage of Captain Vancouver to Nootka Sound.

By treaty with England (1713), as well as by the neglect of other
European nations, the western coast of America north of the Gulf of
California had long been considered by Spain to be part and parcel of
her great American empire.  From the days of Drake to the days of
Bering no foreign prow had parted the swell of the North Pacific.  On
the other hand a mere dozen circumnavigators had rounded the Horn in
quest of adventure, fame and wealth.  By far the greater number of even
this handful had kept close to the equator, and the great South Sea
rolled on, to thunder on many a coral isle still uncharted and unknown.
From Valparaiso to San Diego the coast of the Americas was barred to
the foreigner.  But not content with this vast stretch of virgin
domain, the shadow-like power of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) was
extended to include the whole western coast of North America from San
Diego to the tossing ice pans of the misty north.

Out of those mists ventured a few hardy Russian fur traders following
in Bering's track.  Gradually the Aleutian Islands were secured by
discovery, trade and settlement.  Ever southward the bold hunters
pushed their way, invading Prince William Sound, enslaving the native
inhabitants, and living in rude huts modelled after the plan of those
whom they dispossessed.  News came to Madrid of these encroachments on
her domain.  But the power of the once mighty nation to cope
successfully with such a situation {191} was but a mere shadow of its
former strength.  The ability of the Spanish people to colonise further
areas seemed exhausted.  Instead of boldly dotting the Californian
coast with strategic outposts (if she really wished to hold these
shores inviolate), a tiny reconnaissance vessel under command of Juan
Perez was, in 1774, despatched northward from San Blas in Mexico.

No formal acts of "taking possession" of new-found shores were made by
this expedition.  But the next year a more ambitious venture was
despatched from Mexico under Heceta and Quadra.  When in latitude 50,
Heceta turned back, but Quadra pushed on to 58, and formally took
possession of the land for the King of Spain.  However, following her
usual custom, Spain made no open contribution to the world of these
voyages and of her intentions.  Rather were the journals of the
commanders filed away in true mediaeval fashion.  The Russians might
have the cold, rock-bound north: what Spaniard wished that land?  But
publish these recent voyages, add something of geographical interest to
a waiting world?  Not so! that would but draw the attention of some
daring, scheming foreign power.  So must have reasoned the average
Spanish executive of that day and generation.  "Better let well enough
alone" seems to have been the motto, faithfully but most unwisely
followed.

A new era had begun, an era of scientific exploration, which was to
culminate in the complete re-charting of all the vast Pacific, which
was to add multitudes of islands, both great and small, where before
blank seas swept their ancient way.  Captain Cook and his intrepid
sailormen led the van.  Each voyage was faithfully described, charts
were made, thousands of copies both of journals and charts were
printed.  He who ran might read.  No secrecy here; "Let in the light of
day," might well have been the motto of the English explorations of
that date.  What a powerful lever such publicity became when announced
"acts of taking possession" were acquiesced in by an informed {192}
world!  How much more powerful than the Spanish method of procedure!

In 1778 such an exploration was made by Cook of the Nootka Sound
region.  He made a careful chart of the sound, and gave it a name.
Although he found two silver spoons in the possession of some Indians,
he could not find that this port had ever before been visited by white
men.  The journal of the expedition was duly published, but no
diplomatic protest came from Spain.  When that protest did come, it was
too late.  Not only did the Cook expedition give to the world the first
authentic sailing chart of the Nootka Sound region, but it described
the furs of the coast as well, and told how eager the Chinese were to
buy the furs the Indians parted with so easily.

This led to trade.  From 1785 to 1788, vessel after vessel set out on
the sea-otter quest.  If Spain deemed these shores worth claiming, why
did she not send _her_ voyagers up from Mexico to reap the rich
harvest?  But no such quest remained to the Spaniard of that day.  Gone
was the adventure of a Cortez, the iron courage of a Pizarro; sloth had
replaced adventure, a dog-in-the-manger attitude had eaten into the
body politic, until in fits of jealous madness acts were performed
which almost led to national disaster.

Some such sudden accession of energy led to the Martinez expedition of
1789.  We hear of dramatic meetings at Nootka, the seizure of British
trading ships, the imprisonment of British sailors, and the
fortification of Nootka itself, under instructions from the Mexican
viceroy.

Meares learned of the loss of his vessels from the officers of the
_Iphigenia_, and the sailors of the _North West America_ who had
reached China on Captain Gray's ship.  Gathering together his sworn
depositions, Meares at once set sail by way of the Indian Ocean and the
Cape of Good Hope for England.  There he planned to lay before the
British government an account of these high-handed proceedings of
haughty Don Martinez.  But this news must travel by a long circuitous
route.  The first intimation {193} of what had occurred came by way of
Mexico to Spain on 30th December.  Accordingly we find Anthony Merry,
the British Charg-d'affaires at Madrid, listening to strange rumours,
which seemed to warrant a report to London.  And in January of 1790 he
sent the following despatch covering the incidents he had heard:


Accounts have just been received here from Mexico, that one of the
small Ships of War on the American Establishment, commanded by a
Subaltern Officer of the name of Martinez, has captured an English
vessel in the Port of Nootka (called by the Spaniards San Lorenzo) in
Latitude 50 North of the Coast of California.  There are different
relations of this event.  Some of them state that the Vice-roy of
Mexico, having had notice that the English were forming an
Establishment at the above-mentioned place, ordered a ship there to
take possession of it; that M. de Martinez found in the port Two
American Vessels, a Portuguese from Macao, a Russian from some Port of
Her Imperial Majesty's Eastern Dominions, and an English one, which had
come direct from a Port of Great Britain, with People and Necessaries
on Board, to form a Settlement: That the American, Portuguese and
Russian ships were suffered to depart, it appearing they had only gone
there to trade for Furs; and that the English one alone had been
detained.  Other Accounts mention, That the Spanish Ship had sailed
from St. Blas on a Voyage, which it is said, is annually performed, to
reconnoitre the North-West Coast of the Continent: That, when she put
into Port Nootka, the English Vessel was not yet arrived: That the
latter was seized as soon as she appeared: That the Russian and
Portuguese Ships were also captured; and that only the Americans were
suffered to go away.  The Name of the English Vessel, or of the Master,
is not mentioned in any of the Statements of the Transaction which I
have yet been able to see; but they all say that she had been fitted
out by a Company of Merchants in London, for the Purpose of forming a
Settlement; and that it had been discovered that she was to be followed
by Two others.  The different Accounts also add that she had been
manned with Spanish Seamen, and dispatched with the News to the
Vice-roy of Mexico.


On the 25th of January the government in London {194} received a second
letter from Mr. Merry containing an account of Martinez' voyage to
Unalaska in 1788, and relating briefly the seizure of Portuguese and
English vessels.  In addition he wrote that Spain had commenced an
establishment at Nootka "by building some Houses and Stores of Wood,
and by erecting a Battery at the Entrance of the Port."  The letter
further states that a second English vessel had arrived at Nootka, and
that she had been captured, and sent to San Blas, Mexico.  It may well
be imagined that such rumours would cause the utmost disquiet in the
English court circles.  What was Spain up to now?  Where was this
Nootka anyway?  So began a hasty turning over of charts, a searching of
records and discussions pro and con.

At last came official communication from Spain under date of 10th
February, and, in order that the Spanish stand in the matter may be
clearly understood, the letter is printed in full:


MY LORD: Continuing the frequent expeditions which the King, my master
has ordered to be made to the northern coasts of California, the
Viceroy of Mexico sent two ships, under the orders of Don Estevan Jos
Martinez, ensign of the navy, to make a permanent settlement in the
port of San Lorenzo, situated about the fiftieth degree of latitude,
and named by foreigners "Nootka" or "Nioka," of which possession had
formerly been taken.  He arrived there the 24th of last June.  In
giving his account to the Viceroy, M. Martinez said that he found there
an American frigate and sloop, which had sailed from Boston to make a
tour of the world.  He also found a packet-boat and another vessel
belonging to a Portuguese established at Macao, whence they had sailed
with a passport from the governor of that port.  He announced also that
on the 2nd of July, there arrived another packet boat from Macao.  This
was English and came to take possession of Nootka in the name of the
British King.  She carried a sloop in pieces on board.

This simple recital will have convinced your excellency of the
necessity in which the Court of Madrid finds itself of asking His
Britannic Majesty to punish such undertakings in {195} a manner to
restrain his subjects from continuing them on these lands which have
been occupied and frequented by the Spaniards for so many years.  I say
this to your excellency as an established fact, and as a further
argument against those who attribute to Captain Cook the discovery of
the said fort of San Lorenzo.  I add that the same Martinez in charge
of the last expedition was there under commission in August of 1774.
This was almost four years before the appearance of Cook.  This same
Martinez left in the hands of the Indians two silver spoons, some
shells and some other articles which Cook found.  The Indians still
keep them, and these facts, with the testimony of the Indians, served
M. Martinez to convince the English Captain.

The English prisoners have been liberated through the consideration
which the King has for His Britannic Majesty, and which he has
carefully enjoined upon his viceroys to govern their actions in
unforeseen events.  His Majesty flatters himself that the Court of St.
James will certainly not fail to give the strictest orders to prevent
such attempts in the future, and, in general, everything that could
trouble the good harmony happily existing between the two crowns.
Spain on her side engages to do the same with respect to her subjects.

I have the honour to be, etc.,
    THE MARQUIS DEL CAMPO.

His EXCELLENCY M. THE DUKE OF LEEDS.
  (Dated, Manchester Square, February 10, 1790.)


Not only is the Spanish note most harsh and peremptory, it is
inaccurate as well.  It is such a communication as a strong overbearing
nation of that age and time might address to a weak and timorous state.
No self-respecting European power could afford to submit tamely to such
reproof.  The British nation of 1790, virile and alive to any and every
subtle suggestion of inferiority, could not afford to ignore or meanly
submit to the mediaeval demands of Spain.  Now was the time and
opportunity to assert in no unmistakable terms the new doctrine of the
open door and equal privilege in those wild spaces of the earth as yet
undeveloped by the pursuits of commerce.

{196}

It will be noted that in the first paragraph the Spaniards claim to
have taken possession of Nootka at some time previous to the arrival of
Martinez in 1789.  But this had not been done.  Martinez arrived at
Nootka on 5th May, not 24th June, as the note would have us believe.
The latter date is the one on which "formal possession" actually took
place.  Again, in the second paragraph Spain would have the English
government believe the Nootka region to have been "occupied and
frequented by the Spaniards for so many years."  Evidently this claim
is based on the voyages of Perez (1774), Heceta and Quadra (1775 and
1779).  But of these three voyages the most that may be said of them is
that the ships touched at a few places on the coast, a few bits of
coast-line were seen here and there, and the vessels returned to
Mexico.  No trade sprang up with the Indian inhabitants, no settlement
was attempted, and for the ensuing eleven years Spain left the
north-west coast absolutely unvisited, unfrequented and unoccupied.

Nor is the note fair in its statement of seizures made by Martinez.  It
would seem perfectly plain that Spain attempted, on the one hand, to
magnify discovery, occupancy and ownership, while, on the other hand,
she sought to belittle the actual seizures of British vessels and the
imprisonment of their crews.  But one vessel is mentioned (the
_Argonaut_).  No reference is made of the _Princess Royal_, which was
also sent as prize to San Blas.  Full accounts of this seizure were in
the hands of the Spanish authorities when the note was forwarded to
Campo.  Nor is the _North West America_ mentioned.  It would indeed
have been difficult to explain away the building of that little sloop
in the very port which Spain now claimed to have "occupied and
frequented for so many years."

But the English prisoners have been liberated!  The truth of the matter
is that Captain Colnett and his sailormen were not set at liberty until
11th May, and the Mexican viceroy, Revilla-Gigedo, is now known to have
{197} released his prisoners before he had received permission from
Spain.  An order for the release was forwarded from Madrid 23rd March,
but this order did not reach Mexico city till June.

After full consideration, the British Cabinet instructed the Duke of
Leeds to forward a reply.  Taking the note at its face value, adding to
it the letters received from Merry, native shrewdness and wit enabled
the government to take a firm stand in the matter from the very
beginning.  Leeds replied that while he intended to await more precise
information, he had in the meantime His Majesty's orders:


To inform your excellency that the act of violence spoken of in your
letter as having been committed by M. Martinez in seizing a British
vessel under the circumstances reported makes it necessary henceforth
to suspend all discussions of the pretensions set forth in that letter
until a just and adequate satisfaction shall have been made for a
proceeding so injurious to Great Britain.  In the first place it is
indispensable that the vessel in question shall be restored.  To
determine the details of the ultimate satisfaction which may be found
necessary more ample information must be awaited concerning all the
circumstances of the affair.


At the same time, the Duke of Leeds wrote Mr. Merry "to be extremely
guarded" in what he might have to say on the subject; it being a matter
of equal delicacy and importance, in which he ought to be very cautious
of giving even a hint, which might be construed into a dereliction of
our right to visit for the purposes of trade, or to make a settlement
in the district in question, "to which we undoubtedly had a compleat
right, to be asserted and maintained with a proper degree of vigour,
should circumstances make such an exertion necessary."

This may be considered the first intimation which we have of the real
plans and purposes of the then British government in regard to Nootka
Sound and adjacent territories.  It is clear that Pitt had decided to
contest {198} Spain's claim to sovereignty in the Nootka region.  Were
those statesmen farseeing enough to look ahead to the day when Quebec
province would need a western outlet?  At least the fact remains that
the government of that day had made up its mind to use this incident to
check Spain's growing ambitions.  Hence the sharp reply and the demand
that satisfaction be given before discussion could or would be held on
the point of Spanish sovereignty.

The effect of this communication upon the Spanish court was duly
reported by Mr. Merry in a series of letters received in London during
April.  At first Mr. Merry wrote that the Spanish premier, Count
Florida Blanca, had "expressed much dissatisfaction at the answer he
had received from the Court of London, on the subject of the seizure of
the English vessel at San Lorenzo ... he gave me to understand, that it
was not the matter itself in question which affected him so much, as
the fear, that, from the manner in which we have taken it up, we may at
any time make use of it as a ground for quarrelling."

Again, Mr. Merry wrote that his excellency "dwelt much on the
circumstance of our demanding satisfaction before any discussion had
taken place of the matter of right on either side, etc."  Evidently the
count was endeavouring to draw from the British Charg at Madrid some
inkling as to the probable firmness of the British government, and
whether that government intended to prepare for war.  At any rate the
Spanish government suddenly decided to take stock of their warlike
equipment, as the following excerpt from another of Mr. Merry's
despatches will show:


[5th April] The alarm, which the Court of Spain has taken at our answer
about the Affair of Nootka, is so great, that they have given orders
for reports to be immediately sent from the Spanish arsenals of the
quantity of copper for sheathing ships, which there is in the
storehouses, and of the number of ships of the line which can be got
ready for sea at a short notice.


{199}

On the 20th of April there arrived an answer from Spain to the British
ultimatum of 26th February.  The claim of full sovereignty to the
north-west coast was again reiterated, but late advices from Mexico
were to the effect that the captured vessel as well as the crew had
been released.  The viceroy of Mexico being "convinced that nothing but
ignorance of the rights of Spain could have encouraged the individuals
of any nation to resort to that coast, with the idea of making an
establishment, or of carrying on commerce there."  (Mention is as yet
made of but _one_ vessel having been captured and released.)  More
honeyed words follow regarding the friendship of the two peoples, etc.,
etc.  Then the conclusion:


For these reasons ... His Catholic Majesty considers and understands
this Affair to be at an end, without entering into disputes or
discussions on the indisputable rights of his crown; and He flatters
Himself that His Britannic Majesty will command all his subjects to
respect them, according to the request contained in the Marquis's first
letter.


The Spanish note had ignored the demand for satisfaction which the note
from England had expressly stipulated to be a "condition of further
negotiation."  Preparations for war were being secretly but actively
carried on in every seaport of the Peninsula, and the firmness with
which Spain reiterated her claims to full sovereignty over the Nootkan
region lent but added assurance to the British government that a
distinct and serious crisis had now arrived.

Whatever might have been the British reply we may never know.  For who
should arrive on the scene at this very time but John Meares and his
bombastic memorial.  If ever a stage had a finer setting, history does
not disclose it.  The dispute was in full swing, each contestant heated
by the terse communications which had passed to and fro; a match thrown
into a powder magazine could not have produced more instantaneous
results than Meares and his memorial!

{200}

A cabinet meeting was called immediately (30th April, 1790) and an
address prepared and forwarded to the king:


Your Majesty's servants have agreed humbly to submit to Your Majesty
their opinion that Your Majesty's Minister at the Court of Madrid
should be instructed to present a memorial demanding an immediate and
adequate satisfaction for the outrages committed by Monsieur de
Martinez; and that it would be proper in order to support that demand
and to be prepared for such events as may arise, that Your Majesty
should give orders for fitting out a squadron of ships of the line.


Four days later a messenger was despatched to Mr. Merry at Madrid
instructing him to represent to the court of Madrid that the last
communication delivered by the Marquis del Campo was considered by His
Britannic Majesty as unsatisfactory, and that it did not afford that
reparation which His Majesty had a right to expect on this occasion,
that no satisfaction whatever had been made or offered to His Majesty
"for a proceeding so offensive to the honour of his crown."  Mr. Merry
was further directed to impress on the Spanish government that the
British now demanded:


(_a_) The entire restitution of all the captured vessels, with their
property and crews;

(_b_) an indemnification to the individuals concerned in the said
vessels, for the losses sustained by their unjust detention and capture;

(_c_) and above all, there must be "adequate reparation to His Majesty
for the injury done by an officer commanding His Catholic Majesty's
Vessels of war, to British subjects, trading, under the protection of
the British Flag, in those parts of the world, where the subjects of
His Majesty have an unquestionable right to a free and undisturbed
enjoyment of the benefits of commerce, navigation and fishery; and also
to the possession of such establishments, as they may form with the
consent of the natives, in places unoccupied by other European nations."

(_d_) a speedy and explicit answer to these demands was to be secured
by Mr. Merry.


{201}

These demands state the British case in a complete and comprehensive
manner.  From them there was no turning or wavering.  The old Spanish
pretensions to the whole western coast-line of North America were to be
broken down, and, in _those unoccupied parts_, England's sons were to
be henceforth free to trade and traffic as their business might direct.
Whether Spain was right and Britain wrong is a matter for those who
love fine-spun argument.  If the reconnaissant voyages of Quadra and
Heceta (1775) and of Captain Cook (1778) be dismissed, the question of
prior occupancy depends upon Meares' statement of land purchased from
Maquinna at Nootka (1788).  And even that claim is held in serious
doubt.

We must remember, however, that in 1790 no love was lost between the
two nations: that it was an easy matter for the governing officials to
fan to white heat the latent hates of a fierce and sea-roving people,
especially with such good tinder as that provided in Meares' memorial.

Having sent the final demands to the Spanish court, let us look behind
the scenes and follow the remaining moves of the players.  The very
night that saw the special messenger despatched to Madrid witnessed as
well a press of seamen throughout the ports of England.  And the nation
awoke on the morning of the 5th of May to the fact that war with Spain
was a most imminent matter.  Ships of the line were hurriedly
commissioned, officers on leave were as quickly recalled, and in every
port the utmost activity prevailed.  For a fortnight past similar
proceedings had been under way in the great seaports of Spain.  If
England's demands were to mean anything, she must be ready to enforce
them.

It is rather remarkable that the whole affair had been kept a profound
secret up to the morning of 5th May.  With curiosity at fever heat,
newspapers, magazines and pamphlets were quickly published to inform
and stimulate a waiting public.

That same day a message from the king to Parliament {202} informed that
body of the main outlines of the affair.  Parliament further learned
that the negotiations with Spain had so far proved unsuccessful.  Spain
had refused to give satisfaction for her high-handed acts, and had
claimed full sovereignty over all the lands in the region in dispute.
It was now known that Spain was arming and the king had given orders to
put the country in a state of preparedness.  An appeal was then made
for the necessary supply to carry on Britain's warlike activities.

On the 6th of May the House of Lords and the House of Commons sent
addresses to the king, assuring him of their support in the matter.
The Commons close their address with these words:


We feel it our indispensable duty to assure His Majesty of the
Determination, of His faithful Commons to afford His Majesty the most
zealous and effectual support, in such measures as may become
requisite, for maintaining the dignity of His Majesty's Crown, and the
essential interests of His Majesty's Dominions.


At the same time, notices were sent by fast sailing vessel "to the
several Consuls on the coast of Barbary, and to Major-General O'Hara,
Commanding at Gibraltar.  Lord Heathfield, the Governor of that
important fortress, solicited and obtained His Majesty's permission to
resume his command, and set out on his return to the garrison.  The
Seventh Regiment of Foot was ordered to embark without delay to the
same place, to join their Colonel, His Royal Highness, Prince Edward."

The following is also a quotation from an old account of the time.
Throwing as it does an interesting sidelight on Lord Dorchester and
Canada of those days, it is given below:


Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Canada, who had signified his
intention of returning to England, the ensuing summer, was directed to
remain in his government, where his experience and abilities were
judged to be of the greatest importance.  {203} As it was doubtful
whether, consistently with the exigencies of the state, a reinforcement
of troops could be sent out this year to Canada, his Lordship was
directed to take proper measures for embodying the Militia in that
province, should such a measure in the course of events appear to him
to be necessary, etc., etc.


with particular instructions that he (Dorchester) try in every way to
maintain a friendly attitude with the United States and that he prevent
them in so far as he was able from engaging on the side of Spain in
case war broke out.

Notices to the West Indies, to far-away Bengal--the necessary business
which must be attended to before "going to war" is little realised by
the average person, either of that day or this.

From the middle of May, on through June and July the diplomats of
England and Spain wrangled over the Nootka question.  Fitzherbert had
been sent to Madrid clothed with large powers and armed with full
instructions to insist on satisfaction, restitution, indemnification
and abandonment of the claim of sovereignty to the Nootkan region.  On
behalf of the Spanish government, Count Florida Blanca tried every
diplomatic wile and artifice to avoid the main and direct issue: that
of acknowledgment of lack of sovereignty over the lands in question.

While these discussions were taking place each contestant sought help
from continental allies.  From the Dutch a favourable reply was
received and a fleet of ten sail of the line under Admiral Kinsbergen
left the Texel on 17th June and joined the English fleet at Portsmouth
three weeks later.  Prussia also agreed to support England in case war
should be declared.

Spain in no wise lessened her own activities.  Communications had been
opened with Montmorin, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs,
requesting aid against England should war break out.  After some delay,
a favourable reply was received at Madrid, that the King of France
{204} (Louis XVI.) was ready to do all he could in the interests of his
dear friend and ally.  But the advancing giant of the French Revolution
had already cast his paralysing shadow over the puny Paris government
and no strong and well-directed effort could be assured.  For the
Bastille had fallen the previous year, the National Assembly had begun
its stormy sessions, while the king himself was become virtually a
prisoner of the excited Paris mob.  However, the middle of May (1790)
the Assembly was informed of a royal order providing for the speedy
armament of fourteen ships of the line, and of the urgency in being
prepared should England and Spain go to war.  After much debate, the
order was confirmed by the Assembly, and the necessary supply was
voted.  But Spain could not feel at all sure of her ally in the light
of the chaotic condition into which France was rapidly drifting.

On the other hand his interests in the West Indies and the Mississippi
valley were a source of grave anxiety to the Spanish sovereign.  In
event of war, there was the fear that England might attack her
long-treasured Mexican possessions and might even oust her from the
Mississippi valley, thereby gaining not only Nootka and the North-west
coast, but the whole great hinterland of the continent.  And, as a
matter of fact, Pitt entertained those very plans.

The condition of France was as much a source of satisfaction to England
as it was a source of worry and despair to Spain.  From time to time
the cabinet through Fitzherbert renewed the demands and pressed for an
immediate and definite reply.  When artifice could no longer avail,
Florida Blanca gave way on the point of satisfaction: at length
restitution and indemnification were promised; finally sovereignty was
thrown open to negotiation.  In order that something binding might be
had in the matter, which now seemed to be on the point of adjustment,
the following Declaration and Counter Declaration were signed on 24th
July.


{205}

DECLARATION

His Britannic Majesty having complained of the capture of certain
vessels belonging to his subjects in the port of Nootka, situated on
the Northwest Coast of America, by an officer in the service of His
Catholic Majesty, the undersigned counsellor and principal secretary of
state to His Majesty, being thereto duly authorized, declares in the
name and by the order of His Majesty, that he is willing to give
satisfaction to His Britannic Majesty for the injury of which he has
complained, fully persuaded that His said Britannic Majesty would act
in the same manner toward His Catholic Majesty under similar
circumstances; and His Majesty further engages to make full restitution
of all the British vessels which were captured at Nootka, and to
indemnify the parties interested in those vessels for the losses which
they may have sustained, as soon as the amount thereof shall be
ascertained; it being understood that this declaration is not to
prejudice the ulterior discussion of any right which His Catholic
Majesty claims to form an exclusive establishment at Nootka.

In witness whereof I have signed this declaration and sealed it with
the seal of my arms at Madrid the 24th of July, 1790.

COUNT FLORIDA BLANCA.


COUNTER DECLARATION

His Catholic Majesty having declared that he was willing to give
satisfaction for the injury done to the King by the capture of certain
vessels belonging to his subjects in the Bay of Nootka; and Count
Florida blanca having signed, in the name and by the order of His
Catholic Majesty, a declaration to this effect, and by which His said
Majesty likewise engages to make full restitution of the vessels so
captured and to indemnify the parties interested in those vessels for
the losses which they shall have sustained, the undersigned ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of his Majesty to the Catholic King,
being thereto duly and expressly authorized, accepts the said
declaration in the name of the King: and declares that His Majesty will
consider this declaration with the performance of the engagements
contained therein, as a {206} full and entire satisfaction for the
injury of which His Majesty complained.

The undersigned declares at the same time that it is to be understood
that neither the said declaration signed by Count Florida blanca nor
the acceptance thereof by the undersigned in the name of the King, is
to preclude or prejudice, in any respect, the rights which His Majesty
may claim to any establishment which his subjects may have formed, or
may desire to form in the future, at the said Bay of Nootka.

In witness whereof I have signed this counter declaration and sealed it
with the seal of my arms at Madrid the 24th of July, 1790.

ALLEYNE FITZHERBERT.


Word of the signing of these initial documents reached London the 5th
of August.  The government officials were highly elated with the
successful course which the negotiations were taking under the skilled
manipulation of Fitzherbert.  There remained but to adjust the "right
of sovereignty" to those lands of the North-west coast from San
Francisco Bay to Prince William Sound.  But this feature of the
negotiations contained such elements of danger that the British
government did not dare reduce the navy to a peace footing, nor was it
considered wise to halt the preparations already well under way.

From the middle of July Spain had maintained at sea a fleet of
thirty-four ships of the line, together with sixteen smaller craft.
England had gathered together the greatest naval armament known to
history in those days.  To these vessels had been added the Dutch fleet
under Kinsbergen.  It is a matter of record that Spain earnestly
desired to secure a mutual disarmament, but to all these overtures the
British government turned a deaf ear, although it was known full well
that some chance encounter of armed vessels might precipitate the very
war the diplomats were endeavouring to avert.

In the meantime discussions were begun between Fitzherbert and Florida
Blanca, which it was hoped would lead to a definite settlement of the
Nootka lands.

{207}

On the 17th of August a messenger was despatched to Fitzherbert with
instructions for the regulation of his conduct in these negotiations.
In addition a draft treaty of five articles was forwarded, and
Fitzherbert was authorised to propose these to the Spanish minister.

Article One arranged for the restoration to the Meares-Etches company
of the buildings and land at Nootka.

Article Two arranged for an agreement that England had equal right with
Spain in the navigation and carrying on of fisheries in the Pacific
Ocean or South Seas; that her subjects could land on the coasts, carry
on commerce with the natives, or make settlements in _unoccupied
places_.

Article Three provided for the security of the present Spanish
possessions and the limitations of English settlements to that portion
of the coast north of latitude 31[1] and the prohibition of trade with
the Spanish settlements to the south of that line.  Nor were British
vessels to approach within five leagues of said Spanish coast (that
south of 31 north).

Article Four provided that north of 31 the subjects of either crown
should have equal right to make settlements, with full liberty of trade.

Article Five arranged for control of the southern tip of South America.
(It is of little value to the main discussion.)

Fitzherbert duly presented the five articles to the Spanish court, and
on 13th September Florida Blanca held a conference with him on the
subject.  Spain now proposed to desert her French alliance in view of
the manner in which the National Assembly and French populace had
acted.  In fact His Catholic Majesty wished now "to establish an
intimate concert and union with England."  Florida Blanca pleaded for
delay in order to send to America that they might locate quite
definitely "the {208} northern and southern limits of the Spanish
settlements as proposed."  In the meantime a preliminary agreement
might be made, he thought, which would meet the British view.

But the more Spain gave way the harder Pitt pressed for exact
compliance with the terms of the five articles.  Instead of meeting the
Spanish proposals in a friendly manner, not only did the British
government refuse to have anything to do with the consideration of a
temporary agreement, but instead sent to Fitzherbert on 2nd October a
draft of a treaty with instructions to present this draft to the
Spanish government.  Ten days were to be allowed in which to decide on
an answer.  "If at the end of that time an answer had not been received
the ambassador was to quit Madrid."  With the sending of this
ultimatum, for it can be considered as nothing less, the British
government made further active preparations for war.  In cabinet
circles there was little hope of peace; we may almost say little desire
that a peaceful termination to the affair be secured.

On 12th October Fitzherbert received the draft and final instructions
to govern him in his conversations with the Spanish court.  Three days
later he handed Florida Blanca the treaty.  On the 16th the count made
objections to certain of its provisions, but the ambassador refused to
make any change.  On the 19th a special junta was called.  It consisted
of eight of the principal ministers, and sat in lengthy session up to
and including the 25th.  The junta declared that it was impossible to
accept the British terms and declared for war.

In the meantime Florida Blanca and Fitzherbert continued their
discussions.  Minor points were conceded, and on the 23rd the final
revised draft was given Florida Blanca for submission to the Spanish
monarch.  "When their conference was closed, the Spanish minister said
that he was still in doubt whether the reply which he should give the
next morning would be for peace or war."  But {209} with the coming of
a new day came the welcome tidings to the British embassy that the king
would sign!  Despite the advice of the junta, the Nootka Sound
Convention was signed on 28th October.



THE NOOTKA SOUND CONVENTION

Their Britannic and Catholic Majesties being desirous of terminating,
by a speedy and solid agreement, the differences which have lately
arisen between the two Crowns, have considered that the best way of
attaining this salutary object would be that of an amicable arrangement
which, setting aside all retrospective discussions of the rights and
pretensions of the two parties, should regulate their respective
positions for the future on bases which would be conformable to their
true interests as well as to the mutual desires with which Their said
Majesties are animated, of establishing with each other, in everything
and in all places, the most perfect friendship, harmony, and good
correspondence.  With this in view, they have named and constituted for
their plenipotentiaries, to wit, on the part of His Britannic Majesty,
Alleyne Fitzherbert, of the privy council of His said Majesty in Great
Britain and Ireland, and his embassador extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to His Catholic Majesty; and on the part of His
Catholic Majesty, Don Joseph Monino, Count of Florida blanca, Knight
Grand Cross of the Royal Spanish Order of Charles III., Counsellor of
State to His said Majesty, and his principal secretary of state and of
the cabinet, who, after having communicated to each other their full
powers, have agreed on the following Articles:


_Article I_

It is agreed that the buildings and tracts of land situated on the
Northwest Coast of the continent of North America, or on the islands
adjacent to that continent, of which the subjects of His Britannic
Majesty were dispossessed about the month of April, 1789, by a Spanish
officer, shall be restored to the said British subjects.

{210}

_Article II_

Further, a just reparation shall be made, according to the nature of
the case, for every act of violence or hostility which may have been
committed since the said month of April, 1789, by the subjects of
either of the contending parties against the subjects of the other; and
in case any of the respective subjects shall, since the same period,
have been forcibly dispossessed of their lands, buildings, vessels,
merchandise, or any other objects of property on the said continent or
on the seas or islands adjacent, they shall be replaced in possession
of them or a just compensation shall be made to them for the losses
which they have sustained.

_Article III_

And in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and to preserve in
the future a perfect harmony and good understanding between the two
contracting parties, it is agreed that their respective subjects shall
not be disturbed or molested either in navigating or carrying on their
fisheries in the Pacific Ocean or in the South Seas, or in landing on
the coasts of those seas in places not already occupied, for the
purpose of carrying on their commerce with the natives of the country
or of making establishments there; the whole subject, nevertheless, to
the restrictions and provisions which shall be specified in the three
following articles.

_Article IV_

His Britannic Majesty engages to employ the most effective measures to
prevent the navigation and fishery of his subjects in the Pacific Ocean
or in the South Seas from being made a pretext for illicit trade with
the Spanish settlements; and with this in view it is moreover expressly
stipulated that British subjects shall not navigate nor carry on their
fishery in the said seas within the distance of ten maritime leagues
from any part of the coast already occupied by Spain.

_Article V_

It is agreed that as well in the places which are to be restored to
British subjects by virtue of the first Article as in all other parts
of the Northwest Coast of North America or of the {211} islands
adjacent situated to the north of the parts of the said coast already
occupied by Spain, wherever the subjects of either of the two powers
shall have made settlements since the month of April, 1789, or shall
hereafter make any, the subjects of the other shall have free access
and shall carry on their commerce without disturbance or molestation.

_Article VI_

(A similar provision relating to that part of South America south of
the latitude of Chiloe Island.)

_Article VII_

In all cases of complaint or infraction of the articles of the present
convention the officers of either party without previously permitting
themselves to commit any act of violence or assault shall be bound to
make an exact report of the affair and of its circumstances to their
respective Courts, who will terminate the differences in an amicable
manner.

_Article VIII_

The present convention shall be ratified and confirmed within the space
of six weeks, to be counted from the day of its signature or sooner if
possible.

In witness whereof we, the undersigned plenipotentiaries of their
Britannic and Catholic Majesties, have, in their names and by virtue of
our full powers, signed the present Convention, and have affixed
thereto the seals of our arms.

Done at the palace of San Lorenzo the 28th of October, 1790.

  ALLEYNE FITZHERBERT.
  THE COUNT OF FLORIDA BLANCA.


The treaty was formally ratified the latter part of November.  The
Convention was received with rather mixed feelings by the other members
of the Spanish cabinet, and especially by those of the junta whose
recommendations had been so arbitrarily cast aside.  Strong opposition
developed to Florida Blanca and his policies.  The great nobles grew
jealous of his power over the king and the count did not long survive
the treaty, for whose {212} articles he had striven so mightily.  In
February of 1792 he was dismissed from office, to be succeeded by a man
by no means his equal in breadth of view or executive ability.

Far different was the reception by the British court circles of the
news that the Convention had been signed.  Leeds sent congratulations
to Fitzherbert; the House of Lords "accorded enthusiastic thanks and
congratulations to the king and his ministers for the able manner in
which the whole affair had been handled," the Commons added their
approval.  In a short time Fitzherbert was raised to the peerage as
Baron St. Helens.

For six months the country had been girding itself in preparation for
an immediate outbreak of war.  It now became possible to reduce to some
extent the "great armament," and to enter once again full-heartedly
into the greater game of trade and colonial expansion.  But what had
been gained in the long-drawn-out dispute with Spain?  What had Spain
lost?  What advantage accrued to either contestant?

In the first place we may consider that at no previous time in the
empire's history had British ships been as free to sail the Seven Seas
as they were now free to do.  Any pretensions, whether enforced or no,
which the Spaniard had thought to assert regarding the exclusive
sovereignty to the navigation of Pacific and South Sea Oceans had been,
by the Nootka Convention, once and for all completely frustrated.

In the second place, England had formally demanded and received from
Spain an acknowledgment of equal sovereignty over the lands of the
Pacific littoral of North America lying to the north of the Spanish
settlements, which at that date (1790) extended no farther than San
Francisco Bay.  It may in a sense be claimed that the present seaboard
of British Columbia as the Pacific Coast Province of the Dominion owes
its existence to the firmness of the British government of those days.
It was not the value of the sea-otter trade which influenced the
ministry {213} to make this demand an essential part of the treaty.
Nor was it by any means merely a desire to humble the proud Don.
Rather was it an effort to establish the principle that a Papal Bull of
1493 could in no wise bind and cripple commercial expansion of 1790.
That prior discovery, no matter how painstaking and complete, carried
no right to sovereignty if hushed up in official archives and denied
the rightful publicity an eager world desired.  The manner in which the
voyages of Perez (1774), Heceta and Quadra (1775), and Captain Cook
(1778) had been handled by their respective governments were cases in
point.  The former account had been withheld, the latter had been
published officially and speedily translated into the several European
languages.  The one was secret, the other fair and above board.  Pity
it was that a great nation should have acted upon such motives, that it
should have fallen so low as to be afraid to give honour to its sons
who had braved the tempests of the north in frail cockle-shells from
distant Mexico.  And finally, that when discovery is allowed to lapse,
is not followed up by use and occupation, then is that discovery of no
value as a claim to sovereignty.  Its virtue departs with the onrushing
years.  To those hardy sons who make use of the land falls the eminent
right of domain.  This principle was championed by England in 1790, and
has remained in general acceptance from that time to the present.

In the third place may be considered those minor demands which at one
time bulked so large.  Satisfaction was demanded, and at length granted
by Spain.  This was accomplished by His Catholic Majesty stating that
he was willing to grant said satisfaction.  A sort of diplomatic bow,
but _you _must bow _first_ if _I_ ask it!  No more may Spanish
governors of small out-flung posts forcibly take possession of a
British vessel, throw the crew in irons, and send them prisoners to
Mexico or any other port.  The hauling down of a British flag by
foreign hands was to be considered henceforth a most dangerous
procedure; even {214} though that flag be at the masthead of a small
trading vessel in Nootka Sound.  An indemnity was to be paid, all
losses to the Meares-Etches Company to be made good; the vessels were
to be returned as well as the lands and houses erected by Meares at
Nootka in 1788.  That was a costly appointment which Florez, viceroy of
Mexico, made, when he sent young Martinez north to Nootka in the spring
of '89.

But the lands at Nootka which had been formally seized by Martinez must
be as formally returned to the original owners.  It was therefore
decided that each government appoint a commissioner.  These government
agents were to proceed to Nootka and there carry out the intent and
purpose of Article I.  On the part of Spain, Don Bodega y Quadra was
appointed to act as commissioner; on the part of England, Captain
George Vancouver was chosen to fill that post.  Both met at Nootka in
the summer of 1792.  It will be the duty of the next chapter to
introduce the commissioners and relate their conferences at historic
Nootka.



[1] With secret instructions to raise this to the line of 40 if
necessary.




{215}

CHAPTER XIV

CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER

A short account of his early life and of his voyage round the Cape to
the Pacific.


The signing of the Convention resulted in a withdrawal of the great
"armament" which England had maintained at sea for the past six months.
And in order that the "repossession" of the lands at Nootka might be as
formal as the Spanish act of possession in 1789, it was decided that
each government should send an agent or commissioner to Nootka Sound
where the formal abandonment by the Spanish official would be made and
the lands as formally received by the British representative.

Spain selected Bodega y Quadra, who, after receiving his instructions,
left San Blas in Mexico and arrived at Nootka in May of 1792.

England appointed Captain George Vancouver as her commissioner, and
with two ships, the _Discovery_ and the _Chatham_, he left Falmouth on
the 1st of April, 1791, arriving at Nootka the 28th of August of the
following year.

Who was this man, and why was he selected for this responsible
position?  are questions which may well be asked.  Let us examine then
his early life and training to gain a satisfactory answer.

George Vancouver was born on 22nd June, 1757, at King's Lynn, Norfolk.
At the early age of thirteen he joined the British navy and began that
life of adventure and discovery so dear to the hearts of all healthy
boys the wide world over.  And in 1770 opportunities for adventure were
still abundant.  The North Polar seas were an uncharted frozen waste.
No Nordenskiold in his _Vega_ had {216} traversed the ice-strewn fields
north of Eurasia from Nova Zembla to East Cape.  No Nansen in his
_Fram_ had conquered the seas between Point Barrow and Davis Strait.
Hearne had not yet made his trip down the Coppermine, nor had any hardy
soul crossed North America nor dashed through the canyons of the
Rockies down to the shores of the great South Sea.  Africa was still a
dark continent; no Livingstone had carried a torch of light and love
through its gloomy depths; no Stanley had startled the world with vivid
accounts of the mighty Congo.

New Holland and Staaten Land, the talk of 1650, had been well-nigh
forgotten by 1750.  Added to all these unknown spaces remained the
great Antarctic regions.  Here the men of 1770 placed a great
continental mass.  It was supposed to extend as far north as the region
of Cape Horn, to be of unknown extent in the South Pacific, very likely
protruding northward at the misty Staaten Land once seen by Tasman.
The great Antarctic continental mass thus envisioned was supposed to be
peopled by divers races and tribes of men, and by strange and unusual
animals and birds.  It but awaited the hardy and adventuresome mariner
to seek, to explore, to conquer, and grow rich.

Portugal's bid for power had long ago ended in collapse; the Dutch had
been curbed by Cromwell and the later Stuarts; Spain remained outwardly
an arrogant power, but if the truth were known, a hollow sham.  France
had lost the greater part of her colonial possessions in 1763 at the
end of the Seven Years' War.  England had acquired mighty possessions,
and in 1770 stood in a conspicuous and commanding position among all
maritime nations--a real Mistress of the Seas.

It is no wonder, then, that the next quarter-century, or the end of the
eighteenth century, should find many of the unknown spaces of the earth
thoroughly charted and explored by seamen of England.  Though thirteen
colonies broke away and set up a government of their own, we find {217}
the foundations of a strong British dominion being laid in the vast
spaces of the north; we find New Zealand and Australia re-discovered
and definitely added for all practical purposes to the empire, while
Hastings in India followed up Clive's work in the great peninsula of
the Deccan.

During these stirring times there flashed across the scene the great
navigator.  Captain James Cook.  From 1765 to 1779 he accomplished
three circumnavigations.  No other single commander of England before
his time nor since ever did so much in the way of opening up new lands
and regions for the trade of British merchants.

Returning in 1771 from his first circumnavigation, Captain Cook was at
once engaged by the Admiralty to lead a second voyage of discovery and
exploration into the far South Seas.  On the roll of the _Resolution_
we find the name of George Vancouver, in the humble capacity of able
seaman.  For three years he was to be thrown into almost daily contact
with the greatest navigator of that time.  In all that meant training
in good seamanship, his was a master tutor.  On no voyage did Cook
evidence more determination to succeed than the years he spent limiting
and defining the probable extent of the South Polar ice cap, and at the
same time exploding the theory of a great Antarctic continental mass.

When the _Resolution_ dropped anchor in Portsmouth on 13th July, 1775,
Vancouver had just passed his eighteenth birthday.  He had
circumnavigated the globe, seen strange lands and peoples, and become
thoroughly versed in the art of seamanship.  His services would now be
eagerly sought for the next voyage of Captain Cook to this same ocean,
and in 1776 we find him, now a midshipman, again a member of the
expedition.  This was to be his captain's last voyage, but one to have
a very important bearing on Vancouver's career ten years later.
Certainly no better training could have been found in those days than
this close association with the foremost navigator of that time, and
Vancouver is fortunate in this respect.  That he {218} improved his
opportunities is evident from the fact that he was appointed to a
lieutenancy in the sloop _Martin_ soon after his return to England in
1780.

He joined the _Fame_ the next year, and saw service with Rodney's fleet
in West Indian waters, and was present at the great Battle of the
Saints, 12th April, 1782.  Returning to England, he appears two years
later in the _Europa_, where he served for the ensuing five years.
Then at the suggestion of Commodore Alan Gardner, Vancouver was
appointed to go out with Captain Henry Roberts as second in command of
a scientific expedition to the South Seas, which the Admiralty proposed
to finance.  Preparations were immediately made for the voyage, the
Admiralty bought a new ship, completing on the ways at Randall and
Brents's on the Thames, and named her the _Discovery_.

But threatened war with Spain brought all further preparations to a
standstill, and the ensuing series of events might well be told in
Vancouver's own words:


Toward the end of April[1] the _Discovery_ was, in most respects, in a
condition to sail down the river,[2] when intelligence was received
that the Spaniards had committed depredations on the coast of
north-west America, and that they had seized on the English vessels and
factories in Nootka Sound.  This intelligence gave rise to disputes
between the courts of London and Madrid which wore the threatening
appearance of being terminated by no other means than those of
reprisal.  In consequence of this an armament took place, and the
further pacific equipment of the _Discovery_ was suspended; her stores
and provisions were returned to the respective offices and her officers
and men engaged in more active service.  On this occasion I resumed my
profession under my highly esteemed friend Sir Alan Gardner, then
Captain of the _Courageaux_, where I remained until the 17th of
November following, when I was ordered to repair to town[3] for the
purpose of attending to the commands of the board of Admiralty.  The
uncommon celerity and unparalleled dispatch which attended the
equipment of one of the noblest fleets that Great Britain {219} ever
saw, had probably its due influence upon the court of Madrid, for in
the Spanish Convention, which was consequent upon that armament,
restitution was offered to this country for the captures and
aggressions made by the subjects of his Catholic Majesty; together with
an acknowledgment of an equal right with Spain to the exercise and
prosecution of all commercial undertakings in those seas, reputed
before to belong only to the Spanish Crown.  The extensive branches of
the fisheries, and the fur trade to China being considered as objects
of very material importance to this country, it was deemed expedient,
that an officer should be sent to Nootka to receive back, in form, a
restitution of the territories on which the Spaniards had seized, and
also to make an accurate survey of the coast, from the 30th degree of
north latitude north-westward toward Cook's River; and further, to
obtain every possible information that could be collected respecting
the natural and political state of that country.  The outline of this
intended expedition was communicated to me, and I had the honour of
being appointed to the command of it.[4]


Very explicit instructions were issued by the Admiralty to Vancouver
regarding his voyage to Nootka, and the manner in which he was to
receive back from a Spanish commissioner who would meet him there, "the
buildings and tracts of land, situated on the north-west coast above
mentioned, or on islands adjacent thereto, of which the subjects of his
Britannic Majesty were dispossessed about the month of April, 1789, by
a Spanish officer."  Two ships were provided, the _Discovery_, of three
hundred and forty tons burthen, and the armed tender _Chatham_, of one
hundred and thirty-five tons burthen.  The _Discovery_ was a well-built
vessel, copper fastened throughout and sheathed with copper, mounting
ten four-pounders and ten swivels; the _Chatham_ was smaller and
mounted fewer guns.

Lieutenant W. R. Broughton was placed in charge of the smaller vessel,
while Vancouver had with him in the _Discovery_ three lieutenants,
Zachariah Mudge, Peter Puget, and Joseph Baker.  The whole ship's
complement amounted to one hundred men; that of the _Chatham_ {220}
forty-five men.  Accompanying the expedition as botanist was Archibald
Menzies, a surgeon in the Royal Navy, but a man well versed in
botanical lore, and one who lent considerable strength to the personnel
of the expedition.  All that had been learned on the long voyages of
Captain Cook was brought to bear in providing necessary stores of food
and medicines to ward off the dread scurvy, and throughout the years
the ships were absent from England, very little sickness was
experienced by either officers or crew.

The selection of Vancouver as captain of this expedition rather than
Rogers was due primarily to the fact that the latter was on duty in the
Mediterranean, while Vancouver was near at hand, and at once available.
It is probably true that while Rogers would have answered all
requirements as commander for an expedition to the South Seas,
Vancouver had the added advantage of having been actually at Nootka
with Cook on his third voyage.  In fact it was through the publication
of Cook's third voyage that the eyes of the Pacific fur traders had
been turned toward the north-west coast of America.  It may also be
noted that Vancouver makes special mention of Sir Alan Gardner as his
"esteemed friend"--and there is small doubt that Gardner used his
influence to aid his erstwhile lieutenant in securing the command of
the expedition.

Whatever the immediate causes may have been which led the Board of
Admiralty to select Vancouver, it was a happy selection on the part of
the Board and a most fortunate appointment for the individual
concerned.  As a result Vancouver's name is indelibly stamped on this
coast, a great island bears his name, and Canada's great ocean port on
the Pacific bears its daily meed of praise in honour of the man who
first piloted a ship through the maze of islands and inlets which
fringe and cut the rugged coast of British Columbia.

  The heights by great men reached and kept
  Were not attained by sudden flight.


======================================================================

{221}

[Illustration: CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER.  From a photograph of the
original in the National Portrait Gallery.]

======================================================================

{222}

That has been eternally true; Vancouver was no exception.  Although but
thirty-four years of age, he had been almost continuously at sea for
the preceding twenty years.  In that time he had twice circumnavigated
the globe.  He had risen from the lowest rank to the command of a
vessel, had associated with people of culture and good breeding, and in
every nautical manner made himself an accomplished seaman.  He was now
to try a hand at geographical research; he was to be for some years the
supreme arbiter of the actions of one hundred and forty-five men, and
he was to eventually pit his wits against those of Don Quadra in
far-off Nootka.  Thus there was added to the expedition a political
flavour which in small wise pertained to the voyages of his illustrious
predecessor, Captain Cook.

Altogether it was an appointment which carried with it every
opportunity for success and fame.  But, as in all such affairs of men,
it presented an equal number of chances where failure would be the
considered verdict of his peers.  Let us wish Vancouver "God-speed" as
he embarks on his stout ship the _Discovery_.

With a fair wind to blow them down the Channel, the two vessels set
sail from Falmouth on the 1st of April, 1791.  Their voyage was to be a
long one, southward the length of the Atlantic, round the Cape of Good
Hope, across the Indian Ocean to Australia and the South Sea Islands,
then northward to the Sandwich Islands, and thence eastward to the
shore-line of the continent, which they were to follow closely and
carefully examine from latitude 30 to 60 north.  Particular attention
was to be given to an exploration of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and
all navigable bays, inlets, and rivers were to be examined, both from
the standpoint of good harbourage and trade as well as to once more
slay that chimera of a north-west passage which seafaring folk would
resurrect.  Maps were to be made as the exploration proceeded, copies
of which were to be forwarded to the Admiralty at {223} convenient
intervals.  Such were the orders given the commander in addition to
those already mentioned.

As the _Chatham_ proved to be in need of ballast, a stop of about a
week at Teneriffe was made, and there fresh stores were taken aboard.
Sailing from the Canaries on the 7th of May, the Cape Verde Islands
were passed on the 14th, and on the 9th of July anchor was cast in
False Bay, near Cape Town of to-day.  Considerable time was spent at
the Cape, replenishing stores and overhauling the ships preparatory to
their cruise eastward.  A start was made on the 17th of August, and
after a very stormy passage the vessels rounded the southern part of
Australia and put in at a small bay in longitude 118 16' east.

Thursday, the 29th of September, 1791, opened bright and clear, a
welcome sight after the days of rain, mist and fog which had been their
lot almost continuously since leaving Africa.  After a day spent in
reconnaissance of the adjacent shores, it was decided to take formal
possession of the lands recently seen.  Let the journal of the voyage
tell the story:


The necessary observations being made at this station, the British
colours were displayed, and having drunk his Majesty's health,
accompanied by the usual formalities on such occasions, we took
possession of the country from the land we saw north-westward of Cape
Chatham, so far as we might explore its coasts, in the name of his
present Majesty, for him and for his heirs and successors.  This port,
the first which we had discovered, I honoured with the name of "King
George the Third's Sound"; and this day being the anniversary of her
Royal Highness Princess Charlotte Augusta Matilda's birth, the harbour
behind point Possession I called "Princess Royal Harbour."


On Sunday, while making a more extended survey of the shores of the new
harbour, Vancouver and his officers came to a point "where a small
shallow stream of excellent water" emptied itself into the bay.  "On
tracing its meanders through a copse, it brought us to a deserted {224}
village of the natives, amidst the trees, on nearly a level spot of
ground, consisting of about two dozen miserable huts, mostly of the
same fashion and dimensions with that before described."[5]

These were the huts of the primitive bushmen, true aborigines of the
great Australian land.  They were as a rule timid in the extreme, and
seldom disputed the white man's occupation of the country.  Their very
simple mode of life was a constant wonderment to the early navigators,
who examined their wattle huts with the greatest curiosity.  Then in
the narrative of the voyage there occurs the following bit of
kindliness:


In one of the larger huts, probably the residence of a chief, towards
which were several paths leading in different directions, some beads,
nails, knives, looking glasses and medals, were deposited as tokens of
our friendly disposition, and to induce any of the natives, who might,
unperceived by us, have been in the neighbourhood, to favour us with a
visit.


On Tuesday (4th October) having replenished the water casks, and taken
on board a supply of firewood, Puget and Whidbey were despatched to
Oyster Harbour with three boats, "for the purpose of hauling the seine,
and obtaining a quantity of those shell fish, previously to our
proceeding the following morning to sea."  A heavy gale prevented the
return of the boats until the next morning.  It was found that, while
the seine had yielded small results, the boatmen had secured several
hundredweight of oysters.  One can easily reconstruct the scene, the
exclamations of delight on all sides, for there were {225} sufficient
of these "delectable" shell fish (as Vancouver terms them) for several
meals for the whole ship's complement.[6]

The weather would not permit of a resumption of the voyage until
Tuesday (11th October), when the commander decided to weigh anchor and
stand out to sea on the next stage of the voyage.  For the ensuing
twelve days an effort was made to keep the southern coast-line of the
continent in view, but stormy weather caused Vancouver to abandon the
attempt in latitude 35 30' south, longitude 122 40' east.  To this
point three hundred miles of new coast-line had been fairly well laid
down.  A commodious harbour had been found and bearings taken, so that
in future ships passing this way could steer for the positions given on
the new charts and be sure of a safe retreat from stress of wind and
wave, or where repairs could be made in safety.  Many a great and
flourishing seaport of to-day owes its inception to the early
enterprise of some wayfaring seaman, some Hudson, Cook or Vancouver, to
first pilot the way in, describe its natural advantages, and then give
to the world in journal form the result of his labours.  These were the
three great essentials, to seek, to find, to relate, and in no period
of British exploration is this three-fold plan more successfully
carried out than in the voyages of Cook and Vancouver.

As any true explorer would, Vancouver felt somewhat chagrined that he
could not afford the time to continue his exploration of the southern
coast of Australia on eastward, to that point where, on the charts of
those days, Van Diemen's Land was marked.  He wished to determine
whether New Holland connected with or was separated from this Van
Diemen's Land.  In other words, the true extent of the Great Australian
Bight was as yet unknown, and no one had determined the insularity of
Tasmania.  {226} However, this was not accomplished until 1798, when
Mr. Bass, a surgeon of the British Navy, circumnavigated it.

On the 26th, the _Discovery_ passed to the southward of Tasmania, the
land lying on the northern horizon "6 to 7 leagues distant."  The
journal continues the story of the voyage in a clear-cut manner, and
the following lines are given as written by Vancouver:


Having now a fine gale at N.N.E. we took two reefs in the topsails;
shaped a course for Dusky Bay in New Zealand; and by signal to the
_Chatham_ appointed Facile harbour in that bay as the next place of
rendezvous.

The dysentery, though nearly subdued on board both vessels, had left
those who had been afflicted with it in a very feeble and reduced
state; and not knowing of any place so easily within our reach, where
such excellent refreshments could be procured with so much facility,
together with timber for planks, spars, tentpoles, etc., etc., of which
we stood in great need, I was induced to make choice of Dusky bay,
notwithstanding the disadvantages it labours under from the great depth
of water, and want of anchorage in its entrance.

A favourable wind, attended in general with tolerably fine weather,
varied between the N. and W., and afterwards between the W. and S. with
fresh gales, until Wednesday the 2nd of November; when about nine in
the forenoon we were brought within sight of the coast of New Zealand,
bearing by compass E.N.E., 12 or 14 leagues distant.


And that evening, about nine o'clock, the vessels had entered Dusky
Bay, and stood anchored in the arm leading into Facile Harbour.

While making a reconnaissance of the harbour the next morning in the
small boats, a strong gale came up, and the _Discovery_ began to drift
out into the broader reaches of Dusky Bay.  By five in the afternoon
the wind had increased in violence, and one squall carried away some of
the top hamper and split the staysail on the fore-topmast.


It was exceedingly fortunate [writes the captain] that we had Anchor
Island Harbour to leeward of us, for which we immediately steered; and
running in by the western entrance, {227} anchored at the mouth of the
cove in 26 fathoms, soft muddy bottom; and after veering to half a
cable, our stern was in 13 fathoms water, about 40 yards from the
island that lies at the bottom of the cove.  The ship was steadied by
hawsers, from the bows to the points of the cove, and from the quarters
to the trees on each side.  The gale increased during the night; and it
became necessary to strike the lower yards and top-gallant masts.  Our
apprehensions for the safety of the _Chatham_ were not relieved until,
by rowing over to the Petrel islands, the next forenoon, Friday, the
4th, and by walking across the land, we had the happiness to see her
ride in perfect safety; but as she was directly to windward, and the
gale continued to increase, Mr. Broughton was unable to get on board.
Satisfied with the security of her station, we returned to the
_Discovery_, when the violence of the gale from the N.W. obliged us to
strike the topmasts, it not being in our power to veer more cable, or
allow the ship to drive, without her being on the rocks astern; of
which, even with these precautions, we entertained some fears, although
in a situation perfectly landlocked, and the weather shores not more
than five cables' length distant.  The violence of the gale still
continuing, the small bower anchor was dropped under foot.  In the
evening the wind moderated a little, which seemed to be for the sole
purpose of acquiring and returning with new vigour, as, by two on
Saturday morning the 5th, the gale increased to so violent a storm, as
to oblige us to lower the top-masts close down to the cap, and to get
our yards and top-gallant masts fore and aft on the deck.  From five
o'clock until eight it blew a perfect hurricane, attended with torrents
of rain.  We were happily in a very snug, secure little harbour, yet
the sea beat with such unremitting violence against the rocks
immediately astern of us, that had either the anchor or cable given
way, little else but inevitable destruction must have followed.  Our
anxiety was infinitely increased by our solicitude for the welfare of
the _Chatham_; but as the storm with us at N.W. by W. was directly from
off the high land under which she rode, we comforted ourselves with the
hope she might not experience its fury to the degree it affected us.
About nine a most tremendous gust caused the ship to roll excessively;
this was immediately followed by a flash of lightning and a heavy crash
of thunder, which broke up the storm, and in the space of {228}
half-an-hour, the weather might be considered, comparatively speaking,
as fair and pleasant.


Mr. Broughton had the pleasure of finding that the _Chatham_ had ridden
out the gale in perfect security.

It will readily be seen from the account just given that cruising
strange shores far from the haunts of civilised communities has its
hours of intense anxiety.  A parting cable, and a great ship, the home
of a hundred men, is dashed to pieces.  Only the greatest watchfulness,
care and foresight could bring the expedition through the perils and
vicissitudes of the next three years.

While general repairs were going forward the officers of the two
vessels made up a large party for the purpose of exploring the far
upper reaches of Dusky Bay.  This part of the bay had not been visited
by Captain Cook, who had jocularly called it "No Body Knows What."  The
13th, 14th and 15th were spent in this pleasant manner and upon their
return to the _Discovery_ Vancouver makes the following entry: "The
heads of these Arms, in conformity with Captain Cook's name of their
entrance, I have called 'Some Body Knows What.'"  Rather elephantine
humour for so small a subject!  The native Maoris, who had been present
in fair numbers fifteen years previously, were no longer in evidence.
The bay and its environs seemed to have been long deserted.

It was not until the 22nd that a favourable breeze permitted the vessel
to stand out to sea.  In summing up his impressions of Dusky Bay, the
captain makes the following remarks which may not be out of place if
literally transcribed:


Thus we quitted Dusky bay, greatly indebted to its most excellent
refreshments, and the salubrity of its air.  The good effects of a
plentiful supply of fish, and spruce beer were evident in the
appearance of every individual in our little society.  The health of
our convalescents was perfectly re-established, and excepting one with
a chronic complaint, and two wounded by cuts in their legs, we had not
a man on the {229} surgeon's list; though on the most trifling occasion
of indisposition, no person was ever permitted to attend his duty....

No time should be lost on arriving in this bay, to seek security in
some of its harbours: which, as Captain Cook truly observes "are
numerous, safe, and convenient."  For although the weather we
experienced after the storm on our arrival, may justly be considered as
delightful weather, yet it cannot be denied that the northerly winds
blow with incredible fury....  This was my fifth visit to New Zealand
and its neighbourhood; and although I have certainly seen much
boisterous and tempestuous weather, I never before contended with so
violent a storm.


Rounding the Snares[7] a course was laid to bring the _Discovery_ to
Matavai Bay, the next port of rendezvous: the _Chatham_ having been
lost sight of in a violent storm soon after leaving Dusky Bay, it was
presumed she would make the best of her way to Tahiti, and no time was
lost in vainly searching for her in the waste of waters which lie south
and east of New Zealand.  This proved to be a wise course, for, after a
rather uneventful voyage, the _Discovery_ made Matavai Bay on 30th
December (1791) and to the great relief of the captain, discovered the
_Chatham_ swinging safely at anchor in the harbour.  Lieutenant
Broughton was pleased to relate the discovery of an island to which he
gave the name of his vessel.[8]  It was found that the _Discovery_ had
passed about thirty leagues to the north of Chatham Island, that
Captain Cook in 1777 had done the same, while in 1773 he had passed a
similar distance to the southward.  In view of these circumstances,
Broughton was indeed delighted with his lucky find.

The month of January was spent by the officers in a round of social
functions, entertaining visiting chieftains, making presents and
receiving such food products in return as the islands of this group
provided.  The other members of the crews were busily engaged in a
general refit and {230} overhaul of the vessels, getting them ready for
the voyage northward to the coast of New Albion and Nootka Sound.  On
the 24th the vessels set sail, bidding adieu to the friendly
inhabitants of the Society Isles.  Sunday, 12th February, the line was
crossed, and on the first of the next month, Owhyhee came in sight.
The entrance to Karakakooa Bay was seen as the vessels passed up the
coast.  But no one on board had any desire to again visit that
ill-fated spot.  For the previous six years the fur trader had been
making of the Sandwich Islands a winter stopping place, and at other
times a convenient half-way house on his return from the North-west
coast of America to China.  Evil deeds had been done, the natives had
secured firearms and now looked on each and every ship as fair prey.
Civil wars among rival chieftains still further complicated the
situation.  To Vancouver and the members of the expedition came rumours
of the changed temper of the islanders, and it was resolved to find
harbourage {231} at one of the smaller western isles.  The vessels were
accordingly brought to in a small bay[9] on the south side of Atooi
Island.

[Illustration: SOUTH-SEA ISLANDERS IN THEIR CANOES]



AWAY FOR AMERICA

The 16th of March (1792) found both the _Discovery_ and the _Chatham_,
with stores aboard and minor repairs completed, steering a course for
their ultimate destination.  From a perusal of the journal of the
voyage one would gather that it was with small regret that the whole
ships' company saw the volcanic peaks of Atooi sink down on the
south-western horizon.  In case of separation of the vessels by storm,
Barkley Sound had been set as the next place of rendezvous, but while
the ships kept together it was Vancouver's intention "to fall in with
the coast of New Albion as far to the southward of that station as
circumstances would permit."  Thus four weeks passed by in the usual
way of vessels at sea: days of sunshine and clear sparkling weather,
succeeded by days of mist, fog and rain.  As they were now (17th April)
approaching the continental coast in latitude 40 north, the thick
weather and the intermittent gales made it very necessary to observe
the greatest precautions.  For on that long stretch of coast-line from
San Francisco Bay north to Barkley Sound no safe harbourage was shown
on the maps of that day.

Soon quantities of driftwood, grass, sea-weed, as well as numbers of
ducks and other aquatic birds, gave every indication of land near at
hand, "although," as Vancouver remarks, "we were prevented seeing any
object more than three or four miles distant, by the weather, which had
become very thick and rainy.  Being anxious to get sight of the land
before night, if possible, we stood to the eastward with as much sail
as we could carry, and at four in the afternoon reached soundings at
the depth of 53 fathoms, soft brown sandy bottom.  The land was now
discovered bearing by compass from E.N.E. to {232} E. by S. at the
distance of about two leagues, on which the surf broke with great
violence.  We stood in for the shore under our topsails for about an
hour, and perceived the coast to extend from N. to S.E. The nearest
shore was about two miles distant.  The rain and fog with which the
atmosphere was now loaded, precluded our seeing much of the coast of
New Albion.  The shore appeared straight and unbroken, of a moderate
height, with mountainous land behind, covered with stately forest
trees....  During the night we plied under an easy sail, in order to be
near the land the next morning (the 18th)."

A gentle breeze from the south now wafted our sailors on their
northward journey up the coast.  Let the journal tell its own story for
a space that we may get again the flavour of those long gone first
impressions:


The weather was delightfully pleasant; and as we drew nearer the land,
the shore seemed to be perfectly compact, formed, generally speaking by
cliffs of a moderate height and nearly perpendicular.  The inland
country, which rises in a pleasing diversity of hills and dales, was
completely clothed with forest trees of considerable magnitude;[10] and
those spots which, on our first view, had the appearance of having been
cleared of their wood by art, were now seen to extend, generally, along
the sea-side; and their being destitute of wood, was evidently to be
ascribed to some natural cause.  They were beautifully green, with a
luxuriant herbage, interrupted by streaks of red earth....  In the
afternoon we passed Cape Mendocino.


Continuing their northward cruise along the coast, the 25th brought
them abreast of Cape Blanco.  Vancouver remarks upon the conspicuous
nature of this cape when seen from the north, "being formed by a round
hill on high perpendicular cliffs, some of which are white, a
considerable height from the level of the sea."

{233}

Two days later the _Discovery_ approached the vicinity of Cape
Disappointment and the mouth of the great Columbia River.  To the men
on the ship, however, there seemed little to cause concern or excite
curiosity.  Vancouver notes that to the south of the cape "was the
appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land behind not indicating
it to be of any great extent; nor did it seem accessible for vessels of
our burthen, as the breakers extended from the above point two or three
miles into the ocean, until they joined those on the beach nearly four
leagues south."  But such an occurrence is often the very sign and
indicator of the mouth of a large river, a river so large that it has
deposited its load of silt and sand far out beyond the shore-line,
forming bars upon which the waves break with tremendous fury.

Again quoting from the next paragraph, "The sea had now changed from
its natural, to river coloured water; the probable consequence of some
streams falling into the bay, or into the ocean to the north of it,
through the low land."  This would of course indicate a stream or
streams, but the extent of the discoloration must surely have been some
guide to the size of the river which produced it.  It would seem that
Vancouver had failed to associate three things, the great extent of the
line of breakers, the extent of the discoloration of the sea adjacent,
and, lastly, the extent of the continental mass along which he was then
sailing.

Had the entrance to the river presented any clear-cut channel,
Vancouver would doubtless have sailed in, in quest of the harbourage
which he was now anxious to secure, but if such had been the case,
Meares would have made the discovery in 1788 when he examined these
very shores for a possible opening whereby to prosecute his trade in
furs.  Meares was afraid to venture within the line of breakers as
stormy weather prevailed at the time.  No such excuse can be held out
in Vancouver's case.  Vancouver has been blamed, and to a large extent
with {234} justice, in failing to find the mouth of the Columbia.  It
is useless to try to gloss over the facts as they stand; it is silly to
expect or to seek to establish perfection in any character.  Rather let
us accept the records and if censure is due, give it as readily as the
praise for work that has been well done.  The name of the river bears
eloquent testimony to the ship[11] and to the captain who did brave the
line of breakers and who did find an opening through them and who led
the way to the calm broad reaches of the mighty river.  May we close
the incident with the following sentence from Vancouver's journal: "Not
considering this opening worthy of more attention, I continued our
pursuit to the N.W., being desirous to embrace the advantages of the
prevailing breeze and pleasant weather, so favourable to our
examination of the coast."

Sunday morning, 29th April, 1792, found the expedition a few miles to
the southward of Cape Flattery.  Here a vessel was seen standing in
shore and all hands crowded the decks to view the stranger.  It had
been eight months since the members of the expedition had seen another
ship.

"She soon hoisted American colours, and fired a gun to leeward.  At six
we spoke her."

Vancouver at once sent Lieutenant Puget and Mr. Menzies on board to
interview the captain.  They returned with the information that Gray
was then on his way south from Clayoquot on a trading venture, that
some time previously he had been for nine days off the mouth of a large
river in latitude 46 10', but had been unable to enter because of the
strong outset of the current.  And it may be in order here to relate
that just twelve days[12] later Gray found his way into the great river
which had baffled all other attempts, and that he named it the
Columbia, after the name of his ship.



[1] 1789.

[2] Thames River.

[3] London.

[4] Captain Rogers was on duty in the Mediterranean.

[5] "The shape of the dwelling was that of half a beehive ... in height
about three feet, and in diameter about four feet and a half; it was
however constructed with some degree of uniformity, with slight twigs,
of no greater substance than those used for large baker's baskets....
This kind of basket hut was covered with the bark of trees and small
green boughs; just within its front, which was open the whole of its
diameter, a fire had been made."

[6] The preceding is related merely to give a view of a few days spent
in entirely new surroundings, in a hitherto unknown bay, by a ship's
crew of 1791.

[7] Discovered by Vancouver on this voyage.

[8] Chatham Islands, S. latitude 43, longitude 183 E.

[9] Whymea Bay.

[10] Vancouver was quite accurate in his observations.  He saw the
southern part of the great fir forest of Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia.  The "magnitude" of the trees is remarkable even in this day
of many wonders.

[11] The _Columbia_, Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, who had been for
some years trading out of Nootka.

[12] 11th May, 1792.  Meany, p. 35, says, "This discovery had most of
all to do with giving the Americans a standing among the powers
contending for sovereignty on the Pacific Coast."




{235}

CHAPTER XV

THE MAKING OF THE GREAT CHART

We enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca and complete the circumnavigation
of Vancouver Island.


The _Discovery_ then continued on her course with the _Chatham_ in the
lead, and keeping as close to the shore as possible because of the
thick rainy weather, the projecting and conspicuous promontory of Cape
Flattery was soon in view.  This name had been given by Captain Cook on
his voyage along these shores in 1778, but, being overtaken by a gale
shortly after sighting the promontory, he had stood out to sea and when
he next sighted land was many leagues to the northward, thus passing
the entrance to the strait, whose existence he denied.[1]  Other
navigators since that time had penetrated the strait for some distance,
but none had made any accurate or complete survey of the great inland
waterways that we now know as Puget Sound and Gulf of Georgia.[2]

A little after noon of the 29th Vancouver rounded Tatooche Island and
coasted the southern or mainland shore for some distance, anchoring for
the night about eight miles within the entrance.  The following day
{236} the voyage was continued: "Every new appearance as we proceeded,
furnished new conjectures."  In this delightful state of mind the day
wore on.  In the afternoon "a high conspicuous craggy mountain, bearing
by compass N. 50 E., presented itself, towering above the clouds: as
low down as they allowed it to be visible, it was covered with snow."
This mountain was first seen by the third lieutenant and in compliment
to him was named Mount Baker.

Anchoring for the night again, the spit of land which gave them shelter
was named New Dungeness "from its great resemblance to Dungeness in the
British Channel."  The next day, May Day, was spent in exploring the
near-by coast in the cutter and yawl for a supply of fresh water, and a
comfortable berth where the ships could be overhauled.

But this was no easy task.  From Cape Flattery to New Dungeness no
suitable harbour had been found, behind a regular coast-line towered
the great snow-clad range of the Olympics, their peaks gashed and torn
by the winter's avalanche, while up their broad base from the very
shore itself crept the blue dense forest.  However, as the day wore on
the boatmen came to an island, and behind it there opened into the land
a safe and commodious harbour.  Here a stream of clear cold water came
dashing down from the mountain to pour its silvery flood into the quiet
waters of the bay.

Vancouver and his men were delighted with the port they had discovered.
It suited their every purpose, and it was decided to bring the ships in
at once.  To the island they gave the name "Protection Island" for, as
Vancouver remarks, "Had this insular production of nature been designed
by the most able engineer, it could not have been placed more happily
for the protection of the port."  The harbour itself was named, after
the captain's ship, Port Discovery.  This was the first safe and ample
harbour which Vancouver had been able to locate in all that stretch of
coast from parallel 40 north to the {237} termination of Cape Flattery
and along the southern shore of the Strait of de Fuca.

The vessels were now in need of a complete overhaul and refitting.  The
temporary repairs made at the Society Islands had served their purpose
admirably, but if a final exploration of the waterways which lay spread
to the east and north-east was to be made with any degree of care, the
_Discovery_ and the _Chatham_ must be put in as good a state of repair
as the skill of the crews would provide.  In fact no small measure of
the discoveries of the next three months must be attributed to the
condition of the vessels as well as to the rested and healthy condition
of the men who composed the crews.

The ensuing weeks were therefore filled with the ordered activities of
a general overhaul.  The vessels were anchored in Port Discovery close
to the outfall of a stream of pure water.  By afternoon a gang of men
were at work making a clearing along its bank, while others landed the
tents, observatory and other instruments.  It was indeed a busy scene,
that next morning the 3rd of May, 1792.  On shore the sailmakers were
already repairing and altering the sails; coopers were inspecting the
casks, the gunners airing powder, while small parties were cutting
wood, brewing spruce beer, and filling the sound, but empty, water
casks.  On board, others were as busily employed in necessary repairs
about the rigging; "getting the provisions to hand; clearing the main
and after holds for the reception of shingle ballast, of which we had
for some time stood in much need; some of our carpenters were stopping
leaks about the bows, and the rest assisted in caulking the _Chatham's_
sides."  Vancouver makes further entry in his journal regarding the
serenity of the climate and season as one extremely favourable to the
execution of their several duties; and that Port Discovery being nearly
destitute of inhabitants, few circumstances occurred to divert their
attention, or interfere with the pursuits in which they were all
engaged.

After four days spent in the general oversight of these {238}
activities, and with everything well under way, the captain decided to
take the yawl, launch, and cutter on a trip of exploration to the
eastward.  Provisions for five days were stowed away in each boat, the
men were armed, and on the morning of the 7th the little flotilla
passed out by the south-east of Protection Island and began their
little voyage into the unknown.  Noon brought them to a new inlet, even
larger and more commodious than Port Discovery.  To this harbour
Vancouver gave the name of Port Townsend, "in honour of the noble
Marquis of that name."  The night was passed camped on the shore; at
daybreak the next morning the boats were manned and the trip of
exploration continued.  By noon the general survey of the port had been
completed and the boats were following the coast-line in its great bend
to the southward.  Far to the north-east towered Mount Baker, in front
and away to the south stretched the "snowy range" of the journal; and
there, rising up as if to mark its southern-most termination, rose
another giant rounded peak, which, after his friend Rear-Admiral
Rainier, Vancouver distinguished by the name of Mount Rainier.

A strong ebb tide now delayed the progress of the boats in their
southerly advance.  To add to their difficulties, the fine weather gave
way, about sunset, to a heavy rain storm.  Still Vancouver persevered
to reach a point of land which lay some distance ahead.  By eleven
o'clock he gave up the attempt, called in the launch and cutter by
signal, steered for the nearest shore, "and landed about one in the
morning, completely drenched."  With some difficulty a fire was
started, canvas was stretched, and the weary crews got what warmth and
shelter they could.  It may be remarked that exploring a coast-line in
the ships' boats, while it gave a most accurate and complete idea of a
coast-line, provided as well a sum total of hardship, misery and
fatigue which few navigators were willing to undergo in person.
Captain Cook had set a sterling example in always taking charge of one
of his boats when {239} utilising them for such excursions.  Vancouver
had been well trained by the Master Mariner of his day.  He, too, at
great personal risk and discomfort, led many such reconnaissance
parties.  His early and untimely death at the age of forty may well be
attributed to the exposure undergone during his determined and
painstaking survey of the waterways and inlets while charting the
extent of this western Mediterranean sea.

Oak Cove, as they termed their place of retreat, saw their enforced
idleness during Wednesday the 9th, but daybreak of Thursday saw them
again on their way southward, following the continental shore, the
weather having moderated.  Friday was spent in a similar manner,
coasting slowly southward, at times impeded by the strong ebb tide,
which forced them to land and await the flood.  On Saturday the 12th,
provisions began to run low.  The few Indians met with had proved
friendly enough, but had brought little in the way of barter.  The
boats had been provisioned for but five days when leaving Port
Discovery; the sixth day had arrived and still the narrow inlet they
were following wound its southern way between forest-clad slopes.  The
captain decided that the termination of the inlet must be discovered
before returning.  So much remained to be done that a return could not
be contemplated.

In this mind then the cruise was pushed forward.  Mr. Johnstone, in
charge of the cutter, was detailed to the task of circling the inlet to
its head, while Vancouver and Lieutenant Puget visited an Indian
encampment.  Upon Johnstone's return the whole party embarked on their
return journey.  They were now seventy miles from Port Discovery, and
it behoved them to make a speedy return.  But a head wind and
approaching darkness caused a halt when but two miles had been covered.
To the inlet which had just been explored Vancouver gave the name of
Hood's Channel, after the Right Honourable Lord Hood.

It was the afternoon of Monday the 14th before the {240} expedition got
clear of the canal, so slow was their progress.  And no sooner was this
accomplished than the uncertain weather descended in torrents of rain.
Although camp was made in an endeavour to secure fair weather for the
remainder of the homeward journey, the rain continued with no sign of
abatement.  In this situation, with provisions quite exhausted, it was
decided to defy the elements, and the return to Port Discovery was
safely completed on Tuesday the 15th, much to the joy of everyone: for
there had been many misgivings by those left on board the ships when
the exploring party had failed to return within the five-day limit that
had originally been intended.

Vancouver found that during his absence the general repairs had been
completed.  The weather moderating, on the 18th the ships stood out of
Port Discovery and followed for some distance the track of the small
boats.

The _Discovery_ was anchored on the afternoon of the 20th in a
convenient cove near the point where Hood Canal branches off from the
main continuation of what we know to-day as Puget Sound.  It was the
intention of Vancouver to now thoroughly explore this larger inlet in
the ship's boats.  Accordingly at four the next morning Lieutenant
Puget and Mr. Whidbey left with the launch and cutter to complete the
exploration.  Provisions for a week were taken, and the officers were
instructed to keep "the starboard or continental shore on board," thus
linking up the new survey with the one recently completed by the
captain himself.  By the 30th this had been accomplished, and to the
waterways discovered Vancouver gave the name of Puget Sound, in honour
of the lieutenant, who had been in charge of the work.  To-day the two
large cities of Seattle and Tacoma grace its southern shores.  More
than a half-million people now reside upon the virtually uninhabited
forest-clad slopes of the sound of 1792.  Huge ocean-going ships ply
its waters, engaged in the ever-growing trade of the north-western
United States.  {241} Little did Vancouver dream of so sudden and vast
developments at the end of the ensuing century.

In like manner the eastern shore-line of the sound was explored.  First
the vessels were moved to a new station some leagues to the northward.
Again the small boats were manned.  Ever the growing charts disclosed
new islands, new irregularities of coast, new inlets, and new bays.

Monday the 4th of June was celebrated in the best style that the ships'
simple menu provided.  A good dinner was served the crew "with a double
allowance of grog to drink the king's health, it being the anniversary
of His Majesty's birth."  This simple entry in the journal of the
voyage is not without its deeper meaning.  It bespeaks the loyalty of
the seamen of that day to their flag and to their country.  Far from
home, on the far side of the world, they stop to "drink the king's
health," to the end that they pledge themselves anew to the land of
their birth, and to those ideals for which that land stood among the
nations of the earth.  The ceremony loses nothing in being carried out
under such strange and unusual surroundings; rather is the rite
stripped of all worthless and obscuring dross and stands out in all its
clear and admirable intent.

That same day, Vancouver and Broughton went ashore, "and under the
discharge of a royal salute from the vessels," took possession of the
land of New Albion; and to the great "interior sea," a portion of which
had now been thoroughly explored and charted, Vancouver gave the name
of Gulf of Georgia.

The vessels were now at anchor near the present site of Everett, and
the next day the northward exploration was continued.  Whidbey Island
was discovered by the master of the _Discovery_ while in charge of the
cutter.  A new station for the vessels was secured just below the
present Point Roberts, and on the morning of the 12th of June,
Vancouver and Puget set out in the yawl and launch to {242} prosecute
their discoveries, as they said, "up the main inlet of the Gulf."

During the afternoon the boats found themselves entering the shoal
waters which lie to the north of Point Roberts.  Edging off into deeper
water and continuing northward up the gulf, evening found them pretty
well in the middle of the channel, which here separates the mainland
from Vancouver Island.  At no point had the yawl or the cutter been
able to approach within four or five miles of the low-lying distant
eastern shore.  The explorers noted the partially submerged sand-banks,
which here stretch far out into the Gulf of Georgia; they noted as well
the serrated line of stranded fantastic stumps and driftwood which then
as now dot the shallow waters of this particular bit of coast.  But all
unsuspecting of what these signs betokened, the huge accumulation of
sand-banks and bars, the muddy discoloured water, the line of sentinel
stumps, and with darkness descending, Vancouver decided to cross the
fairway to the western shore and there find shelter for the night.  In
this wise the outlet of the greatest river between the Columbia and the
Yukon was passed by in absolute ignorance of its immediate presence.

It is true that to this day one would look in vain to actually see the
mouth or mouths of the Fraser.  Nor would one think from the
configuration of the mainland shore that here was the outlet to a
drainage basin one hundred thousand square miles in area.  But one sign
was discarded, or at best left untried.  If the water had been
_tasted_, its slight saltiness would have quickly aroused the suspicion
that here a stream of considerable magnitude must debouch from the
hinterland of the snowy range visible along the distant eastern
horizon.  Then would the other signs have been read in their true
significance.  This was a common device among sailors of that day, and
one which Captain Cook adopted when driven fifty miles from shore by
the sand flats at the mouth of the Yukon.  That navigator correctly
recorded his belief that a mighty river poured {243} its waters into
Bering Sea from the American continent, although unable to get close
enough to shore to see a single channel or study the conformation of
the immediate delta lands through which the Yukon flows.  Vancouver has
been blamed severely for his failure on this his second opportunity to
discover one of the great rivers of western America, and it must be
admitted in all fairness that he did show a rather consistent denseness
in the reading of river signs.  But while such may be recorded against
him, it does not disqualify either his thorough and painstaking
exploration of the Gulf of Georgia, nor the great detailed chart of the
whole coast from California to Alaska which the expedition prepared
upon its return to England.  There are those who in a paragraph or two
of biography give a miss a prominence and an emphasis out of all
proportion to the true labour accomplished.  Let us rather weigh that
which was well and truly done against that which was omitted, and then
give judgment.

In order that the reader may envisage the scene as Vancouver saw it,
the following excerpts from his journal are appended:


[Leaving the _Discovery_] we proceeded [northward past Point Roberts],
but soon found our progress along the eastern or continental shore
materially impeded by a shoal that extends from Point Roberts N. 80 W.
seven or eight miles, then stretches N. 35 W. about five or six miles
further, where it takes a northerly direction towards the above low
bluff point [Point Grey].  Along the edge of this bank we had soundings
from ten to one fathom, as we increased or decreased our distance from
the eastern shore; to approach which all our endeavours were exerted to
no purpose, until nine in the evening, when the shoal having forced us
nearly into the middle of the Gulf, we stood over to its western side,
in order to land for the night, and to cook our provisions for the
ensuing day, which being always performed by those on watch during the
night, prevented any delay on that account, in the daytime.  As we
stood to the westward, our depth soon increased to fifteen fathoms,
after which we gained no bottom until we {244} reached the western
shore of the gulf, where, on our arrival about one o'clock in the
morning, it was with much difficulty we were enabled to land on the
steep rugged rocks which compose the coast, for the purpose of cooking
only, and were compelled, by this unfavourable circumstance, to remain
and sleep in the boats.


At five in the morning they were off again, and landed about noon on
the low promontory to which Vancouver gave the name Point Grey.
Standing there and looking backward toward Point Roberts, Vancouver
remarks:


The intermediate space is occupied by very low land, apparently a
swampy flat, that retires several miles, before the country rises to
meet the rugged snowy mountains, which we found still continuing in a
direction nearly along the coast.  This low flat being very much
inundated, and extending behind Point Roberts, to join the low land in
the bay to the eastward of that point, gives its high land, when seen
at a distance, the appearance of an island: this, however, is not the
case, notwithstanding there are two openings[3] between this point and
Point Grey.  These can only be navigable for canoes, as the shoal
continues along the coast to the distance of seven or eight miles from
the shore, on which were lodged, and especially before these openings,
logs of wood, and stumps of trees innumerable.


From Point Grey the boats proceeded northward along the shore.
Crossing the mouth of what is now False Creek and rounding a high
shoulder of rock, our sailors passed into a wide and spacious inlet.
To this landlocked harbour Vancouver gave the name of Burrard's
Channel, "after Sir Harry Burrard of the Navy."  This inlet, as it is
now termed, they followed to its head, and, as the shadows of evening
stole over the placid waters, the boats were moored near the shore,
about a mile and a half from the present site of Port Moody.  The steep
rocky cliffs at this point presented no favourable place for the tent,
so the {245} crews were again by necessity compelled to sleep in the
boats.  However, it would seem that some of the "young gentlemen"
preferred the stony beach to a second night in such cramped quarters.
Carelessly selecting any convenient nook in the gathering darkness, no
attention was paid to the line of high water, with the result that a
few hours later they were rudely roused by the icy fingers of the
incoming tide.  One poor tired fellow slept on, "and might have been
conveyed to some distance, had he not been awakened by his companions."
One may readily imagine the raillery from those in the boats at the
plight of the young fellows on shore, but soon the dawn brought all to
their wonted tasks, and by four o'clock the boats were heading down the
inlet and out into the gulf.

A great forest then spread from the shores of the inlet and up the
sloping hillsides.  Fold upon fold, the higher hills and mountains were
rolled in feathered green of stately Douglas fir and giant red cedar.
A lumberman's paradise to be!  But to Vancouver and his boatmen this
presented no unusual sight, for from the far distant Cape Blanco to
Cape Flattery, from Flattery to Puget Sound, the same great forest
stretched away in vast immensity its dense and unbroken ranks.

But of all the inlets seen and to be seen, this particular inlet should
have received the explorers' utmost consideration.  Fate and a railway
were one day to determine that Burrard's Channel should be a great
harbour; that here Canada, spreading now from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, should have her western gateway.  It was indeed a fitting
climax to give the name Vancouver to the city which proudly rose from
the slashed and retreating forest along the shores of Burrard's
Channel.  Sleeping in open boats, awake and away at dawn, ever pushing
on from one inlet to the next, taking observations and making charts of
each headland, bay and channel, those days of hard endeavour and often
dreary labour were to have as magnificent a reward as posterity could
well provide.

{246}

In the days that followed, Howe Sound was explored and named.  As this
sound proved to be of large extent, and heavy rains occurred to delay
their progress, it was Saturday the 16th before the boats were clear of
Point Gower and coasting northward along the gulf shore.  In this wise
they passed Thormanby Islands, entered Malaspina Strait and saw the
shores of Texada Island rising to the westward.  The night was spent at
the entrance to Pender Harbour.  The ensuing three days were occupied
in a thorough exploration of Jervis Inlet, when dwindling provisions
warned them it was time to return to the ships, from which they were
now distant a good hundred miles.

In this wise, while rowing "for Point Grey, purposing there to land and
breakfast, we discovered two vessels at anchor under the land ... on a
nearer approach it was discovered, that they were a brig and a
schooner, wearing the colours of Spanish vessels of war, which I
conceived were most probably employed in pursuits similar to our own;
and this on my arrival on board was confirmed."  The strangers proved
to be the brig _Sutil_, commanded by Don Galiano, and the schooner
_Mexicana_, in charge of Don Valdes.  They had sailed from Acapulco the
8th of March, arriving at Nootka the 11th of the following month.  The
5th of June had seen them on their way to continue the explorations of
Quimper and Eliza of 1790-91.  Vancouver remarks that he "experienced
no small degree of mortification" in finding that others had preceded
him in the exploration of these waterways.  However, when he was
accorded an opportunity of examining the charts which the Spanish
officers had prepared, courage and hope returned.  These charts showed
that while the general outline of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Gulf
of Georgia were properly delineated, there had been no attempt to
examine the many inlets and bays, whose exploration and charting had
meant so many weary hours and days in the small boats.  Hood Canal,
Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound, Burrard Channel, Howe Sound and Jervis
Inlet--none {247} of these appeared on the Spanish chart.  It was also
noted that the farthest limit of the Spanish explorations extended but
to the north end of Texada Island, a few miles beyond Vancouver's
recent boat trip to Jervis Inlet.[4]

The Spaniards proved to be most friendly and hospitable.  They eagerly
embraced an opportunity to join forces with the British expedition in
prosecuting the northward exploration of the gulf, and the
determination, if possible, of any navigable channel connecting with
Queen Charlotte Sound.  On the afternoon of the 24th of June the little
flotilla set out upon the next stage of their adventures.



FROM JERVIS INLET TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND

_In which the insularity of Vancouver Island was first definitely
established._

Passing through Malaspina Strait, Harwood's Island and Savary Island
were discovered and named.  Vancouver then selected a suitable
anchorage within the entrance to Desolation Sound, and several days
were spent by the small boat parties examining the indentations of the
coast in this locality, as well as the numerous islands which {248}
fringe the shore and provide a bewildering array of connecting
channels.  From this station the exploration of Malaspina Inlet, Lewis
Channel, Bute Inlet and Sutil Channel were carried on.

On 5th July, Mr. Johnstone was again despatched in one of the small
boats, with a week's provisions, to continue the exploration of the
channel which extends beyond the mouth of Bute Inlet--the Cardero
Channel of to-day.  In the meantime, Lieutenant Puget returned from an
exploration of the western side of the gulf and reported having
penetrated an inlet (Discovery Passage) which he had followed for some
fifteen miles, finding it to become more extensive as he progressed and
to be without any apparent termination.

Everything pointed to the finding of a passage to Queen Charlotte
Sound.  Either the inlet of unknown termination, partially explored by
Lieutenant Puget, would prove to be the desired passage, or the course
now being followed by Mr. Johnstone.  This man had proved himself to be
of excellent service on trips of such a nature, and high hopes were
entertained that he would succeed in unravelling the maze which
confronted the expedition.  Even a casual glance at a map of this
region will show the difficulties which Vancouver was encountering.
The broad gulf had narrowed to two widely separated channels, or to put
it another way, the gulf had become choked with islands.  It will be
admitted that only by a thorough testing, such as Vancouver had
instituted, could a navigable passage be found from among the many
which presented themselves.  And it was just that element of
persistent, careful, methodical search which we have already remarked
upon that led to the success of the expedition and added much renown to
Vancouver.

======================================================================

{249}

[Illustration: CAPTAIN VANCOUVER'S CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF VANCOUVER ISLAND]

======================================================================

But what had become of Johnstone and his party?  Days passed; a week
dragged by.  Still no sign of the launch.  Vancouver wrote in the
journal: "I began to be anxiously solicitous for their welfare."  Had
treacherous Indians {250} lured them to destruction in some wild
tortuous mountain-girt inlet?  Had an accident befallen the boat,
marooning the party on some far hidden islet?  The officers on the
_Discovery_ knew well the dangers inherent in this work of exploration.

Then, greatly to the joy of all, early in the morning of the 12th of
July welcoming shouts announced the safe return of Johnstone and his
party, and best of all _the passage had been found_!  The blue roll of
the Pacific into Queen Charlotte Sound had been actually seen from a
point on tiny Redfern Island; the ships could go through; a discovery
of paramount importance had been consummated and the weeks of strenuous
endeavour had brought their just reward.

Johnstone's trip had been carried out in a masterly way, and reflects
great credit upon his good judgment and seamanly qualities.  He had
cruised northward through Lewis Channel, Calm Channel to the westward
of Stuart Island; then by Cardero Channel he had entered and traced to
its source Loughborough Inlet.  Out again by Chancellor Channel, up
through Wellbore and Sunderland Channels (following the continental
shore) and thus into the wide free passage which led them to Queen
Charlotte Sound.  This passage Vancouver promptly named Johnstone
Strait in honour of the man who first defined its true extent.  On
their way through the strait, Johnstone wisely kept close to the
southern or Vancouver Island shore, since it seemed the more regular,
and he hoped by doing this to keep clear of the clusters of islands and
channels through which he had just passed.  At Redfern Island, situated
in New Channel between Nigei Island and the Walker group, Johnstone
felt that he had definitely proved the existence of a clear passageway
to the Pacific.  His provisions were nearly exhausted, and he decided
to return with all speed to the vessels, now 120 miles distant.  On his
return voyage he continued to hug the southern or Vancouver Island
shore.  He passed by the {251} entrances to Sunderland and Chancellor
Channels, and continued on to the vicinity of Chatham Point, where he
branched off by Nodales Channel and thence by Cardero and Lewis
Channels to the _Discovery's_ station in Desolation Sound.

Johnstone reported that the navigation of the ships past Stuart Island
would be very difficult.  But Vancouver was now able to connect up the
exploration of Lieutenant Puget, via Cape Mudge, with the southernmost
point reached by Johnstone,[5] and it was at once decided to try the
southern passage into Johnstone Straits as the one presenting the
easiest route to the Pacific.

Accordingly preparations were begun to move the ships.  The Spanish
captains now begged to be excused from further participation in the
venture; the exacting work in small boats evidently did not appeal to
them.  The _Discovery_ and _Chatham_ were got under way, and, crossing
the gulf, rounded Cape Mudge and passed up the inlet, anchoring for the
night in Menzies Bay.  On the afternoon of the 15th the ships were
navigated through Seymour Narrows and the next day proceeded past
Chatham Point into Johnstone Strait.  Thurlow Island now received its
name, and the vessels sailed slowly up the strait, anchoring from time
to time to hold their position against the strong tide which rushes in
from the sound to the westward.

Late on the evening of the 19th the _Discovery_ cast anchor near the
Indian village at the mouth of the Nimpkish.



CHESLAKEES[6] VILLAGE

From time to time in his exploration and delineation of the New Albion
coast-line, Vancouver had encountered Indian villages which ranged all
the way from a few deserted hovels to populous, well-arranged, and
orderly {252} village communities.  This village proved to be the
largest and, in many respects, the most interesting of those which he
had as yet visited, and the captain spent several hours strolling from
house to house and noting with a keen eye the homely tasks of the
inhabitants.  The following account abridged from the journal seeks to
portray the scene as Vancouver saw it, as well as carry across the
intervening years to us the flavour of old romance and the strangeness
of an almost vanished stone-age civilisation.  Let us, then, enter the
cutter, together with Mr. Menzies and several of the young gentlemen,
and be rowed ashore; upon landing:


The Ty-eie, or chief of the village, paid us an early visit, and
received from me some presents which highly delighted him.  I
understood his name to be Cheslakees....  On inquiring if Maquinna[7]
was at the village, he answered in the negative, saying they seldom
visited; and that it was a journey of four days across the land to
Nootka Sound.

Accompanied by some of the officers, Mr. Menzies, and our new guest,
Cheslakees, I repaired to the village, and found it pleasantly situated
on a sloping hill, above the banks of a fine freshwater rivulet,
discharging itself into a small creek or cove.  It was exposed to a
southern aspect, whilst higher hills behind, covered with lofty pines,
sheltered it completely from the northern winds.  The houses, in number
thirty-four, were arranged in regular streets; the larger ones were the
habitations of the principal people, who had them decorated with
paintings and other ornaments, forming various figures, apparently the
rude designs of fancy, though it is by no means improbable, they might
annex some meaning to the figures they described, too remote or
hieroglyphical, for our comprehension....  The whole, from the opposite
side of the creek, presented a very picturesque appearance.

The houses were constructed after the manner at Nootka, but appeared
rather less filthy....  Several families lived under the same roof; but
their sleeping apartments were separated, and more decency seemed to be
observed in their domestic economy, than I recollected to be the
practice at {253} Nootka.  The women were variously employed; some in
their different household affairs, others in the manufacture of their
garments from bark and other materials, the fabrication of mats for a
variety of purposes, and a kind of basket, wrought so curiously close,
as to contain water like an earthen vessel without the least leakage or
drip, comprehended the general employment of the women, who were not
less industrious than ingenious....

At the conclusion of this visit, we were entertained at the house of an
elderly chief, to whom Cheslakees, and every other person paid much
respect, with a song by no means unmelodious....  The song being
finished, we were each presented with a strip of sea-otter skin; the
distribution of which occupied some time.


In this manner Vancouver and his companions spent a pleasant hour
ashore, visiting the natives, giving and receiving presents, and quite
enjoying a ramble amid such pleasant surroundings.  Even Indian
aborigines were interesting after a fortnight on ship in Desolation
Sound.  The effect of the fur trade along the west coast of the island
was already shown to have reached the inland waterways in the increased
value the Indians put on their furs.  The sea-otter skin was still the
most prized of all the furs in their possession, but they would no
longer part with them for a few hawk's bells, or a handful of beads.
The Indians were now most eager to secure firearms and ammunition.
When they found that the English refused to trade muskets for furs,
their interest waned, and it was with difficulty any other article
could be found which the Indians desired.  In 1785 probably not one
musket was possessed by any Indian living on Vancouver Island.  It was
now 1792.  What a change in seven years!

On Saturday the 21st, the _Discovery_ was moored across the strait and
anchored close to the shore of Hanson Island.  Here Vancouver awaited
the return of the _Chatham_, which had been engaged on a trip of
exploration along the continental shore to the northward of this point.
The ensuing week proved to be most irksome, lying at {254} anchor
awaiting the _Chatham's_ return.  It was not till the afternoon of the
27th that Lieutenant Broughton arrived in his cutter.  He reported the
exploration of those waterways known to-day as Havannah Channel, Call
Creek,[8] Chatham Channel,[9] and Knight Inlet;[10] thence he had
passed into Queen Charlotte Sound by way of Tribune Channel and Fife
Sound and then southward to the rendezvous at Hanson Island.

The next day the _Discovery_, together with the Chatham, were navigated
northward to Fife Sound, and on the succeeding day anchored under Deep
Sea Bluff, which separates Tribune Channel from Simoon Sound.  As this
was the last point on the mainland seen by Broughton, it was
Vancouver's intention to carry on the exploration of the continental
shore, northward or westward as the case might be, from this point.
Though a tempting clear wide sound stretched westward from Hanson
Island to the open Pacific, Vancouver was not to be turned aside from
his inspection of the continental shore.  He was evidently determined
to follow every canal and inlet right to its head, and in this way let
the shore-line lead him to the ocean.  At no other time in his whole
exploration of the Gulf of Georgia does the absolute stark
determination of this master mariner stand out more clearly.

The small boats were now manned and set out on a survey of the new
channels to the westward.  In this manner, Kingcome Inlet, Sutlej
Channel, Mackenzie Sound, Kenneth Passage, Grappler Sound, and Wells
Passage were discovered, and their outlines laid down on the chart,
which was gradually taking a form similar to that of to-day's map of
the British Columbia coast.  Vancouver returned to the _Discovery_ on
the 3rd of August, and at once ordered the ships moved to the western
end of Wells Passage.  Two days later the vessels were to be dimly seen
creeping along the coast past Point Boyles.  Fog and {255} haze
obscured everything to the south and west, except from time to time a
distant view of the Vancouver Island mountains.

In this wise progress was very slow, and the utmost caution was
observed.  Sunken rocks and dangerous reefs made their presence known
merely by the swell breaking on them.  For a time these were
successfully avoided, but the haze which obscured everything at a
half-mile's distance made it impossible to pick out a channel through
the veritable labyrinth of rocks, islets, and reefs which infest the
broad reaches of Queen Charlotte Sound.  Despite every care, on the
afternoon of the 6th the _Discovery_ suddenly grounded on a bed of
sunken rocks.

The _Chatham_ at once anchored and sent her small boats to the
assistance of her stranded consort.  "The stream anchor was carried
out, and an attempt made to heave the ship off, but to no effect."  The
situation was indeed one of extreme danger.  As the tide fell the ship
heeled over to starboard, and it was fortunate that the sailors had
succeeded in getting down the top hamper before this occurred;
otherwise the strain would have assuredly opened the seams, and the
_Discovery_ would have gone to the bottom with the next high tide.
Spars and spare top-masts were used in a vain endeavour as props to
hold the vessel in as upright a position as possible.  While these
things were under way, others began lightening her by emptying the
water casks, throwing overboard the fuel and the stone ballast.  By the
time it was low water "the starboard main chains were within three
inches of the surface of the sea," while the ship's forefoot "was only
in about three and a half feet of water."

During this time the sea remained perfectly calm, and to this fact
Vancouver attributed the salvation of the vessel.  Everything had now
been done that human ingenuity could devise.  Through the midnight
hours the sailors kept watch on deck and in the small boats which
surrounded the stranded helpless vessel.  But {256} gradually the
_Discovery_ righted with the flood tide.  Another heave on the anchor
and she slid off into deep water, amidst the cheers of the crew, and
apparently none the worse for the mishap.

"After about three hours' rest, all hands were employed in the
re-equipment of the ship."

By one o'clock in the afternoon the _Discovery_ was again under sail,
once again threading the intricate channels along the continental shore.

But they were no sooner clear of one danger than another arose to
threaten the continuance of the voyage.  At six that evening the
_Chatham_ grounded in a similar manner.  Similar exertions by the crew,
under the command of Broughton, resulted in the vessel being hauled off
during the night, and with no appreciable damage to hull or rigging.

Two days later the vessels were navigated by a more southerly route out
to sea between Pine and Storm Islands.  Immediate dangers safely
passed, anchorage was secured off the northern coast of Nigei Island,
near the entrance to Bate Passage.  While the vessels remained in this
situation, awaiting the return of clear weather, all hands had a
welcome opportunity to recuperate from their strenuous labours of the
past week.  And what were the feelings of the officers on this occasion?

On this point the journal is silent.  We may, however, be permitted to
suggest a most probable scene.  In the chart room would be found the
officers of the _Discovery_, with Lieutenant Baker adding the finishing
touches to the great chart which he had begun after entering the strait
at Cape Flattery.  There were the deep inlets of Puget Sound, Burrard's
Channel and Howe Sound, here were the recently discovered Johnstone
Strait and Cheslakees Village.  And there proven and known for the
first time a great island had taken form.  Then passed swift words of
congratulation and even of thankfulness that this task had been safely,
thoroughly, and honestly accomplished.  It must have been a proud
moment for one and all.  {257} Each had given days of the most exacting
labour in the small open boats that this feat might be a success, that
the secrets of these inland waterways might be laid bare, and that one
more bit of ocean shore might proudly bear the imprint of England's
sailormen.

Through all there runs the quiet, steady, relentless determination of
the captain to push on, to chart, to win through if passageway there
be.  Only with such a man to guide, a man of great patience and of
great perseverance, could there have been a successful outcome to the
undertaking.  His qualities of leadership are further shown in the
instant alacrity with which his men set out on the many "small boat"
trips from the various stations, and the energy with which they pursued
their objectives to and even beyond what was expected of them.  The
Spaniards turned back after a fortnight's association; the pace was too
strenuous, the task too complicated for their limited strength.  And as
if to set its seal forever upon the months of hard endeavour, posterity
has decreed that the great island should be honoured by the name of
Vancouver, likewise the lusty city spreading along the southern shores
of Burrard's Channel.

Now that so much had been accomplished, why not sail for Nootka and
meet Don Quadra, who for several weeks had been impatiently awaiting
the arrival of the British Commissioner?  But this question evidently
received scant consideration, for the journal is again quite silent on
this point.  Had Vancouver received secret instructions before sailing
to make an extensive survey of the North American coast-line, not alone
to chart its indentations, but to survey its commercial possibilities
as well?  It would seem so.  Galiano and Valdes had acquainted
Vancouver on 22nd June with the news of Quadra's arrival at Nootka in
May.[11]  It was now the 10th of August.  Why keep Quadra waiting?

{258}

The other possible solution is, that the recent discoveries had so
fired the imagination of the officers of the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_
that they gladly relegated their Nootka meeting to that beautifully
indefinite period of "sometime soon," and set about carrying on their
exploration of the continental shore to the northward beyond Queen
Charlotte Sound.

Whatever may have been the reasons which actuated him, Vancouver left
his anchorage on the morning of the 10th, and with an easterly breeze
and clear weather stood across the mouth of the sound for the entrance
of Smith Inlet.  The ensuing week was but a repetition of the
activities carried on from a chosen station; small boat parties, more
rainy weather, much suffering from wet clothes and cramped quarters.
Smith Inlet, Rivers Inlet, Schooner Passage, Point Menzies, Fitzhugh
Sound were explored and their sinuosities added to the great chart,
which now recorded for the first time the correct continental
coast-line of North-west America from latitude 39 5' north to latitude
52 18' north.

It was now Vancouver's expressed intention to remain on this coast and
continue the exploration to the northward beyond Point Menzies until at
least the middle of September, when the advent of fall and severe
weather would of itself cause its abandonment.  However, on Friday the
17th, a brig under English colours arrived off the entrance to Safety
Cove.  She proved to be the _Venus_, {259} of Bengal, Captain Shepherd,
and recently from Nootka, now cruising the shores and inlets seeking
sea-otter skins wherever they might be purchased.

From Shepherd, Vancouver learned that the store-ship _Daedalus_ had
arrived at Nootka with a full supply of provisions and general stores
for the use of the British expedition.  And by the way, that Senr.
Quadra "was waiting with the greatest impatience to deliver up the
settlement and territories at Nootka."  (One would suspect as much.)
But Shepherd also conveyed the startling news of the murder at
Woahoo[12] of Lieutenant Hergest, the commander, Mr. Gooch, the
astronomer, and a seaman, of the Daedalus.  Vancouver was greatly
affected by this intelligence.  Hergest had been for years his intimate
friend; while the services of a trained astronomer would have
materially added to the efficiency of the official chart-making and
coastal delineation.



[1] Beconner de Fuca had placed his strait between 47 and 48.

[2] Captain Barkley, in the _Imperial Eagle_ (1787), was the first to
see the opening and suggest the possibility of its being the strait
reputed to have been discovered by Juan de Fuca.  The next year Meares
(who had seen Barkley's papers) entered the strait a few miles.  His
published account in 1790 helped to fix the name Juan de Fuca to the
strait.  Captain Gray is also known to have penetrated a distance of
fifty miles within Cape Flattery.  These men were fur traders.
Discovery and exploration were but incidental to their business.

[3] Undoubtedly the mouths of the Fraser.  Vancouver was looking across
the great river delta lands at the Fraser mouth.

[4] It must in fairness be remarked, however, that the Eliza Expedition
of 1791 had read aright the signs at the mouth of the Fraser, and had
bestowed upon it the name of Rio Blanca.  However, neither Galiano nor
Valdes had been able to locate the Rio Blanca.  Evidently they were
with Vancouver equally at a loss to solve the riddle of the huge
sand-bank which lay between Point Grey and Point Roberts.  One other
matter may be noted in this connection; that upon leaving Point Grey on
his way to rejoin the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_, Vancouver purchased
from the Indians some fine sturgeon of "from fourteen to two hundred
pounds each."  Now Vancouver and his sailors must have known that the
sturgeon frequents the mouths and lower reaches of rivers.  What
perverse imp of darkness beclouded their vision and reasoning powers on
this their second opportunity to locate the river's mouths!  One may
well exclaim, "All the more honour to staunch Simon Fraser of the
Nor-Westers!"

[5] Chatham Point.

[6] An Indian name meaning "Welcome, noble stranger," is uttered
_Kaiser-Kesla_.  It may be that Vancouver understood the salutation to
be the name of the chief of the village.

[7] The great chief of the Nootka Indians.

[8] Named Call Channel by Vancouver after Sir John Call.

[9] After Broughton's vessel.

[10] After Captain Knight.

[11] The text is as follows (Vol. II. page 211): "I likewise understood
that Senr. Quadra, the commander in chief of the Spanish marine at St.
Blas and at California, was, with three frigates and a brig, waiting my
arrival at Nootka, in order to negotiate the restoration of those
territories to the crown of Great Britain."  This conversation took
place on 22nd June, near Point Grey.  Galiano and Valdes had arrived at
Nootka 11th April, and had left Nootka the 5th of June on their voyage
through the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  The Spaniards it would seem were
also curious about the size and importance of these inland waterways.
If lands were to be given up, then it would be well to know what type
of lands these were.  If the lands should prove to be commercially
valuable, then quibbles might be raised, a part might be given, a part
retained.  England's commissioner was in the same position.

[12] Oahu, one of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.




{260}

CHAPTER XVI

VANCOUVER AND QUADRA MEET AT NOOTKA

The Nootka news was most disquieting.  Quadra impatient, the _Daedalus_
under the temporary command of her master, Mr. New, Vancouver wisely
determined to abandon any further exploration for that season, and to
sail at once for Nootka.  Two days later the vessels were navigated out
to sea.  On the 25th, Cape Scott was rounded, thick rainy weather
having delayed their progress.  Three days later the _Discovery_ and
_Chatham_ anchored in Friendly Cove.  A salute of thirteen guns was
promptly returned by the Spanish batteries, and, upon landing,
Vancouver and his officers were received "with the greatest cordiality
and attention from the commandant," Don Quadra.  And thus began that
series of visits, of proposals and counter-proposals, which shall now
occupy our attention for a space.

The next morning Quadra, accompanied by several of his officers, paid
an official visit of welcome to the _Discovery_, while the remainder of
the day was spent on shore, where the British officers were the guests
of Don Quadra at a sumptuous repast.  Vancouver describes it as "a
dinner of five courses, consisting of a superfluity of the best
provisions, [and] served with great elegance."  In the light of
subsequent events, it was evidently the desire of the Spanish
commissioner to encourage the most friendly relations with Vancouver
toward the end that he might the more readily persuade Vancouver to
accept the proposals which the Spaniard must have had already well in
mind.

The next day arrived an official communication from Don Quadra.  It was
written in Spanish, and, as Vancouver {261} had no understanding of
that language, an interpreter must be found, someone who could
translate the flowing periods of kingly Spain into the hard business
terms of English.  Then a searching and questioning: at last on the
store-ship, the _Daedalus_, was found young Mr. Dobson, "who spoke and
translated the Spanish language very accurately."  Fortunate Vancouver:
it would not do to admit defeat in the very opening skirmish for
position; lucky Dobson: he will now reside on board the _Discovery_, he
will enjoy his day of importance, it will make good telling in after
years.

The communication and its accompanying documents proved to be quite
lengthy.  Quadra may have been impatient awaiting Vancouver's arrival,
but he had been occupying his time to good advantage.  He had sent out
his vessels on reconnaissance voyages up and down the coast.  (The
Galiano and Valdes expedition was a result of his activities.)  He had
talked with traders, he had taken depositions, he had seen Gray of the
_Columbia_.  He had made a study of the history of Spanish exploration
northward since 1774.  He reviewed, in fact, in his letter, the Spanish
side of the case from the day of John Meares and his _Iphigenia_ down
to the seizures by Martinez and after.  And all to the purpose, so it
would seem, of trying to obscure the main issue--to return those lands,
buildings, etc., of which Meares was dispossessed in 1789.  Quadra even
advanced the claim that Meares had had no commercial establishment or
building on the shores of Nootka other than a small hut, which was
abandoned when the _Iphigenia_ and _North West America_ left to winter
at the Sandwich Islands, and that said hut did not exist when Martinez
arrived: that Meares bought no land from the chiefs of the adjacent
villages, and therefore, this being the case, Spain had nothing to
deliver up!  When this is read in conjunction with the provisions of
the Nootka Sound Convention in 1790, one sees the loophole through
which the Don was trying to wriggle.  He would save {262} the honour of
Spain, if it could be done, even at the last minute.  There would be no
giving back of lands wrongfully seized.  No lands had been purchased,
therefore no wrong had been done: there was nothing to give back,
Meares' building had disappeared.

Then to prove his magnanimity, to give largely where no compulsion
existed, Quadra coolly proposed to cede, "without prejudice to the
legitimate rights of Spain, the houses, offices and gardens, that had
with so much labour been erected and cultivated."[1]  Quadra would at
once move his headquarters to Neah Bay, just within the entrance to the
Strait of de Fuca (where a small party was already at work); and the
English should in future confine their activities to the northward of
Nootka and refrain from passing to the south of Cape Flattery.

But Vancouver was not to be led into any such "retrospective"
discussion, and in his reply to Quadra very clearly stated his position
in the matter.  He requested the restoration by Quadra of "the
buildings and districts, or parcels of land which were occupied by the
subjects of his Britannic Majesty in April, 1789," quoting from Article
One.  In reply to the new pretensions of the extension of Spanish
sovereignty northward to Cape Flattery, Vancouver quoted Article Five
of the Convention (see page 210), and refused to consider Spanish
pretensions to the west coast of North America as extending northward
of San Francisco Bay.  The day following the despatch of this letter,
Vancouver and Quadra met on shore and, in a most friendly and informal
manner, Quadra expressed (orally) his satisfaction in finding in
Vancouver such a fine person with whom to transact the business of
delivering up Nootka.  He stated that he would, if agreeable to
Vancouver, continue his residence on shore until the carpenters had
finished some alterations to his brig.  Then he would be pleased to
accompany Vancouver southward, or he would sail and await Vancouver's
arrival at either San {263} Francisco or Monterey.  Quadra even
enquired whom Vancouver proposed to leave in charge of Nootka.  The
Spanish storehouses were ordered cleared and he most graciously piloted
Vancouver around the whole Spanish encampment, which was well built and
of large size.  The poultry would be left, some cattle would be
presented.  Quadra was most kind, most gracious.  Yes, Lieutenant
Broughton would be able to pass a very pleasant winter in charge of
this large and well-ordered establishment.  It was in truth a most
tempting bait that the astute Quadra dangled in front of Vancouver and
his officers.  Quadra was playing upon these men, trying to arouse
strong desires for immediate possession and the use of power in
administrative capacity.  Could he make Broughton an ally, maybe
Vancouver would weaken.  And so Sunday passed in pleasant conjecture
and plans for the future.

Monday, the 3rd of September, Quadra breakfasted on board the
_Discovery_: a trip was planned for the next day up the sound to pay a
state visit to Maquinna.  This would put the English on a friendly
footing with the large Indian population of the sound.  But that
evening a further letter appeared from Don Quadra.  What could this
mean?  Oh, possibly some minor point regarding the method of transfer.
And the translation must wait; Mr. Dobson was ill.  No matter, we will
leave the letter, and go on our arranged trip to-morrow.  This was done
and throughout the next two days Quadra exerted himself to play the
perfect guide and host.  He requested that Vancouver select some port
or island and name it after them both, "to commemorate our meeting and
the very friendly intercourse that had taken place and subsisted
between us."  Vancouver met the overture in most generous fashion and
wrote the name Island of Quadra and Vancouver on the great chart where
now a large island had taken form.

A week passed before Mr. Dobson was able to make the {264} translation,
and Vancouver was "not a little surprised" when he read that Don Quadra
now proposed to restore the buildings and portions of land which in
April of 1789 were taken possession of by Martinez, but that the "small
hut" was not in existence when Martinez arrived and, too, the Spaniards
did not now have their establishment even near the supposed location of
Meares' shanty.  And so, of course, there was nothing to _restore_.
If, then, Vancouver could not agree to this statement of the case,
Quadra recommended that each should lay before his respective
government the circumstances of the negotiations to date, and await
further instructions.  In the meantime Quadra offered _to leave_
Vancouver in possession of what Meares had once occupied, and at
Vancouver's _command_, he would turn over the houses, gardens, and
offices then occupied by the Spaniards.

It now seems perfectly apparent that the Spanish commissioner had no
intention at any time to restore to Vancouver the lands in question.
_He_ would not be the one to lower the Spanish flag over Friendly Cove.
If it must be done, some other agent could witness the passing of
Spanish sovereignty; it would not be Don Quadra.  To this end, every
artifice of persuasion was used by attacking the justice of the Nootka
award and then in quibbling over the existence of Meares'
establishment.  Every argument which could be devised was put forward
in an effort to retain for Spain a large share of the Nootka region.
While it is true that the Spanish commissioner maintained throughout a
most courteous and friendly demeanour it is also true that he proved
himself a master strategist in his conduct of the negotiations.

But the whole carefully laid scheme failed of its purpose in so far as
it was hoped to dislodge Vancouver from his initial and correct
standpoint.  The captain of the _Discovery_ very clearly and quite
properly in his reply refused to trade the temporary possession of
Nootka Sound for the acknowledgment by himself of {265} Spanish rights
of sovereignty to the coast of North America from San Francisco Bay to
the Strait of de Fuca.  Vancouver did agree to transmit to London the
results of the negotiations to this point, and to await further
instructions.  No gentleman could have done more; in fact what else was
there to do?

For the ensuing five days these same points already enumerated were
repeated in letter after letter which passed between the commissioners.
At length Quadra made a slightly different proposal.  He announced that
he would be willing to restore the exact spot of land upon which Meares
had erected his house and had carried on the building of the _North
West America_; but that he must leave the question of the ownership of
the Nootka region until it should be decided by the courts of London
and Madrid.  To this Vancouver made reply that he considered the
restitution should comprise the whole of Nootka, not a small portion,
and that he could not consider such a proposal.  Finally Vancouver
terminated the discussion by demanding to know whether Quadra would
restore the territory of Nootka Sound or no.  Quadra refused to do so,
and Vancouver indicated that the negotiations were thereby at an end.

Quadra at once made preparations to leave Nootka Sound, and suggested
Monterey as the place where he would await Vancouver when the latter
had completed his business in the north and should return his vessels
southward for the winter season.  Three days later Quadra departed,
bearing with him despatches destined for the Admiralty.  These
documents he had courteously undertaken to "forward by the earliest and
safest conveyance."

Now that we have traced the negotiations for the return of the Nootka
Sound region to their completion, let us examine for a brief space the
general result.  Quadra had attained his aims, at least for a time.  He
had succeeded in delaying the event, and diplomatic delays are pregnant
{266} with possibilities.  Mayhap the British government of 1793 would
weaken from its stand of 1790.  Although the Spanish government had
formally agreed to abandon its far-flung claims to the whole coast of
North-west America, its representative, Quadra, had not yet given force
or point to that agreement.  He had successfully and ingeniously evaded
doing so.  And because of this Vancouver has been blamed by many who
have had cause to include this incident in the course of their
narrative.  Quadra has been lauded to the skies, while Vancouver has
been treated with scant courtesy, as an easily deluded, simple-minded,
trusting sailorman.

But what should Vancouver have done in the circumstances?  A profound
and sphinx-like silence is at once the attitude assumed.  A
swashbuckling stand on Vancouver's part might easily have plunged the
two nations into war.  Vancouver had no instructions to seize Nootka.
He expressly states that his instructions were the terms of the Nootka
Sound Convention of 1790.  He was _to receive back_ the lands; the
Spaniard was to deliver them to him.  But Quadra refused to do so; the
refusal was point-blank and unequivocal.  Vancouver chose the
honourable course to refer back to his government for advice.  The
eventual results prove how correct was the stand Vancouver had
maintained throughout.

One other point may be considered at this stage.  In the foregoing
narrative the courtesy and suavity of Don Quadra has been frequently
noted.  Vancouver maintained an equally deferential and gentlemanly
attitude.  Though Quadra could not prevail upon Vancouver to depart
from the strict reading of the Convention articles, he respected that
stand none the less.  Though Vancouver could not prevail upon Quadra to
abandon his ideas of a compromise, it is evident that the captain of
the _Discovery_ respected as well the loyalty to his cause evidenced by
the Spanish Don.  Under these circumstances it is not strange that a
strong friendship grew up between the two antagonists.  {267} Each saw
sterling points in the other; both were thrown into almost daily
contact for a period of several weeks.  The subsequent meetings of
these men in California and in Mexico served but to cement that
friendship begun at Nootka, and but serves to emphasise a most pleasant
ending to the stormy and hectic days of September and October of 1790.
The reasonable attitude of these sailor diplomats throws into high
relief the perfectly grotesque antics of Don Martinez in 1789, whose
exuberance almost led his country into war with England.

There remains then to chronicle the subsequent adventures of Vancouver
in the briefest manner.  On the 30th of the month (September) the first
lieutenant of the _Discovery_, Mr. Mudge, was despatched by the
fur-trading ship _Fenis_ and _St. Joseph_ via China and the Indies to
London.  He carried a copy of the great chart, extracts from the
journal of the voyage, and a complete record of the negotiations at
Nootka.  Vancouver then prepared to await instructions from the
Admiralty as to his future conduct.  He accordingly completed his
refitting at Nootka and sailed to the southward on the 12th of October.
It was his intention to examine the entrance to the Columbia River,
which had been discovered by Captain Gray and named after his vessel.
A week later the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_ anchored off the breakers
which lined the river's mouth.  As the _Chatham_ was much the smaller
vessel and drew much less water than the _Discovery_, she was directed
to proceed ahead for a small opening of clear water discovered in the
almost continuous line of surf.  In this the _Chatham_ was successful,
passing safely through the lines of accumulated sand-bars and on up the
deeper reaches of the river within.  Broughton[2] explored the Columbia
{268} to a distance of eighty-four miles from its mouth, and after
twelve days passed out to sea, rejoining the _Discovery_ at San
Francisco Bay.  In the meantime the _Discovery_, after repeated trials
on three succeeding days, had been forced to abandon the attempt and
had continued her voyage along the coast to the southward.

This part of the voyage was carried out in a leisurely fashion, and an
accurate delineation of the coast-line was secured.  On 14th November,
the _Discovery_ entered San Francisco Bay, and the next morning
Vancouver was welcomed by the Spanish officer in command at that
station.

This was Spain's most northerly point of settlement, if one may be
permitted to reject the abortive attempt to hold Nootka Sound.
Although the port had been occupied for about twenty years, Vancouver
was not impressed with the progress that had been made either in the
creation of a strong military station or along agricultural lines.
Franciscan friars were earnestly at work among the missions and two
stations had been built, one at the port and the other some forty miles
to the southward.  Neither did the aborigines appeal to the eye of the
British sea captain, who describes them as lazy, dirty, and stupid of
countenance, "devoid of sensibility or the least expression."  Rather a
strong indictment, but apparently one with which the hard-working
missionaries were not in full accord.

Ten days were passed at anchor in the spacious harbour while minor
repairs to the vessel were completed, the stock of water renewed, and
fuel secured.  Upon the {269} arrival of the _Chatham_ on the 23rd,
preparations were made to resume the voyage, and two days later the
vessels passed out to sea and arrived at Monterey on the 26th, where
the _Daedalus_ had already arrived.  Don Quadra hastened to welcome his
distinguished guests and repeated his assurances of friendship and
hospitality.

Vancouver now resolved to send Lieutenant Broughton to London by way of
San Blas and Vera Cruz.  It was intended that Broughton should carry
complete copies of the charts completed to date by the expedition as
well as certain Spanish charts which had been given Vancouver.  He was
also entrusted with a complete account of the negotiations at Nootka
Sound, and would be able to supplement the written data with invaluable
oral explanations should the Admiralty so desire.  Quadra readily gave
his consent to the proposed itinerary of Mr. Broughton, and generously
offered to take the lieutenant to San Blas, and there speed him on his
way.

On the 29th of December, the _Daedalus_ was despatched to Port
Jackson[3] in New South Wales, where England in 1788 had begun the
establishment of a penal colony.  During the preceding weeks, Vancouver
had taken from the store-ship those provisions which would be necessary
to enable the _Chatham_ and _Discovery_ to remain on the north-west
coast another full season.  In return he had shipped to Port Jackson a
number of the black cattle which were to be found in large herds near
each _presidio_ and mission station from San Francisco to Peru.

Lieutenant Hanson was instructed to proceed via Tahiti and there to
rescue the shipwrecked crew of the _Matilda_, of London.[4]  At Port
Jackson he was to obtain from {270} Commodore Phillip fresh stores and
return in due course with these to Nootka Sound, where further
instructions would await him.

All was at length in readiness for the departure of the little squadron
from its quiet anchorage at Monterey.  Lieutenant Broughton prepared to
transfer to the _Activa_, and on the evening of the 6th January, 1793,
Vancouver gave a farewell dinner to Quadra and the several Spanish
officers of the port.  But at this juncture the desertion of the
armourer and a marine from the _Chatham's_ complement was discovered.
Every effort to locate the missing men was made, but met with no
success, while several days passed in the hope of their return or
apprehension.  The _Discovery_ weighed anchor and stood out to sea on
the 14th, followed the next day by the _Chatham_ (now in charge of
Lieutenant Puget), the _Activa_ and _Aransasu_.  Joining the
_Discovery_, the four vessels sailed slowly southward until the 18th,
when it was decided to say adieu, the Spanish vessels proceeding on to
San Blas, the English vessels to make the best of their way to the
Sandwich Islands.

A parting dinner on the _Discovery_ brought to a close the friendly
associations of Quadra and Vancouver.  The latter thus describes the
unique occurrence:


The wind blew a gentle breeze from the north; the serenity of the sky
and smoothness of the sea, prolonged my pleasure on this occasion until
near midnight; when we exchanged our mutual good wishes and bade our
friends of the _Active_ farewell.  Amongst all that valuable society,
there was but one friend who we could reasonably hope and expect to see
{271} again,[5] whilst the prospect of never again meeting Senr. Quadra
and our other friends about him was a painful consideration.  To the
feelings of those perusers of this journal who have experienced moments
like this I must appeal.  Their recollection will enable them to
conceive the sensation which, inspired by the grateful recollection of
past kindnesses, occurred in thus bidding adieu to Senr. Quadra; who
was the mainspring of a society that had produced us so much happiness,
who had rendered us so many essential benefits, and whose benevolence
and disinterested conduct had impressed our minds with the highest
esteem and veneration.  On reaching the _Active_, our friends took
their leave; we saluted them with three cheers, which they cordially
returned, and we pursued our respective voyages with all sail set.


From the time Vancouver met the commandant at San Francisco Bay he
marvels at the kindness and hospitality shown him by each and every
Spaniard, both there and at Monterey.  Everything that the Spanish
ports produced in the way of cattle, sheep, poultry, grain, and
vegetables, all were supplied the British vessels in the most generous
quantities.  When Vancouver pressed for a bill of the provisions
received, Quadra refused to consider any such undertaking and smilingly
passed the whole question on to the haze of some future time.
Vancouver was his guest in every sense of the word, and Quadra
exercised the most gracious tact in the manner in which his largess was
distributed.

This was evidently a novel and most unexpected situation for Vancouver.
In his journal he repeatedly refers to the generosity of the Don and
praises him in unstinted measure.  A strong and lasting friendship had
resulted from the Nootka Sound Conference.  The months at Monterey
cemented this and there is every evidence that the commissioners parted
from each other with deep and real regret.[6]

{272}

On Tuesday the 12th of February, the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_ fell in
with the eastern coast of Hawaii.  Ten days later the vessels anchored
in Karakakooa Bay of evil memory.  Vancouver had vivid and painful
recollections of the occurrences there in February of 1779, when, as a
midshipman, he had witnessed the death of his beloved commander,
Captain Cook.

What a change had been brought about in the fourteen years since their
discovery!  Ship after ship now winged her spume-flung way from the
winter gales and driving storms of the rough American coast to spend in
and about the Sandwich Islands a few months of their balmy,
semi-tropical weather.  The natives who had so short a time before
gazed in wonder and dismay at these huge white-winged monsters from
which white-skinned gods descended, now boldly put off in their crowded
canoes, intent on barter, ready to purloin any loose article, brazenly
demanding firearms and ready to seize an unguarded moment to swarm the
decks, capture the ship and murder the crew.

But to the hardy seafaring trader of those days, contact with the
"clever, designing, resolute people" of the Sandwich Isles added the
very spice of danger which was needful to supplement the relaxation
afforded by the mildness of the climate and the lack of pressing work
on board ship.  It was ever a game of wit, of watchfulness, of seeming
security where greatest danger ever lurked.  When Vancouver departed on
the 8th of March, with no untoward incident to mar his visit at
Karakakooa, we may be well assured that every precaution had been well
taken and continually maintained.



[1] That is, the then site of Nootka.

[2] This exploration was conducted in the small boats, and occupied
seven days of strenuous work against the current and a strong east
wind.  The eighty-four miles were charted in the usual thorough manner
for which the expedition became noted.  Gray had in reality barely
reached the true mouth of the river, but he had shown great skill in
conquering the lines of sand-bars which stretch across from Cape
Disappointment to Point Adams, and he had proven the existence of a
mighty outflow of fresh water.  In honour of these initial efforts, the
name Gray gave to the river has been retained.  To Broughton, however,
must be given credit for the first exploration and charting of the
river's lower reaches as far as Point Vancouver.  Provisions being
exhausted, any further exploration up the stream was abandoned and
Broughton returned to the _Chatham_ on 3rd November, having been absent
from his vessel nearly twelve days.

[3] The present Sidney, the largest city in Australia.

[4] Word had reached Vancouver while at Nootka Sound that twenty-nine
survivors of the _Matilda_ had made their way to Tahiti after their
ship had grounded on a ledge of rocks 22 S. lat., 138 30' W. lon.
The second mate and two sailors had soon after headed for New Zealand
in an open whaleboat.  The captain and four others had taken passage
from Tahiti on a trading vessel, the _Jenny_, of Bristol, and had duly
arrived at Nootka.  From there Quadra had furnished them with money and
a safe-conduct through Mexico on their way to England.  The remainder
of the crew, twenty-one in all, had chosen to remain at Tahiti.  A
tribal war had arisen in which some of the shipwrecked sailors had
taken one side, some the other, with disastrous results to the
inhabitants of Matavai Bay.  It was Vancouver's intention to have these
men removed before more depredations were committed, and the island of
Tahiti become a place unfit for vessels to use as a port of call.

[5] Lieutenant Broughton (?).

[6] Vancouver did not see Quadra again.  He died the next year, while
carrying on his duties at San Blas.




{273}

CHAPTER XVII

COMPLETING THE SURVEY, 1793, 1794, AND THE RETURN TO ENGLAND IN 1795

Vancouver arrived at Nootka the latter part of May, having been
preceded by the _Chatham_.  The continuance of the survey from Fitzhugh
Sound northward now engaged the captain's attention, and from the 26th
of May to the 21st of September the delineation was conducted with
consummate precision and at times almost desperate perseverance.  The
extent of coast-line thus surveyed and charted for the first time
extended to 56 north, to Cape Decision and Prince of Wales Island.
The intricate waterways of Burke Channel, Dean Channel and Bentinck Arm
were explored during the early part of June.  Thence came a more
difficult section, including Graham Reach, Gardner Canal and Douglas
Channel.  July found the expedition at anchor off the east coast of
Stephens Island.  The Skeena estuary was explored.  Port Essington was
given its name, but scant respect was paid to the principal river which
tears its way through the coast range in this section.  The wide,
shallow mouth of the Skeena, in which lie several low islands, gave
little indication that behind lay a stream bed two hundred and fifty
miles to the source.  A more thorough survey was given to Portland
Canal and Observatory Inlet.  These great arms penetrating into the
mountains gave occasional hope that some of them might prove to be the
fabled Strait of de Fonte.  If such a strait could be found leading to
the Arctic or to Hudson's Bay, one of the prizes of all this minute
coastal survey would be attained.  One by one the fabled straits were
fading from the newer maps of North America.  First to {274} go were
the Straits of Anian; Captain Cook pretty well disposed of that myth.
Then de Fuca's Straits; Vancouver had already traced them to their
uttermost end, and discovered a great island mass in the doing of it.
Now, last of the myths, the "Strait of Admiral de Fonte" was to be
erased from this and all future charts.  No strait or inlet penetrated
through the great mountain barrier; always the giant towering
iron-ribbed mountains barred the head of every promising passage.

Nor were these explorations of Vancouver's carried on with any degree
of ease and comfort.  The very length of the inlets, the intricacy of
the connecting channels, the numbers of large and small islands, all
contributed to make the small boat excursions long and laborious.
While conducting in person the exploration of the coast from the
vicinity of Prince Rupert, north to Revilla Gigedo Island, Vancouver
was absent from the _Discovery_ twenty-three days, and covered a
distance of at least seven hundred miles.  The Indians of the region
proved to be both warlike and treacherous.  Escape Point and Traitor
Bay, in latitude 55 37' north, tell a story of a most fortunate
deliverance from a well-conceived attempt of the Indians to overpower
the occupants of the launch.

To the lands he had delineated, Vancouver proceeded to give names
mindful of old England and her sovereigns.  In 1793 the general[1] name
for that part of the coast lying between Cape San Lucas and Cape
Flattery was the one bestowed by Drake--New Albion.  To the lands
stretching from the Straits of de Fuca and Cape Flattery to Desolation
Sound, Vancouver had already given the name of New Georgia.  He now
applied the name New Hanover to the mainland shores from Desolation
Sound northward to Gardner Canal, while that of New Cornwall was given
to the mainland stretching from Gardner Canal to Point Rothsay.  These
names have quite disappeared: New Albion is now California, Oregon and
Washington states; {275} New Georgia is divided between the State of
Washington and the New Westminster district of British Columbia; Prince
Rupert and the Bella Coola occupy the one-time New Hanover of
Vancouver, while an international boundary line divides New Cornwall.

Stormy weather during the latter part of September caused a halt in the
northward progress of the expedition.  The amount of coastal survey
accomplished that year seemed pitifully small in comparison with the
vast sweep which remained yet to be done north of Prince of Wales
Island.  Vancouver was much put out that more had not been accomplished
during the four months he had spent in the work, but no one to-day
cares to accord other than the highest praise to the amount of work
which the expedition accomplished along one of the most difficult
coast-lines to be found on any continental mass.

The 5th of October Vancouver arrived at Nootka.  But no _Daedalus_ met
him there, nor were there any instructions from the Admiralty.  The
port bore an almost deserted appearance.  Few vessels had called there
during the summer, no vessels were then in harbour, and but for the
small company of Spaniards in their blockhouse, Friendly Cove presented
an abject and forlorn sight.  In fact the little village of Nootka had
seen its great days; in another ten years it would revert to its
pristine quiet, broken only by the rasp of paddle against gunwale as a
lone dug-out crept along the shore.

On the 8th Vancouver put to sea, leaving word with the commandant to
send the _Daedalus_, should she arrive, on to San Diego, their proposed
place of rendezvous.  The 19th found the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_
again at anchor in San Francisco Bay.  Enquiries were made regarding
news or letters from London, to no avail.  The silence of the Admiralty
was most puzzling.  In fact it has never been explained.  Other worries
pressed their way to the fore.  Vancouver found that since his first
visit the Spanish regulations regarding foreigners had been put {276}
into full force.  No one was allowed on shore at night, which meant
that there would be no opportunity to erect the tents and conduct the
necessary observations with regard to fixing the rate of the
chronometers.  If this were not attended to from time to time the
accuracy of the longitude assigned to capes and headlands would suffer
and part of the survey work be set at naught.  Sailors and officers had
been looking forward to a few days' ramble on shore after months of the
most exacting labour on ship and in the small boats.  No one was to
land except the captain and a midshipman, and a Spanish marine would be
in constant attendance, a sort of spy on their every movement.  Wood
and water for the ships must be secured as quickly as possible between
the hours of sunrise and sunset.  To-day these regulations seem
ridiculous; they were equally so then.  In 1793 such rules were
outgrown; they were merely a hold-over from the Middle Ages, from the
days of Columbus, when a nation owned in a most absolute form some
infant colony and legislated for that colony in a crude and domineering
manner.  It was a desire to monopolise the trade of the colony for the
mother country alone; it was an attempt to keep the outside world in
total ignorance of the nature of the soil and products of the colony,
and to conceal its state of defence.  It was apparently based upon the
assumption that ignorance of all these things by the foreigner was the
surest safeguard.  No more futile policy could have been adopted,
because, while it did drive away the foreigner to a great extent, it so
protected and encompassed the colonial inhabitants that they settled
down without exception to lives of ease, sloth and ignorance.  It was a
boomerang policy which hurt the Spaniards more than it injured the
foreigner at whom it had been aimed.

Quadra had taken particular pains to see that these obnoxious rules
were held in abeyance that pleasant autumn season of '92, but Quadra
had departed for San Blas.  A new commandant, Arrillaga by name, had
arrived {277} at Monterey.  He had again put in force the restrictions
on foreigners.  Thinking that a personal appeal would be effective,
Vancouver sailed five days later (24th October) for Monterey, where he
arrived the 1st of November.[2]  But Arrillaga proved to be merely
stubbornly obdurate, and four days later Vancouver again put to sea,
this time hoping for fairer treatment at San Diego.

On the way the vessels stopped at Santa Barbara mission.  The priests
met the officers with every expression of good will and generosity.
Fresh vegetables were secured in abundance from their gardens, also
fresh meat.  A most pleasing change from the formal and niggardly
attentions received at the instigation of Arrillaga!  Arriving at San
Diego on the 27th, packets were made ready to be forwarded to the
Admiralty via San Blas on the next Spanish vessel going south.  Letters
to Quadra were also enclosed.  No doubt the Don was informed of the
changed attitude of the Monterey _presidio_.  With all possible
despatch Vancouver put to sea, both officers and crew rankling under
the close confinement and irksome restrictions imposed upon them by the
command of Arrillaga.

The Sandwich Islands were reached in the early part of January and on
the 14th the three vessels anchored once again in Karakakooa Bay.[3]

Tamaahmaah, the ruling chief of the island of Hawaii,[4] {278} seemed
glad to meet Vancouver again.  The relations of the past winter had
been most happy and a real friendship had grown up between the two men.

On the 8th of February, 1794, Lieutenant Hanson, in command of the
_Daedalus_, departed for Port Jackson.  Her stores had been transferred
to the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_, which would permit these ships to
continue for another season on the survey of the North-west coast of
America.  In this manner England's newest Pacific outpost in the far
south was able to furnish very necessary assistance toward the success
of the scientific expedition in the far north of the Pacific.  With the
help of the ships' carpenters a small vessel was begun on the
Karakakooa shore for the use of King Tamaahmaah.  Three merchant
sailors, Young, Davis and Boid, undertook to finish the vessel, if its
framework were begun for them.  The first two had been for some time in
the employ of Tamaahmaah, while Boid had but recently left his position
as mate of the _Lady Washington_ to enter upon service under the native
chieftain.  The kind and courteous assistance rendered by Vancouver
toward the building of the little vessel was done in the hope that the
islanders would thereby learn to build vessels of European design and
thus enjoy the many advantages which such models possessed over the
native-built canoe.  Beside the three white men resident with the
islanders at Karakakooa Bay, Vancouver heard of eight others in the
employ of the several lesser chiefs whose rule extended over the far
eastern and northern sections.  Their influence had not yet led to
civil war between this or that chief, but reports had already come to
hand of these very happenings on the more westward islands of the
Sandwich group, and Vancouver was fearful of the ultimate result to the
peace and good order so far maintained on Hawaii by Tamaahmaah.

In view of these things the British commander made an alliance with the
king of Hawaii, and with due form and ceremony the chiefs gave
voluntary allegiance to the {279} Crown.  In this way Vancouver thought
to provide for the maintenance of order should the white settlers
continue to increase.  It was now seen that the Sandwich Islands were
yearly becoming an important Pacific half-way house and wintering
station to those who prosecuted their trade in furs on the North-west
coast of America.  Some nation would soon lay claim to them, and
Vancouver, an accredited representative of the British government, was
in the position to forestall such action and secure the islands for his
own people.  But the sea-otters were soon almost exterminated, the
Napoleonic Wars convulsed Europe and dislocated trade, the oceanic fur
trade along the Pacific coast vanished as suddenly as it had sprung
into being, and with it passed for a time the use and importance of the
Sandwich Island group.  With the falling off in trade passed also the
momentary British interest in these islands, and for several decades
they reverted to their wonted isolation in mid-Pacific.

The 15th of March the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_ set out on their last
northward cruise.  This time Vancouver proposed to strike the American
coast in the latitude of "Cook's River"[5] and to explore along the
mainland from there south to Prince of Wales Island and Cape Decision,
thus completing a minute survey of the whole Pacific coast-line of
North America from Kodiak Island to San Diego.  If the famed Straits of
De Fonte were to be found they must lie in the portion now remaining to
be explored.  Of a certainty they did not exist anywhere in that part
of the coast from Mexico to Prince of Wales Island.  Vancouver had
proved that point conclusively.  They did not lie in the Alaskan
coast-line from Kodiak Island to Icy Cape.  Captain Cook and the
Russians after him had found no openings there through the land to the
Arctic Sea or Hudson Bay.  Besides, in that latitude their commercial
value would be very slight.  The most likely places for some huge inlet
or strait or navigable river making {280} far into the land and
connecting with some Arctic or Hudson Bay channel, must lie then in
either the latitude of Cook's River or Prince William Sound.  Vancouver
then, in view of these reasons, decided to sail northward to the Cook's
River region and thus be enabled to spend the best of the summer season
in those high latitudes, descending southward to link up with his
former explorations as the fall set in.  Neither Cook's River nor
Prince William Sound had been followed to their respective heads by the
Cook expedition of 1778 and 1779, and no complete chart of those
regions existed.  If then the De Fonte Straits existed, they would in
all probability be here.  So thought Vancouver, and laid his plans
accordingly.

Early in April Chirikoff Island was sighted and named in honour of
Alexei Chirikoff, Bering's fellow-commander on the ill-fated expedition
of 1741.  Ten days later the vessels began their exploration of the
"River."  After many hardships, through cold, fog, and floating ice
cakes, the shores were traced to their termination.  It proved to be no
river, but a huge inlet of the sea with small streams flowing into it.
So the name was changed to Cook's Inlet, and the vessels were navigated
along the coast to Prince William Sound.  The remainder of May and part
of June were spent in a delineation of this great indentation, but
again huge craggy mountains, gleaming white in their Alpine sheet,
closed in every arm and bending channel.  No communication there with
the vast interior of the continental mass!

Then down the coast, past Mount St. Elias, and the bay in which Bering
had anchored.[6]  Here and there giant glaciers thrust their corrugated
snouts into the sea and icebergs floated lazily in the long ocean
swell.  No opening here, through this mass of ice, rock and huge
frowning mountain mass: the mightiest range on the continent barred and
locked the gate.  Entering Cross Sound, anchorage was found, and the
small boats set out to trace the {281} windings of the indentations
which here begin and extend without interruption to Cape Flattery and
the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

In this wise Icy Strait, Lynn Canal, and Stephens Passage were explored
and charted.  The Indians proved treacherous, and the work was carried
on with great danger.  The ships were then navigated by sea to the
south-eastern end of Baranof Island, where the small boats were
despatched to link up this year's survey with the stopping-point of
'93.  The accomplishment of this task took much longer than Vancouver
had expected, and when the boats failed to return at the end of two
weeks the captain was thrown into a state of anxious suspense.  Would
this last excursion end in disaster?  Would the fine record of the
preceding years suffer a shattering blow at the very end?  Had the
Indians been at last successful?  These and many more queries passed
from mouth to mouth as day by day the men on the _Discovery_ and the
_Chatham_ watched the reaches of Chatham Strait for their overdue
comrades.  Four boats were away; two under the command of Whidbey,
master of the _Discovery_, two under the command of Johnstone, master
of the _Chatham_.  No better or more experienced sailormen were to be
found anywhere for such work than these two.  Their resource and
bravery were known to all.  They were respected and popular among the
seamen of the crews.  In them the captain reposed the utmost
confidence.  Finally, on the 19th of August, seventeen days absent, "in
the midst of a deluge of rain, with the wind blowing very strong from
the S.E. we had the indescribable satisfaction," notes Vancouver, "of
seeing the four boats enter the harbour together from the northward."


The parties soon reached the vessels, all well, and communicated the
glad tidings of their having effectually performed the service, and
attained the object that had been expected from this expedition.

The accomplishment of an undertaking, the laborious nature {282} of
which will, probably, ... be more easily conceived than explained; a
service that had demanded our constant and unwearied attention, and had
required our utmost abilities and exertions to bring thus to a
conclusion, could not, after the indefatigable labours of the three
preceding years, fail of exciting in the bosoms of our little
community, sensations of a nature so pleasing and satisfactory, that
few are likely to experience in the same degree, who were not
participators in its execution: and to the imagination of those alone,
must I refer the happiness we experienced on this interesting event.

In order that the valuable crews of both vessels, on whom great
hardships and manual labour had fallen and who had uniformly
encountered their difficulties with unremitting exertion, cheerfulness
and obedience, might celebrate the day, that had thus terminated their
labours in these regions; they were served with such an additional
allowance of grog as was fully sufficient to answer every purpose of
festivity on the occasion.  This soon prompted a desire for mutual
congratulations between the two vessels, expressed by three exulting
cheers from each; and it may be easily conceived that a greater degree
of heartfelt satisfaction was scarcely evermore reciprocally
experienced, or more cordially exchanged.


A right royal time it must have been.  Let us hope that the iron
discipline was relaxed for a day, that for several days the sailors
were allowed all possible latitude: it was certainly needed, they had
well and truly earned a respite.  To the bay, their present anchorage,
Vancouver gave the name of Port Conclusion, while New Norfolk was
applied to the continental shore from the confines of New Cornwall to
the limits of Cross Sound.  Vancouver concludes his description at this
stage with these remarks:


The principal object which His Majesty appears to have had in view in
directing the undertaking of this voyage having at length been
completed, I trust the precision with which the survey of the coast of
North-West America has been carried into effect, will remove every
doubt, and set aside every opinion of a north-west passage, or any
water communication navigable for shipping, existing between the North
Pacific, and the interior of the American continent, {283} within the
limits of our researches.  The discovery that no such communication
does exist has been zealously pursued, and with a degree of minuteness
far exceeding the letter of my commission or instructions....  The very
detached and broken region that lies before so large a portion of this
coast, rendered a minute examination altogether unavoidable.


Written a century and a quarter ago, these lines stand to-day without
fear of adverse comment or detraction.  Rather does our more extensive
knowledge but tend to justify the frank avowals of the captain.  The
work was carried out with precision; with minuteness as well; with hard
labour and suffering; but it was done.  Vancouver deserves praise; even
the great honours which have perpetuated his name have been all
honestly earned.  It is a rare and pleasurable experience to meet in
the course of historical researches a man of such modest manner, of
such convincing honesty coupled with a shy reserve; and underneath it
all a will of abounding resolution and tremendous determination.

There remains then but to follow in the briefest manner the return of
the expedition to England.

On 22nd August, 1794, the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_ put to sea.  The
2nd of September they arrived at Nootka.  Here Vancouver learned of the
death, in March, of Don Quadra.  A new governor for Nootka had just
arrived from San Blas in the person of Don Alava.  To him Vancouver
paid his respects the following day.  He reported that instructions
relating to the cession of Nootka were daily expected by packet-boat
from San Blas, and Vancouver agreed to await their coming in the hope
that his instructions might arrive by the same mail.

But no word came to Nootka from the south, and on the 16th of October,
Vancouver quitted Nootka for the last time.  Alava followed the next
day, agreeing to meet Vancouver at Monterey, where the belated
instructions might be waiting.  Arriving at Monterey the 6th of
November, the officers of the _Discovery_ were greatly pleased to {284}
learn of the recent resignation and removal to a more remote inland
sphere of Arrillaga, that haughty Spaniard who had made their visit to
these ports in the fall of '93 so useless and unpleasant.  The
treatment which was now accorded the expedition was of a more
reasonable and friendly character.  This would tend to the belief that
the discourtesy of the preceding year had sprung largely from the
jaundiced disposition and archaic notions of Arrillaga himself, and
that his governing instructions might have been construed in a much
more intelligent and humane manner.  Alava arrived on the _Princessa_ a
few days later, and lent every endeavour to make the remaining weeks at
Monterey as pleasant and sociable as possible.

The long-awaited instructions arrived from San Blas on the 12th.  They
were for Alava, however; not one word or scrap of written instructions
from the Admiralty for Vancouver.  The situation was a most
extraordinary one.  Since Vancouver had left England in 1791 he had
received no instructions whatever from the Admiralty or any other
government department.  Although he had regularly sent home despatches
of the utmost importance he had been favoured by not so much as an
acknowledgment.  Somebody occupying an office chair in a department of
the Admiralty was blundering; for there is no reason to believe that
either the government or the heads of the Admiralty were at all
displeased with the results which the expedition had already
accomplished.

It may be pleaded, with some degree of justice, that those were anxious
and busy times withal in the political corridors of Westminster, as
well as in the capitals of Europe.  France was in the throes of a
revolution which was to end in the long-drawn-out Napoleonic Wars.  The
times were turbulent, men were uneasy, the coast of North-west America
was far away.

From Alava, Vancouver learned that the British and Spanish courts had
at length agreed to an amicable {285} interpretation of the precise
meaning of Article One of the Nootka Sound Convention.  It appeared
that an adjustment had been agreed upon, "and nearly on the terms,"
writes Vancouver, "which I had so repeatedly offered to Senr. Quadra in
September of 1792."  But the ceremony of cession was this time to be
carried out by Alava and a new commissioner appointed by the British
government.[7]

"Having maturely considered the several parts of this intelligence,"
Vancouver concluded that, because of the length of the voyage to date,
the government did not expect a longer stay in the North Pacific;
particularly in view of the fact that the survey of the coast had been
completed.  Vancouver continually stresses the importance which the
British government placed upon this phase of the expedition's work.
Nor were the vessels in a fit condition to have remained for another
season.  Their stores were in an exhausted state, rope, cables, canvas,
especially needed renewal.  Each gale now meant rent sails and the
splicing of gear.  Added to this was the state of the captain's health.
During that month of November at Monterey, the pleasant weather led to
"excursions of several parties into the country on foot and on
horseback"; there were also social evenings at the _presidio_.  But
Vancouver "was {286} seldom able" to avail himself of these social
relaxations "from the very debilitated state of my health, under which
I had severely laboured during the eight preceding months."  This is
the first mention or reference to failing health, and in view of
Vancouver's sudden demise in 1798 we may well believe that the
tubercular trouble had already made heavy inroads upon his strong
constitution.  Nor could the fog and cold of the recent Alaskan
delineation have done other than aggravate the disease.  When the
curtain is parted a trifle we see much that was unexpected.  The record
of those last months along the Alaskan coast is one of painstaking
care, and filled with the desire that everything be correctly done; no
hurry is evidenced; while health is palpably failing the work must go
on: there is seen true bravery and true loyalty, fine courage and
indomitable will.

Preparations to depart from Monterey were completed by the end of
November, and on the 2nd of December the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_
sailed southward on their voyage around Cape Horn.  It was now three
years and eight months since these vessels had left Falmouth.  In that
time they had cruised the length of the Atlantic, crossed the Indian
Ocean to the southward of Australia, to New Zealand, and on to the
Society group, from there northward through the vast expanse of the
Pacific via the Sandwich Islands to the coast of North America.  A year
and more to reach their destination!  Then had ensued three seasons'
work exploring, delineating and charting the intricacies of that coast
from California to Cook's Inlet in Alaska.  As an incident almost in
the course of their real endeavours had come the meetings with Quadra
and Alava regarding the restitution of Nootka Sound.  The values had
suddenly shifted.  That which had been of considerable moment in 1790
had shrunken to insignificant proportions.  The expedition would never
have survived in the pages of history had it confined itself merely
with the repossession of Nootka.  Its place was established, its {287}
fame secured by carrying out to the fullest extent, to the very
uttermost of human endeavour, the Admiralty's request that the
coast-line of the continent should receive a further searching for the
elusive phantom of a north-east passage.  Vancouver and his officers
had seized their golden opportunity; they had used it well, they were
now returning with an addition to the world's geographical knowledge
such as had seen no counterpart since the days of Bering and Captain
Cook.  It is indeed fitting that the Pacific Ocean should have such
great characters associated with its early discovery and exploration.

Balboa was the first to cross the narrow lands from the Atlantic and
gaze upon its trembling waves; Magellan the first to cross its giant
length; a Drake dared to use it as a screen for retreat; Anson and
Tasman strove and won.  Then a lull.  In the far and misty north two
tiny cockles put forth and Bering's track blazed the way to Alaska.
Then Spanish prows from Mexico crept northward along the coast: Perez,
Heceta, Quadra.  At last came Captains Cook and Vancouver, laying bare
the last secrets, exploring the last wave-lapped shore, showing the way
to the fur trader, carrying behests for wrangling diplomats, welcoming
the Pacific into the sisterhood of great waters and giving her true
limits and new bounds.

Passing southward to the Horn, their fourth Christmas Day was passed at
sea in latitude 17 north.  Torrid heat and sultry weather provided
little semblance to the festive English season of Yuletide logs and
driving snowflakes.  But fresh beef, mutton and poultry, purchased at
Monterey, provided an ample repast for all, and "an extra allowance of
grog" lent at least a momentary gaiety to the scene.  The latter part
of January found the expedition at Cocos Island, that silent
treasure-house of cut-throat bands.  Wood and water were found in
plenty, and, although the surf ran high, these necessaries were shortly
embarked and the voyage was continued.  Baffling winds, calms, adverse
currents made this part of the voyage most tedious.  {288} By the
middle of February the ships were but ten degrees south of the equator.
The doldrums are ever a weary waste of oily seas and Vancouver in his
indifferent state of health found the delays most irksome.

The 25th of March found the _Discovery_ and her consort at anchor in
Valparaiso Harbour.  Here Vancouver intended to repair the
_Discovery's_ broken foremast and recruit the health of the crew, among
whom the scurvy had made its appearance.  Much to his surprise and
delight, he found the governor of the port to be Don Lewis Alava, the
brother of the new governor and commissioner at Nootka.  Courteous
treatment was met with on all sides, the fame of the expedition having
penetrated even to these far southern colonies of Spain's vast colonial
empire.  It was, in fact, considered a distinct honour by the Chilian
authorities to minister to the needs of the officers and crew.  This
was in large measure due to the wider vision of Alava, nobly seconded
by the governor of Chili, Don Ambrosio Higgins de Vallemar.[8]  The
latter sent a hearty invitation to Vancouver to visit Santiago, the
capital of the province.  The officers gladly availed themselves of
this opportunity to fill in the time while repairs were going forward
on the vessels, and a most enjoyable time was spent as guests of the
governor.

To Vancouver the days ashore passed all too quickly.  He was glad to be
able to reside on shore, freed for a time from the cramped quarters on
board ship.  His health {289} was still very "indifferent."  In fact,
he was in such a weakened condition that he was forced to forego many
of the social functions arranged in his honour.  The disease or illness
which caused this condition is not mentioned in the pages of the
journal, but it is generally supposed to have been the first stages of
tuberculosis.

At the end of about six weeks all was in readiness to depart.  The
rendezvous was to be St. Helena, in those days an important British
convoy base for the India trade.  On the way to Cape Horn every
precaution was used to ease the strain on sails, masts, and rigging.
But these were in such an "extremely rotten and decayed" condition[9]
that day by day something gave way.  Their progress was irritatingly
slow, and it was the end of May before a good position could be secured
from which to weather the Horn.

Fifty-eight days out from Valparaiso, anchor was cast in St. Helena
Bay.  No part of the whole voyage had been more laborious nor more
vexatious.  May, June, and July are winter months in Cape Horn
latitudes.  Howling gales, rain, sleet, snow and mighty seas are the
rule.  Those on the _Chatham_ had suffered more than the crew of the
_Discovery_, and many men on the smaller vessel were ill from the
constant exposure, opened seams having let in enough water to keep
everything damp.

War with Holland, all Europe in a ferment, convoys being rushed
northward, an expedition being prepared against the Dutch colony at
Cape of Good Hope--such were the bits of exciting news and gossip which
met the expedition upon its arrival at St. Helena.  What a change from
the comparative quiet of the Pacific; what a change of ideas!  What a
host of questions to ask after a four years' absence!  For those were
stirring times and the political pot was all a-boil.

{290}

St. Helena presented a busy appearance.  Warships sailed in, sailed
out; merchantmen dropped anchor to await convoy to home ports.  The
_Chatham_ was hurried off to the Brazilian coast carrying naval
despatches of importance.  The _Discovery_ gave up her heavy ordnance
and powder to the troopship _Armiston_.  While repairs to the
_Discovery_ were being completed, the crew were on occasion pressed
into service,--a rush order to fill the water-casks of H.M.S. _Sphinx_;
again it was ferrying troops from shore to vessel.  Altogether not much
rest for officers or weary sailormen.  But wherever England's sons may
be, the call to arms enlists their aid: the welfare of the service is
paramount.  It might be said that the voyage ceased to be a scientific
expedition the morning the _Discovery_ moored at St. Helena, and became
at once an auxiliary section of the Royal Navy ready for war.

On the 16th July the _Discovery_ continued her voyage to home ports.
Vancouver had decided not to await the sailing of the next convoy.  The
5th of August the Cape Verde Islands were seen, and soon after the
_Discovery_ overtook a large British convoy homeward bound.[10]
Essington welcomed Vancouver in the heartiest manner, and the next few
weeks were passed in the security and pleasant fellowship of brother
officers whose cheery friendliness enlivened the slow-footed days; for
many of the convoy were indifferent sailers.

It was the 12th of September that land was seen from the masthead of
the _Discovery_.[11]  Homeland at last!  The next day the whole convoy
lay at anchor in the Shannon, while Captain Essington awaited
assistance in bringing the valuable cargoes around to one of the
Channel ports.  Vancouver at once set out for London and reported to
{291} the Admiralty.  The immediate business of completing his charts
no doubt occupied several months, possibly until the spring of '96.  On
this point, however, the record is silent.  We do know that his health
did not improve, and that some time in that year he removed to
Petersham, near Richmond, Surrey.  There he busied himself, as failing
strength would permit, writing the journal of his voyage.  Two years
later, 10th of May, 1798, he was laid to rest in the churchyard.

Vancouver was but forty years of age when he died--an age when men of
to-day are in their prime, and still looking forward to the rewards of
high endeavour.  Yet he had so employed himself that at the age of
thirty-three he had been selected to lead an expedition to the heart of
the Pacific.  The exposure he had undergone while carrying out his
instructions had undoubtedly undermined his constitution.  Although he
had hied himself on board ship at thirteen, his journal reveals on
every page that he possessed the well-stored mental equipment of a
well-educated man of his day and generation.  Serious attention to
duty, long hours of study, a relentless pursuit of knowledge, a love of
refinement--all must have been brought to fruition by a strong will and
a steadfast purpose.  The West, we like to think, has been peopled by
self-made men.  One of the first of the westerners, Captain Vancouver,
R.N., was a self-made man.

With the passing of the Vancouver expedition we also witness the
gradual decline in the sea-otter trade.  The closing of the Nootka
incident in the Pacific, however, serves but to accentuate our interest
in the struggle for domination between the Hudson's Bay and North-West
Companies in the heart of the continent; a struggle which carried the
fur-traders across the broad prairies to the very foot of the Rockies.
At length the intrepid Mackenzie blazed a path to the sea; Fraser
followed his river to the Gulf of Georgia; Thompson explored the Upper
Columbia, while farther south the Lewis and Clark expedition thrust
{292} its way up the Missouri and down to the Columbia mouth.

Then began a building of forts, a linking up of fur-brigades through
the mountain passes, a trade in beaver peltries, a spying out of the
land.  It is a story in itself.  With the amalgamation of the
Nor'Westers and Hudson's Bay Companies in 1821 we leave the troubled
and uncertain days for a space and enter upon a phase of gradual growth
only to be rudely awakened by the sudden flare of the gold rush.

Again the ocean lanes were dotted with the white wings of the tall
square-riggers.  But this time the land trails lent their aid; sea and
land met in amity, man claimed the far west coast as his permanent home
and gave honour to the pioneer.



[1] At least the _English_ navigators used it extensively.

[2] On the day after leaving San Francisco Bay, the _Daedalus_ was
spoken.  She was on her way southward, having put into Nootka a few
hours after Vancouver had sailed out from that port on the 8th.

[3] They found at anchor in Karakakooa Bay the brig _Lady Washington_,
under command of John Kendrick, the erstwhile friend and boon companion
of Martinez during those hectic months of May, June and July of 1789.
Kendrick and Gray had originally left Boston in 1787 via Cape Horn for
Nootka on a trading venture.  Kendrick was then in charge of the
_Columbia_, Gray master of the _Lady Washington_.  While at Nootka the
skippers had changed vessels, and Gray had gone to China with the
season's catch.  Gray seems to have been the finer character of the two.

[4] Spelled Owhyhee by Cook and adopted by Vancouver in his journal.

[5] Cook Inlet of to-day.

[6] Yakutat Bay (?).

[7] Vol. VI. p. 118.  Vancouver has a footnote which reads: "This
however was not the fact, as the fresh instructions were addressed in
the first instance to me."  Vancouver had evidently made enquiries upon
his return to London as to why he had been superseded.  He offers no
further explanation than the bare statement just quoted.  We are left
to conjecture.  It is probable that the British government feared their
instructions might go astray, that Vancouver had left his station on
the west coast.  In that event great delay would ensue.  Hence the
appointment of the new commissioner to leave England, fully instructed,
proceed direct, via Mexico to Nootka, and there go through the
prescribed forms of cession and repossession with Alava.  This
explanation is suggested for the consideration of those who would use
this incident, as some have done, to assail Vancouver with having
failed in his negotiations with Quadra, and that the British Government
was angry with the manner in which he had carried on the negotiations.

[8] "He had now been resident in New Spain twenty-four years ... he was
a native of Ireland from whence he had been absent upwards of forty
years ... at an early period he had entered the English Army; but not
obtaining in that service the promotion he had expected, he had
embraced more advantageous offers on the Continent."  In the service of
Spain he had risen from the engineers, through the dragoons, where he
became a lieutenant-colonel.  He had been appointed military commander
on the frontiers of Chili and had met with unexpected success.  Spain
had then rewarded him with the governorship and various titles of
distinction.

[9] This is a sample of what happened: "Our starboard maintopsail sheet
broke, the gib-boom snapped short off about the middle, and the wind
split the mizzen topsail," etc.

[10] Twenty-four Indiamen under the protection of the ship _Sceptre_,
sixty-four guns, Captain Essington.

[11] Arrived in the Thames, 20th October, under command of Lieutenant
Baker.  The _Chatham_ arrived in England on the 17th of October.



[Illustration: Chapter 17 tailpiece]




{293}

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following list is not exhaustive, but presents those books which
the author found interesting and helpful.

1.  Purchas, Samuel, _Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes_.
Glasgow, James MacLehose and Sons, 1905-7.  20 Vols.

2.  Coxe, William, _Russian Discoveries between Asia and America_.
London, 1780.

3.  Lauridsen, Peter, _Vitus Bering, the Discoverer of Bering Strait_.
Translated from the Danish by Julius E. Olson.  Chicago, Griggs, 1889.

4.  Colder, Frank Albert, _Bering's Voyages_ ... with a Chart of the
Second Voyage by E. P. Bertholf.  New York, American Geographical
Society, 1922.  3 vols.

5.  Cook, Captain James, _Voyages to the Pacific Ocean_.  In three
volumes.  Published by order of the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty.  London, Nicol and Cadell, 1784.

6.  Kippis, Andrew, _Voyages by Captain Cook, with his Life_, London,
1878.

7.  Besant, Sir Walter, _Captain Cook_.  London, Macmillan, 1894.

8.  Kitson, Arthur, _Captain James Cook--"The Circumnavigator."_
London, Murray, 1907.

9.  Howay and Scholefield, _History of British Columbia_, vol. 1, pages
1-197.  The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Vancouver, 1914.

10.  Begg, Alexander, _History of British Columbia_.  Toronto, 1894.

11.  Bancroft, Hubert Howe, _History of the North West Coast_.  San
Francisco, The History Co., 1890.  2 vols.

12.  Meares, John, _Voyages in 1788 and 1789 from China to the North
West Coast_.  London, 1790.

{294}

13.  Manning, William Ray, _The Nootka Sound Controversy.  Report of
American Historical Association_, 1904.

14.  _Nootka Sound.  Dispute between England and Spain_, 1790.  A
narrative of the negotiations occasioned by the Dispute between England
and Spain in the year 1790.  One of three rare copies.

15.  Vancouver, Captain George, _A Voyage of Discovery to the Pacific
Ocean, and Round the World_....  London, Stockdale, 1801.  6 vols.

16.  _Menzies' Journal of Vancouver's Voyage_, April to October, 1792.
British Columbia Provincial Archives, Memoir No. V.  Victoria, 1923.

17.  Roquefeuil, Camille de, _A Voyage Round the World_, 1816-1819.
London, 1823.

18.  Newcombe, Dr. C. F., _The First Circumnavigation of Vancouver
Island_.  Printed at Victoria, King's Printer, 1914.

19.  Meany, Edmond S., _Vancouver's Discovery of Puget Sound_.  New
York, 1907.

20.  Wallbran, John T., _British Columbia Coast Names_, 1592-1906,
_Their Origin and History_.  Ottawa Government, 1909.




{295}

INDEX


Admiralty Bay, 70

_Adventure_, ship, description of, 87, 88; word of, 96

Alava, Don, 283

Aldan, river, 22

Anian, Strait of, 3

_Argonaut_, ship, 182

Ascension Island, 97

Avatcha Bay; at its head lies Petropavlovsk, 34


Baker, Joseph, 219

Baker, Mount, 236

Banks, Joseph, 59

Barkley, Captain, 172

Batavia, 81

Bering, Vitus: life and explorations, 19-46; early life, 19; at
Okhotsk, 22; the voyage to the Arctic, 25, 26, 27; second voyage,
31-46; in sight of America,  36-37; storms, 40; death, 44

Bolshoya, river, 23

Botany Bay, 72

Bread-fruit, 116

Broughton, Lieut. W. R., 219, 267, 269

Burrard Inlet, 244, 245

Bushman, with boomerang, 109; huts, 224


Callicum, 171

Cape Flattery, discovery, 124; seen, 172, 174; rounded, 235

Cape York, 79

_Chatham_, armed tender, 219; aground, 256

Chatham, Island, 229

Cheslakees village, 251, 252

Chirikoff, Alexei, 20-36

Chirikoff Island, 280

Christmas Island, 121

Chuckchees, 16

Clerke, Captain Charles, 105, 150, 155

Colnett, Captain, 181, 184

Columbia, river, exploration of, 267-8 and footnote

_Columbia_, ship, 176, 186

Comekla, 170

Commander Islands, 43

Cook, Captain James, 47-160; early life, 47-56; first voyage, 57-84;
second voyage, 85-101; third voyage, 102-160; at Sandwich Islands, 121;
at Nootka, 125; death, 146

Cook Strait, 93

Cook's Inlet, 280


_Daedalus_, store-ship, 259, 269

Deception Bay, 174

Declaration, and counter-declaration, 205

Disappointment, Cape, 174

_Discovery_, ship of Clerke, 105

_Discovery_, ship of Vancouver, 219; aground, 255

Discovery Passage, 248

Dixon, Captain, 167

Douglas, John, 5-8

Douglas, Captain, 175, 179

Dusky Bay, 68, 92; storm in, 226-27


Edgecumbe, Mount, 130

Egmont, Mount, 66

_Endeavour_, bark, 58, 59

Etches, John, 181


Fairweather, Mount, 130

_Felice_, ship, 169

Flattery, Cape, discovery, 124; seen, 172, 174; rounded, 235

_Fortuna_, ship, 23

Fraser, mouth of, 243, 244, 247 _n_.

Friendly Cove, 126;  Meares, 170; Vancouver, 260

Friendly Isles, description of native customs, 113, 116, 117

Fuca, Juan de, 3-8; Strait of, 124, 125, 172, 174, 175, 235

Funter, Captain, of the _North West America_, 182

Furneaux, Captain Tobias, 88

Fur trade, 157, 169


_Gabriel_, ship, 24, 25

Galiano, Don, 246

Gray, Captain, 176, 186, 234, 267

Gulf of Georgia, 241, 242


Heceta, Don, 100

Hood Canal, 239

Howe Sound, 246

Hudson, Captain, 182, 185


Icy Cape, 135

Indemnity to Meares, 189, 193

_Iphigenia_, ship, 169, 175, 179, 180


Jervis Inlet, 246

Johnstone, 248, 250


Kangaroo, 76, 77

Karakakooa Bay, 140

Kendrick, Captain, 179, 186

King, Captain, 140-158


Lok, Michael, 5, 7, 8

Lopatka, Cape, 24, 28

Luzkin, 18


Maori, fort of, 65; character, 111

Maquinna, 171, 263

Martinez, Don, 178; seizures of British vessels, 180, 181, 185;
possession of Nootka, 183

Marton, village of, 48

Matavai Bay, 62

Maya, river, 22

Meares, John, 163; voyages, 163-189

Menzies, Archibald, 220

Merry, Anthony, 187

_Mexicana_, schooner, 246

Monterey, port of, 269

Mudge, Zachariah, 219, 267

Mller, Gerhard F., 29


New Albion, 274

New Cornwall, 275

New Georgia, 275

New Hanover, 275

New Zealand, 63-70

Nootka, 125, 126, 169; taking possession of, 183; controversy, 193-214;
convention, 209

_North West America_, sloop, 176

Norton Sound, 136


Okhotsk, 14, 18, 22

Omai, 104, 106, 119

Orono, 141

Ostrog, or fort, 14

Otoo, 118


Pareea, 144

Perez, Juan, 99

Petropavlovsk, 36, 46

Point Grey, 244

Port Conclusion, 282

Port Discovery, 236

Port Jackson, 72

Portlock, Captain, 168

Prikaschik, 15

_Princessa_, ship, 178

Prince of Wales, Cape, 134

Prince William Sound, 132

_Princess Royal_, brig, 182, 184

Providential Channel, 78

Puget, Peter, 219; exploration of sound, 240


Quadra, Don, 100; news of, 257; meeting with Vancouver, 260;
negotiations at Nootka, 261-266

Queen Charlotte Sound, of New Zealand, 67

Queen Charlotte Sound, of Vancouver Island, 256, 257


Rainier, Mount, 238

_Resolution_, ship, description of, 87, 88


Sable, 14

St. Elias, Mount, 131

_St. Paul_, ship, 34

_St. Peter_, ship, 34

San Blas, 99

_San Carlos_, 178

Sandwich Islands, 121

San Francisco Bay, 268

Scurvy, 61, 85-101; treatment of, 90; ravages of, 91; cure of, 94-95

Shumagin Islands, 40

Society Islands, naming of group, 62; visited by Cook on second voyage,
93; on third voyage, 118; visited by Vancouver, 229

Spangberg, Martin, 20

Staduchin, Michaelo, 16

Steller, 36, 46

Sunda Strait, 80

_Sutil_, brig, 246


Taboo, 143

Tahiti, island of Society group, 60, 93, 119, 229

Tasman, Abel, 60, 63, 64

Tasmania, 109

Timor Island, 80

Tobolsk, 14

Tomsk, 14

Torres Strait, 79


Unalaska, 164, 165


Vancouver, Captain George, 88; early life, 215-218; voyages, 218-end;
voyage from England to Cape Flattery, 219-234; circumnavigation of
Vancouver Island, 235-259; at Nootka, 260-267; from Nootka to
California, Sandwich Islands and return to Nootka, 267-272; survey from
Fitzhugh Sound northward (1793), 273-275; California and Sandwich
Islands, 275-279; survey from Cook Inlet to Prince of Wales Island
(1794), 279-283; Nootka to England _via_ Cape Horn, 283-291

Voivode, 15


War, preparations for, 202

Whidbey Island, 241

Whitby, 50


Yakutsk, 15, 22

Yermac, the Cossack, 12, 13

Yevreinof, 18

Yudoma, river, 22

Yukon, river, presence of, 137




[End of _The Far West Coast_ by V. L. Denton]
