VANCOUVER DISCOVERS HIS ISLAND
While Mungo Park was attempting to find the course of the Niger, the
English were busy opening up the great fur-trading country in North
America. Although Captain Cook had taken possession of Nootka Sound,
thinking it was part of the coast of New Albion, men from other nations
had been there to establish with the natives a trade in furs. The
Spaniards were specially vigorous in opening up communications on this
bleak bit of western coast. Great Britain became alarmed, and decided
to send Captain Vancouver with an English ship to enforce her rights
to this valuable port.
Vancouver had already sailed with Cook on his second southern voyage;
he had accompanied him on the _Discovery_ during his last voyage. He
therefore knew something of the coast of North-West America. "On the
15th of December 1790, I had the honour of receiving my commission
as commander of His Majesty's sloop the _Discovery_, then lying at
Deptford, where I joined her," says Vancouver. "Lieutenant Broughton
having been selected as a proper officer to command the _Chatham_,
he was accordingly appointed. At day dawn on Friday the 1st of April
we took a long farewell of our native shores. Having no particular
route to the Pacific Ocean pointed out in my instructions, I did not
hesitate to prefer the passage by way of the Cape of Good Hope."
In boisterous weather Vancouver rounded the Cape, made some
discoveries on the southern coast of New Holland, surveyed part of
the New Zealand coast, discovered Chatham Island, and on 17th April
1792 he fell in with the coast of New Albion. It was blowing and raining
hard when the coast, soon after to be part of the United States of
America, was sighted by the captains and crews of the _Discovery_ and
_Chatham_. Amid gales of wind and torrents of rain they coasted along
the rocky and precipitous shores on which the surf broke with a dull
roar. It was dangerous enough work coasting along this unsurveyed
coast, full of sunken rocks on which the sea broke with great violence.
Soon they were at Cape Blanco (discovered by Martin D'Aguilar), and
a few days later at Cape Foulweather of Cook fame, close to the
so-called straits discovered by the Greek pilot John da Fuca in 1592.
Suddenly, relates Vancouver, "a sail was discovered to the westward.
This was a very great novelty, not having seen any vessel during the
last eight months. She soon hoisted American colours, and proved to
be the ship _Columbia_, commanded by Captain Grey, belonging to Boston.
He had penetrated about fifty miles into the disputed strait. He spoke
of the mouth of a river that was inaccessible owing to breakers." (This
was afterwards explored by Vancouver and named the Columbia River on
which Washington now stands.)
Having examined two hundred and fifteen miles of coast, Vancouver and
his two ships now entered the inlet--Da Fuca Straits--now the boundary
between the United States and British Columbia. All day they made their
way up the strait, till night came, and Vancouver relates with pride
that "we had now advanced farther up this inlet than Mr. Grey or any
other person from the civilised world."
"We are on the point of examining an entirely new region," he adds,
"and in the most delightfully pleasant weather." Snowy ranges of hills,
stately forest trees, vast spaces, and the tracks of deer reminded
the explorers of "Old England." The crews were given holiday, and great
joy prevailed. Natives soon brought them fish and venison for sale,
and were keen to sell their children in exchange for knives, trinkets,
and copper. As they advanced through the inlet, the fresh beauty of
the country appealed to the English captain: "To describe the beauties
of this region will be a very grateful task to the pen of a skilful
panegyrist--the serenity of the climate, the pleasing landscapes, and
the abundant fertility that unassisted nature puts forth, require only
to be enriched by the industry of man with villages, mansions, and
cottages to render it the most lovely country that can be imagined."
A fortnight was spent among the islands of this inlet, which "I have
distinguished by the name of Admiralty Inlet," and on 4th June 1792
they drank the health of the King, George III., in a double allowance
of grog, and on his fifty-fourth birthday took formal possession of
the country, naming the wider part of the strait the Gulf of Georgia
and the mainland New Georgia. The two ships then made their way through
the narrow and intricate channels separating the island of Vancouver
from the mainland of British Columbia, till at last, early in August,
they emerged into an open channel discovered by an Englishman four
years before and named Queen Charlotte's Sound. Numerous rocky islets
made navigation very difficult, and one day in foggy weather the
_Discovery_ suddenly grounded on a bed of sunken rocks. The _Chatham_
was near at hand, and at the signal of distress lowered her boats for
assistance. For some hours, says Vancouver, "immediate and inevitable
destruction presented itself." She grounded at four in the p.m. Till
two next morning all hands were working at throwing ballast overboard
to lighten her, till, "to our inexpressible joy," the return of the
tide floated her once more. Having now satisfied himself that this
was an island lying close to the mainland, Vancouver made for Nootka
Sound, where he arrived at the end of August.
[Illustration: VANCOUVER'S SHIP, THE _DISCOVERY_, ON THE ROCKS IN
QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. From a drawing in Vancouver's _Voyage_,
1798.]
At the entrance of the Sound he was visited by a Spanish officer with
a pilot to lead them to a safe anchorage in Friendly Cove, where the
Spanish ship, under one Quadra, was riding at anchor. Civilities were
interchanged "with much harmony and festivity. As many officers as
could be spared from the vessel, and myself dined with Senor Quadra,
and were gratified with a repast we had lately been little accustomed
to. A dinner of five courses, consisting of a superfluity of the best
provisions, was served with great elegance; a royal salute was fired
on drinking health to the sovereigns of England and Spain, and a salute
of seventeen guns to the success of the service in which the _Discovery_
and _Chatham_ were engaged." But when the true nature of Vancouver's
mission was disclosed, there was some little difficulty, for the
Spaniards had fortified Nootka, built houses, laid out gardens, and
evidently intended to stay. Vancouver sent Captain Broughton home to
report the conduct of the Spaniards, and spent his time surveying the
coast to the south. Finally all was arranged satisfactorily, and
Vancouver sailed off to the Sandwich Islands. When he returned home
in the autumn of 1794 he had completed the gigantic task of surveying
nine thousand miles of unknown coast chiefly in open boats, with only
the loss of two men in both crews--a feat that almost rivalled that
of Captain Cook.
It has been said that Vancouver "may proudly take his place with Drake,
Cook, Baffin, Parry, and other British navigators to whom England
looks with pride and geographers with gratitude."