one of the seven chiefs who assented to the cession. It is not necessary to show what inference the natives of the Sandwich Islands might draw from a comparison between the favor thus shown to the murderer of citizens of the United States, and the trial and execution of the persons who were charged with causing the deaths of the officers of the British vessel at Woahoo.*

Soon after these transactions, the British navigators took their final leave of the Sandwich Islands, and, returning to the north-west coasts of America, examined every port which they had not previously visited, from the peninsula of Aliaska, eastward and southward, to Queen Charlotte's Island. They began at Cook's River, and, having ascertained that no great stream entered that bay, they changed its name to Cook's Inlet, which is now most commonly applied to it. They then proceeded to Prince William's Sound, the shores of which were completely surveyed; and thence along the bases of Mounts St. Elias and Fairweather, to the great opening in the coast, near the 58th degree of latitude, which had been called by Cook Cross Sound. In Cook's Inlet and Prince William's Sound, they visited all the Russian establishments, of which Vancouver presents full and satisfactory accounts; and, having succeeded in proving that the place in which Bering anchored on his last expedition could be no other than that called Admiralty Bay, at the foot of Mount St. Elias, on the east, they gave to it the name of Bering's Bay, and as such it generally appears on English charts: the Russians call it the Bay of Yakutat.

Through Cross Sound, Vancouver passed into a labyrinth of channels, some among islands, others running far inland, and terminating in the midst of stupendous mountains; and, having succeeded in threading nearly all these passages, particularly those taking a northern or eastern direction, and thus joined his survey with that of the preceding year, he considered his task accomplished. He had made known the existence of an almost infinite number of islands, between the 54th and the 58th parallels, in the position assigned to the Archipelago of St. Lazarus, in the story of Fonté's voyage: but whilst a part of that story thus seemed to be confirmed, the remainder was supposed to be entirely disproved, as no great river

* Tamaahmoto did not, however, scruple to declare, two years afterwards, that he would take the first vessel which might come within his reach; and so little effect had the executions at Woahoo, that Captain Brown, of the British ship Butterworth, was killed, in January, 1795, by the natives of that island, in an attack which they made on his vessel with the intention to take her. See Broughton's account of his voyage in the Pacific, p. 43.

was found issuing from the continent opposite these islands; and Vancouver became well satisfied "that the precision with which his survey had been conducted would remove every doubt, and set aside every opinion of a north-west passage, or any water communication navigable for shipping, between the North Pacific and the interior of the American continent, within the limit of his researches." The belief thus expressed by the navigator has been completely confirmed. It must, nevertheless, be admitted that, considering the intricacies in the coasts between the 48th and the 58th parallels, many passages, by which vessels could penetrate into the interior of the continent, might have long escaped the notice of the most careful observer; and in evidence of this is the fact, that a river called the Stikine,* three miles wide at its mouth, and a mile wide thirty miles higher up, has been, since Vancouver's voyage, found entering the arm of the sea named by him Prince Frederick's Sound, in the latitude of 56 degrees 50 minutes. Vancouver's failure to discover the mouth of the Columbia should have rendered him distrustful of the entire accuracy of his observations in such cases.

After completing these discoveries, Vancouver took possession of the part of the continent extending north-westward of that around the Strait of Fuca, which he had named New Georgia, as far as the 59th degree of latitude, and of all the adjacent islands, "in the name of his Britannic majesty, his heirs and successors," with the formalities usual on such occasions, including a double allowance of grog to the sailors. He also bestowed upon the various territories, straits, bays, &c., names derived almost entirely from the lists of the members of the royal family, the ministry, the Parliament, the army and the navy of Great Britain; the importance

* Vancouver mentions Stikeen as the name of a country or nation on the continental shore of Prince Frederick's Sound; and he heard, from the natives farther south, of a place in that sound called by them Uon-nass, which word seemed to mean great channel. The first intimation of the existence of the river was probably communicated to the world by the captain of the ship Atahualpa, of Boston, from whose journal an extract is published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society for 1804, p. 242. The captain there says,

"August 25th, 1802. I had some conversation with Cou (a chief of an island near Queen Charlotte's Sound) respecting the natives who inhabit the country back of Stikeen he had his information from Cokshoo, the Stikeen chief. Cou

also informs me that the place called Nass, or Uon-nass (spoken of by Vancouver) by the natives in Chebassa Strait, (Prince Frederick's Sound,) is the mouth of a river of very considerable extent, but unknown, navigable for vessels or large canoes." Near this place, the Atahualpa was attacked, in January, 1805, and her captain, mate, and six se imen, were killed: the others of her crew succeeded in escaping with the vessel.

of the place thus distinguished being generally in proportion to the rank of the individual. Thus we find upon his chart of the northwest archipelago, the large islands or groups of King George the Third, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Admiralty; with the smaller ones of Pitt, Hawkesbury, Dundas, and Burke ; between which are the Duke of Clarence's Strait, Prince Frederick's Sound, Chatham Canal, Grenville Canal, and Stephens's Passage : a small group, near the 55th parallel, partially surveyed by Caamano, in 1791, was allowed to retain the name of Revillagigedo Islands, in honor of the enlightened viceroy of Mexico. The capes, bays, and smaller points or channels, are distributed among the Windhams, Walpoles, and other high families, principally those belonging to the Tory party; one little point being, however, vouchsafed to Charles James Fox. Without questioning the right of the discoverer to impose these names, it may be observed, that none of them will, in all probability, ever be used by the inhabitants of the region in which the place so called is situated. The Russians, who occupy the islands and coasts of the main-land north of the 54th parallel, rigorously exclude from their charts, and from use in every way, the appellations assigned to places in their dominions by people of other civilized countries; and even the British traders, whose posts extend through the parts of the continent distinguished by Vancouver as New Georgia, New Hanover, New Cornwall, and New Norfolk, appear to be entirely ignorant of those names.

From the northern coasts, Vancouver, when his labor was ended, went to Nootka, where he found the Spaniards still in possession, under the command of Brigadier Alava; Quadra having died in the preceding spring, at San Blas. As no information had been received there from Europe respecting the surrender of the territories, the British commander sailed to Monterey, where he learned that the question had been "adjusted by the two courts amicably, and nearly on the terms which he had repeatedly offered to Quadra in September, 1792;" and also "that the business was not to be carried into execution by him, as a fresh commission had been issued for the purpose by the court of London." Under these circumstances, he resolved to return immediately to Europe; and he accordingly quitted Monterey on the 2d of December, 1794. On his way southward, he examined the Californian coast, though not minutely, as far as Cape San Lucas, from which he took his departure for Valparaiso, in Chili. After a short stay at that place, he passed around Cape Horn, and arrived in England in November, 1795;

having completed, in the most effectual manner, the most extensive nautical survey which had ever been made in one expedition.*

No account has yet transpired of the negotiation between the courts of London and Madrid, respecting the extent of territory, and the buildings on the north-west coasts of America, which were to be restored to British subjects, after the reference of that question to them by their commissioners. Lieutenant Broughton, who had been despatched to England by Vancouver in 1793, was thence sent by the government on this business to Madrid; and, on his return to London, he was ordered to proceed to the North Pacific, in the sloop Providence, for the purpose of surveying the coasts of Asia, near Japan, being commissioned, at the same time, to receive possession of the territories at Nootka, in case the restitution should not have been previously made. He accordingly sailed from England for Nootka, where, in April, 1796, he was informed, by letters left in charge of Maquinna,† "that the Spaniards had delivered up the port of Nootka, &c., to Lieutenant Pierce, of the marines, agreeably to the mode of restitution settled between the two courts,"

* Vancouver's journal and charts were published at London in 1798, before which period the navigator had sunk into the grave. His journal is a simple record of observations and occurrences, written in a plain and intelligible, though homely and unpretending style; and it is entirely free from those displays of imagination, in the shape of long political and philosophical disquisitions with which such works are often overloaded. The charts and views of the land are admirably executed, and their accuracy has been since generally confirmed. We are, in fact, indebted to Vancouver and his officers for our knowledge of the outline of the whole western coasts of America, from the peninsula of California to the peninsula of Aliaska; of which all the principal points have been ascertained with the utmost precision, so that succeeding navigators have only had to make corrections in the intermediate spaces. Vancouver himself was certainly a man of great courage, perseverance, and professional skill, possessing also good temper and good feelings, except with regard to citizens of the United States, against whom and their country he cherished the most bitter animosity. While admitting, with frankness, the merits of subjects of other nations, as discoverers or as men, he did not hesitate to adopt unworthy means to deprive the Americans of the reputation which they had justly earned by their labors in exploring, and to blacken their characters as individuals: for this object, he made use of misrepresentations, misstatements, insinuations, and concealments, whenever occasions presented themselves; and that which he would have commended in a Briton, or excused in a Russian or a Spaniard, became criminal in his eyes when committed by a citizen of the hated republic. He, nevertheless, appears to have given satisfaction to all with whom he came personally into communication. Ingraham speaks of him with the utmost respect, and acknowledges his obligations for the uniform kindness of the British navigator. In the Sandwich Islands his memory is universally cherished. He was long expected to return and establish himself there, as a commissioner from his sovereign; and he probably would have been admitted among the number of their gods, if the ship which he is said to have promised to Tamahamaha had ever

Deen sent.

+ Journal of a Voyage in the Pacific, by Captain Robert Broughton, p. 50.

in March, 1795, after which the place had been entirely evacuated by both parties. Broughton, however, affords no information as to the mode of restitution thus settled and pursued on the occasion of the delivery; nor is any light thrown on that point by the despatch of Pearce to the British minister.* Belsham, whose accounts of these affairs, though in many respects erroneous, are much more conformable with the evidence than those of any other European historian, writes, in 1808, "It is nevertheless certain, from the most authentic subsequent information, that the Spanish flag flying at Nootka was never struck, and that the territory has been virtually relinquished by Great Britain." No Spanish account has been given to the world; but we learn from unquestionable authority that, in the preceding year, orders had been sent from Mexico for the abandonment of Nootka by the forces of that nation.

*After long and repeated researches on this subject, the author succeeded in discovering the following extract from the despatch of Lieutenant Pearce to his grace the duke of Portland, which was published officially in London, on the 12th of September, 1795.

"Tepic, New Galicia, 200 miles to N. W. of the city of Mexico, April 25, 1795. "I have the honor of acquainting your grace, that, in obedience to your instructions, I proceeded from Monterey to Nootka, in company with Brigadier-General Alava, the officer appointed on the part of the court of Spain for finally terminating the negotiations relative to that post; where, having satisfied myself respecting the state of the country at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, preparations were immediately made for dismantling the fort which the Spaniards had erected on an island that guarded the mouth of the harbor, and embarking the ordnance. By the morning of the 28th, all the artillery were embarked, part on board of his Catholic majesty's sloop of war, Active, and part on, board of the San Carlos guard-ship. Brigadier-General Alava and myself then met, agreeably to our respective instructions, on the place where formerly the British buildings stood, where we signed and exchanged the declaration, and counter-declaration, for restoring those lands to his majesty, as agreed upon between the two courts. After which ceremony, I ordered the British flag to be hoisted, in token of possession, and the general gave directions for the troops to embark."

This seems to have been all that was ever officially published on the subject; and from it, no doubt, was derived the account of the transaction given in the Histoire Abrégé des Traités de Paix, by Koch and Schoell, vol. 4, p. 125.

In the library of Congress, at Washington, is an interesting Spanish manuscript, presented by General Tornel, during his residence in the United States as minister from Mexico, entitled "Instruccion reservada del Reyno de Nueva España que el Exmo. Señor Virrey Conde de Revillagigedo dió á su Sucesor el Exmo. Señor Marques de Branciforte en el Año de 1794.". Secret Instructions respecting the Kingdom of New Spain, given, in 1794, by the Viceroy, Count de Revillagigedo, to his Successor, the Marquis de Branciforte. This work, which abounds in curious details relative to the administration of affairs in Mexico, has been carefully examined with reference to the points in question; but nothing has been collected from it, except in confirmation of statements elsewhere made. The paragraphs from 703 to 713, inclusive, are devoted to the Marine Department of San Blas, to which, as already mentioned, the care of the Spanish colonies in California was