CHAPTER XIV.

SUBSEQUENT NEGOTIATIONS AND FINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE NOOTKA SOUND DISPUTE.

Although the convention was concluded in 1790, yet the Nootka Sound affair was still far from settled. The first article of the convention, agreeing to restore to British subjects the buildings and lands which had been taken from them at Nootka, had to be carried out. The agreement of the Spanish declaration of July 24 to indemnify the parties concerned in the ships captured at Nootka was also still to be fulfilled. It required a long arbitration and two new conventions to accomplish these results, and in the meantime an intimate treaty of alliance had been entered into for mutual protection against the excesses of the French Revolution. It was more than four years before these matters were finally adjusted. The present chapter will review them briefly.

The English and Spanish Governments each appointed a commissioner to go to Nootka and carry out the agreement of the first article of the convention of October 28, 1790. The commissioners did not meet until the summer of 1792. A brief statement should be made concerning the establishment at Nootka between the events of 1789 and the meeting of the commissioners three years later. Martinez’s abandonment of Nootka in the fall of 1789 and his return to Mexico was discussed in a former chapter. The plans of the Viceroy for sending a new expedition under Eliza to reoccupy the post in the spring of 1790 were studied in the same chapter.[451] The Viceroy feared that Nootka would be seized by the English before his expedition could reach the place, or that an English expedition might later attempt to wrest the post from the Spanish.[452] His fears were not realized. The port was reoccupied and held without opposition. During the three following seasons a substantial Spanish settlement was formed, and, using this as a center, exploring expeditions examined the neighboring coast.[453]

The British commissioner for carrying out the convention was Captain Vancouver. He left England in 1791 and was to reach the Northwest Coast in the spring of the following year. His principal business was to explore that coast. Additional instructions concerning the transfer of Nootka were to be sent to him later.[454] These reached him during the summer of 1792 while he was engaged in exploring the coast in the neighborhood of the island that later received his name. He arrived at Nootka late in August. He found there Bodega y Quadra, the Spanish commissioner. It would be of little value to follow in detail the negotiations between them, since their mission accomplished nothing. They could not agree, although, personally, a very strong friendship sprang up between them. Vancouver expected that the entire establishment would be transferred to England. Quadra, after careful investigation, became convinced that the English had never purchased nor taken possession of any land except the small plat of ground on which Meares’s temporary house had stood in 1788. Consequently he offered to transfer this, but no more. Vancouver refused to accept so little and the whole matter was referred back to the Governments at London and Madrid.[455] Having continued his survey of the coast for two years longer, Vancouver returned to Nootka in the summer of 1794 expecting that new instructions would be awaiting him regarding the transfer. He was disappointed. He waited two months at Nootka for them, then went to Monterey, where he waited nearly two months more. The English instructions still did not come, but the Spanish commissioner had received his orders, and Vancouver was informed that a special British commissioner had been sent for the purpose. On December 1 he sailed for England.[456]

While the arrangements were being made to send the above commissioners to Nootka to carry out the stipulations in the first article of the convention, steps were also being taken to fulfill the agreement in the declarations of July 24. The two Governments appointed commissioners to decide on the amount of the indemnity which Spain should pay to those interested in the ships captured at Nootka. Their negotiation was conducted at London. The Spanish agent, Manuel de Las Heras, was sent in May, 1791. Baron St. Helens [Fitzherbert] wrote on May 29 introducing him to Lord Grenville, who had succeeded the Duke of Leeds in the foreign office. Heras was also consul-general to England. St. Helens said:

He appears to me to be very sensible, well informed, and right headed; so that I am persuaded that he will do his best in order to execute the commission with which he is charged to the satisfaction of both Courts.[457]

When the Spanish commissioner reached London he either misunderstood his instructions or was intentionally very reserved regarding them. On August 26 Grenville wrote to St. Helens:

The sending of M. Las Heras at last without any instructions is really abominable, and would be reason enough, if we were so disposed, to refuse to hear of alliance or anything else.

He appealed to St. Helens to “make those slow Spaniards send instructions and powers, and, above all, liberty to refer the matter to arbitration, by which the ministers of both Courts will get it off their hands.”[458] On receipt of this letter the British ambassador called the attention of Floridablanca to the commissioner’s delay in negotiating. The Spanish minister thought that the instructions to Heras were clear and explicit; nevertheless, he sent additional instructions on September 8 authorizing the commissioner to settle and liquidate the damages, with the concurrence of Campo, the Spanish ambassador. He was to give the British Court to understand that in case of difference the Spanish King was willing to submit the matter to arbitration. The Count had given St. Helens a copy of these instructions and the latter sent them to Grenville, saying that they seemed satisfactory except that the commissioner did not have authority to settle finally without submitting the matter to the Spanish King. He remarked that such would have been an unprecedented power and said that His Catholic Majesty had promised to act on it immediately.[459]

It seems that the commissioners failed to agree and that the matter was referred to a court of arbitration, which sat at or near Madrid in the early part of the next year. On May 14, 1792, St. Helens wrote from Aranjuez that the Nootka arbitration business was “en bon train,” and though it was going more slowly than expected he hoped to send dispatches concerning it in a very few days.[460] A fortnight later the business had taken a new turn. The British ambassador wrote:

I can not but hope that the proposal which goes by this messenger for settling what the Count of Aranda[461] calls the fastidious business of the Nootka claims by the payment of a round sum of money as a discharge in full will strike your fancy as much as it does his and mine.

The writer added that if the offer should be thought too small he was confident that Spain would increase it ten, fifteen, or even twenty thousand Spanish dollars. If Grenville should reject the offer and wish the matter to revert to arbitration he said that Aranda would facilitate it.[462] The amount offered was 200,000 Spanish dollars. About two months later the Nootka claimants were called upon to decide whether they wished to accept the offer or to have the matter referred back to Madrid in hope of having the sum increased.[463] The claimants apparently did not accept the offer. A month afterwards Dundas, the home secretary, wrote:

The Nootka business, I take it for granted, will get on, but it hangs rather unaccountably. I suspect that both sides are in some degree to blame.[464]

After a delay of several months more, the Spanish Court increased the offer by $10,000. On February 12, 1793, the following convention was signed:

_Nootka claims convention._

In virtue of the declarations exchanged at Madrid on the 24th of July, 1790, and of the convention signed at the Escorial on the 18th [28th] of the following October, Their Catholic and Britannic Majesties, desiring to regulate and determine definitely everything regarding the restitution of the British ships seized at Nootka, as well as the indemnification of the parties interested in the ships, have named for this purpose and constituted as their commissioners and plenipotentiaries, to wit, on the part of His Catholic Majesty, Don Manuel de Las Heras, commissary in His said Majesty’s armies, and his agent and consul-general in the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland; and on the part of His Britannic Majesty, Mr. Ralph Woodford, Knight Baronet of Great Britain; who, after having communicated their full powers, have agreed upon the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

His Catholic Majesty, besides having restored the ship _Argonaut_, the restoration of which took place in the port of San Blas in the year 1791 [1790], agrees to pay as indemnity to the parties interested in it the amount of two hundred and ten thousand hard dollars in specie, it being understood that this sum is to serve as compensation and complete indemnification for all their losses, whatever they may be, without any exception, and without leaving the possibility of a future remonstrance on any pretext or motive.

ARTICLE II.

Said payment shall be made on the day on which the present convention shall be signed by the commissioner of His Catholic Majesty in the presence of the commissioner of His Britannic Majesty, which latter shall give at the same time an acknowledgment of payment consistent with the terms enunciated in the former article and signed by the said commissioner for himself and in the name and by the order of His Britannic Majesty and of the said interested parties. And there shall be attached to the present convention a copy of the said acknowledgment of payment, executed in the proper form, and likewise of the respective full powers and of the authorizations of the said interested parties.

ARTICLE III.

The ratifications of the present convention shall be exchanged in this city of London within a period of six weeks from the date of its signature, or before if possible.

In witness whereof we, the undersigned commissioners and plenipotentiaries of Their Catholic and Britannic Majesties, have signed the present convention in their names and in virtue of our respective full powers, affixing to it the seals of our arms.

Done at Whitehall, February 12, 1793.[465]

MANUEL DE LAS HERAS. R. WOODFORD.

During all of the time that the negotiations were in progress over the liquidation of the Nootka claims, a treaty of alliance and commerce between England and Spain was being discussed. The British Court attempted to induce the Spanish Government to accept duties on English manufactures, “instead,” as Grenville said, “of paying an army not to prevent their being smuggled.” In the same connection he remarked, “but that, I fear, is a trait of wisdom far beyond their comprehension.”[466] The negotiation dragged through 1791 and 1792 and into 1793. In the meantime Spain had twice changed prime ministers. On the fall of Floridablanca, Aranda had succeeded him. After holding the position for about a year Aranda was succeeded by the Duke of Alcudia, the famous Godoy, known as the Prince of Peace, the paramour of the corrupt Queen. The impulse that finally brought the negotiations to a crisis was the murder of the French King by order of the Convention. A shudder of horror passed over Europe. Four days after the death of Louis XVI the British Cabinet decided to authorize St. Helens to discuss a permanent alliance with the Court of Spain against the excesses of the French Revolution. The alliance was to be commercial, offensive, and defensive.[467] Such an alliance was concluded May 25, 1793, and ratified by the British Court on June 21 following. Ratifications were exchanged July 5.[468]

This alliance facilitated the settlement of the Nootka business. After the failure of Vancouver and Quadra to agree in 1792 as to what should be surrendered at Nootka, the Governments took up the matter again. While the negotiations for this purpose were in progress a long letter from Revilla-Gigedo, the Viceroy of Mexico, reached Madrid. This was the informe of April 12, 1793, to which reference has frequently been made. Godoy, the Spanish prime minister, wrote to the Viceroy that in view of this and other letters from the same source he had concluded a convention with St. Helens.[469] In this long letter the Viceroy, after having given a brief history of the Spanish operations on the Northwest Coast, and especially the Nootka expeditions, gave an extended discussion, the purpose of which was to show that Nootka was not worth retaining. He dwelt on the millions that had been spent during the past twenty-five years in erecting and sustaining new establishments in Upper California, and discouraged attempts to occupy more distant places. He indorsed the idea of settling the Straits of Juan de Fuca and southward, but he thought that settlements farther north would be a cause of anxiety and fruitless expense and would afford occasions for quarrels and misunderstandings with England. If England wished to maintain possession of Nootka as a point of honor, he declared that Spain ought to yield to her. He proposed a generous surrender of the post to the English.[470]

The convention to which Godoy referred as having been concluded by himself with the British ambassador was signed at Madrid on January 11, 1794, and was as follows:

_Convention for the mutual abandonment of Nootka._

Their Catholic and Britannic Majesties desiring to remove and obviate all doubt and difficulty relative to the execution of article 1 of the convention concluded between Their said Majesties on the 28th of October, 1790, have resolved and agreed to order that new instructions be sent to the officials who have been respectively commissioned to carry out the said article, the tenor of which instructions shall be as follows:

That within the shortest time that may be possible after the arrival of the said officials at Nootka they shall meet in the place, or near, where the buildings stood which were formerly occupied by the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, at which time and in which place they shall exchange mutually the following declaration and counter declaration:

DECLARATION.

“I, N---- N----, in the name and by the order of His Catholic Majesty, by means of these presents restore to N---- N---- the buildings and districts of land situated on the Northwest Coast of the continent of North America, or the islands adjacent to that continent, of which the subjects of His Britannic Majesty were dispossessed by a Spanish officer toward the month of April, 1789. In witness whereof I have signed the present declaration, sealing it with the seal of my arms. Done at Nootka on the ---- day of ----, 179--.”

COUNTER DECLARATION.

“I, N---- N----, in the name and by the order of His Britannic Majesty, by means of these presents declare that the buildings and tracts of land 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 by a Spanish officer toward the month of April, 1789, have been restored to me by N---- N----, which restoration I declare to be full and satisfactory. In witness whereof I have signed the present counter declaration, sealing it with the seal of my arms. Done at Nootka on the ---- day of ----, 179--.”

That then the British official shall unfurl the British flag over the land so restored in sign of possession. And that after these formalities the officials of the two Crowns shall withdraw, respectively, their people from the said port of Nootka.

Further, Their said Majesties have agreed that the subjects of both nations shall have the liberty of frequenting the said port whenever they wish and of constructing there temporary buildings to accommodate them during their residence on such occasions. But neither of the said parties shall form any permanent establishment in the said port or claim any right of sovereignty or territorial dominion there to the exclusion of the other. And Their said Majesties will mutually aid each other to maintain for their subjects free access to the port of Nootka against any other nation which may attempt to establish there any sovereignty or dominion.

In witness whereof we, the undersigned first secretary of state and of the Cabinet of His Catholic Majesty, and the ambassador and plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, in the name and by the express order of our respective sovereigns, have signed the present agreement, sealing it with the seals of our arms.

Done at Madrid, January 11, 1794.[471]

THE DUKE OF ALCUDIA. ST. HELENS.

The two Courts proceeded to carry out this agreement. Godoy instructed the Viceroy of Mexico to appoint some one as the commissioner for Spain.[472] The British commissioner was appointed later, and sent by way of Spain, Havana, Vera Cruz, and Mexico.[473] He arrived at La Coruna about the middle of August, 1794.[474] On November 20 he landed at Vera Cruz, and went by way of Mexico to San Blas.[475] From this port both commissioners sailed for Nootka. The Englishman was Sir Thomas Pierce; the Spaniard, Manuel de Alava. They met at Nootka and on the appointed day, March 23, 1795, carried out the above agreement. Alava had previously destroyed the buildings of the Spanish settlement. After the prescribed ceremonies had been performed, both the Spanish and the English deserted the place.[476] Neither nation ever reoccupied it. Nootka is still inhabited by Indians.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Schoell, Histoire des Traités de Paix, IV, 112.

[2] See Humboldt, Alex. von, Essai Politique, II, 460.

[3] Oscar Browning, the writer of Chapter X, in Volume VIII, of the Cambridge Modern History, recently published, gives the least prejudiced and most accurate account. However, it is very brief. He introduces the Incident as an important episode in the foreign policy of Pitt. He says: “An event occurred on the other side of the world which nearly brought about a European conflagration.” In preparing his brief discussion he consulted the documents in the public record office.

[4] See Duro, Armada Española, VIII, 8-16.

[5] See Hassall, The French People, 341.

[6] Richard Cadman Etches to Captain Portlock, London, September 3, 1785. (Meares, An Answer to Mr. Dixon, 10.) The instructions were not carried out by this commander, but the same company was interested in the expedition which reached Nootka for that purpose in 1789. Nootka Sound was for a time called King Georges Sound by the English and San Lorenzo by the Spanish.

[7] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 172.

[8] Sometimes written “Mears.”

[9] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.

[10] This condition and the terms on which relief was offered him by Portlock and Dixon, who reached the place in the spring, led to a bitter personal quarrel between Meares and Dixon, which produced several mutually recriminating pamphlets.

[11] Meares, Voyages. Introductory voyage, i-xl. In this Meares quotes the letters which passed between him and Portlock in May, 1787, which gave rise to the quarrel.

[12] Id. 2.

[13] The Merchant Proprietors to John Meares, esq., Commanding the _Felice_ and _Iphigenia_, China, December 24, 1787. (Id., Appendix I.)

[14] Id.

[15] See Chapter IV below.

[16] Meares, Memorial, Appendix to Voyages. He explains that this ruse was at first successful, but was later discovered through the financial failure of the Portuguese merchant who had allowed his name to be thus used.

[17] Dixon, Further Remarks on Meares’s Voyages, 55. His hostility to Meares prejudices any statement made by him. See above, p. 287, note b [10].

[18] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, 1, 193. This author devotes some 10 pages to a discussion of this expedition.

Greenhow, Oregon and California, 172-178, attempts to prove that the expedition was purely Portuguese. His account is too prejudiced to be of much value. The chief purpose of his book was to prove that America had a better claim to the Oregon country than England. If this expedition had been purely Portuguese, England could have acquired no possible claim through it.

[19] Meares. Voyages, 2, 3.

[20] Id., 88.

[21] Id., 104. This date should probably be changed to May 12. When the English and Spanish not at Nootka in 1789 their calendars were one day apart. (See below, p. 312, note a [82].) Since there are no conflicting dates given for the events at Nootka in 1788, those found in the journals of the English commanders are followed.

[22] Id., 114.

[23] The purchase is confirmed in the information of William Graham, London, May 5, 1790 (inclosure No. VI, with Meares’s Memorial, appendix to Voyages). It was also confirmed by Duffin in conversation with Vancouver in 1792. (Vancouver, Voyages, II, 370-372). Both of these have strong English prejudices. The purchase is denied by Gray and Ingraham. (Greenhow, Oregon and California, 414.) They strongly favored the Spanish. They say that the Indians denied having sold land to the English. That there was a purchase was practically conceded, however, even by the Spaniards, since Quadra offered to Vancouver in 1792 the land on which Meares’s house had stood in 1788. (See Vancouver, Voyages, II, 335 ff.)

[24] Id., 115-116.

[25] Id., 130.

[26] Greenhow, Oregon and California, 175.

[27] Meares, Voyages. 131.

[28] Id., 146, and Memorial in appendix.

[29] Id., 95.

[30] Id., 204.

[31] Meares, Voyages, 173, and Memorial in appendix.

[32] Id., 173-179.

[33] Id., 220.

[34] Greenhow, Oregon and California, 172; and Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 194.

[35] Dixon, Further Remarks on Meares’s Voyages, 24. This writer, in his controversial pamphlet, quotes from a letter of Captain Duncan, who had met Meares near the entrance to Nootka Sound in 1788. This letter makes the statement that Meares had “at that time a small vessel on the stocks at Nootka, where, he told me, he had a fort, guns mounted, and Portuguese colors flying.” It was written January 17, 1791, and can hardly be given absolute credence, since Dixon was so prejudiced against Meares. Greenhow is too partisan to be fair, and the Americans, Gray and Ingraham, and Haswell, whom Bancroft quotes on the point, were very pro-Spanish. On the other hand, Meares’s statements can not be taken for truth unless it is very plain that there is no reason for his telling anything else.

[36] Meares, Voyages, 220. It is doubtful whether this testimony can be considered of any value. As to the truthfulness of the picture, it is interesting to notice the Indian village in the background. He had said that before this the entire village had been moved some 30 miles up the sound for the winter.

[37] Meares, Voyages, appendix, Memorial, VI.

[38] Meares to Douglas, _Felice_, Friendly Cove, in King Georges Sound, September 20, 1788. (Meares, Voyages, Appendix V.)

[39] Id., 334.

[40] Meares to Douglas, _Felice_, Friendly Cove, in King Georges Sound, September 20, 1788. (Meares, Voyages, Appendix V, p. 217.)

[41] Note his reference to the killing of Callicum by the Spaniards in 1789. (Meares, Voyages, 118; also see 217, 218, referring to Colnett’s expedition of 1789.) His preface would lead one to think that the writing of his narrative was entirely an afterthought. He mentions as his motives the wishes of friends, the political circumstances of the moment [the diplomatic controversy with Spain], and public expectation. He says: “I little thought it would be my future lot to give this part of my maritime life to the world. If I had looked forward to the possibility of such an event I should have enlarged my observations and been more minutely attentive,” etc. But the fact that in his list of subscribers he gives the names of a number of men living in China shows that before leaving there, at least, he expected to publish his narrative. All of this tends to depreciate the value of his statements where his interests are at stake.

[42] Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Greenhow, Oregon and California, 414.) (Prejudiced.)

[43] Colnett, Voyage, vii.

[44] Spanish translation of an extract from the “License from the governor and company of merchants of Great Britain for trading in the South Sea and other parts of America, to Richard Cadman Etches and Company to trade in the places where the South Sea Company has the privilege by an act of Parliament.” (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) It was signed by the secretary of the company and dated August 4, 1785. They were forbidden to trade south of 45° on the northwest coast. (See Colnett to the Viceroy, October 1, 1789; Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[45] Spanish translation of Colnett to the Viceroy, October 1, 1789. (Id.)

[46] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages. Also Colnett to the Viceroy, October 1, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.) The latter represents Colnett as the chief promoter, while the former represents Meares in that capacity. Colnett says that the _Prince of Wales_ had broken her keel and was not in a condition to make another such a voyage, so that the correspondents of his company offered him the _Argonaut_. It seems that some difficulty had arisen over the fact that the license which Colnett bore was for his use on the _Prince of Wales_. He told the Viceroy that if he had apprehended any disadvantage arising from his change of ships it would have been easy to have named the new ship the _Prince of Wales_ also. He had not considered it necessary.

[47] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages. Inclosure II.

[48] Translation of the instructions given by the owners of the English ship _Argonaut_ to its captain, James Colnett, not dated. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[49] This policy of protecting allied chiefs against their enemies was begun by Meares during the previous year. He loaned firearms and furnished ammunition to the Nootka Indians for an expedition against a neighboring tribe which had committed depredations on one of their villages. (See Meares, Voyages, 196.)

[50] Nootka was not especially mentioned, but the intention was so evident that mention was unnecessary. The option as to the place in which it was to be established probably did not refer to a possible choice between Nootka Sound and some other part of the coast, but to the selection of the most favorable spot on the sound. As showing Meares’s tendency to distort facts, he says in his Memorial: “Colnett was directed to fix his residence at Nootka Sound, and, with that in view, to erect a substantial house on the spot which your memorialist had purchased the preceding year, as will appear by a copy of his instructions hereto annexed.”

[51] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages, Inclosure II; and MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, 90-3-18.

[52] Meares, Voyages, 106.

[53] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages, Inclosure II. It is seen that a majority of the settlers for the proposed colony were Chinese, conformably to the idea that Meares expresses in his narrative and to which reference was made in the early part of this chapter. There is a discrepancy in the statements concerning the number of Chinese. In several Spanish manuscripts the statement is made that there were 29. The name of each is given. (See MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[54] Martinez to Florez, San Blas, December 5, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) La Perouse, of a French scientific expedition, had reported that Russian settlements were being made on the American continent north of California. The Spanish expedition was sent under a royal order of January 25, 1787. Martinez, of the _Princesa_, was in command, and Lopez de Haro, of the _San Carlos_, was subordinate. They reported six settlements, having in all about 500 inhabitants. An autograph copy of Martinez’s diary of this expedition, containing 213 pages, is in the same bundle as the above letter. It contains also the diary of Mendosia, second pilot. Greenhow, Oregon and California, 185, gives a short account of this voyage, which he says is based on a copy of Martinez’s diary obtained from the hydrographical office at Madrid. Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 184, also gives a brief account, likewise taken from a copy of Martinez’s diary.

[55] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, December 23, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[56] Florez to Martinez, December 23, 1788. (Id.)

[57] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, January 2, 1789. (Id.)

[58] Florez to Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, September 2, 1789. (Id., 90-3-14.) In this, mention is made of a royal order of April 14, giving approbation.

[59] The ship was the _Columbia_. See the latter part of this chapter.

[60] That of Jonathan Carver from Boston.

[61] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, December 23, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[62] _San Carlos el Filipino_ seems to have been the full name. It is here and often elsewhere in the documents spoken of simply as _El Filipino_. In English writings it is usually called the _San Carlos_.

[63] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, December 23, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, 90-3-18.)

[64] This reference to Cook’s Voyages reads: “But what was most singular, two silver tablespoons were purchased from them, which, from their peculiar shape, we supposed to be of Spanish manufacture.”

[65] An obvious error, since General Washington had nothing to do with it. This was the _Columbia_. Her consort was the _Lady Washington_. Confusion arising from the name of the latter perhaps caused the error.

[66] Florez to Martinez, Mexico, December 23, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) In the above transcript of the instructions, sections 10 to 15, inclusive, are quoted in full since they were intended to guide Martinez in his intercourse with foreigners. It will be interesting later to compare his actions with these instructions. Only the substance of the other sections is given, since they have no important bearing on the subject.

[67] Instrumento de posesion, June 24, 1789. (Id.) Revilla-Gigedo in his Informe gives the date February 19 for the departure from San Blas. (See Bustamante [Cavo], Los Tres Siglos, III, 127.)

[68] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 170-172; Greenhow, Oregon and California, 151-153; Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 289.

[69] Deposition of the officers and men of the _Northwest America_. (Inclosure X, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.) They say that the sound was discovered by the late Capt. James Cook. Similar statements are made elsewhere.

[70] Instructions of the Merchant Proprietors to John Meares. (Meares, Voyages, Appendix I.)

[71] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 173-181, gives an account of the most important.

[72] Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, Bustamante (Cavo), Los Tres Siglos, III, 117-119. This gives a brief description of the voyage and the steps leading to it. Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 149-158, gives a description based on the diaries of the voyage. Greenhow, Oregon and California, also describes it.

[73] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, December 23, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) See also above transcript of the Instructions of Florez to Martinez.

[74] Revilla-Gigedo, Informe, Bustamante (Cavo), Los Tres Siglos, II, 199; Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 158-166, gives a full account.

[75] Id., 172.

[76] Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, Bustamante (Cavo), Los Tres Siglos, III, 123; Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 172.

[77] Cook, Voyages, II, 332, says: “Some account of a Spanish voyage to this coast in 1774 or 1775 had reached England before I sailed, but the foregoing circumstances sufficiently prove that these ships had not been at Nootka.”

[78] Blas Gonzales to Juan Kendrick, Isla de Juan Fernandez, June 3, 1789 [1788]. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[79] Blas Gonzales later appealed to the Government of the United States to intercede in his behalf, and Jefferson, the Secretary of State, took up the matter. This will be referred to later. (See Jefferson to Carmichael, April 11, 1790, Writings V, 155.)

[80] Royal order of November 25, 1692. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14; Greenhow, Oregon and California, 184.)

[81] See Razon de las Embarcaciones que han hecho Descubrimento al Norte de California. Firmado abordo de la Fragata _Princesa_ en el Puerto de San Lorenzo de Nutca á 13 de Julio de 1789, Estevan José Martinez. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18; Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, Chs. VI, VII.)

[82] This is the date according to the Spanish documents. The English give May 6. This difference of one day between the English and Spanish dates for the events at Nootka continues during the summer of 1789. For some time no explanation appeared. But Prof. C. H. Hull suggested that it was probably due to the fact that the English vessels came from Europe by way of China, while the Spanish came from Mexico. Since the present custom of dropping a day from or adding one to the calendar in mid-Pacific, or upon crossing the international date line, was apparently not observed at that time, the suggestion seems to be a plausible explanation. On the strength of it the Spanish dates have been adopted instead of the English. Since all previous writers in English have given the dates according to the English documents, the dates given in this monograph will disagree with those of all previous accounts.

[83] Meares, Voyages, 106.

[84] See Chapter II, ante.

[85] Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Appendix to Greenhow, Oregon and California.) Quadra was the Spanish commissioner sent in 1792 to carry out the Nootka convention, and was collecting evidence to strengthen the Spanish case.

[86] Extract from the journal of the _Iphigenia_, entry for May 22. (Inclosure XII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[87] See Lecky, England in the Eighteenth Century, V, 206-207, who says: “The Spaniards had never penetrated to it, but by virtue of a bull of Alexander VI they claimed a sovereignty over all lands comprised between Cape Horn and the sixtieth degree of north latitude; in other words, the entire western coast of both South and North America, and when, after a considerable interval, they discovered the existence of a British settlement in these parts they determined to suppress it. Two Spanish ships of war accordingly hastened to Nootka Sound, took possession of the British settlement, hauled down the British flag, replaced it by the flag of Spain, captured four English vessels, and treated their crews with extreme harshness and indignity.” His failure to investigate the subject is further shown by his statement in the next sentence: “These events took place in April of 1789.” This error in date is doubtless derived from the indefinite statement of the date in Article I of the Nootka convention of October 28, 1790.

Worthington C. Ford, United States and Spain in 1790, p. 18, is still further in error. He says: “The Spaniards had laid claim to nearly the whole of the western coast of America, from Cape Horn to the sixtieth degree of north latitude, and had watched with a feeling of jealousy, aggravated by a sense of injury, the establishment of a British settlement in Nootka Sound, on Vancouvers Island. This inlet of the sea had been first explored by Captain Cook in one of his voyages, and on the establishment of the English in India became a trading station, colonized by the English and recognized by grants of land from the natives. After three years of undisturbed possession the little settlement was surprised by the arrival of two Spanish ships of war from Mexico, which seized an English merchant vessel, the _Iphigenia_, imprisoned her crew, looted the vessel, and pulling down the British flag on the settlement raised that of Spain, and subsequently treated all comers as intruders.”

Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzoesischen Revolution, 282, after speaking of the arrival of Martinez and his seizure of the _Iphigenia_, says: “Martinez ergriff darauf Besitz von einer der kleinen Inseln, erbaute auf derselben eine Batterie, bemaechtigte sich der englischen Gebaeude, nahm die britische Flagge herunter and pflanzte die spanische auf.”

[88] See discussion of the negotiations of 1790 below.

[89] See ante, Chapter II.

[90] Extract from the journal of the _Iphigenia_. (Inclosure XII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[91] See ante, Chapter II.

[92] May 9, according to the English account.

[93] Martinez to Florez. San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[94] Variously spelled in the documents--“Cavallo,” “Carvallo,” “Caravallo,” “Caravalia,” and “Caravalho.”

[95] Spanish translation of the passport of the _Iphigenia_, signed Macao, October 17, 1787. (Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[96] Spanish translation of the Instructions of Carvalho to Viana, Macao, October 23, 1788 [1787]. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[97] May 14, according to the English account, is the date usually given.

[98] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 115-118, gives an account of the supposed voyage of Fonte, which he thinks was never made. Nothing is said of Fonte’s being a Portuguese, and the expedition is said to have been under orders from Spain and the viceroys.

[99] MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.

[100] Appendix I to Meares, Voyages. It is interesting to compare the instructions of Meares, the English captain of the _Felice_ and commander of both vessels, with the instructions of Viana, the pretended Portuguese captain of the _Iphigenia_. These two correspond much more closely than those of Viana and Douglas. The latter’s were subinstructions given by Meares at sea. It may be that Juan de Mata Montero de Mendoza, the pretended Portuguese captain of the _Felice_, bore subinstructions from Viana similar to those of Douglas. The differences between Meares’s and Viana’s instructions are more striking than their similarities. The former is told that the coast was first discovered by Drake, in 1570; the latter by Fonte, in 1640. The former is told to proceed alone to America if he finds himself retarded by the slow progress of the _Iphigenia_; the latter is to do the same if detained by the bad sailing of the _Felice_. The former is instructed to direct Douglas to go to Prince Williams Sound, then to Nootka; the latter is directed to make this voyage. In the former’s instructions there is nothing corresponding to the latter’s instructions to report to the Portuguese correspondents at Lisbon, and to the ambassador at the court of the aggressor. There are other interesting contrasts. The minute instructions regarding trade are common to the two.

[101] This is not exactly an untruth, but it is a deception. It would indicate that he had no instructions in English. His instructions are quoted in full a few pages before this extract from the journal of the _Iphigenia_ in Appendix II to Meares, Voyages. It is worthy of note that they do not direct him to seize vessels at all, but only to guard against surprise and repel force by force. It should be noted also that the extract quoted by Meares in the appendix to his Memorial, V, purporting to be from this letter to Douglas, does not agree with the full letter as quoted, but that Meares has, in this extract, added two sentences from his own instructions, which relate to his reporting the outrage if captured and to his seizing his opponent should he have the superiority.

[102] Extract of the journal of the _Iphigenia_. (Inclosure XII with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[103] Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Appendix to Greenhow, Oregon and California.)

[104] Extract of the journal of the _Iphigenia_. (Inclosure XII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[105] Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Appendix to Greenhow, Oregon and California.) The dates in this letter are not accurate. The more important agree with the Spanish dates, but the rest with neither Spanish nor English.

[106] Vancouver, Voyages, II, 343.

[107] See note a [101], p. 320, where it is pointed out that in the instructions of Douglas nothing is said about carrying vessels to Macao. In the journal of the _Iphigenia_ Douglas says that the interpreter told Martinez in his presence that there was nothing objectionable in Douglas’s papers.

[108] An English translation of this bond is given by Meares. (Inclosure IV, with Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[109] All the papers relating to the _Iphigenia_--her passport, instructions, the inventory, the bond, and the affidavits--are inclosed with Martinez to Florez, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[110] This is an interesting comment, showing Douglas’s inconsistency in saying that the Spaniards had robbed the ship of everything of value.

[111] Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.

[112] Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Appendix to Greenhow, Oregon and California.)

[113] Deposition of Martinez before Canizares, on board the _Princesa_, June 12, 1789. (MSS., Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) With this is an inventory of the vessel and cargo, and other affidavits telling of the helpless condition of the vessel. An English translation of the inventory is given on the last page of the appendix to Meares, Voyages.

[114] Deposition of the officers and men of the schooner _North-West America_, Canton, December 5, 1789, and information of William Graham, London, May 5, 1790. (Inclosures VII and X, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.) The American vessel on which these men were shipped was the _Columbia_.

[115] Hudson’s receipt to Funter for 203 sea-otter skins, July 2, 1789. (Inclosure VIII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[116] Martinez’s certificate of 96 skins being shipped on board the _Columbia_, Nootka, July 14, 1789. (Appendix to Meares, Voyages.) The English ship to which the furs, taken from the schooner, were at first transferred had been seized in the meantime, so that the furs again fell into Martinez’s hand. This was the _Princess Royal_, to be discussed presently.

[117] John Kendrick’s receipt for provisions on board the _Columbia_, July 13, 1789. (Inclosure XI, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[118] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 216, says, incorrectly, that possession had been taken before the departure of the _Iphigenia_.

[119] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, August 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[120] Martinez to Florez, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[121] Instrument of possession, San Lorenzo de Nootka, June 24, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[122] Martinez to Florez, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[123] The Spanish flag had been changed by a royal decree of May 28, 1785. The purpose was to remove the confusion due to the similarity between it and those of the other Bourbon dynasties--France, Naples, Tuscany, and Parma. Red and yellow were the colors adopted. (Fernandez Duro La Armada Española, Madrid, 1901, VIII, 349.)

[124] Martinez to [Florez], San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[125] June 14 is sometimes given as the date. This probably arises from the indefinite statement in the Information of William Graham that she arrived on or about June 14. (See Inclosure VII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

[126] Hudson to Florez, San Blas, September 18, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.) With this letter are copies of the letters of June 18 [17] and 19 [18] from Martinez to Hudson, and Hudson to Martinez of the latter date, referred to above.

[127] See latter part of foregoing chapter.

[128] Martinez to Florez, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) With this letter explaining his dealings with the American ships, Martinez inclosed a copy of the passport given to Kendrick by Blas Gonzales, governor of the islands of Juan Fernandez.

[129] Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV, I, 106, touches upon the subject-matter of this chapter.

[130] To save frequent repetition, one reference is given to all five of these accounts. The particular source of the more important statements is sufficiently clear from the text:

First. Martinez to Flores, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

Second. Colnett to Flores [written at San Blas in September, 1789]. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

Third. Colnett, Voyages, 96-102, note.

Fourth. Duffin to Meares, Nootka Sound, July 12 [11], 1789; same to same, July 13 [12], 1789; same to same. July 14 [13], 1789. (Inclosure XIII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.)

Fifth. Gray and Ingraham to Quadra, Nootka Sound, August 3, 1792. (Appendix to Greenhow, Oregon and California.)

The information of William Graham, London, May 5, 1790, and the deposition of the officers and men of the _North-West America_, Canton, China, December 5, 1789 (Inclosures VII and XI, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages), give accounts, but add little of value to the others.

[131] See previous discussion of the voyage of Perez, 1774, in Chapter III, ante.

[132] Meares, An Answer to Mr. George Dixon.

[133] All of these are inclosed with Martinez’s account to the Viceroy, referred to above. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[134] Martinez to Florez, San Lorenzo de Nootka, July 13, 1789. (1d.) This letter is of the same date and appears in the same bundle as that referred to above giving account of the _Argonaut_.

[135] See information of William Graham. (Inclosure VII, with Meares, Memorial, appendix to Voyages.) He says that Hudson was beaten and thrown down the hatchway by the Spanish crew, who said: “Get down, you English dog.” This and other such extravagant statements were probably invented to produce the desired effect on the English mind. This document is dated London, May 5, 1790, which was only a week before the Memorial was presented, and was the time when the excitement was at its height.

[136] There were also 8 officers on board. These with the 8 sailors were all of the Englishmen that had come to Nootka on the _Argonaut_. The Portuguese, Filipinos, Chinese, etc., were to be brought to San Blas later on another vessel.

[137] Colnett to the Viceroy, San Blas [September], 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[138] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, September 26, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[139] Id., Inclosing Comancho to Florez, San Blas, September 3, 1789. Comancho was commandant of the port.

[140] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[141] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, December 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-19.) There are several letters together of the same date. This is No. 195. No. 194 states that a copy of Martinez’s diary is inclosed, but a note on a small slip of paper inserted says that the diary is not being sent on account of Martinez’s not having sent a duplicate of it. The diary does not appear in the bundle and probably was never sent. Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 212, says: “I have not been able to obtain the original diaries of the Spanish expedition of 1789, nor has any preceding writer in English seen them.”

[142] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, December 27, 1789. (No. 198, MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-19.)

[143] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 212.

[144] Reference cited, note b [142] above, No. 195.

[145] Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 211, repeats Meares’s statement that there were 70 Chinese.

[146] Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV, I, 107, treats briefly the seizure of the _Argonaut_ and _Princess Royal_.

[147] Previous accounts give scarcely anything on this subject. This account is drawn almost wholly from manuscripts in the Spanish archives.

[148] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, August 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.)

[149] [Florez] to the commandant and commissary at San Blas, Mexico, August 29, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[150] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, August 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) This is another letter of the same date and found in the same bundle as the one referred to in note b [148] on the preceding page.

[151] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[152] See Chapter III, ante.

[153] The King to the officials of New Spain, Madrid, November 25, 1692. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.) The Viceroy of Peru had reported that an English vessel had been encountered in the Straits of Magellan. This order directs officials to exclude all foreign vessels from the South Sea unless they carry a special license from the King of Spain.

[154] See his instructions in Chapter III, ante.

[155] Florez to Valdez, Mexico, September 26, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[156] Florez to Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, August 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[157] Revilla-Gigedo to Florez, Veracruz, August 30, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[158] [Florez] to Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, September 2, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[159] See preceding chapter, p. 333.

[160] Revilla-Gigedo to Florez, Veracruz, September 9, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-2-14.)

[161] [Florez] to Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, September 16, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-14.)

[162] Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, Bustamante [Cavo], Los Tres Siglos, III, 130.

[163] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, October 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[164] Chapters IV and V.

[165] Spanish translation of Colnett to Florez, San Blas [September 18], 1789. (MS. Arch. den. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[166] Spanish translation of Hudson to Florez, San Blas, September 18, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[167] Spanish translation of Colnett to the Viceroy, San Blas, October 1, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[168] [Revilla-Gigedo] to Colnett, Mexico, October 21, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[169] See last chapter.

[170] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, December 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias. Seville, 90-3-19.)

[171] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, February 26, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-26.)

[172] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[173] Id., 105.

[174] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[175] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, October 27, 1789. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[176] Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, April 12, 1793. (Bustamante [Cavo], Los Tres Siglos, III, 132.)

[177] Valdez to Floridablanca, December 30, 1789. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[178] Valdez to Floridablanca, January 2, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[179] Florez’s plan, mentioned in the last chapter, for taking the Chinese to Nootka and liberating them, had evidently not been carried out.

[180] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, May 1, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[181] Revilla-Gigedo to Colnett, Mexico, April 27, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[182] Revilla-Gigedo to Bodega y Quadra, Mexico, April 27, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[183] Revilla-Gigedo to the commissary of San Blas, Mexico, April 27, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[184] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, May 1, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[185] Copies of this letter from Colnett to the British ambassador at Madrid, one to Cadman, Etches & Co., one to Colnett’s mother, and one to P. Stephens, of the Admiralty office at London, all dated May 1, 1790, are in Madrid. (Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[186] Colnett to Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, May 3, 1790, and answer, Revilla-Gigedo to Colnett, Mexico, May 4, 1790. (MSS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[187] Had Colnett and the Viceroy known of the feverish excitement in Europe at this very time in expectation of a war over this quarrel between sea captains this veiled threat would not have seemed so obscure.

[188] Colnett to Revilla-Gigedo, May 7, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[189] Passport signed by Revilla-Gigedo, Mexico, May 11, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[190] Revilla-Gigedo to Colnett, Mexico, May 11, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[191] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, May 27, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[192] Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, April 12, 1793. (Bustamante (Cavo), Los Tres Siglos, III, 132.)

[193] Revilla-Gigedo to Valdez, Mexico, June 26, 1790. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-21.)

[194] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[195] Colnett to [Revilla-Gigedo]. San Blas, July 8, 1790. (Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, Sec. Estado, Audiencia de Mexico, 1790.)

[196] Revilla-Gigedo to Floridablanca, Mexico, December 30, 1791. (Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, Sec. Estado, Audiencia de Mexico, 1791.)

[197] Colnett, Voyage, 96-102, note.

[198] The obscurity of the facts discussed in this chapter is illustrated by the following quotations:

“It has been generally supposed from later diplomatic correspondence that the Viceroy in restoring the vessels acted on his own judgment; but it appears from his own statement that he acted probably in accordance with orders from Spain, dated January 26, 1790.” (Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 223.) This author’s conclusion is exactly contrary to the fact, as has been shown above. The Viceroy did act on his own authority, finally, as has been shown; and this communication of January 26 gave no orders. The Viceroy’s statement, to which Bancroft here refers, is the Informe of Revilla-Gigedo, published by Bustamante, which is very brief and sometimes misleading. Bancroft devotes a little more than one page to discussing the subject-matter of this chapter. Besides this Informe he had the note in Colnett’s Voyage.

Greenhow, Oregon and California, p. 200, speaking of the restoration of the English ships, says: “It was at length decided that … they should be released, with the understanding, however, that they were not again to enter any place on the Spanish-American coasts, either for the purpose of settlement or of trade with the natives.” This was the Viceroy’s order at first, but in the passport he gave permission to touch at places not under Spanish control, as shown above. The same writer, speaking of Colnett’s failure to get the _Princess Royal_ at Nootka, as promised, says: “On arriving at the sound Colnett found the place deserted.” The sloop was not there, but there was a substantial Spanish settlement, as will be shown later.

“La autoridad superior de Nueva España no sancionó el hecho [Martinez’s seizure of the English vessels]; apenas llegó á su noticia, atendiendo á las buenas relaciones en que estaban los Gobiernos de ambos Estados y á la ignorancia en que suponia á las proprietarios de los bajeles, ordenó la immediata soltura de estas con sus cargamentos.” (Duro, Armada Española, VIII, 10.) This work was published in 1902, and is considered the best on the Spanish navy.

The error, which is a common one, of thinking that they were released by the Viceroy immediately, doubtless arises from the Spanish minister’s statement in his memorial of June 13, 1790, to the British ambassador, published in the Annual Register, XXXII, 296. This states that the Viceroy released the vessels without declaring them lawful prize, and allowed them to return to Macao under bond as the _Iphigenia_ had been disposed of. These two statements are exactly contrary to the fact. The Viceroy did declare them lawful prize, and did not place them under bond. What the Spanish minister said had been done was what Florez had said, in his second account to the home Government that he thought ought to be done, but which he left his successor, Revilla-Gigedo, to do. The Spanish minister had inferred that the new Viceroy would do this, but that official had not done it, as has been shown.

Oscar Browning, Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 290, says more correctly that they “were released by the Viceroy on the ground of the friendly relations existing between the two nations, and the probability that the traders were ignorant of Spanish rights.”

[199] Tratchevsky, L’Espagne à l’Epoque de la Révolution française, Revue Historique, XXXI, 5.

[200] Desdevises du Dezert, L’Espagne de l’Ancien Régime, II, 39.

[201] Grandmaison, L’Ambassade française en Espagne pendant la Révolution, 7.

[202] Quoted by Tratchevsky, work cited above, p. 5. The Russian ambassador was thoroughly familiar, in an official way, with Floridablanca. The former had been at the Court of Madrid before the latter became prime minister and remained until after the latter’s retirement. He was an ardent admirer of the great Spanish minister. His dispatches in the archives at Moscow were the chief source for Tratchevsky’s article.

[203] Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzoesischen Rev., 268. Sandoz was the Prussian ambassador at Madrid. His dispatches sent to Berlin furnish the chief basis for Baumgarten’s work.

[204] Id., 268-276. In these pages the author discusses the internal conditions of Spain, the court intrigues and ministerial complications. On April 25, 1790, there was a reorganization of the ministry. The department of justice, which Floridablanca had hitherto controlled, was taken from him, and with it went an extensive appointing power that had contributed much to his prestige. He was even given an associate in the department of foreign affairs, who should act when sickness or absence incapacitated the Count.

[205] Desdevises du Dezert, L’Espagne de l’Ancien Régime, II, 14.

[206] Id., 18.

[207] Grandmaison, L’Ambassade française en Espagne pendant la Rév., 8. This quotes the following from Comte de Vaudreuil to Comte d’Artois, July 2, 1790, published in Pingaud, Correspondance Intime pendant l’Emigration, I, 219: “C’est un homme loyal, qui pursuit toujours et sans se rebuter ce qu’il a une fois entrepris. Soyez sûr que M. Floridablanca est (sans en excepter même M. Pitt) une des meilleures têtes de tous les cabinets de l’Europe.”

[208] Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzoesischen Rev., 283.

[209] The Viceroy’s letters were addressed to Valdez. He was minister of marine and, before the reorganization of the ministry mentioned above, also treasurer for the Indies. At that reorganization the finances of the Indies were transferred to the regular department of finance, at the head of which was the ungrateful Lerena, who was the leader of the ministerial opposition to Floridablanca in spite of the fact that he owed his entire political advancement, and even his position in the ministry, to the Count. Valdez was the man who was made associate to Floridablanca in the foreign office. He also retained the ministry of marine. (See Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzoesischen Rev., 268-276.)

[210] See Chapter VI, ante, for a complete discussion of the contents of these letters from the Viceroy. The first was written August 27, 1789, on receipt of the news of the arrival of the _Argonaut_ at San Blas, and the second, September 26, after the arrival of the _Princess Royal_. The letters from Valdez of December 30 and January 2 give both numbers and dates of the letters from the Viceroy, showing that they contained full accounts.

[211] Merry to Leeds, Madrid, January 4, 1790. (A Narrative of the Negotiations Occasioned by the Dispute Between England and Spain in the Year 1790, 1.)

This Narrative is a very rare book, and very valuable for the subject in hand. No previous writer on the Nootka controversy has consulted it. Probably only a few copies were printed. The King’s own copy is now in the British Museum. That obtained for use in this study is the only other copy that Messrs. Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles, antiquarian booksellers of London, have noted during the whole of their business experience. Neither date nor name of publisher nor author is given. The British Museum catalogue gives 1791(?) as the date. It is evidently an official account prepared in the foreign office especially for the King. In a letter from J. B. Burges, under secretary for foreign affairs, to Lord Auckland, dated Whitehall, November 12, 1790, found in B. M. Add. MSS. 34434, f58, he mentions an “interesting Narrative, which, at leisure hours, I have prepared for the King, of the whole of this business.” A careful comparison of the printed Narrative with the documents in the public record office reveals the identity of the printed Narrative with the Narrative mentioned by Burges in this letter. The comparison also revealed the fact that the printed account is full and faithful. It is necessarily condensed, but nothing of importance is omitted.

The British chargé is the same Merry who, later, as minister to the United States, was connected with the Aaron Burr conspiracy.

[212] This news reached London January 21. It is usually stated that the British Court knew nothing of the matter before receiving the Spanish note of February 10.

[213] “Narrative” cited on foregoing page.

[214] Id., 9.

[215] That these instructions were written January 20 is stated in Campo to Floridablanca, London, February 28, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.) The date is significant when it is noticed that on the same day he wrote a querulous letter to Montmorin, minister for foreign affairs at Paris. He expressed pity for France and her King and complained that in the present circumstances that country was not in a condition to support Spain as she should. He made no mention of the Nootka affair or of the sharp protest which he was sending to the British Court the same day. But he evidently had it in mind and was thinking of the complications to which it might lead. (See Floridablanca to Montmorin, Aranjuez, January 20, 1790, MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.) The same is printed in Calvo, Recueil Complet des Traités de l’Amérique Latine, III, 104.

[216] Narrative of the Negotiations between England and Spain in 1790, 12.

[217] Id., 8.

[218] Translated from a manuscript copy in French found in the Archives des Affaires Etrangères, Paris; Espagne 1790, 5 P^{ers} Mois, f. 96. The contents of the note are partially reflected in published memoirs written subsequently. (See Floridablanca to Fitzherbert, June 13, 1790, Annual Register, XXXII, 296.)

[219] See Chapters III and VI, ante, which show the falsity of these statements.

[220] See footnote a [211], p. 365.

[221] Narrative of the Negotiations between England and Spain, 12.

[222] Leeds to Campo, Whitehall, February 26, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.) Oscar Browning, Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 290, says that the original of this reply, now in the public record office, is in Pitt’s own hand.

Muriel, Historia de Carlos IV, I, 108-109, gives briefly the substance of the Spanish note of February 10 and the British reply of February 26.

[223] Campo to Floridablanca, London, February 28, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[224] Id.

[225] Miranda to Pitt, London, September 8, 1791. (Am. Hist. Rev., VII, 711, 712.)

[226] Narrative of the Negotiations between Great Britain and Spain, 13, 14.

[227] Id., 15.

[228] Minutes of the supreme junta of state, March 22, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[229] Report of Valdez to the supreme junta of state, dated March 28, presented March 29, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.)

[230] Narrative of the Negotiations between England and Spain, 17.

[231] Minutes of the supreme junta of state, March 29, 1790. (MS. Arch. Hist. Nacional, Madrid, Sec. Estado, 4291.) In these minutes is a Spanish rendering of the instructions sent to Campo. They will be studied in the form of a letter in French which Campo presented to Leeds.

[232] Baumgarten, Geschichte Spaniens zur Zeit der franzoesischen Rev., 287. This is based on a dispatch of April 19 from Sandoz. The author says that not only Merry but even Sandoz, who knew Floridablanca’s character so well, believed this. Shortly afterwards the Prussian ambassador considered everything so peaceable that he left his post for a time, turning over the business to his attaché, “a condition,” says the author, “to which is due the fact that we are less exactly informed concerning the further progress of these important negotiations.”

[233] Narrative of the Negotiations between England and Spain, 18-20.

[234] Id., 36-38.

[235] Id., 39.

[236] Id., 69.

[237] Not before published, though later memoirs give a partial account.

[238] An error. Colnett’s license was for the _Prince of Wales_. (See