![]() It was reported that prosperous Russian establishements had been set up on the coasts of what is now Alaska, and rumoured that the Russians were planning to occupy Nootka. ![]() An expedition was dispatched in 1788 to ascertain what the Russians were doing there. The Spanish were disturbed by "foreign" movements on the coast, which they considered as their own. Colnett would set up a trading-factory and erect some sort of a fortification there, for which purpose he carried a number of Chinese artisans. ![]() They would be joined by the Iphigenia and the North West America, which had participated in Meares' expedition under Portuguese colours, and had subsequently wintered in the Sandwich Islands and were expected, to return to Nootka. He was to voyage to Nootka with the Argonaut and the Princess Royal-both under the British flag. The new concern prepared another expedition to the North West Coast, under Captain Colnett. Their officers witnessed several events in the story of Nootka, and their reports are of considerable value as evidence.įollowing Meares' voyage, his firm was reorganised by amalgamation with another one which had obtained permission from the two companies which held the British monopoly, to trade on the North West Coast of America. The point is fully discussed (Chapters III and IV) using, in part, statements from the records of the American trading ships Columbia and Washington which arrived at Nootka Sound in 1788 and made a long stay. ![]() This became one of the main points of contention in the subsequent controversy between Spain and Great Britain, over Nootka Sound. Subsequently he accused the Spanish of appropriating that land and structure when they occupied the place in 1789. He established his headquarters at Nootka and built a house on ground which he claimed to have purchased from the natives. In 1788 Captain Meares led a British trading expedition to the North West Coast, with ships flying the Portuguese flag. This Spanish claim is discussed in the light of all the evidence available, but the question is left unsolved. However, the Spanish claimed afterwards that it was this same port which their ship, Santiago, had approached four years previously, when a storm had frustrated the attempt to land and take formal possession of that area. In Chapter I a number of these early exploratory and trading voyages are described, especially insofar as they refer to Nootka Sound which became a favourite halting-place for shipping along that coast.įor all practical purposes, the discovery of Nootka Sound has to be credited to Captain James Cook, whose expedition stayed there in 1778 and gave the place its name. Some British trading ships voyaged under foreign flags in order to circumvent the onerous monopoly duties. Gradually the myth of the inter-oceanic passage began to fade, but a new incentive (the fur trade) brought Russian, British and, later, American shipping to the coast. Around 1760 the port of San Bias was founded, in Mexico, to serve as the centre of Spanish shipping to the Californias and the rest of the North West Coast. Spain, which had traditionally claimed sovereignty over all of that coast, also carried out voyages of exploration organized from the Viceroyalty of Mexico. After 1719 the Russians and, later, the British and the French carried out voyages of exploration along those coasts, intent, primarily, on finding the inter-oceanic passage. Some legendary Spanish voyages resulted in claims of the existence of a navigable passage connecting the northern ends of the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. Before the eighteenth century, several mariners-especially mariners from Spain-visited what is called the North West Coast of America, but brought back little knowledge of it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |