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mortification in finding the external shores of
the gulf had been visited, and already exam-
ined a few miles beyond where my researches
during the excursion, had extended,” Vancou-
ver noted in his journal. Instead of competing,
however, the two expeditions exchanged infor-
mation and compared maps. Vancouver
invited the two Spanish officers to join him in
exploring northward. They accepted, but the
Spanish ships navigated well only in shallow
coastal waters. They could not keep pace with
the larger English vessels heading into the tur-
bulent currents of the Strait of Georgia.
After parting with Alcalá Galiano and
Valdés, Vancouver progressed along the
northeastern coast of Vancouver Island. He
stalled at the Arran Rapids, powerful
whirlpools caused by tidal currents. An
advance surveying party led by Lieutenant
James Johnstone, however, reached the Queen
Charlotte Strait, which leads into the open
ocean. Vancouver took his ships north
through narrow Discovery Passage, Johnstone
Strait, and the Queen Charlotte Strait. In doing
so, he established that the large landmass to
his left was indeed an island. By then it was(^166) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
The Nootka Convention =
The first version of the Nootka Convention was signed on October 28, 1792.
While one of its aims was to settle damages for Spanish mariner Estéban José
Martínez’s confiscation of British property—principally the British-owned trad-
ing ship Ifigenia—the agreement attempted to define the larger question of
sovereignty over Nootka Island and the surrounding area:
It is agreed that the buildings and tracts of land situated on the northwest Coast
of the Continent of North America, or on islands adjacent to that continent, of
which the subjects of His Britannic Majesty were dispossessed about the month of
April 1789 by aSpanish officer [Martínez], shall be restored to the said British sub-
jects.... It is agreed that the places which are to be restored to British subjects
by virtue of the first article as well as in all other parts of the Northwest Coast of
North America or of the islands adjacent, situated to the north of the parts of the
said coast already occupied by Spain wherever either of the two powers shall have
made settlements since the month of April 1789, or shall hereafter make any, the
subjects of the other shall have free access and shall carry on their commerce
without disturbance or molestation.
Yet Bodega y Quadra and Vancouver, the two nations’ representatives, could
not agree on what the convention required when they met in September 1792.
For his part, Vancouver stated in his journal that orders regarding the sur-
rounding territories were “entirely silent as to the measures I was to adopt for
retaining them afterwards.” A final version of the convention was signed Janu-
ary 11, 1794. With terms finally agreed upon, Spain ceded the island in March
1795 and Britain ceremonially took possession. Both nations abandoned their
crude settlements immediately, leaving future diplomats to haggle over owner-
ship of Vancouver Island and the Pacific Northwest territories.
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