time to address the diplomatic aspect of his
mission. When Vancouver arrived at Nootka,
the Spanish representative was none other
than explorer Bodega y Quadra. The Nootka
Convention’s terms were not defined clearly
enough for the two negotiators to agree about
sovereignty over the area. The two officers
became good friends, however, so they chose
to ask their governments for clearer instruc-
tions. While awaiting new orders from Lon-
don, Vancouver sailed to California, then to
the Hawaiian Islands to spend the winter.
VANCOUVER RETURNS
Vancouver returned to the Pacific Northwest
in spring 1793. His expedition surveyed the
islands at the southeastern tip of present-day
Alaska, and nearly some were killed when an
exploratory boat he commanded was attacked
by Indians. Relations with Native Americans
were generally “cheerful” throughout his trav-
els, Vancouver noted in his journal, so he did
not anticipate this tribe’s ambush. “Whether
their motives were rather to take revenge on
us for injuries they may have suffered from
other civilized visitors,” Vancouver theorized,
“or whether they conceived the valuable arti-
cles we possessed, were easily to be obtained
by these means, is difficult to be determined.”
The expedition left Alaska and headed south,
surveying and making friendly stops at Span-
ish settlements along the California coast
before wintering in the Hawaiian islands.
Vancouver’s third and final surveying
expedition returned to the coast of Alaska in
April 1794, farther north than he had ventured
before. He sailed first to Cook Inlet on the
south-central Alaskan shore and worked his
way southeast to Baranov Island, the terminus
of his 1793 voyage. He named his final landfall
Point Conclusion and, having finally com-
pleted his mission, he set sail for home via
Cape Horn, arriving in England in late 1795
after nearly six years of surveying, mapping,
scientific inquiry, diplomatic service, and ulti-
mately circumnavigating the globe.
Among many other things, Vancouver tried
to put the longstanding myth of the Strait of
Anian to rest:I trust the precision with which the survey
of the coast of North West America has
been carried into effect will set aside every
opinion of a north-west passage. No small
portion of facetious mirth passed among
our seamen in consequence of our sail-
ing... for the purpose of discovering a
north-west passage, by following up the
discoveries of De Fuca, [mythical 17th-
century explorer Admiral Bartolomé] De
Fonte, and a numerous train of hypotheti-
cal investigators.The years at sea took a toll on Vancouver’s
health. Upon his return to England, he retired
and set to work compiling an account of his
travels. He was within pages of completing the
manuscript when he died on May 12, 1798, at
the age of 40. His brother John finished the
work, which was published in 1798 as A V oyage
of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and
Round the World.The finished opus included
three volumes of journals and a folio of
detailed maps. Inaddition to their naviga-
tional data, the journals provided an evocative
daily record of the flora and fauna Vancouver
and his staff encountered, as well as descrip-
tions of relations with Native tribes.
Although Vancouver’s work provided a
definitivegeographical picture of the large,
complex area he and his men had surveyed, it
was not the only journal resulting from the
expedition. Archibald Menzies, the expedi-
tion’s Scottish botanist, also compiled a jour-
nal covering the initial 1792 foray. Menzies,
who collected botanical samples during his
time ashore on the surveyed lands, added hisCharting the Pacific Northwest B 167