X INTRODUCTION. 



asking for 100Z. to bring over the mariner who 

 possessed such a knowledge of the north-west 

 coast. All thought the information invaluable, 

 but no one felt disposed to pay the money. Time 

 wore on ; the old storm-worn pilot, growing feeble, 

 left for his native island. Locke again and 

 again urged his request. At last the long- 

 coveted means came, but too late, the old sailor 

 was no more. 



This strange story was current in England 

 long after he who told it was dead and forgotten. 

 A few believed it, but the many thought it an 

 entire fabrication. 



In 1776, Captain Cook missed the entrance to 

 the Straits, and, mistaking the west side of Van- 

 couver Island for the mainland, reported the 

 story to be a fiction as told by the old sailor. It 

 will suffice for explanation to skip a crowd of 

 events, and take up the narrative of the dis- 

 covery of the island in 1792, when Captain 

 Vancouver was sent to Nootka Sound, for what 

 purpose does not matter now. Coasting south- 

 wards, he entered the Straits, and eventually came 

 out at Queen Charlotte Sound : which settled the 

 question. The Island bears the name of its 



