INTRODUCTION. 
=<. 
BeEForE setting sail from Southampton, it may 
perhaps be as well to devote a few pages expla- 
natory of the early history and discovery of Van- 
couver Island ; why we are going there ; and the 
object of the Commission to which I belong. 
In the year 1587, we learn, that a Captain Caven- 
dish, in order to repair his shattered fortunes, fitted 
out three ships for the purpose of plundering on 
the high seas. ~ After many unsuccessful raids, 
we next hear of him lurking in his ship behind 
a spit of land, Cape St. Lucas, on the Californian 
coast (a prominent rocky bluff, not unlike ‘the 
Needles,’ ), waiting for the ‘St. Anna,’ a galleon 
freighted with rich merchandise and a hundred 
and twenty-two thousand Spanish dollars. She 
heaves in sight, little dreaming of her danger ; 
is pounced upon, boarded, and taken, her trea- 
ve 
