20 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



hospitality Vancouver and his officers received from the Governor 

 and Franciscan Fathers, Menzies tells with fine appreciation. 

 The ride to Santa Clara, the subsequent visit to Monterey, the 

 entertainments given and received there, and the prodigious 

 quantities of vegetables, poultry, beeves and sheep, gladly pro- 

 vided for the crews of both vessels by their hosts without any 

 payment whatever, make a delightful chapter in international 

 dealings. The punctilio observed, too, by these weather-worn 

 British mariners and lonely Spanish soldiers in that remote place, 

 when salutes of thirteen guns were exchanged on every possible 

 occasion and ships were manned, are, in themselves, an example 

 to us in modern days. Indeed, the fresh food seems to have 

 saved Vancouver's crews from being decimated by scurvy, which 

 had made its appearance on the voyage south. 



The festivities and rides into the country surrounding Monterey, 

 where Menzies saw Pinus insignis and Cupressus macrocarpa for 

 the first time, continued till the vessels weighed anchor, on 14th 

 January 1793, and sailed back to Hawai, which they reached on 

 the 29th of that month. 



The year 1793 was again devoted to the exploration of the 

 American coast. It is much to be hoped that Menzies' daily 

 account of it will soon find a publisher, and, perhaps, Dr 

 Newcombe will undertake the task of editing it. 



They set sail from Hawai (spelt by Menzies " Owhyhee " ) on 

 30th March 1793, and after a voyage much prolonged by 

 unfavourable weather, the " Discovery " cast anchor at Nootka 

 on 20th May. The " Chatham " had arrived there some weeks 

 earlier, and had already sailed for the rendezvous north of 

 Vancouver Island, from which the summer exploration of the 

 coast was to begin. 



The foggy, wet weather of that northern region made the open 

 boat expeditions up the endless arms and round the innumerable 

 islands a period of continuous hardship and exposure. Menzies 

 tells much of interest about the Indians, of whom they saw 

 many, of apparently two distinct races. On one occasion, indeed, 

 a boatful of unarmed explorers, with Vancouver among them, 

 were near to being massacred had not the pinnace arrived 

 opportunely with its crew with their muskets primed. Barter 

 with the Indians for sea-otter skins seems to have been the only 

 trade. It is melancholy to reflect that this finest of fur-bearing 

 animals is now practically extinct on the whole coast. At 



