164 VOYAGE OF LA PEROUSE. [1786. 



tion. Quitting the Port des Fran<jais on the 4th of August, they 

 sailed towards the south, and examined the coasts between Mount 

 San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, and Port Bucareli, as well as those 

 discovered by the Spaniards in 1774 and 1775, between the 54th 

 and the 52d parallels, forming the western side of Queen Char- 

 lotte's Island, the separation of which from the American continent 

 seems to have been suspected by La Perouse. Continuing onwards, 

 they passed the mouth of Nootka Sound without entering it, and, 

 on the 8th of September, they reached Monterey, where they were 

 received with the greatest attention, agreeably to orders previously 

 sent thither from Mexico. At Monterey, the observations were 

 renewed, and the latitude and longitude of that part of the coast 

 were, for the first time, accurately determined ; after which, on the 

 24th of the month, the French ships quitted the American coast 

 forever. 



The remarks and surmises of this accomplished officer, on several 

 points connected with the north-west coasts of America, display 

 much sagacity and science ; but his labors were rendered almost 

 useless to the world, by the delay in the publication of his journals, 

 which did not appear until 1797, when nearly all the places visited 

 by him had become well known, from the descriptions of many 

 other navigators.* 



The first persons who actually engaged in the direct trade 

 between the north-west coasts of America and China, were British 

 subjects, though sailing, nearly all, under the Portuguese flag. 



At the time of the publication of Cook's journals, the British 

 trade in the Pacific was divided between two great commercial 

 corporations, each possessing peculiar privileges, secured to itself 

 by act of parliament, to the exclusion of all other subjects of the 

 same nation. Thus no British subjects, except those in the ser- 

 vice, or bearing the license, of the South Sea Company, could make 



* Sailing from Monterey, La Perouse visited, in succession, Macao, the Philippine 

 Islands, the coast of Tartary, Kamtchatka, the Navigators' Islands, and New Hol- 

 land. After leaving the latter country, in February, 17S7, nothing was heard of his 

 ships until 1826, when information was received by the French government, in con- 

 sequence of which a vessel was sent to the Pacific, and the wrecks of both vessels 

 were discovered on the little island of Malicolo, one of the New Hebrides Archipel- 

 ago, east of New Holland. From the accounts of the natives, it appeared that a 

 number of the French landed on the island after the wreck of their ships, and built 

 a small vessel, in which they took their departure, and were doubtless lost. The 

 journals of the expedition, and letters received from the commander and' other 

 officers, were published at Paris in 1797, under the direction of Clairet de Fleurieu, 

 and were immediately translated into English and other European languages. 



