17S9.] SEIZURE OP THE ARGONAUT. 197 



ness of his word and honor pledged" without insulting him. Duffin, 

 the mate of the Argonaut, writing to Meares from Nootka, ten days 

 after the seizure of the ship, gives nearly the same account of the 

 interview, adding that the misunderstanding was probably occa- 

 sioned by the interpreter's ignorance of the English language : he 

 says that Martinez appeared to be very sorry for what had hap- 

 pened, and had " behaved with great civility, by obliging his pris- 

 oners with every liberty that could be expected ; " and he com- 

 plains of no violence, either to the feelings or to the persons of any 

 of the crews of the vessels seized, although he charges the Span- 

 iards with plundering both openly and secretly. Moreover, Duffin 

 declares, and Meares repeats, in his Memorial, that the disease with 

 which Colnett was afflicted after his arrest was a fit of insanity, oc- 

 casioned by fear and disappointment operating upon a mind natu- 

 rally weak and hereditarily predisposed to such alienation. 



On the part of Spain, the only statements which have been pub- 

 licly made are those contained in the notes and memorials ad- 

 dressed by the court of Madrid to other governments in 1790 ; and 

 in the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes - — all of 

 which, though officially presented, are nevertheless imperfect and 

 evidently erroneous on several important points.* 



Upon reviewing the circumstances of the affair, there appears 

 to be no reason to doubt that Colnett entered the sound, relying on 

 the assurances of Martinez, that he should be undisturbed while 



* These notes and memorials, which will be mentioned more particularly hereafter, 

 may be found in the Proofs and Illustrations, under the letter D. All that is said 

 in the Introduction to the Journal of Galiano and Valdes respecting the dispute, or 

 the circumstances which led to it, is contained in the paragraph of which the 

 following is a translation : — 



" On the 2d of July, the English ship Argonaut, which had been sent by an Eng- 

 lish company from Macao, entered the port. Her captain, James Colnett, came, with 

 authority from the king of England, to take possession of the port of Nootka, to for- 

 tify it, and to establish there a factory for the collection of sea otter skins, and to 

 prevent other nations from engaging in this trade, with which objects he was to build 

 a large ship and a schooner. This manifest infraction of the rights over that region 

 led to a serious quarrel between the Spanish commandant and the English captain, 

 which extended to Europe ; and, the two powers being alarmed, the world was for 

 some time threatened with war and devastation, the results of discord. Captain Col- 

 nett refused, repeatedly and obstinately, to exhibit to Martinez the instructions which 

 he brought ; and he expressed himself in language so indecorous and irritating, that 

 our commandant, having exhausted all the measures of prudence which he had hith- 

 erto employed, resolved to arrest the British captain in the cabin of his ship, and to 

 declare all the persons on board the Argonaut prisoners of war, and to send them to 

 San Bias, to be there placed at the disposition of the viceroy of Mexico." 



