1792.] NEGOTIATION SUSPENDED. 245 



to the circumstance, that, on his arrival at Nootka, he learned the 

 complete success of Gray in finding a large river, and a secure 

 harbor, on a coast which he had himself explored in vain with the 

 same objects. 



The correspondence between the two commissioners was con- 

 tinued for some weeks, at the end of which, finding it impossible 

 to effect any definitive arrangement, they agreed to submit the 

 matter, with all the additional eviJence obtained by both parties, to 

 their respective governments, and to await further orders ; Nootka 

 being, in the mean time, considered a Spanish port.* Vancouver, 



* The preceding sketch of the negotiation between Vancouver and Quadra is 

 derived from the Journals of Vancouver, Galiano and V aides, and Ingraham. The 

 following summary account of the business, extracted from Ingraham's Journal, was 

 drawn up, at his request, by Mr. Howel, the supercargo of the American brig Mar- 

 garet, who acted as translator for Quadra, and saw the whole of the correspondence. 



" The indefinite mode of expression adopted by Messrs. Fitzherbert and Florida 

 Blanca did not afHx any boundaries to the cession expected by Great Britain : what 

 the buildings were, or what was the extent of the tract of land to be restored, the 

 plenipotentiaries did not think proper to determine. Don Juan Francisco, having 

 no better guide, collected the best evidence he could procure, and that could enable 

 him to determine what were the lands and buildings of which the British subjects 

 were dispossessed, and which the tenor of the first article of the convention alone 

 authorized him to restore. The result of this investigation, in which he was much 

 aided by your communication, supported by the uniform declarations of Maquinna 

 and his tribe, sufficiently evinced that the tract was a small corner of Friendly Cove, 

 and, to use the words of Captain Vancouver, little more than a hundred yards in ex- 

 tent any way; and the buildings, according to your information, dwindled to one 

 hut. Serior Quadra, having ascertained the limits usually occupied by Mr. Meares, 

 or his servants, was ever ready to deliver it, in behalf of his Catholic majesty, to any 

 envoy from the British court. Captain Vancouver arrived at Nootka Sound in the 

 latter end of August; and Serior Quadra wrote to him on the subject of their re- 

 spective orders, and enclosed your letter, together with one from a Captain Viana, a 

 Portuguese, who passed as captain of the Iphigenia, when she was detained by the 

 Spaniards. Don Juan Francisco, in his letter, avowed his readiness to put Captain 

 Vancouver in possession of the tract of land where Mr. Meares's house once stood, 

 which alone could be that ceded to Great Britain by the convention. Seiior Quadra 

 offered, likewise, to leave for his accommodation all the houses, gardens, &c, which 

 had been made at the expense of his Catholic majesty, as he intended leaving the 

 port immediately. In the same letter, he tendered Captain Vancouver offers of 

 every service and assistance which hospitality or benevolence could dictate. Cap- 

 tain Vancouver, in reply, gratefully acknowledged the intended favors, but entirely 

 dissented from the boundaries affixed by Seiior Quadra to the tract of land, of which 

 he was to receive the possession and property ; and, in pursuance of his directions, 

 interpreted the first article as a cession of this port, viz., Nootka Sound, in toto, to- 

 gether with Clyoquot, or Port Cox. He disclaimed all retrospective discussion of the 

 rights, pretensions, &c, of the two courts, and also of the actual possessions of British 

 subjects in Nootka Sound, deeming it irrelevant to the business he was authorized 

 to transact, and only to be settled by the respective monarchs. The letters which 

 followed on both sides were merely a reiteration of the foregoing proposals and 

 demands. Senor Quadra invited to a discussion of the boundaries, &c, and sup- 



