1794.] NAMES OF PLACES ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST. 255 



of the place thus distinguished being generally in proportion to the 

 rank of the individual. Thus we find upon his chart of the north- 

 west archipelago, the large islands or groups of King George the 

 Third, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Admiralty ; 

 with the smaller ones of Pitt, Hawkesbury, Dundas, and Burke ; 

 between which are the Duke of Clarence's Strait, Prince Frederick's 

 Sound, Chatham Canal, Grenville Canal, and Stephens's Passage : 

 a small group, near the 55th parallel, partially surveyed by Caamano, 

 in 1791, was allowed to retain the name of Revillagigedo Islands, 

 in honor of the enlightened viceroy of Mexico. The capes, bays, 

 and smaller points or channels, are distributed among the Windhams, 

 Walpoles, and other high families, principally those belonging to 

 the Tory party; one little point being, however, vouchsafed to 

 Charles James Fox. Without questioning the right of the discov- 

 erer to impose these names, it may be observed, that none of them 

 will, in all probability, ever be used by the inhabitants of the region 

 in which the place so called is situated. The Russians, who occupy 

 the islands and coasts of the main-land north of the 54th parallel, 

 rigorously exclude from their charts, and from use in every way, the 

 appellations assigned to places in their dominions by people of other 

 civilized countries ; and even the British traders, whose posts extend 

 through the parts of the continent distinguished by Vancouver as 

 New Georgia, New Hanover, New Cornwall, and New Norfolk, 

 appear to be entirely ignorant of those names. 



From the northern coasts, Vancouver, when his labor was ended, 

 went to Nootka, where he found the Spaniards still in possession, 

 under the command of Brigadier Alava ; Quadra having died in the 

 preceding spring, at San Bias. As no information had been received 

 there from Europe respecting the surrender of the territories, the 

 British commander sailed to Monterey, where he learned that the 

 question had been " adjusted by the two courts amicably, and nearly 

 on the terms which he had repeatedly offered to Quadra in Sep- 

 tember, 1792;" and also "that the business was not to be carried 

 into execution by him, as a fresh commission had been issued for 

 the purpose by the court of London." Under these circumstances, 

 he resolved to return immediately to Europe ; and he accordingly 

 quitted Monterey on the 2d of December, 1794. On his way 

 southward, he examined the Californian coast, though not minutely, 

 as far as Cape San Lucas, from which he took his departure for 

 Valparaiso, in Chili. After a short stay at that place, he passed 

 around Cape Horn, and arrived in England in November, 1795 ; 



