C.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 415 



* On the 24th of May, the above-mentioned mistake being discovered, 

 the Iphigenia was returned again, and the Portuguese flag hoisted on 

 board her : the same day, Captain Douglas, with the Portuguese captain 

 and seamen, repaired on board. The Iphigenia, while in possession of 

 the Spaniards, from being a wreck was put in complete order for sea, 

 being calked, rigging and sails repaired, anchors and cables sent from the 

 Princesa, &c. On the 26th, Don Martinez supplied them with every kind 

 of provisions they were in need of, for which Captain Douglas gave him 

 bills on Cravalia, the before-mentioned merchant of Macao. On the 31st, 

 the Iphigenia sailed, and was saluted by the Spanish fort; and the com- 

 modore accompanied them out of the harbor, giving every assistance with 

 boats, &c. When Captain Douglas took his leave of the commodore, he 

 declared he should ever entertain a sense of Don Martinez's kindness, 

 deeming his conduct relative to the vessel no more than his duty as a 

 king's officer. Upon the whole, we both believe the Iphigenia's being 

 detained was of infinite service to those who were concerned in her. 

 This must be plain to every one who will consider the situation of the 

 vessel when the Princesa arrived, and the advantages reaped from the 

 supplies and assistance of the Spaniards. The detention, if it may be 

 called so, could be no detriment; for, had nothing taken place, she must 

 have remained two months longer at least, having, as has already been 

 mentioned,- put into port, being in distress. Of course they could not 

 have sailed till supplies arrived, which was not till July, as will appear in 

 the sequel : whereas, being early fitted, as above mentioned, she sailed on 

 the coast northward of Nootka Sound, and, there being no other vessel there, 

 they collected upwards of seven hundred sea otter skins ; which has been 

 often represented to us by Captain Douglas and his officers, after our 

 arrival in China. This may suffice for the transactions relative to the 

 Iphigenia. Before Captain Douglas sailed, he gave Don Estevan Marti- 

 nez a letter to Mr. Funter, master of the schooner North-West America, 

 telling him, from Captain Meares's not arriving at the appointed time, there 

 was great reason to fear the vessel he sailed from Nootka in had never 

 reached China, (she being in bad condition when she sailed from this 

 place;) therefore, as he, Mr. Funter, must, on his arrival, be destitute of 

 every necessary, he was at liberty to conduct as he thought most condu- 

 cive to the interests of his employers. We shall make mention of this 

 vessel again hereafter. 



Interim, we observe your wish to be acquainted what house or estab- 

 lishment Mr. Meares had at the time the Spaniards arrived here. We 

 answer in a word, None. On the arrival of the Columbia, in the year 

 1788, there was a house, or rather a hut, consisting of rough posts, cov- 

 ered with boards, made by the Indians ; but this Captain Douglas pulled 

 to pieces, prior to his sailing for the Sandwich Islands, the same year. 

 The boards he took on board the Iphigenia, and the roof he gave to 

 Captain Kendrick, which was cut up and used as firewood on board the 

 Columbia ; so that, on the arrival of Don Estevan J. Martinez, there was 



* Of the whole of this paragraph, all that is said by Vancouver is, " The vessel 

 and cargo were liberated, and Martinez supplied the Iphigenia's wants from the 

 Princesa, enabling her, by so doing, to prosecute her voyage without waiting for the 

 return of Mr. Meares." The extremity of distress to which the Iphigenia was re- 

 duced on her arrival at Nootka, the seven hundred sea otter skins, and the other ad- 

 vantages derived by her owners from the supplies furnished by the Spanish command- 

 ant, are carefully kept out of sight. 



