76 



Porter'' s Voyage. 



ignorant that they had been previously seen and named by Cap* 

 tains Ingraham and Roberts, gave to each island particular names. 

 Those seen by the French captain, received from him the name^^ 

 of Isle Marchand, Isle Baux, Les Deux Freres, Isle Masse, Isle 

 Chanal, in honour of his owners, himself and officers. The 

 group was called by him the Revolution Islands, in honour of 

 the French revolution. Lieutenant Hergest named them, Sir 

 Henry Martin's Island, Rion's Island, Trevanien''s Island, Her- 

 gest's rocks, and (what might induce the belief of his having had 

 a knowledge of a previous discovery) he has permitted two of 

 them to retain the name of Roberts' Islands. Lieutenant Her- 

 gest was killed at the Sandwich Islands, on his way to join Van^ 

 couver, to whom he was sent with supplies in the ship Daedalus. 

 Vancouver, in honour of his unfortunate friend, named the group 

 Hergest's Islands. It is possible, as I before observed, that 

 neither of the above navigators had a knowledge, at the time of 

 falling in with the aforesaid islands, that they had been disco- 

 vered and named some months before by Americans. Y,et 

 Captain Marchand obtained this knowledge at Canton, and not? 

 withstanding, still assumes the right of naming them. Lieu- 

 tenant Hergest did not discover them until near two years after 

 they had been seen by the American Captains. His ignorance 

 of the discovery seems less probable, and as no mention is made 

 in the account of Vancouver's voyage, (the work which contains 

 Lieutenant Hergesfs remarks) of the discovery made by the 

 Americans, and as the history of that voyage was not made 

 public until after the publication of the discovery made by 

 Ingraham, we can haraly bring ourselves to believe that the 

 British (ever anxious to arrogate to themselves the merit of 

 making new discoveries) were willing to allow our countrymen 

 the barren honour of accidentally falling in with a group of 

 islands, which before the month of May, I791j were unknown to 

 the world. Even Mr. Fleurien, ^he learned editor of Marchand's 

 voyage, which was evidently written to rival that of Vancouver, 

 has fallen into that error, arising from national prejudice, which 

 he so much contemns; and notwithstanding our prior right, 

 founded on a discovery well known to him, ha§ attached to these 

 islands the names given to them by Marchand. He has had the 

 liberality, however, to admit that they had been first discovered 

 by the Americans ; but, notwithstanding this acknowledgment, 

 he cannot divest himself of national prejudice so far as to allow 

 them the names given by our countrymen. Yet Monsieur Fleu- 

 rien makes this discovery one of the most conspicuous features of 

 Marchand's voyage, and exults no little that they should have 

 been seen by a citizen of France, before they had been visited by a 

 servant of the British government. History and Geography 



