Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/338



210 THE CENTENxNIAL HISTORY OF OREGON

the sole right to trade in all seas and countries westward of Cape Horn ; and to the British East India Company the sole right to trade in all seas and countries east of the Cape of Good Hope ; and bj^ these grants all British subjects not con- nected with either one of these gi-eat monopolies, were prohibited from trading in all seas, territories and islands in that vast portion of the world lying between the Cape of Good Hope eastward to a line drawn north and south through Cape Horn, or vice versa, westward from the meridian of Cape Horn to the meridian passing through the Cape of Good Hope ; and British subjects desiring to en- gage in Pacific ocean commerce or Pacific coast fur trade in America, or in China or East India trade, were obliged to obtain permission of one of these great companies and fly their flag, or not trade at all. If old England has not set the pace for monopolies, where did they begin?

Of course, these monopolies could not prevent the Chinese, as an independent nation, from trading here, or from granting ships rights to trade. But old China was not slow at a bargain, and put up the price of grants and port charges to excessive prices on everybody except the Portuguese.

To evade these exactions of the Chinese, and the prohibitions of these British charters, several British merchants residing in India, desiring to engage in the rich fur trade on the west coast of America, associated themselves together under the name of a Portuguese merchant and prociired from the Portuguese govern- ment of Macao a license for two ships — the Felice and Iphigenia — to sail under the Portuguese flag to the northwest coast of America. To further carry out their enterprise, these British merchants procured Lieut. John Meares, of the British navj^, on leave, to command this fur-trading expedition. Meares' char- acter in the venture was further complicated by the fact that he was at that time in the British East India Company service as an English subject, which company held the sole right to trade in these parts, and which company had given Meares the license of its company to make a trade venture to the Oregon coast on his own account. To further complicate matters, the adventuring merchants took out the papers of the two ships in the Portuguese language, and in the name of Portuguese eajstains, who were to go along as figureheads, and who were referred to in Meares' reports as "second captains."

And in the letter of instructions issued to Lieut. Meares by these merchants, they tell him; "That if any Russian, English or Spanish vessel attempt to seize him or his ships, or to carry him out of his way, you must prevent it by every means in your power and repel force by force ; and should j'ou, in such conflict, have the superiorit.y, you will then take possession of the vessel that attacked, as also her cargo, and bring both, with the officers and crew, to China, that they may be condemned as legal prizes, and their crews punished as pirates."

And thus officered and authorized, the two ships — Iphigenia and Felice — sailed for the Oregon coast and reached Nootka Sound on the west coast of Van- couver Island, ]\Iay 13, 1788. A few days after their arrival, the Indian Chief Maquinna, who claimed the island as his real estate, granted to Meares "a spot of ground in his territory whereon a house might be built for the accommoda- tion of the people intended to be left there, and promised also the assistance of his Indians in building houses, and the protection of the Indians for the people who were to remain during the absence of the ships. In return for this permis- sion to build the house, Meares presented Maquinna with a pair of pistols : and