Page:Columbus and other heroes of American discovery; (IA columbusotherher00bell).pdf/222

 Back again at last at Nootka Sound, fresh difficulties arose. The men, so loyal at first, showed signs of mutiny, and the chief offenders were sent on shore, where, falling into the hands of native chiefs, they endured much hardship, from which they were finally rescued by Meares, who received them back into his service, after repeated professions of contrition.

As will be understood, so much time had been lost in the détour to the south, that little was effected in the way of actual discovery on this second trip. Forts were, however, erected at several points on the shores of Nootka Sound, and a cargo of great value was taken back by Meares to his employers—two facts which paved the way for the fitting out of an important expedition, consisting of several vessels, under the great Vancouver, who added more than any of his predecessors to our scientific knowledge of the north-western shores of America.

De Fuca, Meares, and others of lesser note, had, throughout their examination of the new districts discovered by them, divided their attention between trade and geographical exploration. Vancouver appears to us to have been a man of a different and more intellectual stamp; and though he can scarcely be said to have been the first to see the important island named after him, as it can not have escaped the observation of any mariners anchoring in Nootka Sound, he undoubtedly revealed the fact of its complete separation from the mainland, and won recognition for its great natural resources and its commanding geographical position.

Between the return home of Meares and the starting of Vancouver, disputes had arisen between the English and Spanish, as to which were the true owners of the lands from whence came the treasures brought home by the now numerous traders and whalers who frequented the Northern Pacific waters. These disputes were finally adjusted by the acceptance by the Spanish Government of Cape Mendocino (N. lat. 40° 20´) as the most northerly limit of its jurisdiction in the New World. As a result, Vancouver's work was limited to the examination of the coast above that boundary; and with the understanding that he should not encroach below it, he started from England on his grand voyage on the 15th December, 1790, arriving off the coast of America, in N. lat. 37° 55´, about the 15th April of the ensuing year.

True to his instructions, Vancouver attempted no exploration of New Albion until he had passed Cape Mendocino, beyond which, however, he kept as close as possible inshore, noting the position of every prominent