Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/436

 He sailed under double colors, he succeeded as fur hunter and geographer, he was the pioneer of two great industries, he sought to plant a colony of Chinese men with Kanaka wives, he wrote a book, he precipitated a quarrel between England and Spain which came near embroiling also the new republic of the United States in a serious war. There was nothing dull about John Meares. In 1786, he sailed from Bengal with two vessels, the Nootka and Sea-otter, names redolent of furs and adventure. Little is known of this voyage except that it was confined to the shores of Alaska. 1787, English merchants in India fitted out two ships, the Felice Adventurer and the Iphigenia Nubiana, and placed them in command of John Meares and William Douglas. To avoid excessive port charges in China and to evade licenses from the South Sea and East India monopolies, a Portuguese partner was taken in, who procured from the governor at Macao, Portuguese flags, papers and captains. In case of need the real masters would appear as clerks or supercargoes. While little use was made of this scheme, the trick of double colors is condemned as a cheat, closely akin to piracy. In May, 1788, Meares in the Felice arrived at Nootka, and for two pistols he bought some land from Chief Maquinna. He at once erected a little fort, and began an important enterprise. He had brought the framework of a schooner. His ship's company included fifty men, crew and artisans, part of each group being Chinamen. This little schooner, the North West America, was the first vessel built in this part of the world and this also was the first introduction of Chinese labor on the Pacific Coast."

While Meares' organization was engaged in these activities, he himself set sail on an exploring expedition south along the coast. He passed the mouth of the Columbia River on July 6, 1788, but he failed to identify it as a river. By nightfall of that same day he had dis-