Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 12.djvu/35

 EARLY NAVIGATION OF THE STRAITS OF FUCA 27 Under all the circumstances it seems a fair assumption to say that this first mate had heard, perhaps from the sailors of the Columbia, that in 1789 Kendrick had circumnavigated the island on which the village of Nootka was situate, or had found a channel back of Nootka, and upon this small foundation the story was built by Meares. A mind which could magnify the width of the strait of Fuca from twelve miles to fifteen leagues, and could expand Duffin's trip to Port San Juan into a voyage thirty leagues up the strait of Fuca, would not be likely to find much difficulty in magnifying the circumnaviga- tion of the island of Nootka into the circumnavigation of Van- couver island. When the story is compared with the fact the tale of our childhood about the three black crows is irresistibly brought to mind. I might add here parenthetically that in 1862, Kendrick's name was most suitably bestowed upon an arm of Nootka sound by Captain Richards of the H. M. S. Hecate. Now, to complete the matter, let us see what the records show in reference to Captain Gray's work while in commmand of the Washington in 1789. To this end we shall sketch brief- ly, from Haswell's log, the movements of the Washington after her arrival at Nootka in September, 1788. This vessel wintered, as has already been said, in Nootka sound, remaining there until 16th March, 1789, when she sailed for Clayoquot, where she arrived the following day. Leav- ing Clayoquot early in the morning of the 27th March, she moved to a position just outside the harbor. The next morn- ing she stood along very close to the shore on an E. S. E. course, and at ten o'clock the northern extremity of Barkley sound, or Company bay, as Gray called it, came into view. At mid-day Cape Flattery was seen bearing SE. by E., but to the eastward of this no land could be see. "As we pro- ceeded E. by S. as the coast trended," says Haswell, "I fully concluded we were in the straits of Juan de Fuca." Nitinat was passed at two o'clock that afternoon, and keeping along the northern shore of the strait, the Washington proceeded in