Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 18.djvu/99



Where Is Point Vancouver? 75

waters bordering upon Vancouver's Island, B. C, and in our own so:called Puget's Sound, and his name is rightly honored. But his death occurred while the manuscript of the original edition of his "Voyage of Discovery" was being prepared for publication, and the completion of that work fell to his brother. In that way errors crept into the published charts and narra- tive, and in a second edition of six volunies the brother cor- rected some of these errors ; but those relating to Point Van- couver were probably due to Mr. Broughton's instrtunents.

Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, of Toronto, a civil engineer of wide experience, suggests to the writer that sextants and quadrants in use in 1792 often had instrumental errors of a minute or two, and that the chronometer used by Mr. Broughton could not have been adjusted since the expedition left England. Also "with regard to his survey up the river from the point where he left the 'Chatham' the two longitudes given are respectively at TZe^" 17j/i' (the Chatham) and 237° SO' (Point Vancouver), or a difference of 1° 32j4'. The actual differ- ence in longitude as showfi on the charts and maps in my possession is, as far as I can meastu-e it, exactly this amount, and you will agree with me that in ascending a river where the directions had all to be taken with the compass and the distances had to be estimated such result shows marvelously accurate work. On the whole, I would consider Broughton's survey, considering the time spent on it and the means at his disposal, such a survey as the best surveyors might be proud of."

It would be of interest in this connection to reproduce in series the various maps indicating the Columbia river prior to its actual discovery and when it was known merely as the "River of the West or the Oregon"; for instance, the map published in 1778 by Jonathan Carver in his "Travels," etc. Upon such maps the course of the river was naturally only a guess. The survey of Lieut. Broughton in 1792 made pos- sible the first scientific chart ever drawn showing the actual course of the river inland for a distance of more than one