Documents copied from the Archivo Historico Nacional, Madrid, 169 pages.—Letters and official papers that passed between the British and Spanish negotiators; correspondence between Floridablanca and other Spanish officials; negotiations between the Spanish and French Courts.
Documents copied from the Archivo General de Indias, Seville, 262 pages.—Correspondence between Martinez and the Viceroy relating to the occupation of Nootka and to the captured English vessels; also accounts of the matter from the Viceroy to the Government at Madrid, inclosing copies of all of the documents relating to it.
Documents copied from the British Museum, 37 pages.—Instructions from the British Cabinet to Fitzherbert, and correspondence between the Cabinet and the British ambassadors at Berlin and The Hague.
Documents copied from the public record office, London, 36 pages.—Letters from Fitzherbert to the British Cabinet.
Documents copied from the Archives of the Department of State at Washington, 35 pages.—Correspondence between Jefferson, the Secretary of State, and Short, the United States chargé at Paris. Very little of value.
II. Published Documents.
Meares, John: Voyages made in the Years 1788 and 1789, from China to the Northwest Coast of America, etc. London: 1790.—The appendix contains important documents relating to Meares’s temporary establishment at Nootka in 1788, to the plans for planting a permanent colony in 1789, and to the capture of the English vessels in 1790. These documents, if taken at their face value, give a decided prejudice in favor of England. They have hitherto been the principal source of information for the events at Nootka.
The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1790. London: 1793.—This contains copies of a few of the more important documents relating to the diplomatic controversy. They have been the principal source of information for this phase of the subject. They also give a decided prejudice in favor of England. The dates of some of the documents are incorrect, and some have their titles interchanged.
Greenhow, Robert: The History of Oregon and California and the Other Territories on the Northwest Coast of North America, Accompanied by … a Number of Documents, etc. Second edition. Boston and London: 1845.—The appendix of this copies the documents contained in the Annual Register and adds some others of importance, most of which are favorable to Spain. The author makes the Spanish case as strong as possible in order to strengthen the case of the United States in the Oregon controversy.
—— Official Papers Relative to the Dispute Between the Courts of Great Britain and Spain on the Subject of the Ships Captured in Nootka Sound, and the Negotiation that Followed Thereon, etc. London: [1790].—All of the documents contained in this may be found in the Annual Register, the Parliamentary History, and the Archives Parlementaires.