The two English vessels left Nootka for San Blas, where they were to await the disposition of the Viceroy. The Argonaut sailed July 13, in charge of Tovar as prize captain. In Colnett’s letter to the Viceroy he tells of the hardships that he suffered on the voyage. His belongings had been transferred to the mate’s cabin, a very small room. Each night at 8 o’clock he was locked in this, and the door was not opened until morning. He was not allowed to have any intercourse with his officers except in the daytime. The commandant at Nootka had either asked or taken all of his chickens and other fresh provisions, so that he had a slight attack of scurvy. His mouth, he said, ulcerated, and the captain of the prize refused to allow him to have his bread toasted for fear of destroying his teeth! Whenever there was a storm the hatchways were closed, and he almost smothered. The heat increased each day. One night he asked repeatedly for a glass of water, but it was too great a favor, and he had to wait until morning. His own condition was bad enough, but when he got to San Blas he learned that the men of his crew had suffered much more than he. They had been closely confined in irons for many days, though there were only 8 of them and four times as many to guard them.[136] Their chests had been broken into, and most of their clothes and personal belongings had been taken. Colnett had lost many articles that he valued very highly. After their arrival at San Blas, August 15, they received better treatment.[137] The Princess Royal arrived at San Blas on August 27, just a month after she had left Nootka. She carried 12 English and 2 Portuguese prisoners.[138]
On August 29, Hanson, second pilot of the Argonaut, committed suicide. The only known cause was melancholy, according to the statement of the Viceroy drawn from a detailed account sent to him by the commandant of San Blas.[139] In Colnett’s published account he says that it was because of Hanson’s despair at the treatment which he had received. The same writer states that several others became sick and died.[140] Colnett may have exaggerated somewhat the hardships of the voyage, but the letter seems to be a truthful account. Their condition, at the best, was a bad one, and they were probably confined more closely than was necessary and their wants not attended to as they might have been. It is likely, however, that most of the harsh measures taken by the prize crew were the result of excessive caution rather than wanton cruelty.
Martinez’s operations at Nootka after sending his prizes to San Blas are of minor interest. He carried on some explorations in the neighborhood, studied the customs of the natives, and made, in his diary, a full report of the country and its inhabitants. On December 6 he reached San Blas, having returned in consequence of an order from Florez dated February 25, 1789.[141] This date shows that the events at Nootka during the summer had nothing to do with his recall, since the order was given shortly after the expedition had sailed.
When Martinez reached San Blas he had with him an American ship and schooner which he had captured just as he was leaving Nootka. He had hesitated for some time, uncertain whether he should set them free, but had finally decided to take them to San Blas to be acted on by the Viceroy. Revilla-Gigedo, who had succeeded Florez in the viceroyalty, set them free, on the ground that the Americans had not molested the Spanish settlements.[142] The names of the vessels do not appear in this letter. They were doubtless the Eleanora and the Fair America, under Captain Metcalf.[143]
Martinez also brought with him the 29 Chinese that he had taken from the Argonaut. To save the expense of keeping them the Viceroy said that he had decided to have them brought to Mexico, liberated, and given employment; or, if they preferred, they would be sent to the colonies and mission settlements of California.[144] Meares, in his memorial, declared that these Chinese laborers were detained at Nootka by Martinez and put to work in the mines that had been opened on the land belonging to Meares. Nothing appears in the Spanish documents concerning any such mines. It has been stated elsewhere that Meares gave 70 as the number of Chinese taken to Nootka by Colnett. This is probably an exaggeration, since the number 29 is repeated several times in the Spanish documents, and in two places a complete list of their names is given.[145] From what will be stated later, it seems that the Viceroy’s scheme for liberating them in Mexico was not carried out.[146]
Chapter VI.
THE ENGLISH PRISONERS IN MEXICO.[147]
Florez, the Viceroy, who had sent the Nootka expedition, had no news from Martinez until late in the summer. Shortly after the arrival at San Blas of the first prize, the Argonaut, the commandant of that port dispatched a special messenger to Mexico. This messenger arrived August 26, bearing Martinez’s letters and the papers from the captured ships. The Viceroy’s anxiety was far from being relieved when he found himself involved, not with the Russians, but with the English. The question now was what should be done with the prizes sent for his adjudication. He was embarrassed by the fact that he was to retire from the viceroyalty within a few weeks, and whatever measures he might determine upon would have to be carried out by his successor. He decided to take no decisive step without the new Viceroy’s concurrence. Within a day after the messenger’s arrival the more important documents had been copied and Florez had written his report. They were hurried off to the Government at Madrid. In this report he told briefly of Martinez’s voyage to Nootka, of his taking formal possession of the port and fortifying it, of his finding the American vessels and allowing them to continue their voyage, and of his seizing the Iphigenia and the Argonaut, releasing the former on bond and sending the latter as a prize. To this account he added some reflections concerning the importance of retaining the port of Nootka. He would send reënforcements and supplies to Martinez at once. The question as to whether the vessels were good prize he would leave to his successor.[148]