But whether he really did or did not make the statement to the chiefs in September, 1788, concerning planting a colony the next year, he proceeded exactly as he would be expected to have proceeded had he made it. The question as to what became of the house built in 1788, whether it was given to the chief as promised, or whether it was torn down by Douglas before leaving for the Sandwich Islands, according to the testimony of the American captains, Gray and Ingraham,[42] does not greatly affect the case, if the Englishmen really intended to continue the occupation in 1789, as they unquestionably did. If there were nothing else to consider, and if the title to sovereignty rested wholly on actual occupation, whether that occupation be by persons of a public or private character, then England had a better claim than Spain to the sovereignty of Nootka Sound at the beginning of the year 1789. But there are other things to consider. It remains to be seen whether or not they outweigh this English advantage.
The next man to demand careful attention in studying the English preparations for occupying Nootka is Capt. James Colnett, also a lieutenant in the royal navy. He had been a midshipman with Captain Cook and had served for several years on a man-of-war.[43] In the autumn of 1786 he left England, in command of the ship Prince of Wales, owned by Etches & Co., of London. This company held a license from the South Sea Company good for five years after September 1, 1786, for trading in the South Sea and other parts of America.[44] Colnett went to the South Sea by way of Cape Horn. He reached the northwest coast in 1787, collected a cargo, and continued his voyage to China, where he disposed of it.[45] While in China he became identified with Meares’s project for planting a colony at Nootka. The latter, after his arrival in China in the autumn of 1788, had set about preparations for the expedition of the succeeding year. While he was engaged in this, Colnett reached Canton. Since the latter carried a license from the South Sea Company, Meares saw an advantage to be gained by enlisting his services, as this would give governmental sanction and protection to the proposed establishment. Meares and his associates formed a joint stock concern with Etches & Co., through the agency of John Etches, who accompanied Colnett’s expedition as supercargo. As the Prince of Wales was to return to England, a new ship was purchased and named the Argonaut, and Colnett was transferred to it. The small ship, the Princess Royal, which had accompanied him on the former voyage, continued with him on this. Besides having command of the vessels, all of the concerns of the company on the American coast were committed to his charge, including the proposed colony.[46]
A clear notion of the character of the expedition thus placed under the command of Colnett may best be obtained by a careful examination of the instructions given to him before his departure from China. The copy of these that was submitted with Meares’s Memorial is dated Macao, April 17, 1789, and signed “J. Meares, for Messrs. Etches, Cox & Co.”[47] A Spanish translation of the same, copied from the papers that fell into the hands of the Spaniards, is signed “Daniel Beale, for himself and for Messrs. Etches, Cox & Co.”[48] While this discrepancy has no importance in discovering the intent of the expedition, it casts a side light on the veracity of Meares. The Spanish copy is preferably to be trusted, since no motive is apparent for their changing the signature. In these instructions strictly honorable dealings and careful attention to their needs is enjoined in all his intercourse with other vessels, whether English or foreign. Cruelty to the natives is to be prevented under penalty of condign punishment for offenders. He was to form a treaty, if possible, with the various chiefs, especially those near Nootka. The purpose was to monopolize the trade of the district and so conquer competitors honorably and creditably. They were so anxious to form such treaties that he was authorized to protect allies from insult from all persons.[49] The factory planned was to be a “solid establishment, and not one that is to be abandoned at pleasure.” Colnett was authorized to fix it at the most convenient place, so that the colony would be protected from the least sinister accident.[50] It was to receive the name “Fort Pitt.” R. Duffin was to be invested with the superintendence of it.
The object of the post was to attract the Indians for commercial purposes and to furnish a place to build small vessels and to lay them up for the winter season. During each winter some vessels were to be sent to the Sandwich Islands for provisions, and natives of those islands, both men and women, were to be encouraged to embark for the American colony. When this settlement should have been effected trading houses were to be established at other places along the coast where they would be the most advantageous. Preparatory to this rewards were to be offered the first season to men who would reside with different Indian chiefs for the purpose of collecting furs and assuring the natives of the return of the vessels, thus encouraging them to keep back their furs from competitors. The Iphigenia, which went out the preceding year under Meares’s command, and also the North-West America, which he had built on the coast, were to be under the command of Colnett. The rest of the instructions are of no interest to the Nootka Sound Affair.[51]
With these instructions and with provisions for three years the two vessels sailed from China, the Princess Royal in February and the Argonaut in April, 1789.[52] They carried, “in addition to their crews, several artificers of different professions and near 70 Chinese, who intended to become settlers on the American coast.”[53] The plans are seen to have been large with hope for the future, and there seems to have been every reasonable prospect for success. Should they be successful it would mean not only a fortune for the merchant adventurers and a worthy monument to the wisdom of the projectors, but it would mean also the definite planting of the British flag on an unoccupied coast and the extension to that coast of the sovereignty of Great Britain. But while these plans were taking shape other plans were being laid elsewhere, which, before the arrival of Colnett’s expedition, had totally changed the appearance of things at Nootka. A discussion of these will occupy the next two chapters.
Chapter III.
THE SPANISH PLANS FOR OCCUPYING NOOTKA SOUND—THE CONFLICTING CLAIMS BEFORE 1789.
The Spanish name of most importance in connection with affairs at Nootka is that of Estevan José Martinez. Besides playing the chief rôle in the drama enacted there in 1789, which proved to be but the prelude to a greater drama played in Europe the following year, it was he who first suggested the planting of a Spanish colony at this point. This is contrary to the notion prevalent in the minds of the diplomats when the controversy was at its height, a notion which has been more or less accepted ever since, viz, that one or more of the Governments concerned had engaged in the enterprise with malice aforethought, having some ulterior end in view. These suspicions will be discussed in their proper place. At present it suffices to show, from documentary sources, the actual genesis of the original Spanish expedition.