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The Vancouver Expedition (1791-1795) was a five-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver. The expedition circumnavigated the globe, touched five continents and changed the course of history for several nations. The expedition at various times included between two and four vessels, and up to 153 men, all but six of whom returned home safely.

Origin

Several previous voyages of exploration, notably those of James Cook, had established the strategic and commercial value of exploring the Pacific, both for its wealth in whales and furs and as a trade route to the Orient. Britain was especially interested in improving its knowledge of Southern Pacific whale fisheries, and in particular the location of the strategically positioned Australia, New Zealand, Isla Grande and Northwest Passage (it had not at the time been established that only two of those existed.) A new ship was purchased, fitted out, and named Discovery after one of Cook's ships. Her Captain was Henry Roberts and Vancouver his 1st Lieutenant.^[1]

Plans changed when the adventurer John Meares reported that the Spanish had impounded his ship and hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of goods at Nootka Sound. Although it is now known that his claims of loss were somewhat exaggerated, Britain had recently beaten Spain at war and seemed ready for another go; Parliament readied the fleet in the Great Spanish Armament. Roberts and Vancouver left Discovery to serve in the Channel Fleet while Discovery became a depot ship for processing victims of the press gang. The Spanish capitulated in the Nootka Sound Convention, whose terms resulted in inconsistent instructions for the British and Spanish officers sent to implement them.

Vancouver returned to Discovery as the expedition's commander. According to his orders,^[2] he was "to receive back in form a restitution of the territories on which the Spaniards had seized, and also to make an accurate survey of the coast, from the 30th degree of north latitude northwestward toward Cook's River; and further, to obtain every possible information that could be collected respecting the natural and political state of that country." These explorations were in part to discover water communication into the North American interior (whether a Northwest Passage or, more likely, navigable rivers) and to facilitate the researches of the expedition's politically well-connected bontanist, Archibald Menzies.

Following the mutiny on the Bounty, the Admiralty had ordered the precaution that ships not make such long voyages alone; therefore the armed tender HMS Chatham was assigned to the expedition. The HMS Daedalus would rendezvous at Nootka Sound a year later with supplies. The expedition was supposed to take two or three years.

The Muster

The Muster of the expedition lists 153 men.^[3] Most were naval officers or sailors, many of whom would distinguish themselves in future service, including Peter Puget, Joseph Baker, Joseph Whidbey, William Broughten, Zachary Mudge, and Robert Barrie. There was a large detachment of Marines; whether these were to assist with exploration in hostile territory or to discourage mutiny is not recorded. Two 16-year-old aristocrats, the Honorable Thomas Pitt (nephew of the Prime Minister) and the Honorable Charles Stuart (son of a Marquis), were brought aboard as an able seaman, presumably to learn Naval discipline; they proved troublesome.

Among the supernumaries were Menzies and his servant. A Hawai'ian man named Towereroo, whom Cook's expedition had brought to England, was put on Discovery that he might return home. Finally, the Muster includes a Widow's Man, rated able seaman, but in fact merely an accounting fiction.

1791

On April 1, 1791 Discovery and Chatham set sail. They reached Santa Cruz in Tenerife on April 28; this was intended as a rest stop and opportunity to botanize, but ended in a drunken brawl in which several officers were thrown into the bay or beaten.

On May 7 the two ships left Tenerife; Chatham arrived at Cape Town on June 6 and Discovery two days later. After more botanizing, socializing, and recruiting replacements for deserters, the ships left on August 17. The surgeon took ill during an outbreak of dysentary (one sailor died); Menzies assumed his duties for the rest of the expedition.

On September 28 they landed in Australia, at what Vancouver promptly named King George Sound. They quickly surveyed the south coast of Australia and landed at Dusky Sound, New Zealand on November 2 for resupplying and botanizing, before moving on on November 21. The ships proceeding separately, both discovered the sub-Antarctic Snares Islands (November 23) which Vancouver considered a severe shipping hazard (hence, the name). On route to Tahiti, the crew of Chatham furthermore discovered the Chatham Islands before reaching the Polynesian island on November 26; Discovery arrived three days later.

Putting in at Tahiti, Vancouver enforced rigid discipline to avoid the personal connections that had lead to Mutiny on the Bounty. Pitt was flogged for exchanging a piece of ship's iron for the romantic favors of a lady. Towareroo, not subject to such discipline, decided he preferred the comforts of Tahiti and had to be forced to leave.

Proceeding to Hawai'i, Vancouver conducted surveys and impressed Kamehameha I with the reach of British power while Menzies collected specimens. He made arrangements for his tiny fleet to winter and re-supply in Hawai'i for the duration of the expedition.

1792

Discovery and Chatham proceeded to North America. On April 17 they made landfall at about 39°N and started a detailed survey northward. On April 29, they encountered the American Captain Gray of the Columbia Rediviva with which they had a fruitful sharing of information; much of what Meares had told them about Gray's explorations, the latter said, was fiction. After proving the insularity of Vancouver Island (Meares' claims on the matter having been another casualty) they put into Nootka Sound. In August, while Vancouver was exploring in small boats to the north, Daedalus arrived in Nootka Sound and dispatched the brig Venus with the news that her Captain, Richard Hergest, and William Gooch, sent as astronomer to the expedition, had been murdered on Oahu. Vancouver and Whidbey shared astronomer duties, which later lead to friction over pay. On August 11, the expedition sailed south, reaching Nootka Sound on August 28, where they exchanged friendly 13-gun salutes with a Spanish frigate commanded by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra.

Relations between Quadra and Vancouver were very cordial and even friendly; as per their orders, they cooperated in exploration and supply, but could not reconcile their conflicting instructions before Quadra returned to Monterey, leaving Senor Fidalgo to fortify the Sound. Vancouver sent Lt. Mudge back to England on the tiny Portuguese-flagged trader Fenis and St. Joseph to get further instructions. The captain of the trading ship Jenny asked Vancouver to return two kidnapped girls to Hawai'i. Thus enlarged, the expedition moved south; Whidbey in Daedelus surveying Grays Harbor while the other two ships dared the bar of the Columbia River. The smaller Chatham made it over the bar and sent small boats upriver. Discovery, whose crew was beginning to suffer from scurvey, proceeded to California, reaching the Golden Gate on November 14 to a friendly and helpful reception from the Spanish. The other ships arrived by the 26th.

Quadra, as eager as Vancouver to resolve their conflicting instructions, offered to facilitate another message via Mexico and the Atlantic; Vancouver sent Lt. Broughton. Puget took his place as Chatham's Commander (angering Menzies, who preferred his friend Johnstone).

After resting and reprovisioning, the expedition returned to Hawai'i to winter.

1793

Over the winter, Vancouver ordered numerous improvements to the small boats that did the detailed survey work, to provide better shelter and supplies for the crew. These improvements enabled the crews to continue their survey of one of the most complex coasts in the world, proceeding to 56°N until weather ended the survey season.

Again, the expedition visited Nootka Sound (where there was no resolution of the conflicting orders), Spanish California, and Hawai'i.

1794

During the expedition's final winter in Hawai'i, Baker accompanied Menzies, Midshipman George McKenzie and another man whose name is not recorded, on the first recorded ascent of Mauna Loa. They summitted on February 16 and, using a barometer, measured its height to within 50 feet of the modernly accepted value.

Vancouver continued to negotiate with Kamehameha; on March 25, the King made a formal proclamation of accession, declaring that they were "Tanata no Britanee" (People of Britain). Precisely what Kamehameha meant by this may not be entirely clear since Britain exerted no sovereignty over the islands during his reign. However, Vancouver's assistance to the King was helpful, particularly in lending tools and skilled workers for building him an armed 36-foot craft, the Britannia. The expedition left Hawai'i for the final time on March 15, 1794.

The expedition started surveying around Cook's River at 60°N and worked south. The weather was often freezing, as a result of which not only their store of live turtles (kept for meat) but Mezies' quarterdeck greenhouse froze, killing all his plants. As before, Discovery and Chatham sent out small boat parties to conduct detailed surveys of the complex coast. The expedition traded with Russian settlements, Esquimo, Tlingits and others living there. In mid-August, the expedition reached its area of work from the prior year and, according to the diaries of several officers, felt great joy at realizing they could return home. Unfortunately, as they set out for Nootka, Isaac Wooden was lost in a boating accident off Cape Ommaney, one of the few to die on the expedition. The treacherous rocks off the Cape were accordingly named Wooden Rocks.

Vancouver advanced to post rank on August 28, 1794. Four days later, Discovery and Chatham put into Nootka; all were saddened to learn that Quadra had suddenly died. Brigadier General Don Jose Alava, the new Governor of Nootka, was cooperative and friendly, but no instructions had arrived to enable the commanders to resolve the situation. Alava and Vancouver were on friendly terms, jointly conducting local explorations, including a large celebration with Maquinna. On October 6, the survey ships departed for Monterey. Daedelus was sent back to England with the troublesome Mr. Pitt, who had worn out his welcome with multiple disciplinary infractions.

On November 6, Discovery put into Monterey, to learn that while negotiations had mostly likely been concluded in Europe, there were still no instructions. The expedition left on December 2, reached the Tres Maria Islands on December 17 for provisions and botanizing, and spent Christmas at sea.

1795

Returning home, the expedition put in at the Cocos Islands, Galapagos Islands and the Juan Fernández Islands, reprovisioning whenever possible but beginning to suffer from scurvey.

Although they had orders to avoid Spanish possessions in the Pacific, necessity required some refitting and they had, in addition, orders to survey as much of the coast as possible. Vancouver therefore put into Valparaiso on March 25 for five weeks of repairs with the help of the Spanish. The expedition's officers enjoyed an official visit to the Captain General, Senor Don Ambrosio O'Higgins de Vallenar at his capital St. Iago.

On May 5, Discovery and Chatham sailed from Valparaiso, planning to reunite at St. Helena should weather separate them. The onset of Southern Hemisphere's winter and the badly worn condition of the ships made further survey of the Chilean coast impractical and passage for Cape Horn hazardous. Nonetheless, Vancouver spent much time searching for the island of Isla Grande, previously reported at 46.40.S, and confirmed its nonexistence.

About this time, Lt. Broughton and Lt. Mudge left England in HMS Providence to assist Vancouver; they reached Monterey long after the expedition made its final departure. Deciding (correctly) that Vancouver would not have left his surveying task unfinished, they departed to chart the cost of east Asia.

On July 2, Discovery and Chatham put in at St. Helena and learned that the nation was at war; their battered ships were nearly the weakest vessels in the Atlantic. However, they captured a Dutch East Indiaman by surprise. This proved a mixed blessing; putting a prize crew on the prize required Vancouver to get additional hands where he could. During a storm, he ordered Menzies' servant aloft, leaving Menzies' plants to be damaged; this further angered Menzies.

Off the Cape Verde Islands, Discovery caught up with a British convey escorted by HMS Sceptre and, in relative safety, arrived at Shannon. Vancouver departed the ship to report; Baker brought Discovery safely home to Long Reach on the Thames, completing her five-year mission on October 20, 1795.

Aftermath

The expedition returned to a Britain more interested in its ongoing war than in Pacific explorations. Vancouver was attacked by the politically well-connected Menzies for various slights. Pitt challenged Vancouver to a duel and attempted to beat him on a London streetcorner. Vancouver was no match for the powers ranged against him, and he was dying besides. His massive cartographical work was a few hundred pages short of completion at his death on May 10, 1798, but finished by Puget.

Geopolitically, the expedition helped remove Spain as a power in the North Pacific and to define the boundaries of the Anglo-American conflict there. It also assisted the unification of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and further established British domination of Australia-New Zealand. The expedition left the world hundreds, perhaps thousands, of place-names and species names.

References

• The Captain Cook Encyclopaedia, by Robson, John. London: Chatham Publishing, 2004. 1861762259. GBP 30.00. From Chatham Publishing
• Meany, Edmond Stephen. Vancouver's discovery of Puget Sound. Mystic Seaport. Retrieved on April 13, 2007.

Archibald Menzies Fenis and St. Joseph Henry Roberts (captain) HMS Chatham (1788) HMS Discovery (1789)

HMS Lowestoft James Hanson Joseph Baker (captain) Joseph Whidbey Mudge (disambiguation)

Nootka Sound Peter Puget Phoenix (ships with this name) Puget Island, Washington Robert Barrie

Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford Towereroo Vancouver (disambiguation) Zachariah Mudge (disambiguation) More results