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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1881)
January, 18S1 ao THE WEST SHORE. is msdc of such indication, nor did he lenrii any tiling from the natives con ccrning it. It whh in the month of May, and the weather delightful. Vancouver was charmed with the Ix-auty of the views, the hulmy air, and the budding freshness on the return of spring. veil the inland that lay in front of the opening of the port seemed placed there for hi special pleasure and convenience, and win named by him Protection Island liccuuse it defended him from the northwest winds. Here Vancouver organized hi sur veying purlieu. Lieut. Ili'oughtou was left in charge of the ships. Whidby, master of the Chatham, had directions to survey in the vicinity. Vancouver himself with Mr. Mcnzics, in his yawl, with Lieut, l'uget in the launch, and Mr. Johnstone, master of the Discovery, in the Chatham's cutter, with arms, men, instruments and provisions, pro ceeded along the coast to the east, until they reached a point where the waters branched off to the south, which projection he named Point ( 'Hum. Here, taking a southern course past Print Hudson, they soon found them selves In another fin harbor which was in mod J'uri ToH'nund after the noble marquis of that name. While viewing the beauties of this place, which Van couver greatly admired, one of his lieu tenants discovered a high snowy moun tain to the northeast which his superior nt once named after him, by the tin jHteticid name of Pater. Proceeding hence still southward they sew m came to a small harlxr which re ceived the name of Oak Coi from the abundance of oaks found growing there. AImiuI this time the weather changed to foggy Mini disagreeable, so that coming up with high point of land where the waters branched again, Vancouver called it Fontueither Muff, if the bluff was to blame for the weather. The point on the npoite side of the entrance to the narrow pass age to which one of the loats was sent to explore, was called Haul Pint ; the passage when explored was called Cinal, after Lord Hood ; mid another inlet first seen by Mr. On hard, while some of the gentlemen were taking a walk to explore the country, was called IWt Orxkari. Still pursuing a southerly course, and the weather lie- coming in fine again a beautiful snowy mountain appearing a little south of cast, was at once furnished with the name of a Rear Admiral in the British navy Rainier. And so he went on naming. Some where in the neighborhood of the last port he found on Indian with two hungers, (small swords) one of English and one of Spanish manufacture ; but Vancouver docs not say that he asked him any questions about the persons from whom they were obtained. To have done so might have dispelled the illusion he was trying to keep up in his own mind, that he was the lirst ex plorer of these enchantifig waters. I notice a trilling incident which occurred when Vancouver was in latitude 47" 191', longitude J37" 42', and conse quently near the southern end of the island, which he nltcrwards named Vashoris Island, after Captain Vashon of the Hritish navy. His party were arranging their camp for the night, and the evening was closing in cloudy, when he discovered coming out of the southernmost opening two small vessels which at first were taken to be Indian canoes, but on using our glasses they were considered to be our two boats. The original idea, was, however, somewhat confirmed on firing two muskets, which were not answered. By their glasses they found these two vessels not to he Indian canoes, and by making signals, they were found not to lie their own boats. What were they then r They are never referred to afterwards, but I think the sequel will show. Vancouver certainly never would have written them down " ves sels," had not his lirst conviction Wen that they were vessels, not canoes, and the dishonesty of the effort to disguise them does not agree with the honesty of the first term. Vancouver appears to have continued his survey as far south as the Nisqually river, though he named nothing in that quarter except ing Ptiget Smnd, ln-low the narrows, after his 1st Lieutenant of that name. From this point Vancouver ' turned back, having appointed a rendezvous with some of his officers, ami named the main channel Admiralty ntt, which Quimpcr had named two years before Canal dc Camano. On his return he passed to the right of VashonY Island, and appears to have followed the cast shores to the southern end of Whidby' I Island so named because Lieutenant Whidby had discovered its insular character. He found a native village on a point here, near which, having now been joined by the Discovery and Chatham, anchorage was found. The day being the anniversary of the re storation of the ruling house to the throne of Great Britain, this point, which at first he had simply called Village Point, was named in a spirit of loyalty Restorative Point. Proceeding somewhat further north, to about where Muckiltetonow stands, another anniver sary camo about, which was the king's birthday, June 4th. "I had long since," . he said, "designed to take formal pos sesion of all the countries we had late ly been employed in exploring, in the name of, and for his British majesty, his heirs and successors." He therefore landed, and giving his men a holiday and some extra grog, and his officers as good a dinner as the circumstances would allow, drank the king's health, and took possession of all the country from latitude 390 20 ', longitude , 2360 26' east, to the straits, "said to be the supposed Straits of Fuca." Having thus appropriated this exten sive strip of sea coast he called it Nao Georgia, from the straits, south, to the 45th parallel. The waters about him when this august ceremony was being performed were named Possession Sound, and the bay north of this, Port Gard ner, after ViccAdmiralSirAlan Gardner. Penn's Covt was so called for a friend; Port Susan perhaps for a "ncarei and dearer one." Proceeding towards the north through a maze of islands and seas, he gave names to the following places: Point Alan; Deception Passage, the Boca de Flan of the Spaniards; Cy press Island; Strawberry Bay, on the west side of this island; Bcllingham Bay; Point William and Point Francis; Birch Bay; Port Partridge; Point Rob erts; Gulf of Georgia, and so on, until he passed beyond the present boundary of the United States. As he progress ed he named land, and water, and final ly arriving at a projecting point of the eastern coast of the Gulf of Georgia which he called Point Grey, after Capt. George Grey of the navy, he found in the neighborhood the Spanish vessels, the Sutil and Mexicans before spoken of, which vessels had been about two weeks in the Sound surveying. What they had done probably did. not make any great showing beside the exploits