Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1846-02-26

inc'"ry nj Calcnita mas actually grown up
ln,o absolute ami undisputrd sovereignty over
a popnla.ion Of eighty mll'ons of people.
The questions which, az il sppea,s to me,
n,ny b" SLOWED by the United States to be
deba'nble. hnJ therefore 10 wake u question
able whether they have n complete right Ia
thu wl,nle Osogon territory, are:
is'. The Nootka Convention. which sp.
plies to The whole, and which. Though not Of
PRIMARY importance, is nevertheless u tact
and ,l,r differences irawn from il a matter OF
argument.
Billy. The discovery Of the Straits OF
Fura.
3dly. North of those straits: along the
sea shores the discoveries Of the British con-
,rasted with those Of the American anl
Spanish navigatOrs in The interior, he Qles
ton whether the discovery Of the mouth oi
the river. implies without exception a com.
pleic righ, to the whole country drained by
all the tributaries OF such river /; aud also the
British claim 10 The whole terrnory Grained
by Frazer's river--ts sources having been
discovered in 1892 by Sir Alexander Mackcn-
zie. factories having been established upon il
by tn" Bril,>h as curly "a the year 1906. and
tine whule river thence to its mouth having
bren Tor n number Of years exclusively nav
gated by British subjects.
II appear. Ia me sufficient generally to
suggest the conirovrrtrd points. That which
relates to Fica's Straits is the must impor
ianf, and deserves particular consideration
If Fucs' voyage ~ 1892 could be proved
Ia be an anihen ntic document. this would set
tie NJ once the question IN favor Of The United
States but the voyage was denied IN the
introduction In the voyage OF the Suiil aud
M"xlcano. This was an official document.
published under the auspices Of ihe Spanish
Government, aud intended TO vindlcate Spain
against the charges ,ha, she had contributed
nothine To the advancement If geography in
those quarters. This negative evidence was
confirmed by Humboldt, who says that no
trace OF such voyage Gun be found IN the
archives of Mexico. Unwilling 70 ndduce
any doubtful fact, | abstained from nlludlng
10 II ~ the s,atemen, Of the American case
IN lo26. Later researches show that, al.
though recorded evidences remain OF the
VOYAGES of Cali from Macao TO Acapulco in
l5ei, OF the Santa Ana ION bonrd of whlch
wns. MS he says, Fuca hinscl0 from Ma
nlla la The coast of California, where she
was captured in 1857 by Cnvendi-h, and Of
VizcaIno in 1902 1903, ana even of Ma'donn-
DOS fictitious voyage in 1888, yet no trace
has been found ~ Spain vr Mexico. of Fuca :
or amy other similar voyage, IN lGOa, or there
about.
On reading with attention the brief NC
count published by Purchhs. will say that
The voyage itself has much internal evidence
ui its truth, but that the inference or con-
lclusion throws much dscrpdit on the whole.
The only known account of the voyage is
'ha, given verbally n, Venice in 1886, by
Fnca Greek pilot, to Mr. Lock, respec,a-
bile English merchant, who transmitted it 10
Purchas.
Fuca saws that he had been seen by the
V,ceroy OF Mexico To discover the straits of
AnInn and the passage thereof into the sea,
winch they called the North Sea, which ~
our .Norih,c' 81 Sea that between AZ and AZ
degrees OF latitude he entered into broad
inlet, through which he sailed more than
twenty days and being Iheu come into the
North Sea already. and not being sufficiently
armed. he returned ngaln to Acapulco. III"
offered then to Mr.. Lock TO go into England
and serve her Majesty in n voyage for the
discovery perfectly Of the Northwest passage
into the Son,h Sea. lf il be granted tha,
the inlet through which he had sailed was
really the sane as the straits which now
benr his name, thai sea INTO which he emery
ed, and which he snys TO be our Northwest
Sea, must have been that which il now
called Queen Charlotte's Sound north of
Quadra and vancouver Island, in abou, 81
degrees Of latitude. lludson's Straits had
not been discovered. and the discovery of
Davs's Straits might no, be- known To Fuca.
But no navigator at that time, who, like him.
sailed across both the Atlantic and the Pa
clfc Oceans. could be ignorant that the
northern extremity q. Newfoundland. which
hes nearig ~ the same latitude ~ the north
ern entrance. The only way to reconcile
lhe account with itself is. TO suppose that
Fuca believed that the continent of America
did nol, on the side of the Atlantic, extend
inriher north than about the G0lh degree, aud
was bounded ncr,hwardly by an open sea,
which extended a. far west as the northern
extremity of The inlet through which he had
sailed. II IL true nevertheless that, between
the yenrs IVA and 1902. there AZ prevail.
ing opinlon atnongs, the naviga,ors that Fuco
had actually discovered an inlet leading to-
wards the Atlantic. Prior to the year 1857
they were engaged IN seeking !or it. and The
Spaniords had for that purpose explored in
vain the scncoast lying south of the 4Srh de-
EIet IOT " Is Wcll NUOWU t1ut TUCd ell
trance lies between the 18th and i9h, and
not between the 47ih and 18th degrees of
latitude as he had announced
The modern discovery of that inlet is due
io Captain Bnrclay, an Engiishman, COM
mandIng the Imperial Eagle. n vessel owned
by British merchants, but which was equip
ped at aaG took its departure from Ostend,
and which smiled under the flag of the Aus
TRAN Fact India Company. The British
which has objected to the A.
me r,can claim derived from Captain Gray's
discovery of the mouth OF the river COLUMBIA,
on The ground that he was n private indivId-
nal, and that his vessel was not public ship.
cannot certanIy claim any thing IN virtue Of
a discovery by private EnglIshman. sailing
under Austrian colors. ln that case, and re-
jectmg Fncc's voyage. neither the United
States nor England can lay any claim on ac-
count Of the discovery oetis straits.
subsequently, the EnglIshnan, Mcar1s.
sailing under the Portuguese flag, penetra-
ted. IN 1853, about ten miles into the inlet.
and the American, Gray, IN 1880, about fifty
miles. The pretended voyage of the sloop
,hroug'ont the strots, under
the command Of either Gray or Kendrick.
has no other foundation than an assertion oi
a A. L.. -