The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-01-28

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: Northwestsrn America, the appointment o
COMMISSIONERS to carry out the hrst article Of thu
Nootka convention,
:. The celebrated navigator Vancouver, was ap
pointed ON behalf Of England, and Senior Quadra
Oh me part OF Spain. They met at Noolka, in Au.
gust 1882 and the account of their negotiation il
given TO US ~ Vancouver, in the narrative of hii
Voysge' Their respective views 10 the lands u
DC restored, were soon found 10 differ very widely.
Ouadra maintained, that Meares never had actu-
ally purchased any land at Nootka that he had new
| or even had possession Of any except single spot
forming nearly an equilateral Triangle not extend
ing hundred yards any one side; bounded in
mont oy The sea and the other two sides by high
craggy rocks" on which isolated spot Mr.. Meares
had erected ms temporary residence. He addueed,
IN PROOF OF his assertions, the testimony Of two
American captains, Gray and Ingraham who had
| oeeh present at Nootka in 1888 and during the
| whole proceedings in 1853. These gentlemen de-
pose, that though they remained there nine months
ana could converse perfectly with the natives, they
never heard OF any purchase of land by Meares
In regard to buildinge, and in proof that even the
ABOVE spot OF ground was abandoned by Meares,
when hi last vessel, the lphegen!a, commanded by
aCaptaln Douglass, left the Sound, In the autumn
% 1888, they add:
Ca the arrival Of the Columbia in the year l7ss there
Was house, or rather hut consisting Of rough posts
covered with boards made BY the lnddLs this Captain
pulled to pieces, prior to hi. sailing iOr the Sand
the lPhessnis and the roof hs gave Cap,nin Ksndriek
WING was cut AMI used hrewOod board the
no Nesuge OF any house remaining "-POeCs and Husa.
n0n' 4" GTssHA0V's Or On, p. AI5
Under these circumstances Sehor Quadra very
naturally concluded, that Meares had been dispos-
| sessed OF neither lands nor buildings; and, conse-
9uently that there was "nothing TO deliver up -
he observed, at the same time, $50 Vancouver in
| forms us:)
That Sootka oHEh 10 Be ne isR northVardIy
SPaHish .ss~ta that there diridnr point shod De f
nth ard ba
lot entrance use, and both parties conforms
bly, with tbs article Of the convention that ostabsh
mens should be formed without permission Of this re-
pssuys courts and h~ hs Eashsh should noiPaE he
SCUM 81 Faeo"-paneOHVsr'I p0yass, roL >, p 80.
In word, the Spanish commissioner put upon
the provisions OF the Convention the very same in
depreciation which had been put upon them, public
| y and unconTadicted, by Fox ard others in the
British Parliament, two years before.
Subsequently, Sehor Quadra offered TO leave Van
couyer in possession Of the spot Mr.. Meares had
occupied, and even 10 place at his command the
houses, gardens and Offices then occupied by the
SPanisrds, whilst himself retired; but ''toithOpt
prejudice to the legitimate right Of Spain"
10 this Vancouver declared, that he was not
thorzed TO agree. He contended, that tho words
buildings and tracts Of land" employed in the first
article OF the Convention could not possibly be con-
strued to mean merely triangular spot hardly con-
| tanning one acre Of ground, and
That at least the whole port Of Nootka, Of which his
Majesty subjects had been forcibly disPo.esssd and at
which themseves their vessels and csrgoes had been
tured must haVebeen the proposed object Of restitution =
Voyage Vol p. s75.
He also put forward the British claim, then for
| the first time asserted to equal settlement with
Spain, South 10 Latitude rtysig; declaring that he
Conceived port ST Francisco to be the northemmost
settlement occupied by the subjects OF His Catholic
| ~, in April 1882 "-pOyoss nSL 2, p. $50
| This, by the way, was not, in any sense, the
question: the words 'aiready occupied" clearly re-
ferrng TO the date Of the convention TO wit October
| 1870; and not, by any possible construction, as
| Vancouver would have them refer, 10 the date Of
| the alleged capture.
As an Offset to the evidence Of Captains Gray and
lngraham, and, so far it appears the sole war
rant beyond the words Of the convention for his de-
mand of the whole settlement OF Nootka, Vancou-
| yer brings forward the deposition Of a certain Rob-
| ert Dufin, supercargo under Meares, and who was
| with him at Nootka in 1888. Vancouver gives, in
his voyage, but the substance Of this mans evidence
of which the material part, according to his version,
| is as follows:
mir Meares attended by himself (DuffD and Mr. Robert
Funter the 18th 18th OF May, l7ss shore
ohO The land thai forms the Friendly Core HOOtka Sound
in his saJesy name for sh ten sheets Of copper and
sed, and with the Chiefs did homage aearts as Their
according to the custom OF the country &C.,
| poydgs, FOL D., p. Bo-37l.
This statement Of Dufin's is an utter falsehood;
l whether suborned for the occasion not we may
| not now determine. Great BIitain's own principal
| witness shall dsprove it, the repued sovereign the
II L 4
very man. VINO is sa'd 70 nave MADE TINS important
| purchase anu VINO Puohsheu, the next yea, tne
narrative Oh ms Eeyage anu ms Claims anu MS
wrongs even MI Me"es h'"'Sel. riere ne Is, IN
very iuM'1 ,o,n anu VIVA. Is nus 'es'
unonyt Whn sayS ms ua,y Joufhe. OF tne pro pro
(Dufin has it the 18th or 18Th Meares says, that
| he had visit from the two Nootka chiefs. He
adds:
"A present consisting of copper and other crafty.
m ws t ooI Ser
them in the most graceful manner at our eet and
ed the unattired garb of nature the
p lis-iH
A present observe; and generously returned, too.
But is there mention made, on that day, on
the 18th or 18h of the purchase of Nootka moth
ing said of the hattering homage done to Mr. Meares
| as sovereign Not syllable, either the 18th,
18th, 18th, Goth, any other day The sole foun-
daton for this romance Of the supcrcargo, if foun-
dation it have at ALL ia to be found in Mearess Jour-
nal under date of the 25th Of that month, where he
says:
"Maquiia hal not only most readily consented to grant
a ground in his territory, wherein house might