To the end of the world

Exploration of Burrard Inlet ended European dream

THE NORTHWEST Coast
of America was the last
temperate coastline placed
on European charts of the
world.

By Robin Inglis
Contributing Writer

As English and Spanish explor-
ers pieced together maps of our
local waters in the last years of
the 18th century, they exploded a
long-held belief that a navigable
waterway stretched across
America: through what today is
Canada.

Spain explored much of the
coast from 1774 to 1792, deter-
mined to control the passage, if it
existed, and keen to uphold a
defensive sovereignty over lands to
the north of its central American
empire. Once Jame Cook’s visit to
- British Columbia had precipitated
the maritime fur trade’ in the
- 1780s, Britain wished to establish
a trading post on the coast so as
to expand commercial and im-
perial ambitions in the Pacific.

By the summer of 1792, the
Strait of Juan de Fuca offered
Europeans the last realistic hope
for a passage from the Pacific to
the Atlantic. From their base in
Nootka Sound on the west coast
of Vancouver Island, the
Spaniards had penetrated the
strait over the previous two years
and Jose Maria Narvacz had sail-
ed as far as Texada Island.

SEARCH FOR STRAIT OF

FUCA

George Vancouver, en route to
Nootka to discuss land and
trading rights with the Spanish
commandant Bodega y Quadra,
entered the strait in May of 1792,
_ as his commission also called for

him to prepare a detailed chart of
. the coast and to pay particular at-
tention to ‘‘the supposed strait of
Fuca.”

Vancouver first charted Puget
Sound. The intricacies of the coast
convinced him that he wouid have
to conduct his survey from small
boats. .

After anchoring his ships
Discovery and Chatham in Birch
Bay on

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border on June 11, he set out ona
100-miie boat trip that brought
him around Point Grey, into Bur-
tard Inlet, on to Howe Sound and
up to Jervis Inlet.

Vancouver’s published journal
and a manuscript account kept by
Peter Puget provide a detailed
description of this venture and of
their contacts with the native peo-
ple whom they met immediatcly
after navigating the First Narrows:

**Here we met about 50 Indians,
in their canoes, who conducted
themselves with the greatest
decorum and civility, presenting
us with several fish ... These good
people, finding that we were in-
clined to make some return for
their hospitality, showed much
understanding in preferring iron
to copper. For the sake of the
company of our new friends, we
stood on under an easy sail, which
encouraged them to attend us
some little distance up the arm.””

Overnight June 13-14 was spent
at the head of the inlet: ‘‘The
shores in this situation were form-
ed by steep rocky cliffs that af-
forded no convenient space for
pitching our tent, which compelled
us to sleep in the boats. Some of
the “young gentlemen, however,
preferring the stoney beach for
their couch ... found themselves
incommoded by the flood tide ...
and one of them slept so sound
that ( believe he might have been
conveyed to some distance had he
not been awakened by his compa-
nions.”

Returning to his ships on June
21, Vancouver encountered the

. Sutil and Mexicana off Pcint Grey

and learned from Dionisio Alcala
Galiano the extent of Spanish ex-

.Plorations. Although ‘‘mortified’’

that others had preceded him into
the Gulf of Georgia, Vancouver
agreed with Galiano that they
should work together and share
their survey information.

VANCOUVER, GALIANO

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The Englishman told Galiano
that Burrard Inlet had proved to
be a dead end but that he had not
explored ‘‘opposite to our sleeping
place ... a small branch to which
we could discern the Termina-
tion.” This was Indian Arm,

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which actually curves north for a
considerable distance. Galiano’s
journal notes that he wished to
explore what Narvaez in 179! had
called the Canal! de Florida Blanca

‘*because no disadvantage could -

result from this and it would
augment the knowledge which we
intended to proffer to the
English.”* .

Consequently, two smal! boats
under the direction of Juan Ver-
nacci and Secundino Salamanca
entered Burrard Inlet on June 22.
Like the English, the Spaniards
encountered native people who
were ‘‘given presents and
greeted.’* They turned up Indian
Arm and discovered that ‘‘it ends
in a narrow river of fresh water of

“little depth ... where trees and

debris left no passage.”*

Thus ended this particular quest
for the fabled passage through the
continent.

The Spanish, however, were
much impressed by the landscape:
*“*The shores are steep and rocky,
with mountains of considerable
height, with a mantle of tall
close-spaced conifers and im-
penetrable underbrush. Many
streams of fresh water, and some
cascades, flowed from the melted
snow of these mountains ... The
mild temperature, the beauty and
lushness of the various greens, the
mulitude of clusters of wild roses
and several meadows with small
fruits, blackberries and gooseber-
ries, made it a delightful visit."”

Shortly after the Spanish boats
had ‘eft Burrard Inlet to rejoin
their ships, the English- ships were
seen coming north from Birch
Bay. Both exploring parties then
sailed on together.

Information about Indian Arm

. was transmitted to Vancouver who

added its configuration to his own
survey of Burrazd Inlet.

ft was one of many exchanges
of information provided by the
navigators to each other as they
pushed on to complete the first
European circumnavigation of
Vancouver Island, arriving in
Nootka Sound at the end of
August.” :
— Robin Inglis is director of
North Vancouver Museum and
Archives.

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