Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795)

Origin

Several previous voyages of exploration including those of Ferdinand Magellan and James Cook, and the Spanish Manila-Acapulco galleons trade route active since 1565, had established the strategic and commercial value of exploring and claiming the Pacific Ocean access, 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 the Southern Pacific whale fisheries, and in particular the locations of the strategically positioned Australia, New Zealand, the legendary (and non-existent) Isla Grande, and the Northwest Passage. A new ship was purchased, fitted out, and named HMS Discovery after one of Cook's ships. Her captain was Henry Roberts and Vancouver his 1st Lieutenant.

Plans changed when the adventurer John Meares reported that the Spanish had impounded his ship and seized 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 waged war against Spain and seemed ready to resume hostilities; the Parliament readied the fleet in the Nootka Crisis. Roberts and Vancouver left Discovery to serve in the Channel Fleet while Discovery became a depot ship for processing those taken in by the press gang.

1791

On 1 April 1791, Discovery and Chatham set sail from Falmouth, England. They reached Santa Cruz in Tenerife on 28 April; this was intended as a rest stop and opportunity to study the botany of the region, but ended in a drunken brawl in which several members of the crew were thrown into the bay or suffered injuries.

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

On 29 September, they landed in Australia, at what Vancouver named King George the Third's Sound. They quickly surveyed the south coast of Australia and landed at Dusky Sound, New Zealand on 2 November for resupplying and botanising, before departing on 21 November. The ships proceeding separately, both discovered the sub-Antarctic Snares Islands (23 November) which Vancouver considered a severe shipping hazard (hence, the name). En route to Tahiti, the crew of Chatham furthermore discovered the Chatham Islands (29 November) before reaching Tahiti on 26 December; Discovery meanwhile discovered Rapa Iti (which Vancouver called "Oparo") and arrived at Tahiti on 30 December.

1792

He had been a young midshipman on Cook's fatal landing 13 years earlier, so avoided coming ashore at Kealakekua Bay. He was disturbed by the frequent request for firearms, and tried to avoid escalating the ongoing civil war, spending the winter in Oʻahu, where, however, three of his men were killed in a skirmish (or possibly following it; taken to Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau to be ritually sacrificed).

He made arrangements for his tiny fleet to winter and re-supply in Hawaiʻi for the duration of the expedition.

Discovery and Chatham proceeded to North America. On 16 April they made landfall at about 39°N and started a detailed survey northward. On 28 April, 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.

In June 1792, Discovery and Lieutenant Broughton's Chatham lay anchored in a bay they named Birch Bay. Historians believe that HMS Chatham lost a 900 lb. anchor off Whidbey Island on 9 June 1792. In June 2014, an anchor was raised and will be assessed to see if it is actually the sole remaining relic of Vancouver's 1792 voyage into Puget Sound.

1793

During their winter in Hawaii, the Discovery sailed around the north side of the Island of Hawaiʻi, and the Chatham the south, meeting at Kealakekua Bay.

Vancouver left some cattle, sheep, and more plants that Menzies had collected in California. He met the former British sailor John Young, now an advisor to Kamehameha who acted as an interpreter and helped negotiate with King Kamehameha (I). Vancouver conducted surveys of the islands while Menzies collected specimens.

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 would enable the crews to continue their survey of one of the most complex coasts in the world, proceeding as far north as 56°30'N on the west coast of North America, exploring until weather ended their 1793 survey season.

They reached Fitz Hugh Sound on 26 May, arriving at what Vancouver named Restoration Cove two days later. Vancouver, with two of the boats, explored Cascade, Cousins and Roscoe Inlets and Fisher and Dean Channels, while Johnstone explored Burke Channel and North and South Bentinck Arms. The former, in passing the north point of what he named King Island, proved its insular nature. The day before leaving Restoration Cove (10 June), Johnstone was again sent out to explore.

1794

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

Vancouver continued to negotiate with Kamehameha; on 25 February, the King made a formal proclamation of accession, declaring that they were "Tanata no Britanee" (People of Britain). Historians have argued that the Hawaiians regarded the agreement as the establishment of a protectorate. Vancouver presented Kamehameha with a British flag which flew unofficially as Hawaii's flag until 1816. 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 armaments may have aided Kamehameha's decisive victory at Battle of Nu'uanu, allowing him to unify the islands.

The expedition left Hawaiʻi for the final time on 15 March 1794. They spent late April and early May charting the furthest reaches of what Vancouver renamed Cook Inlet; Vancouver himself reached the head of Knik Arm, while Whidbey reached the head of Turnagain Arm. The last days of May and the second half of June were spent charting Prince William Sound: Whidbey the western half to Bligh Island, and Johnstone from there east and southwards.

1795

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

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 Valparaíso in the Viceroyalty of Peru and present day Chile, on 25 March for five weeks of repairs with the help of the Spanish. The expedition's officers enjoyed an official visit to the Capitan General and Royal Governor of Chile, Don Ambrosio O'Higgins de Vallenar, at the capital Santiago.

On 5 May, Discovery and Chatham sailed from Valparaíso, 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.

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. Thomas Pitt challenged Vancouver to a duel and attempted to beat him on a London streetcorner. Vancouver was no match for the political opponents ranged against him, and he was dying as well. His massive cartographical work was a few hundred pages short of completion at his death on 10 May 1798, but was finished by Puget.

Geopolitically, the expedition reduced Spanish influence in the Pacific Northwest and helped define the boundaries of the Oregon boundary dispute nearly a century later. It also assisted in the unification of the Kingdom of Hawai'i, which lasted until it was overthrown by pro-American elements in 1893. The expedition left the world hundreds, perhaps thousands, of place-names and plant species names.