hat can be imagined."

A fortnight was spent among the islands of this inlet, which "I have
distinguished by the name of Admiralty Inlet," and on 4th June 1792
they drank the health of the King, George III., in a double allowance
of grog, and on his fifty-fourth birthday took formal possession of
the country, naming the wider part of the strait the Gulf of Georgia
and the mainland New Georgia. The two ships then made their way through
the narrow and intricate channels separating the island of Vancouver
from the mainland of British Columbia, till at last, early in August,
they emerged into an open channel discovered by an Englishman four
years before and named Queen Charlotte's Sound. Numerous rocky islets
made navigation very difficult, and one day in foggy weather the
_Discovery_ suddenly grounded on a bed of sunken rocks. The _Chatham_
was near at hand, and at the signal of distress lowered her boats for
assistance. For some hours, says Vancouver, "immediate and inevitable
destruction presented itself." She grounded at four in the p.m. Till
two next morning all hands were working at throwing ballast overboard
to lighten her, till, "to our inexpressible joy," the return of the
tide floated her once more. Having now satisfied himself that this
was an island lying close to the mainland, Vancouver made for Nootka
Sound, where he arrived at the end of August.

[Illustration: VANCOUVER'S SHIP, THE _DISCOVERY_, ON THE ROCKS IN
QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. From a drawing in Vancouver's _Voyage_,
1798.]

At the entrance of the Sound he was visited by a Spanish officer with
a pilot to lead them to a safe anchorage in Friendly Cove, where the
Spanish ship, under one Quadra, was riding at anchor. Civilities were
interchanged "with much harmony and festivity. As many officers as
could be spared from the vessel, and myself dined with Senor Quadra,
and were gratified with a repast we had lately been little accustomed
to. A dinner of five courses, consisting of a superfluity of the best
provisions, was served with great elegance; a royal salute was fired
on drinking health to the sovereigns of England and Spain, and a salute
of seventeen guns to the success of the service in which the _Discovery_
and _Chatham_ were engaged." But when the true nature of Vancouver's
mission was disclosed, there was some little difficulty, for the
Spaniards had fortified Nootka, built houses, laid out gardens, and
evidently intended to stay. Vancouver se