Coming Ashore

It was just after midday on that July day in 1792 when the explorers anchored the Discovery at the southwestern tip of Quadra Island, off Cape Mudge. They were in sight of a village on a sandy cliff and eighteen canoes surrounded Captain Vancouver and several officers as they rowed ashore.

"On landing at the village...we were received by a man who appeared to the chief of the party. He approached us alone, seemingly with a degree of formality though with the utmost confidence in his own security, whilst the rest of the society, apparently numerous, were arranged and seated in the most peaceable manner before their houses. I made him such presents as seemed not only to please him excessively, but to confirm him in the good opinion with which he was prepossessed; and he immediately conducted us up to the village by a very narrow path winding diagonally up the cliff, estimated by us to be about an hundred feet in height. Close to the edge of this precipice stood the village, the houses of which were built after the fashion of Nootka, though smaller, not exceeding ten or twelve feet in height, nearly close together in rows, separated by a narrow passage sufficiently wide only for one person. On the beach, at the foot of the cliff, were about seventy canoes of small dimensions, though amongst them were some that would carry at least fifteen persons with great convenience."

Sir Joseph Banks commissioned Archibald Menzies, a botanist and physician, to travel with Vancouver and collect ethnographic data. Menzies described the people at Cape Mudge in detail:

"They were slender-bodied and of middling height. The women were "decently" covered with wool or cedar bark garments but many of the men went entirely naked without giving the least offence to the other Sex or shewing any apparent shame at their situation" Menzies wrote.

"Some people were adored with copper and shell ornaments pierced through their ears and the septa of their noses. Others had their hair puffed over with eagle down and their faces painted with red ochre and black glimmer that helped not a little to heighten their ferocious appearance."

There were about twelve houses at Cape Mudge, according to Menzies' count, and all were made from large planks and decorated with painted designs. Some of these abodes were big enough to accommodate several families. Menzies counted the canoes on the beach and estimated the village to have around 350 inhabitants.

The British explorers ended their visit with a walk along the flat benchland to the north of the village. Here they saw several grave houses, which were built from two-meter (seven-foot) planks.

"A few of the Indians attended us in our walk," wrote Vancouver, "picking berries from the trees as we passed, and with much civility presenting them to us on green leaves."

It was at 3:00 a.m. the next morning when the Discovery and the Chatham set sail again, taking advantage of an ebb tide and the continuing westerly breeze. They planned to anchor next at Menzies Bay where they would rendezvous with men Vancouver had sent ahead in the ships' boats so they could explore areas to the north. Vancouver watched the tide race through Seymour Narrows.

"The tide... rushes with such immense impetuosity as to produce the appearance of falls considerably high," Captain Vancouver wrote.

Thanks to the book, The Quadra Story, A History of Quadra Island by Jeanette Taylor for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Fabled Northwest Passage

Back in April, I spent four days at a hotel on the beautiful Quadra Island. This is the start of a series on the history of that gorgeous place. I hope you enjoy it.

Captain George Vancouver sailed through the Discovery Passage in 1792 and he probably didn't think much of the small, seemingly inhabitable island. Mountains soared on two skylines and trees stretched down to the water's edge. 

"An awful silence pervaded the gloomy forests," Vancouver wrote "whilst animated nature seemed to have deserted the neighbouring country."

These photos are of Quadra Island 

Vancouver and his men had a mission. They were to explore the coast of the Pacific Northwest in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, which would provide an easier route to travel to Asia for the silk and spice trade. What we now call Vancouver Island was of particular interest because it was uncharted territory and maybe, just maybe they would find this passage.

Captain Vancouver also had another task. He was to negotiate a resolution to a dispute with the Spanish over the possession of the northwest coast. 

Cayetano Valdes y Flores and Dionisio Alcala Galiano were sent by Spain on a similar mission in 1792 and the Spaniards met up with British near what is now Vancouver. The parties agreed to work together and traveled together to Desolation Sound. There they realized that the land mass to the west of Quadra Island was a large island so they split up. Vancouver headed towards the larger channels along the shores of Vancouver Island.

The 100-foot, thirty-meter Discovery, captained by George Vancouver, set sail on a clear July day. She crossed the top end of the Strait of Georgia and entered Discovery Passage. The consort ship, the Chatham, followed a short time later.

Numberless whales enjoying the season were playing about the ship in every direction, as were also several seals. The scene now before us was more congenial to our minds, not only from the different aspect of the shores, but from the attention of the friendly Indians, who, as we were crossing the gulf, visited us in several canoes, with young birds, mostly sea fowl, fish and some berries, to barter for our trinkets and other commodities. 

Thanks to the book, The Quadra Story, A History of Quadra Island by Jeanette Taylor for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill