Vikings of the Pacific: The Adventures of the Explorers who Came from the West, EastwardLaut, Agnes C.
History
Vikings of the Pacific: The Adventures of the Explorers who Came from the West, Eastward
Laut, Agnes C.
America -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography; Northwest Coast of North America; Pacific Ocean
Gray and Kendrick now exchanged ships, Gray, who had proved himself the
swifter navigator, going on the _Columbia_, taking Haswell with him as
mate. In return for one hundred otter skins, Gray was to carry the
captured crew of the _Northwest-America_ to China for the Spaniards.
On July 30, 1789, he left Vancouver Island. Stop was made at Hawaii
for {229} provisions, and Atto, the son of a chief, boarded the
_Columbia_ to visit America. On December 6 the _Columbia_ delivered
her cargo of furs to Shaw & Randall of Canton, receiving in exchange
tea for Samuel Parkman, of Boston. It was February, 1790, before the
Columbia was ready to sail for Boston, and dropping down the river she
passed the _Lady Washington_, under Kendrick, in a cove where the gale
hid her from Gray.
[Illustration: John Derby, from the portrait by Gilbert Stuart, by
courtesy of the owner, Dr. George B. Shattuck.]
On August 11, 1790, after rounding Good Hope and touching at St.
Helena, Gray entered Boston. It was the first time an American ship
had gone round the world, almost fifty thousand miles, her log-book
showed, and salvos of artillery thundered a welcome. General Lincoln,
the port collector, was first on board to shake Gray's hand. The whole
city of Boston was on the wharf to cheer him home, and the explorer
walked up the streets side by side with Atto, the Hawaiian boy,
gorgeous in helmet and cloak of yellow plumage. Governor Hancock gave
a public reception to Gray. The _Columbia_ went to the shipyards to be
overhauled, and the shareholders met.
Owing to the glutting of the market at Canton, the sea-otter had not
sold well. Practically the venture of these glory seekers had not
ended profitably. The voyage had been at a loss. Derby and Pintard
sold out to Barrell and Brown. But the lure of glory, or the wilds, or
the venture of the unknown, was on the others. They decided to send
the _Columbia_ back at {230} once on a second voyage. Perhaps, this
time, she would find that great River of the West, which was to be to
the Pacific coast what the Hudson was to the East.
[Illustration: Map of Gray's two voyages, resulting in the discovery of
the Columbia.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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