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NARVAEZ THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO SEE WEST VANCOUVER The first Nootka Convention was signed in 1790, but the Spanish were in no was prepared to relinguish their claim to the Pacific North West. Esteban Jose Marttnez. whose over-zealousness had precipitated the crisis was relieved of his office, and replaced by Francisco de Eliza, more reasonable but just as determined to maintain Spanish interests. On his arrival, he undertook a comprehensive exploration of the territories he hoped to preserve for Spain. Eliza left San Bias for Nootka in February 1790. By August, Salvador Fidalgo had been sent to explore the extent of Russian penetration into Alaskan waters, and Alferez Quimper to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Quimper's discoveries led to further exploration. He confirmed the existence of "El Estrecho de Juan de Fuca", right where it should have been; and charted possible harbours on both the north and south shores. He discovered the entrance to Puget Sound, but in naming it "Ensenada de Caamano" indicated he thought it a closed body of water - a bay and not a strait. He sighted the San Juan Islands but took them for part of the mainland. He saw but did not explore "El Canal de Lopez de Haro" (which we still call Haro Strait.) The following year, 1791, Eliza personally led a two ship expedition into Juan de Fuca Strait. He himself commanded the "San Carlos" and Don Jose Maria Narvaez commanded a smaller vessel, the "Santa Saturnina". Leaving on 4 May 1791, the ships separated to explore both Clayaquot and Barkley Sounds - seeking always the Northwest Passage. Reunited, the ships moved on to enter Juan de Fuca and to anchor in or near Victoria Harbour. It is as well, at this point, to put Narvaez into context. He was to Eliza what Broughton was to Vancouver - the commander of an auxiliary vessel, to receive credit and recognition only if his captain saw fit to bestow it. He might perform prodigous feats but he did them in the name of, and for the glory of his captain. In both cases, much of the bull work of surveying and sounding was done by the junior officers. With a sailing ship in unknown waters, a prudent captain exercises complete caution. He never puts his larger vessels at risk, the map making being done by smaller, more expendable craft - yawls, cutters, longboats. A lieutenant may spend days in a rowboat, mapping for the prestige of his captain and get no recognition at all - although both Eliza and Vancouver did recognize the work of their subordinates with place names like Fidalgo Passage and Puget Sound. Narvaez was not so recognized. From Victoria Harbour, a pilot was sent byshii'p"S sloop and longboat to explore Haro Strait. Juan Patoja was to determine that the San Juans were an archipelgo on his way to entering a vast expanse of water the Spanish named "El Gran Canal de Nuestra Senora del Rosario la Marinera", more prosaically Rosario Strait -and later Georgia Strait. On his return, Eliza moved his ships to an anchorage in "Puerta de Bodega y Quadra", now Port Discovery. From there, Narvaez was sent on the voyage that whould bring him in sight of West Vancouver. Narvaez was given the "Santa Saturnina" for his expedition. This was the vessel that John Meares had built at Nootka as the "British North American" and that had been seized by Martinez with three others in the dispute over possession and trading rights. The Spanish called it a galeta; we would call it a schooner. It had a length of 37 feet, a beam of 13 feet and a draft of S'A feet. With it went a long boat to be rowed by 12 men. The crew numbered 15 to 20 men. If Narvaez kept a log, it has not survived, but his charts are in the Spanish Archives. Lacking the log, we can only guess at his day by day progress, and