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yU/Mt f I /^ / NARVAEZ - FIRST WHITE MAN TO SEE WEST VANCOUVER. â-  The first Nootka Convention signed by Britain and Spain in 1790, is generally re- garded as marking the end of Spanish control over the north-west coast of North America. In fact, while Spain debated the conflictinq interpretations of the treaty in Europe, her citizens in the area set about to establish the primacy of the Spanish claim. This they did by re-occupying Nootka, and from there, em- barking on an extensive program of exploratiofi, of which our story is but a small part. In 1790, Francisco de Eliza, with a fleei of three vessels, was sent to occupy Nootka and to explore. He sent Fidalgo north to determine the extent of Russian control; and Manuel Ouimper south to investigate "El Estrecho de Juan de Fuca". Ouinper did a good job. He charted all possible harbours on both sides of the strait, of which we can single out Sooke Inlet, Royal Roads, Esquirnalt on the north shore, and New Dungenes, and Port Discovery on the south. He saw the mouth of Puget Sound, but thinking it only a bay, he named it "Ensenado de Caamano"' Creek of Caamano, and turned north, leaving the waterway to Seattle unexplored. He s-aw the islands of San Juan as a solid land mas^ and noted the entrance to a strait he named "Canal de Lopez de Haro" after his second in command. Eliza found the possibilities in a strait leading north so promising that in 1791, he mounted a considerable expedition to look further. On his way south, he divided his expedition to explore both Clayaquot and Barkley Sounds before setting anchor near present day Victoria. From there, Jose Verdia went up Haro Strait until he reached a vast sound to be given the grand name "Canal de Nuestra Senora del Roserio la Marinera", which Vancouver was to call Georgia Strait. On Verdia's return, Eliza transferred his base the south shore at "Puerto de Bodega y Quadra", now Port Discovery. And from here he sent out Jose Maria Narvaez on the expedition which was to bring him in sight of the West Vancouver coast. Narvaez wasgiventhe smallest of the Spanish vessels, the Santa Saturnina, which had been built by the Englishman Meares for use in coastal trade, and which had been seized by Martinez in 1789. It was a galeta, or schooner, with a length of 37 feet, a beam of 13 feet, and a draft of SVz feet. With it went a long boat to be rowed by twelve men. The crew numbered 15 to 20. Apparently Narvaez was ex- pected to expand his exploration by using both boats separately but there is no indication that he did so. There are problems in tracing the explorations of Narvaez. His charts are in the Spanish Archives, but his log is not, and we therefore can not be sure of his day by day progress, when or if he set foot on shore, or of his comments on what he saw. His charts are incorporated in the map CARTA QUE COMPREHENDE which accom- panies this article, and part of his report is repeated by Eliza in his commun- ications with Spain. Major J.S. Matthews has taken all available evidence and made a. "surmise" , which is probably as accurate as any surmise can be. What follows isMaUhew's outline of Narvaez' voyage, with what is speculation indicated. Second Pilot Jose f^aria Narvaez left Puerto Quadra on 1 July 1791, with instruc- tions to explore the coast of the mainland between 48° and 50° North Latitude. Within ten miles, he passed the entrance to "Ensenado de Caamano" but left it to be explored later, just as Quimper had done. He moved north along the west side of Whidbey Island, which he quite reasonably thought was the mainland. On his chart he marked a "Boca de Flan" - the entrance or mouth of a river Flan. We know this to be the strait between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands which Capt. Van- couver was to name Deception Pass. Narvaez understandably thought it the mouth W.