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 1 a line of white water more sweet than salt." Narvaez could not see his river mouth, but six miles out to sea he could taste the sweetness of its water. Would he have checked the water while travelling six miles had he not known that there was a great river somewhere near? We will never know for sure. In any event, Narvaez passed by the mouth of the Fraser without discerning it and went on to anchor under the cliffs of Point Grey. The next day, Mathews surmises that from the anchorage, Narvaez saw Indian canoes emerge from the apparently solid treeline on the shore opposite. Where a canoe can come out, a long boat can go in. With his twelve oarsmen bending their backs, Narvaez aimed at the spot and so entered the North Arm of the Fraser. Going upstream, he would see the Indian village of Musqueam on his left and Sea Island on his right. And of course, in time, he would come to the place where the river forks on either side of the is- land. He took the second fork to return to the sea. Did he do this? Yes, says Major Mathews, he must have. On his own chart, Narvaez has delineated Sea Island accurately, something he could not have done unless he had sailed around it. But he would have realized that what he had found was not the mouth of his great river- the two arms could not have given the volume of water necessary to make the sea taste sweet for six miles six miles off the shore. Leaving the riddle of his river unsolved, Narvaez moved around Point Grey into English Bay. Almost at once there would have been an alarm. The leadsman would report only four braza and shallowing rapidly. Another anchorage, only three miles from the last, this time on the edge of Spanish Banks. Again Narvaez would leave his ship in safe moorage and carry on his investigations by long boat. His chart indicates he found the entrance to False Creek and turned in, hoping it might be the mouth of his Florida Blanca. It would soon be apparent that it was not, but it did seem to extend to open water on the far side. This would explain why Narvaez named Point Grey "isla de Langara", an error Galiano would correct in 1792, renaming it "Punta de Langara." Back at sea, Narvaez passed Ferguson Point, which he named "Punta de la Bodega" and rowed on to the vicinity of Siwash Rock. On this strtch, he could look back amd see the Squamish village of E-yal-mu at the foot of Discovery Street at Jeri- cho Beach. Because of its position in relation to the sheltering trees, this is the only position from which it could be seen, a circumstance important because it establishes his presence near Siwash Rock. His position is further established because he has marked on his map to the north a small river, and, on its east bank, an Indian village - the Capilano and the village of Homulchesun. But he went no further because he did not see the en- trance to Burrard Inlet. There is a good reason. Stanley Park in those days had trees to the water line, and those trees melded with the trees on the North Shore. To Narvaez, the shore curved round without a break and he saw no reason to have his men row further. After he had returned to the Santa Saturnina, he obviously headed across the bay towards Atkinson Point and so missed the First Narrows again. Narvaez was to add Bowen Island to his chart, and to nose into Howe Sound which he named Bocas del Carmelo. He apparently identified the main body of water as "El Gran Canal de Nuestra Senora Rosario", from previous explorations, and there- fore turned south. We can not be sure of his return route. If he went down Haro Strait, he would be retracing previous work, but he may have done so to check on observations. Warren, however suggests that he was in something of a rush, having run low on food. Howbeit, he arrived back in Puerta de Quadra on 22 July 1791. In his voyage, he had become the first white man to see the coast of British Columbia, for which he deserves some recognition. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT An article by J.S. MaSthewsin VANCOUVER HISTORICAL JOURNAL, No.4 January 1961 WEST VANCiJJVcR MEMURIAI LIUKAH-^