Trading voyages of 1788 Preparations Douglas was an officer on
Nootka during Meares's first fur trading voyage to the
Pacific Northwest coast from 1786 to 1787. In 1788, in
Macau, China, Meares formed a partnership of several merchants and captains, and purchased two new vessels, the
snows Felice Adventurer and
Iphigenia Nubiana—generally called
Felice and
Iphigenia. Meares took command of
Felice. He made Douglas captain of
Iphigenia and second in command of the expedition, noting in his later account that Douglas "was well acquainted with the coast of America". While Douglas was exploring the coast from Alaska to Nootka Sound, Meares would explore south along today's Washington and Oregon coasts. By this plan the two ships would be able to explore the whole coast from
Spanish California to the
Bering Sea. At the time the Pacific Northwest coast was still largely unexplored. Only its general shape and a few small harbors such as Nootka Sound had been charted. The possibility that a
Northwest Passage might exist was taken seriously. Meares hoped to find it. In August Meares took
Felice on another fur trading cruise, this time to
Clayoquot Sound. He returned to Nootka Sound on 24 August. On August 26
Iphigenia was spotted. Captain Douglas anchored in Nootka Sound on the 27th.
Northern voyage As planned, Douglas had crossed the North Pacific to the Aleutian Islands. He entered
Cook Inlet and
Prince William Sound in Alaska, then cruised south, trading for furs along the way. Meares wrote that Douglas's voyage had confirmed that there was a "Great Northern Archipelago"—today's
Alexander Archipelago and
British Columbia Coast—and that earlier voyages had been exploring offshore islands rather than the mainland.
North West America was ready for sea a few weeks after Meares had left Nootka Sound. Captain Douglas, in preparing to sail, had all the tools and supplies on shore loaded onto
Iphigenia and
North West America. He also had his men tear down the "house" that Meares had built, not knowing, or not caring that Meares had promised to give it to the natives. Douglas gave some of the planks to
John Kendrick, the American captain of
Columbia Rediviva, which had arrived at Nootka Sound shortly after
Lady Washington. Douglas traded some cannons to Kendrick in exchange for additional provisions. Kendrick's longboats towed Douglas's ships out of Nootka Sound. After the British ships left, the local natives who had been very skittish since the Americans arrived, suddenly came in great numbers and soon a friendly trading relationship was established. According to the journals and logs of the Americans, Douglas and his men had treated the local natives very poorly—repeatedly taking food and provisions from them under the threat of force.
Wintering in the Hawaiian Islands On 27 October 1788
Iphigenia and
North West America, under Douglas and Funter, left Nootka Sound for the Hawaiian Islands, where they spent the winter. The purpose was to avoid the unpleasant winter storms of the Pacific Northwest coast and for "refreshment". They arrived off the Hawaiian island of Maui on December 6. From there they sailed to the island of
Hawaii. News of the return of Kaiana spread and many of his friends and relatives came to the ships to visit with him. Douglas anchored the ships in
Kealakekua Bay. Other than
Queen Charlotte, under Captain
George Dixon, and
King George, under
Nathaniel Portlock,
Iphigenia and
North West America were the first European ships to visit Kealakekua Bay since
James Cook was killed there.
Kamehameha I came to
Iphigenia on December 10. In 1795 Kamehameha established the
Kingdom of Hawaii over most of the islands, but in 1788 was still struggling to gain control over the island of Hawaii. Kamehameha gave Douglas a large fan and two full-length cloaks made from the feathers of
mamo and
ʻŌʻō birds (both now extinct). Later, Douglas gave these cloaks to Captain Robert Gray, who in turn gave them to
Esteban José Martínez. Douglas found that over the winter Kendrick had built a trading outpost, which he called Fort Washington. It had a house, a gun battery, a blacksmith forge, and various outbuildings. Douglas also learned that the Americans had already taken the winter's furs, arranged trading commitments from the village of Nootka Sound, gathered furs to the south, and were about to head north. Douglas knew he had to send
North West America trading to the north as soon as possible. On April 21 Douglas recorded the death of Acchon Aching. His body was taken ashore for burial—the first known case of an Asian, probably Chinese, dying and being buried in the Pacific Northwest.
North West America was never returned to the British, it became a Spanish ship, renamed
Santa Gertrudis la Magna and, later,
Santa Saturnina. The small vessel was used by the Spanish for several exploration voyages, including
José María Narváez's discovery and exploration of the
Strait of Georgia in 1791.
Northern trading After changing course on June 2 Douglas took
Iphigenia north to the area he had traded in the year before—
Hecate Strait,
Dixon Entrance, the
Alexander Archipelago, and
Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), trading with the natives for sea otter furs. On the north coast of
Graham Island Douglas stopped at
Kiusta, the village of the Haida chief
Cuneah (or "Blakow-Coneehaw"). Upon arrival the chief, who had met Douglas the year before, came aboard while 200 villagers sang songs. Cuneah honored Douglas by "exchanging names". Despite some tension and dangerous incidents between the Haida and the crew of
Iphigenia, Douglas and Cuneah departed on very friendly terms. On June 23 Douglas took
Iphigenia to "Tartanee", which Douglas described as a populous Haida village of "great wooden images". For several days the crew traded with the Haida, during which time Douglas noted a garden that had probably been planted by the American Robert Gray. Douglas assisted by planting beans. By late June
Iphigenia was completely out of trade goods and all other items desired by the Haida, such as clothes, pots, kettles, and metal items in general. Most of Douglas's trade goods had been seized by Martínez at Nootka Sound. Nonetheless when
Iphigenia reached the open ocean on 28 June 1789 Douglas had 760 prime sea otter skins in the hold—far more than the 60-70 he had when leaving Nootka Sound a month before.
Voyage to China Douglas set sail for Hawaii, unaware that during the month since he left Nootka Sound two other ships of the Associated Merchants,
North West America and
Princess Royal, had been detained by Martínez at Nootka Sound, and within a week James Colnett and
Argonaut would also be seized, triggering the
international incident known as the
Nootka Crisis.
Iphigenia arrived at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii on July 20, where the Hawaiians attempted to capture the ship, probably with Kamehameha's approval. By July 28
Iphigenia was anchored at
Waikiki on Oahu. Completely out of articles of trade the crew began cutting up rudder chains to exchange for provisions. After cruising to other islands and stocking up on fresh water and yams, Douglas had
Iphigenia set sail for China on August 10. The voyage to Macau was uneventful and
Iphigenia arrived on 5 October 1789. In Macau Douglas met with Meares and gave him his first report about the clash with the Spaniards in Nootka Sound. It was an incomplete report because
Iphigenia had left before the other British ships had arrived and been seized. Nonetheless, Douglas's report helped set Britain on the course toward an international crisis. Not long after Douglas reached Macau the American ship
Columbia arrived, under Robert Gray, who brought an account of the later events of the Nootka Crisis. ==Captain of
Grace==