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.
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