Not so Gray. He
headed the _Columbia_ north again for the summer's trade in what is now
known as southern Alaska. Only damages to the _Columbia_ drove her
down to Nootka in July, where Don Quadra, the new Spanish commander,
and Captain Vancouver were in conference over those English ships
seized by Martinez. To Quadra, Gray sold the little _Adventure_,
pioneer of American shipbuilding on the Pacific, for seventy-five otter
skins. From Spanish sources it is learned Gray's cargo had over three
thousand otter skins, and fifteen thousand other peltries; so the
second voyage may have made up for the loss of the first.
[Illustration: At the Mouth of the Columbia River.]
On October 3 the _Columbia_ left America for China; and on July 29,
1793, came to the home harbor of Boston. Sometime between 1806 and
1809, Gray died in South Carolina, a poor man. It is doubtful if his
widow's petition to Congress ever materialized in a reward for any of
his descendants. Kendrick, eclipsed by his brilliant assistant, was
accidentally killed in Hawaii by the wad of a gun fired by a British
vessel to salute the _Lady Washington_.
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