Vancouver held that it entailed the surrender of Spain's sovereignty
from San Francisco northward. Don Quadra maintained that it only
surrendered Spanish rights north of Juan de Fuca, leaving the northwest
coast free to all nations for trade. With Vancouver it was all or
nothing. Don Quadra then suggested that letters be sent to Spain and
England for more specific instructions. For this purpose Lieutenant
Broughton was to be despatched overland across Mexico to Europe. It
was at this stage that Robert Gray came down from the north on the
damaged _Columbia_, to receive assistance from Quadra. Within three
weeks Gray had sailed for Boston, Don Quadra for New Spain, and
Vancouver to the south, to examine that Columbia River of Gray's before
proceeding to winter on the Sandwich Islands.
The three English ships hauled out of Nootka in the middle of October,
steering for that new river of Gray's, of which Vancouver had expressed
such doubt. The foaming reefs of Cape Disappointment were sighted and
the north entrance seen just as Gray had described it.
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