Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/51

JAMES COLNETT AND THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" and powder, which I cannot give at present; I am plenti- fully supplied and so have decided not to delay, as I have to be at Macao in two months. James Colnett. April 1. Farther along in his account of his operations at the Hawaiian Islands, Quimper states that the Argonaut, with Colnett in command, sailed from the island of Niihau for China at half past two on the afternoon of April 17. 12 Captain Joseph Ingraham, of the Brigantine Hope, while off the west side of the island of Hawaii in May, 1791, received from the same chief Kaiana, a paper on which were written two certificates. The second of these certificates, as Ingraham copied it, reads as follows: NB. The above was obtained from Lieut. Kemp com- manding the Sloop Pss Royall (belonging to the Hon. South Sea Company, of England) and captur'd by the Spaniards in Nootka Sound in July 1789 and at this time navigating under Spanish colours and a pasport to Manila and from thence to Macao to be deliver'd up to the owners agents residing there—Capn. Colonett of the Argonaute who was also captur'd with the Sloop Pss Royall and de- tain'd till the 1 June 1790 prisoners togeather with the Officers and crews of both vessells—Was then liberated and the Officers and crews of both vessels were order'd on board the Argonaute to proceed to Nootka and take possession of the Princess Royall she being then employed in the Spanish service — The Argonaute proceeded to Nootka but the Pss Ropall had sail'd after a series of mis- fortunes and the loss of 34 men. 18 of which deserted & died in Spanish prison the other 16 died or were drown'd on the coast of America—Since the Liberation of the Argonaute she arrived in the bay of Tirooa [Kailua] Owhyhee—where the Pss Royall was then riding. Capn. Colonett has also been treated by Tianna [Kaiana] and Maiha' Maiha (Tommahommahaw) [Kamehameha] in every respect as he wish'd everything the Island produced being at his command Argonaute 4 April 1791. 13 12 Manuel Quimper to Viceroy Revilla Gigedo, July 15, 1791. A . G . I. (Seville), Estado, Aud. Mexico, Leg. 1 . Copy in Bancroft Library. 13 Joseph Ingraham,Journal of the Voyage of the Brigantine "Hope" (MS), entry for May 23, 1791. I have assumed that this certficate was written by Colnett himself, though if that is the case Ingraham has altered the orthography somewhat in copying it. It is of course possible that the certificate was written by some other person on the Argonaut, but that would not lessen its value in the present connection.