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jAMfes COLNETT AND THE "PRINCESS ROYAL Asiatic Company. The Spanish crew of the Princess Royal could then return to Mexico in the Acapulco ship and avoid the necessity of purchasing another vessel. This would be better, since ships brought from Asia had proved very expensive on account of the repairs that were always required. He accordingly gave the necessary orders to have this plan carried out. 23 The Princess Royal sailed from San Bias for Manila on February 14, 1791, in command of Ensign Manuel Quimper. By this voyage three distinct objects were to be accomplished. First, and of primary importance, was the delivery of the ship to her owners or their agents at Canton. Viceroy Revilla Gigedo wrote to the governor of the Philippines, Don Felix Berenguer, giving him ex- plicit instructions on this point. The delivery was to be effected by the factors of the Spanish Asiatic Company. At the same time the Viceroy wrote a letter to the owners of the Princess Royal, explaining why it had been im- possible to deliver the vessel to her master at Nootka Sound and requesting, in case they had any further claims to present on this account, that they address them directly to the king of Spain, who would see that justice was done. Secondly, Quimper was commissioned to make an ex- ploration of the Sandwich Islands. The Commandant at San Bias, Don Juan de la Bodega y Quadra, had repre- sented to the Viceroy the desirability and convenience of such an exploration, which could be accomplished on this voyage without any particular loss on time. At the same time it would be possible to get some information about a Spanish ship that was said to have been lost at those islands in 1783 or 1784. Quimper was instructed to find out regarding the commerce, situation, and natural prod- ucts of the Sandwich Islands and to secure the good favor of the inhabitants by kind treatment and by gifts of 23 Revilla Gigedo to Floridablanca (No. 16), (from Mexican Archives) in Bancroft Library. Nov.