remuneration from the Spanish government, and to better his fortunes in foreign service, died at an advanced age in his native country. Although great discredit was, in former times, thrown upon the above account, by reason of some errors, arising, perhaps, from mistakes on the part of Lock, or from a failure of the old pilot's memory, modern historians consider it reliable in its more important particulars. That the navigators should have supposed themselves in the Atlantic, after sailing many days to the eastward, through a hitherto unexplored channel, was the natural result of the established theory respecting the geography of North America. The southern passage between Vancouver's Island and the main, which he was, in all probability, the first to enter, still bears the name by which the Greek Pilot was commonly known-his real name, according to the note before cited, being Apostolos Valerianos. Partly because of an error in the latitude, occurring in the account of Juan de Fuca, many explorers of the north-west coast pronounced positively that no such channel as he described could exist. As late as 1778, Captain Cook, in the Resolution, made unavailing search for the straits. Three years previous, (on the 15th of August, 1775,) the mouth of the Columbia had been, for the first time, discovered by Bruno Heceta, then in command of an expedition fitted out for exploration at San Blas. He supposed that it might be the strait described by Juan de Fuca, but the strength of the current, which prevented him from entering, seemed to favor the opinion that it was the mouth of a large river. It was laid down on Spanish charts, as Heceta's inlet, or the river of San Roque. The second discovery of the strait was made by Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, sailing in the employ of the Austrian East India Company, in 1787. In the summer of the same year, a company of Boston merchants sent out two vessels, the Columbia and Washington, to engage in the fur-trade on the north-west coast, with the special object of procuring a cargo which could be advantageously exchanged for China goods. One of these vessels, as is supposed, was the first to enter the mouth of the river Columbia. After the cession of the territory of Louisiana to the United States, and the exploration of the country by Lewis and Clarke, it was considered very desirable to found a permanent settlement somewhere near the entrance of the Columbia, for the purpose of trading in furs. With this object, an association, called the "Pacific Fur Company," was formed in 1810, by the exertions of John Jacob Astor, a merchant of great wealth, residing in the city of New York. This distinguished and enterprising financier had long been engaged in trade with the interior of North America, as well as in very extensive maritime adventures, and his plans were, at this juncture, to establish such a system of communication, and such permanent dépôts for trade, as should secure to the company of which he was the most prominent member, a complete monopoly of the fur-trade, by means of the two great outlets at the east and west, the Missouri and the Columbia. Ships were accordingly dispatched to the north-west coast, and in the summer of 1811 a settlement was commenced at Point George, about ten miles from the sea, on the left bank of the Columbia, and was named Astoria. Trade seemed to open prosperously, and the Indians brought in considerable quantities of furs, &c., to barter for eastern commodities. The Tonquin, in which the first party came out, pursuing her course northward, anchored near the strait of Juan de Fuca, and commenced a trade with the Indians, who thronged about her in their canoes. The temptation to plunder being, it is supposed, too great to be resisted, the natives took the oppor tunity of some affront which was offered them, to fall upon and massacre the crew. The vessel was blown up, possibly by some few of the whites who had retreated to the cabin, and had defended themselves as long as possible. The only survivor was an Indian interpreter, who, after being detained two years a captive, was set at liberty, and carried information of the above particulars to Astoria. The breaking out of war with England, in 1812, proved. ruinous to the American enterprise at Astoria. To avoid seizure and total loss of the company effects, the partners resident on the Columbia effected a sale of the whole establishment, with the furs, &c., there stored, to the British NorthWest Company. The English sloop-of-war Racoon, shortly after the conclusion of this negotiation, arrived at the mouth of the river, and the commander was excessively indignant at the transfer, which had deprived him of what he had looked upon as a certain prize. After the restoration of jurisdiction over Astoria to the United States, the British traders, who occupied under the above-mentioned purchase, continued to reside at the settlement and carry on their traffic in furs. It is not our purpose to enter into a discussion of the long and wearisome dispute between England and the United States relative to our north-western boundary. Such conflicts of national interest are almost universally settled either in accordance with the maxim, that "might makes right;" or, where the respective powers are equally formidable, and the interest of both precludes a resort to arms, by mutual concessions. That strange and uncertain system of maxims and usages, known as the Law of Nations, tends too often rather to obscure than elucidate the questions in dispute. By the treaty of 1818, the territories west of the Rocky Mountains claimed by the United States or Great Britain, were to be jointly occupied by citizens of either country, for a period of ten years. Upon the expiration of this term, (in 1828,) the arrangement was renewed and indefinitely extended, one year's notice to be given by either government prior to any future assertion of sole sovereignty. As the attention of the United States became aroused by the progress of emigration to Oregon, the necessity for some definitive settlement of the boundary question began to be universally felt. Subsequent to the explorations and surveys under Colonel Frémont, elsewhere narrated, great numbers of settlers, during the summers of 1843 and 1844, pursued the ⚫ overland route, and settled in the Willamet valley. The number of American emigrants in Oregon, at the close of the latter year, is computed at more than three thousand, and great sympathy was felt for them throughout the Union, in consideration of the hardships they had endured, and the uncertainty of their position while the right of jurisdiction over the country remained unsettled. After a prolonged negotiation, a treaty was signed by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and the United States, on the 15th of June, 1846, by the provisions of which, the line of the forty-ninth parallel of latitude was to be continued westward, as the boundary between the territories of their respective governments, as far as the centre of the channel separating Vancouver's Island from the continent, thence through the straits of Fuca to the ocean; reserving the right of navigation to citizens of the United States in all those waters south of the forty-ninth degree of latitude. The free navigation of the Columbia was also secured to British subjects, from the territory of their own government through the main northern tributary to the sea. The rights of private property belonging to British subjects, were to be respected, with certain exceptions relating to appropriation of land for public purposes, in which case property so taken was to be paid for at a valuation. The climate of Oregon is much milder than that of the eastern border of the North American continent, even in much lower latitudes, and the fertility of the soil offers great inducements to an agricultural population. Although the excitement attendant upon the gold discoveries in the contiguous state of California has turned the tide of emigration in that direction, Oregon continues steadily to increase in population, and her progress, if not as rapid as that of her rival, is based upon permanent natural resources. CALIFORNIA. DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF THE PENINSULA OF OLD CALIFORNIA- THE early history of both Upper and Lower California derives its principal interest from the picture it presents of spiritual influence acquired by zealous and self-devoted missionaries over the rude and unsophisticated aborigines. The mountainous and barren peninsula, to which alone the name of California was at first applied, was partially explored in the early period of Spanish rule in Mexico, and various futile attempts, resulting only in useless expenditure of lives and money, were made to plant colonies upon it. Grijalva, in command of an expedition fitted out by Cortez, first discovered the country in the year 1534, and the great conqueror, in person, followed up the discovery by an exploration of the gulf. A knowledge of the western coast was gradually acquired by the Spaniards as far north as the forty-third degree of latitude, but no successful attempt at settlement was made until near the close of the seventeenth century. At that period the work was undertaken by the enthusiastic devotees connected with the wonderful society of the Jesuits. Father Kühn, (a name rendered as Kino by Spanish historians,) who had formerly been a mathematical professor at Ingoldstadt, and who had come over as a missionary to America, in fulfillment of a |