PREFACE THE Sources for a work of this kind are not easily accessible. Part of them have been printed in journals and voyages, the books being long since out of print and rare; but by far the greater portion of the sources are in the public and private archives in England and Spain. To search these and to glean from them the information needed, to gather the portraits wanted from public and private collections, to verify obscure or disputed items, these have been the hardest tasks. The kindest encouragement and the most faithful assistance have been received from far and near. The names of most of these helpers are mentioned here with this expression of sincere gratitude. The late Mr. Frank George of Bristol freely volunteered to supervise the researches in England. Under his direction, Mr. Frederick V. James of 24 Belgrave Road, South Norwood, S.E., proved a most valuable and painstaking worker. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were exceedingly gracious in making available the vast store of documents in the Public Records Office and in other departments under their control. Equally kind were the Elder Brethren and the officers of Trinity House during the search for information about old Dungeness. The Director of Greenwich Hospital gave special permission to obtain a photograph of the monument to Lord Hood and others in the old cemetery. The officers of the Linnean Society in London gave their consent for a special photograph to be made of Archibald Menzies, the naturalist of Vancouver's expedition. Officers of the National Portrait Gallery also granted favors. Many of the photographs used are copyrighted, the right being secured to use them in this work for England and America. These excellent photographs were made by Augustin Rischgitz, Linden Gardens, Bayswater, W.; Walker & Cockrell, 16 Clifford's Inn, London, E.C.; F. W. Reader, Aldenham Road, Watford; W. Heath & Co., 24 George Street, Plymouth; and H. Goulton-May, II Hill Rise, Richmond, S.W. Professor J. K. Laughton, 9 Pepys Road, Wimbledon, the historian, whose fine work on the lives of naval men in the "Dictionary of National Biography" has been of immense help, gave some special attention to the effort to find information about Admiral Peter Puget. Rev. W. H. Oxley, Vicar of Petersham Parish, gleaned all that was possible to find about the burial place of Vancouver. W. H. K. Wright, Borough Librarian at Plymouth, assisted in tracing up the facts about Lieutenant Zachary Mudge. Stillwell & Sons, 42 Pall Mall, London, searched the old ledger accounts of Puget for some possible sidelight on his life. In Spain the greatest help was rendered by Mr. Cesareo Fernandez Duro, Secretary of the Royal Academy of History, who responded nobly to the request for information about Bodega y Quadra. In British Columbia Sir Henri Joly G. de Lotbiniere, former Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, encouraged the work and personally paid the Canadian customs duty on the monument at Nootka. R. E. Gosnell, former Secretary of the Bureau of Provincial Information, gave useful hints about the location and meaning of geographic names. Rev. Father A. J. Brabant of Hesquiat, Vancouver Island, freely contributed from his knowledge acquired during thirty years of missionary work among the Indians. Professor George Davidson, the veteran geographer of the Pacific Coast, President of the Geographical Society of the Pacific, Professor of Geography in the University of California, and a member of many learned societies throughout the world, has been of great help through his book |