Note 54 — Chapter III · THE SPANISH PLANS FOR OCCUPYING NOOTKA SOUND—THE CONFLICTING CLAIMS BEFORE 1789.

Martinez to Florez, San Blas, December 5, 1788. (MS. Arch. Gen. de Indias, Seville, 90-3-18.) La Perouse, of a French scientific expedition, had reported that Russian settlements were being made on the American continent north of California. The Spanish expedition was sent under a royal order of January 25, 1787. Martinez, of the Princesa, was in command, and Lopez de Haro, of the San Carlos, was subordinate. They reported six settlements, having in all about 500 inhabitants. An autograph copy of Martinez’s diary of this expedition, containing 213 pages, is in the same bundle as the above letter. It contains also the diary of Mendosia, second pilot. Greenhow, Oregon and California, 185, gives a short account of this voyage, which he says is based on a copy of Martinez’s diary obtained from the hydrographical office at Madrid. Bancroft, Northwest Coast, I, 184, also gives a brief account, likewise taken from a copy of Martinez’s diary.