JOHN KENDRICK AND His SONS 281
that many will feel inclined to accept Captain Gray's view that Kendrick was not "a nimble leader."
Upon his arrival at Nootka Sound, Kendrick appears to have entered into a Castle of Indolence. During the winter of 1788-9 no step was taken to prepare the Colum- bia for the next season's work. Indeed, the evidence, including therein Kendrick's own letters, clearly estab- lishes that on this first voyage, from beginning to end, the Columbia never cruised a single mile for furs, but lay inert at Nootka Sound from her arrival in September 1788 until her departure in July 1789, when she sailed for Clayoquot Sound to commence her voyage to China. 9
Captain Kendrick was somewhat of a diplomat. To the great surprise of the British he succeeded in saving his vessels from seizure in that eventful summer of 1789. He seems to have very deftly combined truth, falsehood, and flattery in his dealings with the courtly Don; al- though his story about his entry into Nootka Sound in distress and his pursuing a voyage of discovery did not in reality deceive the Spaniard, as Martinez plainly shows in his diary. While Martinez was embroiling Britain and Spain by the capture of Meares' vessels the Columbia swung peacefully and safely at anchor, and the Washing- ton flitted in and out of the harbor without interference. Even Metcalf 's vessel, the Fair American, did not escape the Spanish net; yet the Columbia and the Washington, which were specially mentioned in Martinez's instruc- tions, seemed to be covered by an aegis ; and not only so, but Kendrick actually obtained permission to continue trading on the coast during the following year. 10 This appears from Martinez's Diary: "Captain John Ken- drick informed me," says that diary, "that he had not completely carried out his commission, and asked me if he might operate on this coast next year after a trip to
9 Id., pp. 252, 257, 259. Hoskins Narrative MS., p. 8. Haswell's first Log of the Columbia, MS.
10 Manning's Nootka Sound Controversy, pp. 305, 330; Martinez Diary MS.
