FEDERAL RELATIONS OF OREGON 97 plored farther north, up to about 60 N. L., especially seeking the supposed passage to the northwest denominated the Strait of Anian. In addition to these expeditions more information was ob- tained as a result of the zeal of several English and American traders, as well as by a French expedition which made some examination of the coasts southward from 56 in the summer of 1791. Among the American adventurers was Captain Rob- ert Gray again. He left Boston in September, 1791, again in command of the Columbia, which had been refitted by her owners for a further venture. Upon his arrival in northern Pacific waters Captain Gray explored some of the inlets be- tween 54 and 56 and wintered near Nootka Sound. In the spring of 1792 he resumed his cruising to the south, where he fell in with Vancouver, to whom he communicated the be- lief that a large river emptied into the ocean at 46 10' N. L., but Vancouver was convinced that Gray was mistaken. In May he was again off what he supposed to be the mouth of a river, and on the eleventh of the month ran through the break- ers into a large stream of fresh water. He sailed up the river some fifteen miles, and upon leaving it called it the Columbia after his vessel. Meanwhile Vancouver was employed in exploring the coasts and the adjacent islands. He encountered a Spanish expedi- tion under Galiano and Valdes, and for some time operated in conjunction with it. Both expeditions having demonstrated that a great island was cut off from the mainland by the Strait of Fuca, they agreed to call it the Island of Quadra and Van- couver. Leaving the Spaniards Vancouver returned to Nootka where he attempted to carry out his instructions relative to the treaty. Failing to come to a definite agreement with Quad- ra he dispatched a vessel to England for further instructions and resumed his explorations to the southward. As he had received from Quadra information and charts relative to the great river discovered by Gray, he resolved to look more closely at it. Accordingly one of his lieutenants, dispatched
