[No. 9]
9 December 1852
To the Right
Hon Sir John S Packington
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State
for the Colonial Depart
Sir,
I have the honor of transmitting herewith Duplicate of my Despatch
of the 11 November, with the accompanying Documents.
Our relations with the Native Tribes have undergone no material
change since that date, they have been uniformly quiet and friendly in
their intercourse with the settlement and appear to regret the unhappy
event which occurred last month. We have not
Extracts to
F.O. April 11/53. For comm.
Further to
F.O. for Com
22 Jul/53.
Further ⎯⎯⎯&⎯⎯⎯
27/Oct-/'
To Hudson's Bay Comp ⎯⎯⎯
" 27⎯"⎯⎯⎯
Copy? 22 Oct/53 N 12
yet taken any active
measures to secure the murderers of
Brown, owing to the non arrival of
the
Hudson's Bay Companys Steam vessel, which except Boats, is the only
means of transport at my disposal capable of conveying an adequate force
to the part of the coast, where the criminals are reported to have taken
refuge; and it would not be advisable, at this inclement season of the
year, to undertake an expedition, of so much importance, in open Boats,
which would neither represent
the
the dignity of the Government nor afford
shelter and protection to the men, and might probably end in disaster
and defeat. I have therefore deferred the expedition until it can be
dispatched with all the means at our disposal.
A question has lately arisen here relative to the sovereignty of
the Islands in the
Canal de Arro, situated between
Vancouvers Island and
the Continent, to which some American citizens have set up a claim in
the name of the United States.
I think
this point
has been
raised upon
some former
occasion.
I propose to lay the question before you in my next despatch and in
the mean time
I shall assert the Sovereignty of Great Britain, to all
the Islands in the
Arro Archipelago situated to the eastward of
Strawberry Bay, so named by
Vancouver, which is the usual ship channel
into the
Gulf of Georgia.
I would also observe for the information of Her Majesty's
Government that several American Merchant vessels were engaged last
summer in trafficking with the natives and fishing on the west coast of
Vancouver's Island, the produce of those voyages being carried into the
Ports of California. That traffic is not hurtful to any existing
British interest as there are no settlements on that coast, but as it
may soon become

a lucrative branch of British Trade and as it cannot be
carried on by American citizens without a manifest violation of British
Territory, I think it would be advisable to place a check upon such
proceedings, before they acquire, from custom, the force of national
rights.
If such should be Her Majesty's pleasure I beg to receive such
instructions and directions on the subject as may be requisite
for our guidance.
Minutes by CO staff
M Merivale
The Duplicate
desp of the
11 Nov has been
rec and
disposed of.
Should the
Foreign Office be consulted as to the ans which
should be returned to the Governor's observations as to
‸the claim of the
Americans to the
Isl in the
Canal De Arro: & to his request for
instructions as to
the stopping the trade the Americans are carrying on with
the natives on the West Coast of
VanCouver's Isl?
On referring to the Treaty I fear it is doubtful to whom the
Arro Islands belong.
The question as to the ownership of
the islands has, as
M
Blackwood correctly surmises, been raised before.
M Lawrence when
Am minister here paid some attention to it. but I am not
certain that it was ever officially investigated.
As to the other points: is it unlawful for Americans to trade with
Indians on an unoccupied portion of the coast of British N. America. I
suppose it is, but am not sufficiently familiar with the principles of
international law applicable to the question.
Consult the For. Off. on both points?
Documents enclosed with the main document (not transcribed)
Other documents included in the file
Draft,
Colonial Office to
Addington,
27 October 1853, advising
against any communication being made to the United States government
until further report was received from
Douglas.
People in this document
Addington, Henry Unwin
Barclay, Archibaldus
Blackwood, Arthur Johnstone
Brown, Peter
Douglas, James
Kuper, Augustus L.
Lawrence
Merivale, Herman
Pakington, John Somerset
Pelham-Clinton, Henry Pelham Fiennes
Vancouver, George
Organizations in this document
Colonial Office
Foreign Office
Hudson's Bay Company
Vessels in this document
Beaver, 1835-1888
Places in this document
Haro Strait
San Juan Island
San Juan Islands
Strait of Georgia
Strawberry Bay
Vancouver Island
Victoria