James Colnett, a veteran of James Cook’s second voyage toNorth America, was an early participant in the maritime sea ottertrade. Between 1786 and 1789 his two-vessel expedition traversed theNorthwest Coast from Prince William Sound to Vancouver Island andwintered on the Hawaiian Islands. Along the way, he and his crew hadsome remarkable encounters with Native peoples of the Northwest Coastand the Hawaiian Islands: they were the first Europeans to encounterthe Tsimshian and the southern Heiltsuk peoples as well as the first toland on the southern Queen Charlotte Islands.


Colnett’s journal of this expedition is published here for thefirst time. Editor Robert Galois provides extensive annotations, alongwith an introductory essay addressing the geopolitical context of thevoyage and the intellectual background that shaped the writing of thejournal. Galois supplements Colnett’s writings with extracts froma second journal -- also previously unpublished -- by Andrew BraceyTaylor, third mate on one of the ships under Colnett’s command.Also included are illustrations from Colnett’s journals and avariety of maps, both contemporary and historical.


This fascinating and informative account offers a new understandingof the early European presence in the Northwest and of Native responsesto these developments. It will interest historians, geographers, andethnographers of the Northwest Coast and beyond.