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Voyages of exploration
In
September 1788 Malaspina joined forces with José de Bustamante y Guerra and together they
approached the Spanish government to organize an expedition to visit the Spanish
possessions in America and
Asia. The expeditions of two specifically
built corvettes,
Descubierta and Atrevida,
sailed from Cádiz on July 30, 1789.
In
1791 the king of Spain
gave Malaspina an order to search for Northwest Passage. He surveyed the Alaska coast to
the Prince William Sound. At Yakutat
Bay, the expedition made contact with the Tlingit.
Spanish scholars made a study of the tribe, recording information on social
mores, language, economy, warfare methods, and burial practices. Artists with
the expedition, Tomas de Suria and José Cardero,
produced portraits of tribal members and scenes of Tlingit
daily life. A glacier between Yakutat
Bay and Icy Bay
was subsequently named after Malaspina. The botanist Luis Née
also accompanied the expedition, on which he collected and described numerous
new plants.
During
the return to Mexico, Malaspina's expedition spent a month at the Spanish
outpost in Nootka Sound on Vancouver
Island, primarily to establish a Spanish naval presence in support of Spain's
land claims. In addition to making the first European circumnavigation of
Vancouver Island and exploring Puget
Sound, the expedition made a study of the Nootka.
The two ships sailed south to the Spanish settlement and mission at Monterey, California where scholars examined
the customs of the Chumash tribe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Malaspina
Link provided by Ralph Ojeda, rsnojeda@aol.com
This
information is obtained from USA Dept of Defense, Archives
New Mexico, Louisiana Archives & qualified
independent sources
including personal research
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