Fenis and St. Joseph, also known as theSão João e Fénix,[1]São Jao y Fenix or theSan José el Fénix,[2] was a 50 foot[citation needed]brig that visitedNootka Sound in 1792.[3] She was also described as "an openshallop, with only 14 men".[4] She bore a Portugueseflag of convenience, possibly out ofMacau and had a Portuguese captain, João de Barros Andrade, but had the Englishman Robert Duffin on board assupercargo (owner and manager of the ship's cargo and trade).[5] Duffin was an associate ofJohn Meares who had organized a number of British fur trading expeditions using the Portuguese flag in order to evade paying for trading licenses from theEast India Company. It is probable that Duffin was actually in command of the vessel.[6][7]
TheFenis and St. Joseph spent part of the summer of 1792 in theQueen Charlotte Islands, trading with the indigenous people forsea otter pelts. On 12 August 1792Adventure, underRobert Haswell, encounteredFenis and St. Joseph nearMasset.[6]
In mid-September, having gathered about 700 sea otter pelts,Fenis and St. Joseph arrived at Nootka Sound.[6] At the time, diplomatic discussions taking place betweenGeorge Vancouver andJuan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra over how to carry out the FirstNootka Convention resulting from theNootka Crisis of 1789. Since Duffin had been at Nootka Sound with Meares in 1788 and withJames Colnett in 1789—both key moments of the Nootka Crisis—Vancouver quickly asked him for a sworn statement about the events of 1789 at Nootka Sound. Duffin's report contradicted the reports ofRobert Gray andJoseph Ingraham, which Bodega y Quadra had been using to undermine Vancouver's diplomatic position. Where Gray and Ingraham swore that Meares had never purchased any land from the local indigenous chiefMaquinna, Duffin said Meares had in fact purchased the whole ofFriendly Cove. The point was central to whether Bodega y Quadra would or would not turn over the Spanish settlement at Nootka Sound to Vancouver. Vancouver seems to have had doubts about the veracity of Duffin's account, but confronted Bodega with the new information. Bodega dismissed it, claiming that Duffin could not be objective on the matter. In response to Vancouver's use of Duffin's sworn statements Bodega sought a formal statement from Maquinna, from whom Meares had supposedly made the land purchase. Maquinna came before a group assembled at Bodega's house, including Barros Andrade, the captain of theSan José el Fénix (Fenis and St. Joseph), and a number of others, all of whom were to serve as witnesses for an affidavit. Before this group Maquinna flatly denied selling Meares any land. He had only sold a bit of land in Marvinas Bay to the AmericanJohn Kendrick and he had donated the land at Friendly Cove toFrancisco de Eliza, where the Spanish settlement then stood, on the condition that the land be returned when the Spanish withdrew. Between the statements of Duffin and Maquinna the negotiations between Vancouver and Bodega reached a complete deadlock.[2]
TheFenis and St. Joseph played an important part in theVancouver Expedition. The brig left Nootka Sound on 1 October 1792, sailing for China and carrying Vancouver's lieutenantZachary Mudge, with copies of journals, charts, and logs, as well as reports from Vancouver to the British government regarding the diplomatic impasse that had developed.[6]
On 28 October 1792 the brig encountered theColumbia Rediviva at sea. The two vessels and their commanders met again in theHawaiian Islands, where Captain Haswell personally met Mudge.[6]
After meeting Haswell the ship made for Macao, where Mudge disembarked. From Macao, theFenis and St. Joseph made her way to Madras under a new master, Moore, arriving in April 1793.[8] Mudge took passage from Canton on the East IndiamanLord Macartney in January 1793, arriving in England in June .[9] TheFenis and St. Josephdid not return to the Pacific coast.[6]
Dois anos depois João de Barros Andrade, capitão do brigue português São João e Fenix, visitou Nootka.
Fenis and St. Joseph.