no BC STUDIES

every instance. The pamphlet makes the attitude of Les Sauvages de la Mer plain why the "inhabitants of Nootka" Pacifique was one factor preparing the (34) are relegated to the very left way for a bitter experience. margin of the design on Panel 1. "They The University of Washington Press are not well built and have ill-pro­ is to be congratulated on agreeing to portioned bodies. ... Their ugly faces distribute this study, jointly produced do not appear in their natural colour by the Art Gallery of New South being daubed with ochre and oil ... Wales and the National Gallery of They are serious and phlegmatic but Australia (both of which own full sets also cruel and vindictive. They eat of the wallpaper), in North America. their vanquished enemies and trade While intended for an Australian the feet, hands, skulls and other parts audience, and while they are a bit dis­ of the body which cannot be con­ jointed, the contents of Les Sauvages sumed" (34). While admiration of in­ de la Mer Pacifique amply reward digenous peoples did not prevent (and careful study. Above all this work even stimulated) colonization, contempt makes widely available an important for them justified conquest and exploi­ artefact that is otherwise little known tation. In the case of British Columbia, and difficult to see.

Almost a Hero: The Voyages of John Meares, R.N., to China, Hawaii and the Northwest Coast J. Richard Nokes Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1998. 217 pp. Illus., maps. $29.95 paper.

By Bruce M. Watson Vancouver Community College

O CONTEMPORARY Frances man "of courage, energy and vision" Hornby Barkley, British who "deserves better" than the place T mariner John Meares was a in history that historians have ac­ thief who had stolen and used her corded him. Nokes, a navy veteran and husband's maps; to George Dixon, longtime Oregonian editor, sets about Meares contradicted and misrep­ to throw new light on Meares in his resented the facts, and to Robert book, Almost a Hero. Haswell he was a liar. Opinions of Nokes re-evaluates Meares through Meares by traditional maritime fur the use of narrative coupled with an trade historians such as F. W. Howay, examination of the criticisms. With W. Kaye Lamb, and even Captain the deft hand of an experienced editor, John Walbran, who examined the Nokes mines and amply endnotes the Barkley dairies, tend to agree with traditional and sometimes contra­ Meares' contemporaries. To J. Richard dictory sources (Meares, George Dixon, Nokes, however, John Meares was a Nathaniel Portlock, William Douglas, Book Reviews in

and others) to create a clear free- the first non-Native explorers in the flowing reader-friendly story. After area, Meares was the first non-Native briefly introducing the little known to found a fur trading "empire" in the early life of Meares, Nokes begins his region. He was the first to attempt to narrative in 1786 when the British carry timbers (which he had to jettison mariner first came to the Northwest during a storm) from the area thus Coast on the ill-fated snow Nootka creating an industry first. He was the and ends it with the settlement of the first to carry Chinese to Hawaii and use Nootka Affair. A short "Afterward" East Indians (Lascars) as crew mem­ sews up the rest of his life and brings bers, etc. Although Meares was only to light a knighthood bestowed on a pawn in the process, his "Memorial Meares by the British Crown. On the to Parliament" helped change the way, Nokes dedicates considerable space European imperial power structure in to the Hawaiians, Kauai chief Kiana the area. Nokes' careful examination and the Barkley servant Winee, and of the arguments against Meares does broadens the content to include men­ blunt some of the criticism leveled tion of the diversity of the crews, often against him concerning his years on overlooked by traditional historians. the coast. On the other hand, some may Periodic inserts entitled for example, feel Nokes doesn't go the full distance "Nautical Terms," "The Sea Otter," to dispel the reputation perpetrated by "Macao and Canton" as well as con­ his detractors as the records of the temporary maps and lithographs help time imply that he angered practically enrich the understanding of the nar­ everyone he met. rative. As well, an appendix which in­ Almost a Hero is a good read for a cludes an examination of Mrs. Barkley's student of Northwest Coast maritime accusations, followed by a short docu­ fur trade history for it simplifies a very ment section which ranges from the complex series of events which took 17 September 1778 "Passing Certificate place on the Northwest coast in the for Commission of John Meares" to early years of contact when the maritime his last will and testament helps flesh fur trade was in its infancy Whether out a John Meares beyond the person or not it exonerates Meares from the who plied the Northwest Coast. criticisms leveled against him is de­ Nokes forces a re-evaluation of the batable. However, given the fuller role of Meares by juxtaposing his ac­ account of his life, Meares comes across complishments achieved always under as more complex than the villain and difficult conditions, against traditional the scoundrel which emerge from the arguments held against him. Nokes records. As this is one of the first shows that Meares pulled off many books to focus entirely on the life of firsts at least from a Euro-Centric point Meares, rather than being addended of view. Although he missed finding to other events, scholars shouldn't pass the mouth of the Columbia as one of this one by.