Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
land a party of marines at Port Egmont and thus establish a British
colony. McBride had reached the Falklands in January 1766. During
the course of his survey of the islands in the frigate
Jason
he had en-
countered the French inhabitants, informed them that they had no
right to be in his Britannic majesty's territory without permission,
and offered to convey them to a French port of their choosing. Nat-
urally, they declined to move and McBride, who had no authority to
use force, had to content himself with dark threats. By this time the
Spanish government had become alarmed. They saw the security of
their fragile American empire severely threatened by the activities
of more powerful maritime nations. They, accordingly, claimed the
Malvinas as their own sovereign territory. Their French allies will-
ingly conceded the point, since this seemed the best way of keeping
the strategic Falklands base 'in the family'. Bougainville was, there-
fore, instructed to hand over his settlement to a representative of
Spain. In December 1766 he set out on this mission.
By the time Byron returned, the diplomatic situation had be-
come very delicate. French and Spanish representatives were
protesting about British naval activities and the Cabinet was divided.
The 'doves' were unwilling to provoke open war over a handful of
distant, bleak islands and urged the impossibility of defending Port
Egmont against an enemy who could easily send a large contingent
of ships and men from South America. The 'hawks' insisted that, at
all costs, British rights to the Falklands and free navigation in the
southern hemisphere must be defended.
*
The Earl of Egmont was, of course, one of the 'hawks'. In Cabinet
he vigorously defended the actions of his captains and at the same
time he hurriedly and secretly prepared a new expedition to rein-
force the British settlement and carry out further Pacific explora-
tion. The summer months passed in frenzied activity. Dock workers
at Deptford and Chatham hastily prepared vessels for a long sea
voyage. Angry letters passed between Paris, Madrid and London.
