“Meeting at the New Eddystone Rock” (Captain Vancouver in the East Behm Canal, Alaska, USA

24"x36" | Oil on board

This basalt rock, virtually unchanged since Captain Vancouver stopped here for breakfast in 1793, towers some 283 feet above its island.  It is probably part of the centre cone of an extinct volcano.  Vancouver was visited by natives who tried to entice the British to join them at their village.  However, since they had been attacked by natives the day before, Vancouver declined the offer.  Seen from a distance, the rock reminded Captain Vancouver of the Eddystone lighthouse off Plymouth on England’s south coast, so he named it the New Eddystone Rock, still its name today.