three Indians at a time within our gates.
The Beaver was ready to depart on her coasting voyage at the end of
June, and on the 1st of July Mr. Hunt went on board: but westerly winds
prevailing all that month, it was not till the 4th of August that she
was able to get out of the river; being due again by the end of October
to leave her surplus goods and take in our furs for market.

The months of August and September were employed in finishing a house
forty-five feet by thirty, shingled and perfectly tight, as a hospital
for the sick, and lodging house for the mechanics.

Experience having taught us that from the beginning of October to the
end of January, provisions were brought in by the natives in very small
quantity, it was thought expedient that I should proceed in the
schooner, accompanied by Mr. Clapp, on a trading voyage up the river to
secure a cargo of dried fish. We left Astoria on the 1st of October,
with a small assortment of merchandise. The trip was highly successful:
we found the game very abundant, killed a great quantity of swans,
ducks, foxes, &c., and returned to Astoria on the 20th, with a part of
our venison, wild fowl, and bear meat, besides seven hundred, and fifty
smoked salmon, a quantity of the _Wapto_ root (so called by the
natives), which is found a good substitute for potatoes, and four
hundred and fifty skins of beaver and other animals of the furry tribe.

The encouragement derived from this excursion, induced us to try a
second, and I set off this time alone, that is, with a crew of five men
only, and an Indian boy, son of the old chief Comcomly. This second
voyage proved anything but agreeable. We experienced continual rains,
and the game was much less abundant, while the natives had mostly left
the river for their wintering grounds. I succeeded, nevertheless, in
exchanging my goods for furs and dried fish, and a small supply of dried
venison: and returned, on the 15th of November, to Astoria, where the
want of fresh provisions began to be severely felt, so that several of
the men were attacked with scurvy.

Messrs. Halsey and Wallace having been sent on the 23d, with fourteen
men, to establish a trading post on the Willamet, and Mr. M'Dougal being
confined to his room by sickness, Mr. Clapp and I were left with the
entire charge of the post at Astoria, and were each other's only
resource for society. Happily Mr. Clapp was a man of amiable character,
of a gay, lively humor, and agreeable conversation. In the intervals of
our daily duties, we amused ourselves with music and reading; having
some instruments and a choice library. Otherwise we should have passed
our time in a state of insufferable ennui, at this rainy season, in the
midst of the deep mud which surrounded us, and which interdicted the
pleasure of a promenade outside the buildings.




CHAPTER XIII.

Uneasiness respecting the "Beaver."--News of the Declaration of War
between Great Britain and the United States.--Consequences of that
Intelligence.--Different Occurrences.--Arrival of two Canoes of the
Northwest Company.--Preparations for abandoning the
Country.--Postponement of Departure.--Arrangement with Mr. J.G.
M'Tavish.


The months of October, November, and December passed away without any
news of the "Beaver," and we began to fear that there had happened to
her, as to the Tonquin, some disastrous accident. It will be seen, in
the following chapter, why this vessel did not return to Astoria in the
autumn of 1812.

On the 15th of January, Mr. M'Kenzie arrived from the interior, having
abandoned his trading establishment, after securing his stock of goods
in a _cache_. Before his departure he had paid a visit to Mr. Clark on
the Spokan, and while there had learned the news, which he came to
announce to us, that hostilities had actually commenced between Great
Britain and the United States. The news had been brought by some
gentlemen of the Northwest Company, who handed to them a copy of the
Proclamation of the President to that effect.

When we learned this news, all of us at Astoria who were British
subjects and Canadians, wished ourselves in Canada; but we could not
entertain even the thought of transporting ourselves thither, at least
immediately: we were separated from our country by an immense space; and
the difficulties of the journey at this season were insuperable:
besides, Mr. Astor's interests had to be consulted first. We held,
therefore, a sort of council of war, to which the clerks of the factory
were invited _pro forma_, as they had no voice in the deliberations.
Having maturely weighed our situation; after having seriously considered
that being almost to a man British subjects, we were trading,
notwithstanding, under the American flag: and foreseeing the
improbability, or rather, to cut the matter short, the impossibility
that Mr. Astor could send us further supplies or reinforcements while
the war lasted, as most of the ports of the United States would
inevitably be blockaded by the British; we concluded to abandon the
establishment in the ensuing spring, or at latest, in the beginning of
the summer. We did not communicate these resolutions to the men, lest
they should in consequence abandon their labor: but we discontinued,
from that moment, our trade with the natives, except for provisions; as
well because we had no longer a large stock of goods on hand, as for the
reason that we had already more furs than we could carry away overland.

So long as we expected the return of the vessel, we had served out to
the people a regular supply of bread: we found ourselves in consequence,
very short of provisions, on the arrival of Mr. M'Kenzie and his men.
This augmentation in the number of mouths to be fed compelled us to
reduce the ration of each man to four ounces of flour and half a pound
of dried fish _per diem_: and even to send a portion of the hands to
pass the rest of the winter with Messrs. Wallace and Halsey on the
Willamet, where game was plenty.

Meanwhile, the sturgeon having begun to enter the river, I left, on the
13th of February, to fish for them; and on the 15th sent the first
boat-load to the establishment; which proved a very timely succor to the
men, who for several days had broken off work from want of sufficient
food. I formed a camp near Oak Point, whence I continued to despatch
canoe after canoe of fine fresh fish to Astoria, and Mr. M'Dougal sent
to me thither all the men who were sick of scurvy, for the
re-establishment of their health.

On the 20th of March, Messrs. Reed and Seton, who had led a part of our
men to the post on the Willamet, to subsist them, returned to Astoria,
with a supply of dried venison. These gentlemen spoke to us in glowing
terms of the country of the Willamet as charming, and abounding in
beaver, elk, and deer; and informed us that Messrs. Wallace and Halsey
had constructed a dwelling and trading house, on a great prairie, about
one hundred and fifty miles from the confluence of that river with the
Columbia. Mr. M'Kenzie and his party quitted us again on the 31st, to
make known the resolutions recently adopted at Astoria, to the gentlemen
who were wintering in the interior.

On the 11th of April two birch-bark canoes, bearing the British flag,
arrived at the factory. They were commanded by Messrs. J.G. M'Tavish and
Joseph Laroque, and manned by nineteen Canadian _voyageurs_. They landed
on a point of land under the guns of the fort, and formed their camp. We
invited these gentlemen to our quarters and learned from them the object
of their visit. They had come to await the arrival of the ship _Isaac
Todd_, despatched from Canada by the Northwest Company, in October,
1811, with furs, and from England in March, 1812, with a cargo of
suitable merchandise for the Indian trade. They had orders to wait at
the mouth of the Columbia till the month of July, and then to return, if
the vessel did not make her appearance by that time. They also informed
us that the natives near Lewis river had shown them fowling-pieces,
gun-flints, lead, and powder; and that they had communicated this news
to Mr. M'Kenzie, presuming that the Indians had discovered and plundered
his _cache_; which turned out afterward to be the case.

The month of May was occupied in preparations for our departure from the
Columbia. On the 25th, Messrs. Wallace and Halsey returned from their
winter quarters with seventeen packs of furs, and thirty-two bales of
dried venison. The last article was received with a great deal of
pleasure, as it would infallibly be needed for the journey we were about
to undertake. Messrs. Clarke, D. Stuart and M'Kenzie also arrived, in
the beginning of June, with one hundred and forty packs of furs, the
fruit of two years' trade at the post on the _Okenakan_, and one year on
the _Spokan_.[O]

[Footnote O: The profits of the last establishment were slender; because
the people engaged at it were obliged to subsist on horse-flesh, and
they ate ninety horses during the winter.]

The wintering partners (that is to say, Messrs. Clarke and David Stuart)
dissenting from the proposal to abandon the country as soon as we
intended, the thing being (as they observed) impracticable, from the
want of provisions for the journey and horses to transport the goods;
the project was deferred, as to its execution, till the following April.
So these gentlemen, having taken a new lot of merchandise, set out again
for their trading posts on the 7th of July. But Mr. M'Kenzie, whose
goods had been pillaged by the natives (it will be remembered), remained
at Astoria, and was occupied with the care of collecting as great a
quantity as possible of dried salmon from the Indians. He made seven or
eight voyages up the river for that purpose, while we at the Fort were
busy in baling the beaver-skins and other furs, in suitable packs for
horses to carry. Mr. Reed, in the meantime, was sent on to the
mountain-passes where Mr. Miller had been left with the trappers, to
winter, there, and to procure as many horses as he could from the
natives for our use in the contemplated journey. He was furnished for
this expedition with three Canadians, and a half-breed hunter named
_Daion_, the latter accompanied by his wife and two children. This man
came from the lower Missouri with Mr. Hunt in 1811-'12.

Our object being to provide ourselves, before quitting the country, with
the food and horses necessary for the journey; in order to avoid all
opposition on the part of the Northwest Company, we entered into an
arrangement with Mr. M'Tavish. This gentleman having represented to us
that he was destitute of the necessary goods to procure wherewith to
subsist his party on their way homeward, we supplied him from our
warehouse, payment to be made us in the ensuing spring, either in furs
or in bills of exchange on their house in Canada.




CHAPTER XIV.

Arrival of the Ship "Albatross."--Reasons for the Non-Appearance of
the Beaver at Astoria.--Fruitless Attempt of Captain Smith on a
Former Occasion.--Astonishment and Regret of Mr. Hunt at the
Resolution of the Partners.--His Departure.--Narrative of the
Destruction of the Tonquin.--Causes of that Disaster.--Reflections.


On the 4th of August, contrary to all expectation, we saw a sail at the
mouth of the river. One of our gentlemen immediately got into the barge,
to ascertain her nationality and object: but before he had fairly
crossed the river, we saw her pass the bar and direct her course toward
Astoria, as if she were commanded by a captain to whom the intricacies
of the channel were familiar. I had stayed at the Fort with Mr. Clapp
and four men. As soon as we had recognised the American flag, not
doubting any longer that it was a ship destined for the factory, we
saluted her with three guns. She came to anchor over against the fort,
but on the opposite side of the river, and returned our salute. In a
short time after, we saw, or rather we heard, the oars of a boat (for it
was already night) that came toward us. We expected her approach with
impatience, to know who the stranger was, and what news she brought us.
Soon we were relieved from our uncertainty by the appearance of Mr.
Hunt, who informed us that the ship was called the _Albatross_ and was
commanded by Captain _Smith_.

It will be remembered that Mr. Hunt had sailed from Astoria on board the
"Beaver," on the 4th of August of the preceding year, and should have
returned with that vessel, in the month of October of the same year. We
testified to him our surprise that he had not returned at the time
appointed, and expressed the fears which we had entertained in regard to
his fate, as well as that of the Beaver itself: and in reply he
explained to us the reasons why neither he nor Captain Sowles had been
able to fulfil the promise which they had made us.

After having got clear of the river Columbia, they had scudded to the
north, and had repaired to the Russian post of Chitka, where they had
exchanged a part of their goods for furs. They had made with the
governor of that establishment, Barnoff by name, arrangements to supply
him regularly with all the goods of which he had need, and to send him
every year a vessel for that purpose, as well as for the transportation
of his surplus furs to the East Indies. They had then advanced still
further to the north, to the coast of _Kamskatka_; and being there
informed that some Kodiak hunters had been left on some adjacent isles,
called the islands of St. Peter and St. Paul, and that these hunters had
not been visited for three years, they determined to go thither, and
having reached those isles, they opened a brisk trade, and secured no
less than eighty thousand skins of the South-sea seal. These operations
had consumed a great deal of time; the season was already far advanced;
ice was forming around them, and it was not without having incurred
considerable dangers that they succeeded in making their way out of
those latitudes. Having extricated themselves from the frozen seas of
the north, but in a shattered condition, they deemed it more prudent to
run for the Sandwich isles, where they arrived after enduring a
succession of severe gales. Here Mr. Hunt disembarked, with the men who
had accompanied him, and who did not form a part of the ship's crew; and
the vessel, after undergoing the necessary repairs, set sail for Canton.

Mr. Hunt had then passed nearly six months at the Sandwich islands,
expecting the annual ship from New York, and never imagining that war
had been declared. But at last, weary of waiting so long to no purpose,
he had bought a small schooner of one of the chiefs of the isle of
Wahoo, and was engaged in getting her ready to sail for the mouth of the
Columbia, when four sails hove in sight, and presently came to anchor in
_Ohetity bay_. He immediately, went on board of one of them, and learned
that they came from the Indies, whence they had sailed precipitately, to
avoid the English cruisers. He also learned from the captain of the
vessel he boarded, that the Beaver had arrived in Canton some days
before the news of the declaration of war. This Captain Smith, moreover,
had on board some cases of nankeens and other goods shipped by Mr.
Astor's agent at Canton for us. Mr. Hunt then chartered the Albatross to
take him with his people and the goods to the Columbia. That gentleman
had not been idle during the time that he sojourned at Wahoo: he brought
us 35 barrels of salt pork or beef, nine tierces of rice, a great
quantity of dried _Taro_, and a good supply of salt.

As I knew the channel of the river, I went on board the Albatross, and
piloted her to the old anchorage of the Tonquin, under the guns of the
Fort, in order to facilitate the landing of the goods.

Captain Smith informed us that in 1810, a year before the founding of
our establishment, he had entered the river in the same vessel, and
ascended it in boats as far as Oak Point; and that he had attempted to
form an establishment there; but the spot which he chose for building,
and on which he had even commenced fencing for a garden, being
overflowed in the summer freshet, he had been forced to abandon his
project and re-embark. We had seen, in fact, at Oak Point, some traces
of this projected establishment. The bold manner in which this captain
had entered the river was now accounted for.

Captain Smith had chartered his vessel to a Frenchman named _Demestre_,
who was then a passenger on board of her, to go and take a cargo of
sandal wood at the _Marquesas_, where that gentleman had left some men
to collect it, the year before. He could not, therefore, comply with the
request we made him, to remain during the summer with us, in order to
transport our goods and people, as soon as they could be got together,
to the Sandwich islands.

Mr. Hunt was surprised beyond measure, when we informed him of the
resolution we had taken of abandoning the country: he blamed us severely
for having acted with so much precipitation, pointing out that the
success of the late coasting voyage, and the arrangements we had made
with the Russians, promised a most advantageous trade, which it was a
thousand pities to sacrifice, and lose the fruits of the hardships he
had endured and the dangers he had braved, at one fell swoop, by this
rash measure. Nevertheless, seeing the partners were determined to abide
by their first resolution, and not being able, by himself alone, to
fulfil his engagements to Governor Barnoff, he consented to embark once
more, in order to seek a vessel to transport our heavy goods, and such
of us as wished to return by sea. He sailed, in fact, on the Albatross,
at the end of the month. My friend Clapp embarked with him: they were,
in the first instance, to run down the coast of California, in the hope
of meeting there some of the American vessels which frequently visit
that coast to obtain provisions from the Spaniards.

Some days after the departure of Mr. Hunt, the old one-eyed chief
Comcomly came to tell us that an Indian of _Gray's Harbor_, who had
sailed on the Tonquin in 1811, and who was the only soul that had
escaped the massacre of the crew of that unfortunate vessel, had
returned to his tribe. As the distance from the River Columbia to Gray's
Harbor was not great, we sent for this native. At first he made
considerable difficulty about following our people, but was finally
persuaded. He arrived at Astoria, and related to us the circumstances of
that sad catastrophe, nearly as follows:[P]

"After I had embarked on the Tonquin," said he, "that vessel sailed for
_Nootka_.[Q] Having arrived opposite a large village called _Newity_, we
dropped anchor. The natives having invited Mr. M'Kay to land, he did so,
and was received in the most cordial manner: they even kept him several
days at their village, and made him lie, every night, on a couch of
sea-otter skins. Meanwhile the captain was engaged in trading with such
of the natives as resorted to his ship: but having had a difficulty with
one of the principal chiefs in regard to the price of certain goods, he
ended by putting the latter out of the ship, and in the act of so
repelling him, struck him on the face with the roll of furs which he had
brought to trade. This act was regarded by that chief and his followers
as the most grievous insult, and they resolved to take vengeance for it.
To arrive more surely at their purpose, they dissembled their
resentment, and came, as usual, on board the ship. One day, very early
in the morning, a large pirogue, containing about a score of natives,
came alongside: every man had in his hand a packet of furs, and held it
over his head as a sign that they came to trade. The watch let them come
on deck. A little after, arrived a second pirogue, carrying about as
many men as the other. The sailors believed that these also came to
exchange their furs, and allowed them to mount the ship's side like the
first. Very soon, the pirogues thus succeeding one another, the crew
saw themselves surrounded by a multitude of savages, who came upon the
deck from all sides. Becoming alarmed at the appearance of things, they
went to apprize the captain and Mr. M'Kay, who hastened to the poop. I
was with them," said the narrator, "and fearing, from the great
multitude of Indians whom I saw already on the deck, and from the
movements of those on shore, who were hurrying to embark in their
canoes, to approach the vessel, and from the women being left in charge
of the canoes of those who had arrived, that some evil design was on
foot, I communicated my suspicions to Mr. M'Kay, who himself spoke to
the captain. The latter affected an air of security, and said that with
the firearms on board, there was no reason to fear even a greater number
of Indians. Meanwhile these gentlemen had come on deck unarmed, without
even their sidearms. The trade, nevertheless, did not advance; the
Indians offered less than was asked, and pressing with their furs close
to the captain, Mr. M'Kay, and Mr. Lewis, repeated the word _Makoke!
Makoke!_ "Trade! Trade!" I urged the gentlemen to put to sea, and the
captain, at last, seeing the number of Indians increase every moment,
allowed himself to be persuaded: he ordered a part of the crew to raise
the anchor, and the rest to go aloft and unfurl the sails. At the same
time he warned the natives to withdraw, as the ship was going to sea. A
fresh breeze was then springing up, and in a few moments more their prey
would have escaped them; but immediately on receiving this notice, by a
preconcerted signal, the Indians, with a terrific yell, drew forth the
knives and war-bludgeons they had concealed in their bundles of furs,
and rushed upon the crew of the ship. Mr. Lewis was struck, and fell
over a bale of blankets. Mr. M'Kay, however, was the first victim whom
they sacrificed to their fury. Two savages, whom, from the crown of the
poop, where I was seated, I had seen follow this gentleman step by step,
now cast themselves upon him, and having given him a blow on the head
with a _potumagan_ (a kind of sabre which is described a little below),
felled him to the deck, then took him up and flung him into the sea,
where the women left in charge of the canoes, quickly finished him with
their paddles. Another set flung themselves upon the captain, who
defended himself for a long time with his pocket-knife, but, overpowered
by numbers, perished also under the blows of these murderers. I next saw
(and that was the last occurrence of which I was witness before quitting
the ship) the sailors who were aloft, slip down by the rigging, and get
below through the steerage hatchway. They were five, I think, in number,
and one of them, in descending, received a knife-stab in the back. I
then jumped overboard, to escape a similar fate to that of the captain
and Mr. M'Kay: the women in the canoes, to whom I surrendered myself as
a slave, took me in, and bade me hide myself under some mats which were
in the pirogues; which I did. Soon after, I heard the discharge of
firearms, immediately upon which the Indians fled from the vessel, and
pulled for the shore as fast as possible, nor did they venture to go
alongside the ship again the whole of that day. The next day, haying
seen four men lower a boat, and pull away from the ship, they sent some
pirogues in chase: but whether those men were overtaken and murdered, or
gained the open sea and perished there, I never could learn. Nothing
more was seen stirring on board the Tonquin; the natives pulled
cautiously around her, and some of the more daring went on board; at
last, the savages, finding themselves absolute masters of the ship,
rushed on board in a crowd to pillage her. But very soon, when there
were about four or five hundred either huddled together on deck, or
clinging to the sides, all eager for plunder, the ship blew up with a
horrible noise. "I was on the shore," said the Indian, "when the
explosion took place, saw the great volume of smoke burst forth in the
spot where the ship had been, and high in the air above, arms, legs,
heads and bodies, flying in every direction. The tribe acknowledged a
loss of over two hundred of their people on that occasion. As for me I
remained their prisoner, and have been their slave for two years. It is
but now that I have been ransomed by my friends. I have told you the
truth, and hope you will acquit me of having in any way participated in
that bloody affair."

[Footnote P: It being understood, of course, that I render into
civilized expressions the language of this barbarian, and represent by
words and phrases what he could only convey by gestures or by signs.
[The _naivete_ of those notes, and of the narrative in these passages,
is amusing.--ED.]]

[Footnote Q: A great village or encampment of Indians, among whom the
Spaniards had sent missionaries under the conduct of Signor Quadra; but
whence the latter were chased by Captain Vancouver, in 1792, as
mentioned in the Introduction.]

Our Indian having finished his discourse, we made him presents
proportioned to the melancholy satisfaction he had given us in
communicating the true history of the sad fate of our former companions,
and to the trouble he had taken in coming to us; so that he returned
apparently well satisfied with our liberality.

According to the narrative of this Indian, Captain Thorn, by his abrupt
manner and passionate temper, was the primary cause of his own death and
that of all on board his vessel. What appears certain at least, is, that
he was guilty of unpardonable negligence and imprudence, in not causing
the boarding netting to be rigged, as is the custom of all the
navigators who frequent this coast, and in suffering (contrary to his
instructions) too great a number of Indians to come on board at once.[R]

[Footnote R: It is equally evident that even at the time when Captain
Thorn was first notified of the dangerous crowd and threatening
appearance of the natives, a display of firearms would have sufficed to
prevent an outbreak. Had he come on deck with Mr. M'Kay and Mr. Lewis,
each armed with a musket, and a couple of pistols at the belt, it is
plain from the timidity the savages afterward displayed, that he might
have cleared the ship, probably without shedding a drop of blood.--ED.]

Captain Smith, of the Albatross, who had seen the wreck of the Tonquin,
in mentioning to us its sad fate, attributed the cause of the disaster
to the rash conduct of a Captain Ayres, of Boston. That navigator had
taken off, as I have mentioned already, ten or a dozen natives of
New-itty, as hunters, with a promise of bringing them back to their
country, which promise he inhumanly broke by leaving them on some desert
islands in Sir Francis Drake's Bay. The countrymen of these
unfortunates, indignant at the conduct of the American captain, had
sworn to avenge themselves on the first white men who appeared among
them. Chance willed it that our vessel was the first to enter that bay,
and the natives but too well executed on our people their project of
vengeance.

Whatever may, have been the first and principal cause of this misfortune
(for doubtless it is necessary to suppose more than one), seventeen
white men and twelve Sandwich-Islanders, were massacred: not one escaped
from the butchery, to bring us the news of it, but the Indian of _Gray's
Harbor_. The massacre of our people was avenged, it is true, by the
destruction of ten times the number of their murderers; but this
circumstance, which could perhaps gladden the heart of a savage, was a
feeble consolation (if it was any) for civilized men. The death of Mr.
Alexander M'Kay was an irreparable loss to the Company, which would
probably have been dissolved by the remaining partners, but for the
arrival of the energetic Mr. Hunt. Interesting as was the recital of the
Indian of Gray's Harbor throughout, when he came to the unhappy end of
that estimable man, marks of regret were visibly painted on the
countenances of all who listened.

At the beginning of September, Mr. M'Kenzie set off, with Messrs.
Wallace and Seton, to carry a supply of goods to the gentlemen wintering
in the interior, as well as to inform them of the arrangements
concluded with Mr. Hunt, and to enjoin them to send down all their furs,
and all the Sandwich-Islanders, that the former might be shipped for
America, and the latter sent back to their country.


NOTE.

It will never be known how or by whom the _Tonquin_ was blown up.
Some pretend to say that it was the work of James Lewis, but that
is impossible, for it appears from the narrative of the Indian that
he was one of the first persons murdered. It will be recollected
that five men got between decks from aloft, during the affray, and
four only were seen to quit the ship afterward in the boat. The
presumption was that the missing man must have done it, and in
further conversation with the Gray's Harbor Indian, he inclined to
that opinion, and even affirmed that the individual was the ship's
armorer, _Weeks_. It might also have been accidental. There was a
large quantity of powder in the run immediately under the cabin,
and it is not impossible that while the Indians were intent on
plunder, in opening some of the kegs they may have set fire to the
contents. Or again, the men, before quitting the ship, may have
lighted a slow train, which is the most likely supposition of all.




CHAPTER XV.

Arrival of a Number of Canoes of the Northwest Company.--Sale of
the Establishment at Astoria to that Company.--Canadian
News.--Arrival of the British Sloop-of-War "Raccoon."--Accident on
Board that Vessel.--The Captain takes Formal Possession of
Astoria.--Surprise and Discontent of the Officers and
Crew.--Departure of the "Raccoon."


A few days after Mr. M'Kenzie left us, we were greatly surprised by the
appearance of two canoes bearing the British flag, with a third between
them, carrying the flag of the United States, all rounding Tongue Point.
It was no other than Mr. M'Kenzie himself, returning with Messrs. J.G.
M'Tavish and Angus Bethune, of the Northwest Company. He had met these
gentlemen near the first rapids, and had determined to return with them
to the establishment, in consequence of information which they gave him.
Those gentlemen were in _light_ canoes (i.e., without any lading), and
formed the vanguard to a flotilla of eight, loaded with furs, under the
conduct of Messrs. John Stuart and M'Millan.

Mr. M'Tavish came to our quarters at the factory, and showed Mr.
M'Dougal a letter which had been addressed to the latter by Mr. Angus
Shaw, his uncle, and one of the partners of the Northwest Company. Mr.
Shaw informed his nephew that the ship _Isaac Todd_ had sailed from
London, with letters of _marque_, in the month of March, in company with
the frigate _Phoebe_, having orders from the government to seize our
establishment, which had been represented to the lords of the admiralty
as an important colony founded by the American government. The eight
canoes left behind, came up meanwhile, and uniting themselves to the
others, they formed a camp of about seventy-five men, at the bottom of a
little bay or cove, near our factory. As they were destitute of
provisions, we supplied them; but Messrs. M'Dougal and M'Kenzie
affecting to dread a surprise from this British force under our guns,
we kept strictly on our guard; for we were inferior in point of numbers,
although our position was exceedingly advantageous.

As the season advanced, and their ship did not arrive, our new neighbors
found themselves in a very disagreeable situation, without food, or
merchandise wherewith to procure it from the natives; viewed by the
latter with a distrustful and hostile eye, as being our enemies and
therefore exposed to attack and plunder on their part with impunity;
supplied with good hunters, indeed, but wanting ammunition to render
their skill available. Weary, at length, of applying to us incessantly
for food (which we furnished them with a sparing hand), unable either to
retrace their steps through the wilderness or to remain in their present
position, they came to the conclusion of proposing to buy of us the
whole establishment.

Placed, as we were, in the situation of expecting, day by day, the
arrival of an English ship-of-war to seize upon all we possessed, we
listened to their propositions. Several meetings and discussions took
place; the negotiations were protracted by the hope of one party that
the long-expected armed force would arrive, to render the purchase
unnecessary, and were urged forward by the other in order to conclude
the affair before that occurrence should intervene; at length the price
of the goods and furs in the factory was agreed upon, and the bargain
was signed by both parties on the 23d of October. The gentlemen of the
Northwest Company took possession of Astoria, agreeing to pay the
servants of the Pacific Fur Company (the name which had been chosen by
Mr. Astor), the arrears of their wages, to be deducted from the price of
the goods which we delivered, to supply them with provisions, and give a
free passage to those who wished to return to Canada over land. The
American colors were hauled down from the factory, and the British run
up, to the no small chagrin and mortification of those who were American
citizens.

It was thus, that after having passed the seas, and suffered all sorts
of fatigues and privations, I lost in a moment all my hopes of fortune.
I could not help remarking that we had no right to expect such
treatment on the part of the British government, after the assurances we
had received from Mr. Jackson, his majesty's _charge d'affaires_
previously to our departure from New York. But as I have just intimated,
the agents of the Northwest Company had exaggerated the importance of
the factory in the eyes of the British ministry; for if the latter had
known what it really was--a mere trading-post--and that nothing but the
rivalry of the fur-traders of the Northwest Company was interested in
its destruction, they would never have taken umbrage at it, or at least
would never have sent a maritime expedition to destroy it. The sequel
will show that I was not mistaken in this opinion.

The greater part of the servants of the Pacific Fur Company entered the
service of the Company of the Northwest: the rest preferred to return to
their country, and I was of the number of these last. Nevertheless, Mr.
M'Tavish, after many ineffectual attempts to persuade me to remain with
them, having intimated that the establishment could not dispense with
my services, as I was the only person who could assist them in their
trade, especially for provisions, of which they would soon be in the
greatest need, I agreed with them (without however relinquishing my
previous engagement with Mr. Astor's agents) for five months, that is to
say, till the departure of the expedition which was to ascend the
Columbia in the spring, and reach Canada by way of the Rocky Mountains
and the rivers of the interior. Messrs. John Stuart and M'Kenzie set off
about the end of this month, for the interior, in order that the latter
might make over to the former the posts established on the Spokan and
Okenakan.

On the 15th of November, Messrs. Alexander Stuart and Alexander Henry,
both partners of the N.W. Company, arrived at the factory, in a couple
of bark canoes manned by sixteen _voyageurs_. They had set out from
_Fort William_, on Lake Superior, in the month of July. They brought us
Canadian papers, by which we learned that the British arms so far had
been in the ascendant. They confirmed also the news that an English
frigate was coming to take possession of our quondam establishment; they
were even surprised not to see the _Isaac Todd_ lying in the road.

On the morning of the 30th, we saw a large vessel standing in under
_Cape Disappointment_ (which proved in this instance to deserve its
name); and soon after that vessel came to anchor in _Baker's bay_. Not
knowing whether it was a friendly or a hostile sail, we thought it
prudent to send on board Mr. M'Dougal in a canoe, manned by such of the
men as had been previously in the service of the Pacific Fur Company,
with injunctions to declare themselves Americans, if the vessel was
American, and Englishmen in the contrary case. While this party was on
its way, Mr. M'Tavish caused all the furs which were marked with the
initials of the N.W. Company to be placed on board the two barges at the
Fort, and sent them up the river above Tongue Point, where they were to
wait for a concerted signal, that was to inform them whether the
new-comers were friends or foes. Toward midnight, Mr. Halsey, who had
accompanied Mr. M'Dougal to the vessel, returned to the Fort, and
announced to us that she was the British sloop-of-war _Raccoon_, of 26
guns, commanded by Captain Black, with a complement of 120 men, fore and
aft. Mr. John M'Donald, a partner of the N.W. Company, was a passenger
on the Raccoon, with five _voyageurs_, destined for the Company's
service. He had left England in the frigate _Phoebe_, which had sailed
in company with the _Isaac Todd_ as far as Rio Janeiro; but there
falling in with the British squadron, the admiral changed the
destination of the frigate, despatching the sloops-of-war _Raccoon_ and
_Cherub_ to convoy the Isaac Todd, and sent the Phoebe to search for the
American commodore Porter, who was then on the Pacific, capturing all
the British whalers and other trading vessels he met with. These four
vessels then sailed in company as far as Cape Horn, they parted, after
agreeing on the island of _Juan Fernandez_ as a _rendezvous_. The three
ships-of-war met, in fact, at that island; but after having a long time
waited in vain for the _Isaac Todd_, Commodore Hillier (Hillyer?) who
commanded this little squadron, hearing of the injury inflicted by
Commodore Porter, on the British commerce, and especially on the whalers
who frequent these seas, resolved to go in quest of him in order to give
him combat; and retaining the _Cherub_ to assist him, detailed the
Raccoon to go and destroy the American establishment on the River
Columbia, being assured by Mr. M'Donald that a single sloop-of-war would
be sufficient for that service.

Mr. M'Donald had consequently embarked, with his people, on board the
Raccoon. This gentleman informed us that they had experienced frightful
weather in doubling the Cape, and that he entertained serious
apprehensions for the safety of the Isaac Todd, but that if she was
safe, we might expect her to arrive in the river in two or three weeks.
The signal gun agreed upon, having been fired, for the return of the
barges, Mr. M'Tavish came back to the Port with the furs, and was
overjoyed to learn the arrival of Mr. M'Donald.

On the 1st of December the Raccoon's gig came up to the fort, bringing
Mr. M'Donald (surnamed _Bras Croche_, or crooked arm), and the first
lieutenant, Mr. Sheriff. Both these gentlemen were convalescent from the
effects, of an accident which had happened to them in the passage
between Juan Fernandez and the mouth of the Columbia. The captain
wishing to clean the guns, ordered them to be scaled, that is, fired
off: during this exercise one of the guns hung fire; the sparks fell
into a cartridge tub, and setting fire to the combustibles, communicated
also to some priming horns suspended above; an explosion followed, which
reached some twenty persons; eight were killed on the spot, the rest
were severely burnt; Messrs. M'Donald and Sheriff had suffered a great
deal; it was with difficulty that their clothes had been removed; and
when the lieutenant came ashore, he had not recovered the use of his
hands. Among the killed was an American named _Flatt_, who was in the
service of the Northwest Company and whose loss these gentlemen appeared
exceedingly to regret.

As there were goods destined for the Company on board the Raccoon, the
schooner _Dolly_ was sent to Baker's bay to bring them up: but the
weather was so bad, and the wind so violent that she did not return till
the 12th, bringing up, together with the goods, Captain Black, a
lieutenant of marines, four soldiers and as many sailors. We entertained
our guests as splendidly as it lay in our power to do. After dinner, the
captain caused firearms to be given to the servants of the Company, and
we all marched under arms to the square or platform, where a flag-staff
had been erected. There the captain took a British Union Jack, which he
had brought on shore for the occasion, and caused it to be run up to the
top of the staff; then, taking a bottle of Madeira wine, he broke it on
the flag-staff, declaring in a loud voice, that he took possession of
the establishment and of the country in the name of His Britannic
Majesty; and changed the name of Astoria to _Fort George_. Some few
Indian chiefs had been got together to witness this ceremony, and I
explained to them in their own language what it signified. Three rounds
of artillery and musketry were fired, and the health of the king was
drunk by the parties interested, according to the usage on like
occasions.

The sloop being detained by contrary winds, the captain caused an exact
survey to be made of the entrance of the river, as well as of the
navigable channel between Baker's bay and Fort George. The officers
visited the fort, turn about, and seemed to me in general very much
dissatisfied with their fool's errand, as they called it: they had
expected to find a number of American vessels loaded with rich furs, and
had calculated in advance their share in the booty of Astoria. They had
not met a vessel, and their astonishment was at its height when they saw
that our establishment had been transferred to the Northwest Company,
and was under the British flag. It will suffice to quote a single
expression of Captain Black's, in order to show how much they were
deceived in their expectations. The Captain landed after dark; when we
showed him the next morning the palisades and log bastions of the
factory, he inquired if there was not another fort; on being assured
that there was no other, he cried out, with an air of the greatest
astonishment:--"What! is this the fort which was represented to me as so
formidable! Good God! I could batter it down in two hours with a
four-pounder!"

There were on board the Raccoon two young men from Canada, who had been
impressed at Quebec, when that vessel was there some years before her
voyage to the Columbia: one of them was named _Parent_, a blacksmith,
and was of Quebec: the other was from Upper Canada, and was named
M'Donald. These young persons signified to us that they would be glad to
remain at Fort George: and as there was among our men some who would
gladly have shipped, we proposed to the captain an exchange, but he
would not consent to it. John Little, a boat-builder from New York, who
had been on the sick list a long time, was sent on board and placed
under the care of the sloop's surgeon, Mr. O'Brien; the captain engaging
to land him at the Sandwich Islands. P.D. Jeremie also shipped himself
as under clerk. The vessel hoisted sail, and got out of the river, on
the 31st of December.

From the account given in this chapter the reader will see with what
facility the establishment of the Pacific Fur Company could have escaped
capture by the British force. It was only necessary to get rid of the
land party of the Northwest Company--who were completely in our
power--then remove our effects up the river upon some small stream, and
await the result. The sloop-of-war arrived, it is true; but as, in the
case I suppose, she would have found nothing, she would have left, after
setting fire to our deserted houses. None of their boats would have
dared follow us, even if the Indians had betrayed to them our
lurking-place. Those at the head of affairs had their own fortunes to
seek, and thought it more for their interest, doubtless, to act as they
did, but that will not clear them in the eyes of the world, and the
charge of treason to Mr. Astor's interests will always be attached to
their characters.




CHAPTER XVI.