the 2d, and continued to ascend Winipeg river, called also _White
river_, on account of the great number of its cascades, which being very
near each other, offer to the sight an almost continuous foam. We made
that day twenty-seven portages, all very short. On the 3d, and 4th, we
made nine more, and arrived on the 5th, at the _Lake of the Woods_. This
lake takes its name from the great number of woody islands with which it
is dotted. Our guide pointed out to me one of these isles, telling me
that a Jesuit father had said mass there, and that it was the most
remote spot to which those missionaries had ever penetrated. We encamped
on one of the islands. The next day the wind did not allow us to make
much progress. On the 7th, we gained the entrance of _Rainy Lake river_.
I do not remember ever to have seen elsewhere so many mosquitoes as on
the banks of this river. Having landed near a little rapid to lighten
the canoes, we had the misfortune, in getting through the brush, to
dislodge these insects from under the leaves where they had taken refuge
from the rain of the night before; they attached themselves to us,
followed us into the canoes, and tormented us all the remainder of the
day.

On the 8th, at sunset, we reached _Rainy Lake House_. This fort is
situated about a mile from a considerable rapid. We saw here cultivated
fields and domestic animals, such as horses, oxen, cows, &c. The port is
a depot for the wintering parties of the Athabasca, and others still
more remote, who bring to it their peltries and return from it with
their outfits of merchandise. Mr. John Dease, to whose charge the place
had been confided, received us in the most friendly manner possible; and
after having made an excellent supper, we danced a part of the evening.

We took leave of Mr. Dease on the 10th, well provided for the journey,
and passing round Rainy Lake falls, and then traversing the lake
itself, which I estimated to be forty miles long, we encamped at the
entrance of a small river. On the next day we pursued our way, now
thridding streams impeded with wild rice, which rendered our progress
difficult, now traversing little lakes, now passing straits where we
scarcely found water to float our canoes. On the 13th, we encamped near
_Dog Portage (Portage des chiens_), where, from not having followed the
advice of Mr. Dease, who had counselled us to take along a bag of
pemican, we found ourselves absolutely without food.




CHAPTER XXVII.

Arrival at Fort William.--Description of the Fort.--News from the
River Columbia.


Starving men are early-risers. We set out on the 14th before day, and
effected the portage, which is long and difficult. At the foot of the
rapid we found a sort of _restaurant_ or _cabaret_, kept by a man named
_Boucher_. We treated the men to a little _eau de vie_, and breakfasted
on some detestable sausages, poisoned with salt.

After this wretched repast, we set out again, and passed toward noon,
the _Mountain Portage_. Here the river _Kaministiquia_ flings itself
over a rock of immense height, and forms a fall scarcely less curious to
see than that of Niagara. Below, the succession of falls and rapids is
constant, so that we made no fewer than thirty-six portages in the
course of the day. Nevertheless we pursued our laborious way with good
cheer, and without a murmur from our Canadian boatmen, who kept their
spirits up by singing their _voyageur_ songs. At last, at about nine
o'clock in the evening, we arrived at Fort William.

Fort William is situated on Lake Superior, at the mouth of the
_Kaministiquia_ river, about forty-five miles north of old _Grand
Portage_. It was built in 1805, when the two rival Canadian companies
were united, and was named in honor of Mr. (now the Honorable) William
M'Gillivray, principal agent of the Northwest Company. The proprietors,
perceiving that the old fort of _Grand Portage_ was on the territory
claimed by the American government, resolved to demolish it and build
another on the British territory. No site appeared more advantageous
than the present for the purposes intended; the river is deep, of easy
access, and offers a safe harbor for shipping. It is true they had to
contend with all the difficulties consequent on a low and swampy soil;
but by incredible labor and perseverance they succeeded in draining the
marshes and reducing the loose and yielding soil to solidity.

Fort William has really the appearance of a fort, with its palisade
fifteen feet high, and that of a pretty village, from the number of
edifices it encloses. In the middle of a spacious square rises a large
building elegantly constructed, though of wood, with a long piazza or
portico, raised about five feet from the ground, and surmounted by a
balcony, extending along the whole front. In the centre is a saloon or
hall, sixty feet in length by thirty in width, decorated with several
pieces of painting, and some portraits of the leading partners. It is in
this hall that the agents, partners, clerks, interpreters, and guides,
take their meals together, at different tables. At each extremity of the
apartment are two rooms; two of these are destined for the two principal
agents; the other two to the steward and his department. The kitchen and
servants' rooms are in the basement. On either side of this edifice, is
another of the same extent, but of less elevation; they are each
divided by a corridor running through its length, and contain each, a
dozen pretty bed-rooms. One is destined for the wintering partners, the
other for the clerks. On the east of the square is another building
similar to the last two, and intended for the same use, and a warehouse
where the furs are inspected and repacked for shipment. In the rear of
these, are the lodging-house of the guides, another fur-warehouse, and
finally, a powder magazine. The last is of stone, and has a roof covered
with tin. At the angle is a sort of bastion, or look-out place,
commanding a view of the lake. On the west side is seen a range of
buildings, some of which serve for stores, and others for workshops;
there is one for the equipment of the men, another for the fitting out
of the canoes, one for the retail of goods, another where they sell
liquors, bread, pork, butter, &c., and where a treat is given to the
travellers who arrive. This consists in a white loaf, half a pound of
butter, and a gill of rum. The _voyageurs_ give this tavern the name of
_Cantino salope_. Behind all this is another range, where we find the
counting-house, a fine square building, and well-lighted; another
storehouse of stone, tin-roofed; and a _jail_, not less necessary than
the rest. The _voyageurs_ give it the name of _pot au beurre_--the
butter-tub. Beyond these we discover the shops of the carpenter, the
cooper, the tinsmith, the blacksmith, &c.; and spacious yards and sheds
for the shelter, reparation, and construction of canoes. Near the gate
of the fort, which is on the south, are the quarters of the physician,
and those of the chief clerk. Over the gate is a guard-house.

As the river is deep at its entrance, the company has had a wharf
constructed, extending the whole length of the fort, for the discharge
of the vessels which it keeps on Lake Superior, whether to transport its
furs from Fort William to the _Saut Ste. Marie_, or merchandise and
provisions from _Saut Ste. Marie_ to Fort William. The land behind the
fort and on both sides of it, is cleared and under tillage. We saw
barley, peas, and oats, which had a very fine appearance. At the end of
the clearing is the burying-ground. There are also, on the opposite bank
of the river, a certain number of log-houses, all inhabited by old
Canadian _voyageurs_, worn out in the service of the company, without
having enriched themselves. Married to women of the country, and
incumbered with large families of half-breed children, these men prefer
to cultivate a little Indian corn and potatoes, and to fish, for a
subsistence, rather than return to their native districts, to give their
relatives and former acquaintance certain proofs of their misconduct or
their imprudence.

Fort William is the grand depot of the Northwest Company for their
interior posts, and the general _rendezvous_ of the partners. The agents
from Montreal and the wintering partners assemble here every summer, to
receive the returns of the respective outfits, prepare for the
operations of the ensuing season, and discuss the general interests of
their association. The greater part of them were assembled at the time
of our arrival. The wintering hands who are to return with their
employers, pass also a great part of the summer here; they form a great
encampment on the west side of the fort, outside the palisades. Those
who engage at Montreal to go no further than Fort William or _Rainy
lake_, and who do not _winter_, occupy yet another space, on the east
side. The winterers, or _hivernants_, give to these last the name of
_mangeurs de lard_, or pork-eaters. They are also called
_comers-and-goers_. One perceives an astonishing difference between
these two camps, which are composed sometimes of three or four hundred
men each; that of the pork-eaters is always dirty and disorderly, while
that of the winterers is clean and neat.

To clear its land and improve its property, the company inserts a clause
in the engagement of all who enter its service as canoe-men, that they
shall work for a certain number of days during their stay at Fort
William. It is thus that it has cleared and drained the environs of the
fort, and has erected so many fine buildings. But when a hand has once
worked the stipulated number of days, he is for ever after exempt, even
if he remain in the service twenty or thirty years, and should come down
to the fort every summer.

They received us very courteously at Fort William, and I perceived by
the reception given to myself in particular, that thanks to the Chinook
dialect of which I was sufficiently master, they would not have asked
better than to give me employment, on advantageous terms. But I felt a
great deal more eagerness to arrive in Montreal, than desire to return
to the River Columbia.

A few days after we reached Fort William, Mr. Keith made his appearance
there from Fort George, or Astoria, with the news of the arrival of the
"Isaac Todd" in the Columbia river. This vessel, which was a dull
sailer, had been kept back a long time by contrary winds in doubling
Cape Horn, and had never been able to rejoin the vessels-of-war, her
consorts, from which she was then separated. When she reached the
_rendezvous_ at the island of Juan Fernandez, finding that the three
ships-of-war had sailed, the captain and passengers, as they were short
of provisions, determined to range the coast. Entering the harbor of
_Monterey_,[AI] on the coast of California, in order to obtain
provisions, they learned that there was an English vessel-of-war in
distress, in the bay of _San Francisco_.[AJ] They repaired thither
accordingly, and found, to their great surprise, that it was the sloop
_Raccoon_. This vessel, in getting out of the River Columbia, had
touched on the bar, with such violence, that a part of her false keel
was carried away; and she had with difficulty made San Francisco, with
seven feet of water in the hold, although her crew had been constantly
at the pumps. Captain Black, finding it impossible to repair his ship,
had decided to abandon her, and to cross the continent to the Gulf of
Mexico, thence to reach some of the British West India islands. However,
on the arrival of the Isaac Todd, means were found to careen the vessel
and repair the damage. The Isaac Todd then pursued her voyage and
entered the Columbia on the 17th of April, thirteen months after her
departure from England.

[Footnote AI: A Spanish mission or presidency, in about the 36th degree
of latitude.]

[Footnote AJ: Another Spanish presidency, in about the 38th degree of
latitude, and the first European establishment to be met with south of
the Columbia. [These now obsolete notes are interesting as indicative of
the period when they were written.--ED.]]




CHAPTER XXVIII.

Departure from Fort William.--Navigation on Lake
Superior.--Michipicoton Bay.--Meeting a Canoe.--Batchawainon
Bay.--Arrival at Saut Ste Marie.--Occurrences
there.--Departure.--Lake Huron.--French River.--Lake
Nipissing.--Ottawa River.--Kettle Falls.--Rideau
River.--Long-Saut.--Arrival in Montreal--Conclusion.


On the 20th of July, in the evening, Mr. D. Stuart notified me that he
should start the next morning for Montreal, in a light canoe. I
immediately wrote to my relatives: but the next morning Mr. Stuart told
me that I was to be myself the bearer of my letters, by embarking with
him. I got ready my effects, and toward evening we quitted Fort William,
with fourteen stout _voyageurs_ to man our large canoe, and were soon
floating on the bosom of the largest body of fresh water on the surface
of the globe. We counted six passengers, namely, Messrs. D. Stuart, D.
M'Kenzie, J. M'Donald, J. Clarke, myself, and a little girl of eight or
nine years, who came from Kildonan, on Red river. We passed the first
night on one of the islands in _Thunder bay_, so named on account of the
frequent storms, accompanied with lightning and thunder, which burst
over it at certain seasons of the year. On the 22d and 23d, we continued
to range the southern coast of Lake Superior. The navigation of this
superb lake would be extremely agreeable but for the thick fogs which
reign during a part of the day, and do not permit a rapid progress. On
the 24th, we dined at a small trading establishment called _Le Pic_,
where we had excellent fish.

On the 26th, we crossed _Michipicoton bay_, which, at its entrance, may
be nine miles wide, and twenty fathoms deep. As we were nearing the
eastern point, we met a small canoe, having on board Captain M'Cargo,
and the crew of one of the schooners owned by the company. Mr. M'Cargo
informed us that he had just escaped from _Saut Ste. Marie_, whither the
Americans had sent a detachment of one hundred and fifty men; and that
having been obliged to abandon his schooner, he had set fire to her. In
consequence of this news it was resolved that the canoe on which we were
proceeding, should return to Fort William. I embarked, with Mr. Stuart
and two men, in Captain M'Cargo's canoe, while he and his crew took our
places. In the haste and confusion of this exchange, which was made on
the lake, they gave us a ham, a little tea and sugar, and a bag
containing about twenty-five pounds of flour, but forgot entirely a
kettle, knives, forks, and so on, all articles which Mr. M'Cargo had not
time to take when he left _Saut Ste. Marie_. We subsisted miserably in
consequence for two days and a half that we continued to coast the lake
before reaching any post. We moistened in the bag a little flour, and
having kneaded it, made cakes, which we baked on flat stones by our camp
fire.

On the 29th, we reached Batchawainon, where we found some women, who
prepared us food and received us well. It is a poor little post,
situated at the bottom of a sandy cove, which offers nothing agreeable
to the eye. Mr. Frederic Goedike, who resided here, was gone to see what
had taken place at Saut Ste. Marie. He returned the next day, and told
us that the Americans had come, with a force of one hundred and fifty
men, under the command of Major Holmes; and that after having pillaged
that they all considered worth taking, of the property of the N.W.
Company and that of a Mr. Johnston, they had set fire to the houses,
warehouses, &c., belonging to the company and to that gentleman, and
retired, without molesting any other person.[AK] Our canoe arrived from
Fort William in the evening, with that of Mr. M'Gillivray; and on the
morrow we all repaired to Saut Ste. Marie, where we saw the ruins which
the enemy had left. The houses, stores, and saw-mills of the company
were still smoking.

[Footnote AK: The N.W. Company having raised a regiment composed of
their own servants, and known as the _voyageur corps_, and having also
instigated to war, and armed, the Indian tribes, over which they had
influence, had brought on themselves this act of retaliation. Mr.
Johnston also had engaged actively in the war against the United
States.]

The schooner was at the foot of the rapids; the Americans had run her
down, but she grounded on a ledge of rocks, whence they could not
dislodge her, and so they had burnt her to the water's edge.

_Le Saut de Ste. Marie_, or as it is shortly called, _Saut Ste. Marie_,
is a rapid at the outlet of Lake Superior, and may be five hundred or
six hundred yards wide; its length may be estimated at three quarters of
a mile, and the descent of the water at about twenty feet. At the lower
extremity the river widens to about a mile, and here there are a certain
number of houses. The north bank belongs to Great Britain; the southern
to the United States. It was on the American side that Mr. Johnston
lived. Before the war he was collector of the port for the American
government. On the same side resided a Mr. Nolin, with his family,
consisting of three half-breed boys and as many girls, one of whom was
passably pretty. He was an old Indian trader, and his house and
furniture showed signs of his former prosperity. On the British side we
found Mr. Charles Ermatinger, who had a pretty establishment: he dwelt
temporarily in a house that belonged to Nolin, but he was building
another of stone, very elegant, and had just finished a grist mill. He
thought that the last would lead the inhabitants to sow more grain than
they did. These inhabitants are principally old Canadian boatmen,
married to half-breed or Indian women. The fish afford them subsistence
during the greater part of the year, and provided they secure potatoes
enough to carry them through the remainder, they are content. It is to
be regretted that these people are not more industrious, for the land is
very fertile.

On the 1st of August, an express was sent to _Michilimackinac_
(Mackinaw) to inform the commandant thereof what had happened at _Saut
Ste. Marie_. While expecting the return of the messenger, we put
ourselves in a state of defence, in case that by chance the Americans
should make another irruption. The thing was not improbable, for
according to some expressions which fell from one of their number who
spoke French, their objects was to capture the furs of the Northwest
Company, which were expected to arrive shortly from the interior. We
invited some Indians, who were camped on _Pine Point_, at some distance
from the _Saut_, to help us in case of need; which they promised to do.
Meanwhile we had no provisions, as everything had been carried off by
the American forces, and were obliged to subsist on such brook trout as
we could take with hook and line, and on wild raspberries.

On the 4th, the express returned, without having been able to accomplish
his mission: he had found the island of Mackinaw so completely blockaded
by the enemy, that it was impossible to reach it, without running the
greatest risk of being made prisoner.

On the 12th, we heard distinctly the discharges of artillery which our
people were firing off at Michilimackinac, although the distance was
nearly sixty miles. We thought it was an attempt of the enemy to retake
that post, but we afterward learned that it was only a royal salute in
honor of the birthday of the prince regent. We learned, however, during
our stay at Saut Ste. Marie, that the Americans had really made a
descent upon the island, but were compelled to retire with a
considerable loss.

On the 19th, some of the partners arrived from Fort William, preceding
the flotilla which was coming down richly laden with furs. They sent on
Mr. Decoigne in a light canoe, with letters to Montreal, to order
provisions to meet this brigade.

On the 21st, the canoe on which I was a passenger, was sent to the mouth
of _French_ river, to observe the motions of the enemy. The route lay
between a range of low islands, and a shelvy beach, very monotonous and
dreary. We remained at the entrance of the aforesaid river till the
25th, when the fleet of loaded canoes, forty-seven in number, arrived
there. The value of the furs which they carried could not be estimated
at less than a million of dollars: an important prize for the Americans,
if they could have laid their hands upon it. We were three hundred and
thirty-five men, all well armed; a large camp was formed, with a
breast-work of fur-packs, and we kept watch all night. The next morning
we began to ascend French river, and were soon out of reach of the
dreaded foe. French river flows from the N.E. and empties into Lake
Huron, about one hundred and twenty miles from Saut Ste. Marie. We
reached Lake Nipissing, of which it is the outlet, the same evening, and
encamped. We crossed that lake on the 27th, made a number of portages,
and encamped again, not far from _Mattawan_.

On the 28th we entered, at an early hour, the river _Ottawa_, and
encamped, in the evening, at the _Portage des deux Joachims_. This is a
grand river, but obstructed by many falls and rapids on its way to join
the St. Lawrence; which caused us to make many portages, and so we
arrived on the 31st at _Kettle falls_.

The rock which here arrests the course of the _Ottawa_, extends from
shore to shore, and so completely cuts off the waters, that at the time
we passed none was seen falling over, but sinking by subterranean
channels, or fissures in the rock, it boiled up below, from seven or
eight different openings, not unlike water in a huge caldron, whence the
first explorers of the country gave it the name of _Chaudiere_ or
Caldron falls. Mr. P. Wright resided in this place, where he had a fine
establishment and a great number of men employed in cultivating the
land, and getting out lumber.

We left the _Chaudieres_ a little before sunset, and passed very soon
the confluence of the _Rideau_ or _Curtain river_. This river, which
casts itself into the Ottawa over a rock twenty-five by thirty feet
high, is divided in the middle of the fall by a little island, which
parts the waters into two white sheets, resembling a double curtain open
in the middle and spreading out below. The _coup d'oeil_ is really
picturesque; the rays of the setting sun, which struck the waters
obliquely as we passed, heightened exceedingly their beauty, and
rendered it worthy of a pencil more skilful than mine.

We voyaged till midnight, when we stopped to let our men take a little
repose. This rest was only for two hours. At sunrise on the 1st
September, we reached _Long-Saut_, where, having procured guides, we
passed that dangerous rapid, and set foot on shore near the
dwelling-house of a Mr. M'Donell, who sent us milk and fruits for our
breakfast. Toward noon we passed the lake of the Two Mountains, where I
began to see the mountain of my native isle. About two o'clock, we
passed the rapids of St. Ann.[AL] Soon after we came opposite _Saut St.
Louis_ and the village of _Caughnawago_, passed that last rapid of so
many, and landed at Montreal, a little before sunset.

[Footnote AL: "Far-famed and so well described," adds Mr. Franchere, in
his own translation, but I prefer to leave the expression in its
original striking simplicity, as he wrote it before he had heard of
MOORE. Every reader remembers:--

"Soon as the woods on shore grow dim,
We'll sing at St. Ann's our parting hymn."

_Canadian Boatman's Song_.]

I hastened to the paternal roof, where the family were not less
surprised than overjoyed at beholding me. Not having heard of me, since
I had sailed from New York, they had believed, in accordance with the
common report, that I had been murdered by the savages, with Mr. M'Kay
and the crew of the Tonquin: and certainly, it was by the goodness of
Providence that I found myself thus safe and sound, in the midst of my
relations and friends, at the end of a voyage accompanied by so many
perils, and in which so many of my companions had met with an untimely
death.




CHAPTER XXIX.

Present State of the Countries visited by the Author.--Correction
of Mr. Irving's Statements respecting St. Louis.


The last chapter closes the original French narrative of my travels
around and across the continent, as published thirty-three years ago.
The translation follows that narrative as exactly as possible, varying
from it only in the correction of a few not very important errors of
fact. It speaks of places and persons as I spoke of them then. I would
not willingly lose the verisimilitude of this natural and unadorned
description, in order to indulge in any new turns of style or more
philosophical reflections.

But since that period many changes have occurred in the scenes which I
so long ago visited and described. Though they are well known, I may be
pardoned for alluding to them.

The natives of the Sandwich islands, who were in a state of paganism at
that time, have since adopted a form of Christianity, have made
considerable progress in imitating the civilization of Europe, and even,
at this moment, begin to entertain the idea of annexation to the United
States. It appears, however, that the real natives are rapidly dwindling
away by the effects of their vices, which an exotic and ill-assimilated
civilization has rather increased than diminished, and to which religion
has not succeeded in applying a remedy.

At the mouth of the Columbia, whole tribes, and among them, the
_Clatsops_, have been swept away by disease. Here again, licentious
habits universally diffused, spread a fatal disorder through the whole
nation, and undermining the constitutions of all, left them an easy prey
to the first contagion or epidemic sickness. But missionaries of various
Christian sects have labored among the Indians of the Columbia also; not
to speak of the missions of the Catholic Church, so well known by the
narrative of Father De Smet and others; and numbers have been taught to
cultivate the soil, and thus to provide against the famines to which
they were formerly exposed from their dependence on the precarious
resources of the chase; while others have received, in the faith of
Christ, the true principle of national permanence, and a living germ of
civilization, which may afterward be developed.

Emigration has also carried to the Oregon the axe of the settler, as
well as the canoe and pack of the fur-trader. The fertile valleys and
prairies of the Willamet--once the resort of the deer, the elk, and the
antelope, are now tilled by the industrious husbandman. Oregon City, so
near old "Astoria," whose first log fort I saw and described, is now an
Archiepiscopal see, and the capital of a territory, which must soon be a
state of the Union.

Of the regions east of the mountains described in my itinerary, little
can be said in respect to improvement: they remain in the same wild
state. The interest of the Hudson's Bay Company, as an association of
fur-traders, is opposed to agricultural improvements, whose operation
would be to drive off and extinguish the wild animals that furnish their
commerce with its object. But on Lake Superior steamboats have
supplanted the birch-bark canoe of the Indian and the fur-trader, and at
Saut Ste. Marie, especially on the American side, there is now every
sign of prosperity. How remote and wild was the region beyond, through
which I passed, may be estimated by the fact that in thirty-eight years
the onward-rolling wave of our population has but just reached its
confines.

Canada, although it has not kept pace with the United States, has yet
wonderfully advanced in forty years. The valley of the Ottawa, that
great artery of the St. Lawrence, where I thought it worth while to
notice the residence of an enterprising farmer and lumber merchant, is
now a populous district, well cultivated, and sprinkled with villages,
towns, and cities.

The reader, in perusing my first chapter, found a description of the
city of New York in 1810, and of the neighboring village of Brooklyn.
It would be superfluous to establish a comparison at this day. At that
time, it will be observed, the mere breaking out of war between America
and England was thought to involve the sacrifice of an American
commercial establishment on the Pacific, on the ground of its supplies
being necessarily cut off (it was supposed), and of the United States
government being unable to protect it from hostile attack. At present it
suffices to remark that while New York, then so inconsiderable a port,
is now perhaps the third city in the world, the United States also, are,
undoubtedly, a first-rate power, unassailable at home, and formidable
abroad, to the greatest nations.

As in my preface I alluded to Mr. Irving's "Astoria," as reflecting, in
my opinion, unjustly, upon the young men engaged in the first expedition
to the mouth of the Columbia, it may suffice here to observe, without
entering into particulars, that my narrative, which I think answers for
its own fidelity, clearly shows that some of them, at least did not want
courage, activity, zeal for the interests of the company, while it
existed, and patient endurance of hardship. And although it forms no
part of the narrative or my voyage, yet as subsequent visits to the West
and an intimate knowledge of St. Louis, enable me to correct Mr.
Irving's poetical rather than accurate description of that place, I may
well do it here. St. Louis now bids fair to rival ere long the "Queen of
the West;" Mr. Irving describes her as a small trading place, where
trappers, half-breeds, gay, frivolous Canadian boatmen, &c., &c.,
congregated and revelled, with that lightness and buoyancy of spirit
inherited from their French forefathers; the indolent Creole of St.
Louis caring for little more than the enjoyment of the present hour; a
motley population, half-civilized, half-barbarous, thrown, on his
canvas, into one general, confused (I allow highly _picturesque_) mass,
without respect of persons: but it is fair to say, with due homage to
the talent of the sketcher, who has verged slightly on caricature in the
use of that humor-loving pencil admired by all the world, that St. Louis
even then contained its noble, industrious, and I may say, princely
merchants; it could boast its _Chouteaus_, _Soulands_, _Cere_,
_Cheniers_, _Vallees_, and _La Croix_, with other kindred spirits, whose
descendants prove the worth of their sires by their own, and are now
among the leading business men, as their fathers were the pioneers, of
the flourishing St. Louis.

With these remarks, which I make simply as an act of justice in
connection with the general subject of the founding of "Astoria," but in
which I mean to convey no imputation on the intentional fairness of the
accomplished author to whom I have alluded, I take a respectful leave of
my readers.





APPENDIX.[AM]


In Chapter XVII. I promised the reader to give him an account of the
fate of some of the persons who left Astoria before, and after its sale
or transfer to the British. I will now redeem that pledge.

[Footnote AM: We have thought it best to give this Appendix, excepting
some abbreviations rendered necessary to avoid repetition of what has
been stated before, in Mr. Franchere's own words, particularly as a
specimen of his own English style may be justly interesting to the
reader.]

Messrs. Ramsay Crooks, R. M'Lelland, and Robert Stuart, after enduring
all sorts of fatigue, dangers and hair-breadth escapes with their
lives--all which have been so graphically described by Washington Irving
in his "Astoria," finally reached St. Louis and New York.

Mr. Clapp went to the Marquesas Islands, where he entered into the
service of his country in the capacity of Midshipman under Commodore
Porter--made his escape from there in company with Lieutenant Gamble of
the Marine corps, by directions of the Commodore, was captured by the
British, landed at Buenos Ayres, and finally reached New York.

D. M'Dougall, as a reward for betraying the trust reposed in him by Mr.
Astor, was made a Partner of the Northwest Company, crossed the
mountains, and died a miserable death at _Bas de la Riviere_, Winipeg.
Donald M'Kenzie, his coadjutor, went back to the Columbia River, where
he amassed a considerable fortune, with which he retired, and lived in
Chautauque County in this state, where he died a few years since unknown
and neglected:--he was a very selfish man, who cared for no one but
himself.

It remains only to speak of Messrs. J.C. Halsey, Russell, Farnham, and
Alfred Seton, who, it will be remembered, embarked with Mr. Hunt on the
"Pedlar," in Feb. 1814.

Leaving the River about the 1st of April, they proceeded to the Russian
establishment at Sitka, Norfolk Sound, where they fell in with two or
three more American vessels, which had come to trade with the natives or
to avoid the British cruisers. While there, a sail under British colors
appeared, and Mr. Hunt sent Mr. Seton to ascertain who she was. She
turned out to be the "Forester," Captain Pigott, a repeating signal ship
and letter-of-marque, sent from England in company of a fleet intended
for the South Seas. On further acquaintance with the captain, Mr. Seton
(from whom I derive these particulars) learned a fact which has never
before been published, and which will show the solicitude and
perseverance of Mr. ASTOR. After despatching the "Lark" from New York,
fearing that she might be intercepted by the British, he sent orders to
his correspondent in England to purchase and fit out a British bottom,
and despatch her to the Columbia to relieve the establishment.

When Mr. Hunt learned this fact, he determined to leave Mr. Halsey at
Sitka, and proceeding himself northward, landed Mr. Farnham on the coast
of _Kamskatka_, to go over land with despatches for Mr. Astor. Mr.
Farnham accomplished the journey, reached Hamburg, whence he sailed for
the West Indies, and finally arrived at New York, having made the entire
circuit of the globe.

The "Pedlar" then sailed to the southeast, and soon reached the coast of
California, which she approached to get a supply of provisions. Nearing
one of the harbors, they descried a vessel at anchor inside, showing
American colors. Hauling their wind, they soon came close to the
stranger, which, to their surprise, turned out to be the Spanish
corvette "Santa Barbara," which sent boats alongside the "Pedlar," and
captured her, and kept possession of the prize for some two months,
during which they dropped down to _San Blas_. Here Mr. Hunt proposed to
Mr. Seton to cross the continent and reach the United States the best
way he could. Mr. Seton, accordingly, went to the Isthmus of Darien,
where he was detained several months by sickness, but finally reached
Carthagena, where a British fleet was lying in the roads, to take off
the English merchants, who in consequence of the revolutionary
movements going on, sought shelter under their own flag. Here Mr. Seton,
reduced to the last stage of destitution and squalor, boldly applied to
Captain Bentham, the commander of the squadron, who, finding him to be a
gentleman, offered him every needful assistance, gave him a berth in his
own cabin, and finally landed him safely on the Island of Jamaica,
whence he, too, found his way to New York.

Of all those engaged in the expedition there are now but four
survivors--Ramsay Crooks, Esq. the late President of the American Fur
Company; Alfred Seton, Esq., Vice-president of the Sun Mutual Insurance
Company; both of New York city; Benjamin Pillet of Canada; and the
author, living also in New York. All the rest have paid the debt of
nature, but their names are recorded in the foregoing pages.

Notwithstanding the illiberal remarks made by Captain Thorn on the
persons who were on board the ill-fated Tonquin, and reproduced by Mr.
Irving in his "Astoria"--these young men who were represented as "Bar
keepers or Billiard markers, most of whom had fled from Justice, &c."--I
feel it a duty to say that they were for the most part, of good
parentage, liberal education and every way were qualified to discharge
the duties of their respective stations. The remarks on the general
character of the voyageurs employed as boat-men and Mechanics, and the
attempt to cast ridicule on their "Braggart and swaggering manners" come
with a bad grace from the author of "Astoria," when we consider that in
that very work Mr. Irving is compelled to admit their indomitable
energy, their fidelity to their employers, and their cheerfulness under
the most trying circumstances in which men can be placed.

With respect to Captain Thorn, I must confess that though a stern
commander and an irritable man, he paid the strictest attention to the
health of his crew. His complaints of the squalid appearance of the
Canadians and mechanics who were on board, can be abated of their force
by giving a description of the accommodation of these people. The
Tonquin was a small ship; its forecastle was destined for the crew
performing duty before the mast. The room allotted for the accommodation
of the twenty men destined for the establishment, was abaft the
forecastle; a bulk-head had been let across, and a door led from the
forecastle into a dark, unventilated, unwholesome place, where they were
all heaped together, without means of locomotion, and consequently
deprived of that exercise of the body so necessary to health. Add to
that, we had no physician on board. In view of these facts, can the
complaints of the gallant Captain be sustained? Of course Mr. Irving was
ignorant of these circumstances, as well as of many others which he
might have known, had some one suggested to him to ask a few questions
of persons who were within his reach at the time of his publication. I
have (I need scarcely say) no personal animosity against the unfortunate
Captain; he always treated me, individually, as well as I could expect;
and if, in the course of my narrative, I have been severe on his
actions, I was impelled by a sense of justice to my friends on board,
as well as by the circumstance that such explanations of his general
deportment were requisite to convey the historical truth to my readers.

The idea of a conspiracy against him on board is so absurd that it
really does not deserve notice. The threat, or rather the proposal made
to him by Mr. M'Kay, in the following words--"if you say fight, fight it
is"--originated in a case where one of the sailors had maltreated a
Canadian lad, who came to complain to Mr. M'Kay. The captain would not
interpose his authority, and said in my presence, "Let them fight out
their own battles:"--it was upon that answer that Mr. M'Kay gave vent to
the expression quoted above. I might go on with a long list of
inaccuracies, more or less grave or trivial, in the beautifully written
work of Mr. Irving, but it would be tedious to go through the whole of
them. The few remarks to which I have given place above, will suffice to
prove that the assertion made in the preface was not unwarranted. It is
far from my intention to enter the lists with a man of the literary
merit and reputation of Mr. Irving, but as a narrator of events of which
I was an EYEWITNESS, I felt bound to tell the truth, although that truth
might impugn the historical accuracy of a work which ranks as a classic
in the language. At the same time I entirely exonerate Mr. Irving from
any intention of prejudicing the minds of his readers, as he doubtless
had only in view to support the character of his friend: that sentiment
is worthy of a generous heart, but it should not be gratified, nor would
he wish to gratify it, I am sure, at the expense of the character of
others.




NOTE BY THE EDITOR.

Perhaps even contrary to the wish of Mr. Franchere, I have left the
above almost word for word as he wrote it. It is a part of the
history of the affairs related as well in Mr. Irving's ASTORIA as
in the present volume, that the reclamations of one of the clerks
on that famous and unfortunate voyage of the Tonquin, against the
disparaging description of himself and his colleagues given in the
former work, should be fairly recorded. At the same time, I can not
help stating my own impression that a natural susceptibility,
roused by those slighting remarks from Captain Thorn's
correspondence, to which Mr. Irving as an historian gives currency,
has somewhat blinded my excellent friend to the tone of banter, so
characteristic of the chronicler of the Knickerbockers, in which
all these particulars are given, more as traits of the character
of the stern old sea-captain, with his hearty contempt for
land-lubbers and literary clerks, than as a dependable account of
the persons on board his ship, some of whom might have been, and as
we see by the present work, were, in fact, very meritorious
characters, for whose literary turn, and faithful journalizing
(which seems to have especially provoked the captain's wrath), now
at the end of more than forty years, we have so much reason to be
thankful. Certainly Mr. Irving himself, who has drawn frequently on
Mr. Franchere's narrative, could not, from his well-known taste in
such matters, be insensible to the Defoe-like simplicity thereof,
nor to the picturesque descriptions, worthy of a professional pen,
with which it is sprinkled.


THE END.