[Transcriber's Note: Because this is a personal narrative, inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, anditalicization have been preserved in cases where it is not clearly anerror from the original printing. ]

[Illustration: ASTORIA, AS IT WAS IN 1813. ]

NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA

IN THE YEARS 1811, 1812, 1813, AND 1814

OR

THE FIRST AMERICAN SETTLEMENT ON THE PACIFIC

BY GABRIEL FRANCHERE

TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY J. V. HUNTINGTON

REDFIELD110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK

1854. 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY J. S. REDFIELD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in andfor the Southern District of New York. 

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

In 1846, when the boundary question (that of the Oregon Territory inparticular) was at its height, the Hon. THOMAS H. BENTON delivered inthe United States Senate a decisive speech, of which the following is anextract:--

"Now for the proof of all I have said. I happen to have in my possessionthe book of all others, which gives the fullest and most authenticdetails on all the points I have mentioned--a book written at a time, and under circumstances, when the author (himself a British subject andfamiliar on the Columbia) had no more idea that the British would layclaim to that river, than Mr. Harmon, the American writer whom Iquoted, ever thought of our claiming New Caledonia. It is the work ofMr. FRANCHERE, a gentleman of Montreal, with whom I have the pleasure tobe personally acquainted, and one of those employed by Mr. ASTOR infounding his colony. He was at the founding of ASTORIA, at its sale tothe Northwest Company, saw the place seized as a British conquest, andcontinued there after its seizure. He wrote in French: his work has notbeen done into English, though it well deserves it; and I read from theFrench text. He gives a brief and true account of the discovery of theColumbia. "

I felt justly proud of this notice of my unpretending work, especiallythat the latter should have contributed, as it did, to the amicablesettlement of the then pending difficulties. I have flattered myselfever since, that it belonged to the historical literature of the greatcountry, which by adoption has become mine. 

The re-perusal of "Astoria" by WASHINGTON IRVING (1836) inspired me withan additional motive for giving my book in an English dress. Withoutdisparagement to Mr. IRVING'S literary, fame, I may venture to say thatI found in his work inaccuracies, misstatements (unintentional ofcourse), and a want of chronological order, which struck forcibly one sofamiliar with the events themselves. I thought I could show--or ratherthat my simple narration, of itself, plainly discovered--that some ofthe young men embarked in that expedition (which founded our Pacificempire), did not merit the ridicule and contempt which Captain THORNattempted to throw upon them, and which perhaps, through the genius ofMr. IRVING, might otherwise remain as a lasting stigma on theircharacters. 

But the consideration which, before all others, prompts me to offer thisnarrative to the American reading public, is my desire to place beforethem, therein, a simple and connected account (which at this time oughtto be interesting), of the early settlement of the Oregon Territory byone of our adopted citizens, the enterprising merchant JOHN JACOB ASTOR. The importance of a vast territory, which at no distant day may add twomore bright stars to our national banner, is a guarantee that my humbleeffort will be appreciated. 

 * * * * *

NOTE BY THE EDITOR. 

It has been the editor's wish to let Mr. Franchere speak for himself. Topreserve in the translation the Defoe-like simplicity of the originalnarrative of the young French Canadian, has been his chief care. Havingread many narratives of travel and adventure in our northwesternwilderness, he may be permitted to say that he has met with none thatgives a more vivid and picturesque description of it, or in which thepersonal adventures of the narrator, and the varying fortunes of a greatenterprise, mingle more happily, and one may say, more dramatically, with the itinerary. The clerkly minuteness of the details is notwithout its charm either, and their fidelity speaks for itself. Take italtogether, it must be regarded as a fragment of our colonial historysaved from oblivion; it fills up a vacuity which Mr. IRVING'S classicwork does not quite supply; it is, in fact, the only account by aneye-witness and a participator in the enterprise, of the first attemptto form a settlement on the Pacific under the stars and stripes. 

The editor has thought it would be interesting to add Mr. Franchere'sPreface to the original French edition, which will be found on the nextpage. 

BALTIMORE, _February 6, 1854_. 

PREFACE TO THE FRENCH EDITION. 

When I was writing my journal on the vessel which carried me to thenorthwest coast of North America, or in the wild regions of thiscontinent, I was far from thinking that it would be placed one daybefore the public eye. I had no other end in writing, but to procure tomy family and my friends a more exact and more connected detail of whatI had seen or learned in the course of my travels, than it would havebeen possible for me to give them in a _viva voce_ narration. Since myreturn to my native city, my manuscript has passed into various handsand has been read by different persons: several of my friendsimmediately advised me to print it; but it is only quite lately that Ihave allowed myself to be persuaded, that without being a learnednaturalist, a skilful geographer, or a profound moralist, a travellermay yet interest by the faithful and succinct account of the situationsin which he has found himself, the adventures which have happened tohim, and the incidents of which he has been a witness; that if a simpleingenuous narrative, stripped of the merit of science and the graces ofdiction, must needs be less enjoyed by the man of letters or by the_savant_, it would have, in compensation, the advantage of being at thelevel of a greater number of readers; in fine, that the desire ofaffording an entertainment to his countrymen, according to his capacity, and without any mixture of the author's vanity or of pecuniary interest, would be a well-founded title to their indulgence. Whether I have donewell or ill in yielding to these suggestions, which I am bound to regardas those of friendship, or of good-will, it belongs to the impartial anddisinterested reader, to decide. 

MONTREAL, 1819. 

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Departure from Montreal. --Arrival in New York. --Description ofthat City. --Names of the Persons engaged in the Expedition. 

CHAPTER II. 

Departure from New York. --Reflections of the Author. --Navigation, falling in with other Ships, and various Incidents, till the Vesselcomes in Sight of the Falkland Isles. 

CHAPTER III. 

Arrival at the Falkland Isles. --Landing. --Perilous Situation of theAuthor and some of his Companions. --Portrait of Captain Thorn. --CapeHorn. --Navigation to the Sandwich Islands. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Accident. --View of the Coast. --Attempted Visit of the Natives. --TheirIndustry. --Bay of Karaka-koua. --Landing on the Island. --John Young, Governor of Owahee. 

CHAPTER V. 

Bay of Ohetity. --Tamehameha, King of the Island. --His Visit to theShip. --His Capital. --His Naval Force. --His Authority. --Productions ofthe Country. --Manners and Customs. --Reflections. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Departure from Wahoo. --Storm. --Arrival at the Mouth of theColumbia. --Reckless Order of the Captain. --Difficulty of theEntrance. --Perilous Situation of the Ship. --Unhappy Fate of a Partof the Crew and People of the Expedition. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Regrets of the Author at the Loss of his Companions. --Obsequiesof a Sandwich-Islander. --First Steps in the Formation of the intendedEstablishment. --New Alarm. --Encampment. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Voyage up the River. --Description of the Country. --Meeting withstrange Indians. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Departure of the Tonquin. --Indian Messengers. --Project of an Expeditionto the Interior. --Arrival of Mr. Daniel Thompson. --Departure of theExpedition. --Designs upon us by the Natives. --Rumors of the Destructionof the Tonquin. --Scarcity of Provisions. --Narrative of a strangeIndian. --Duplicity and Cunning of Comcomly. 

CHAPTER X. 

Occupation at Astoria. --Return of a Portion of the Men of theExpedition to the Interior. --New Expedition. --Excursion in Searchof three Deserters. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Departure of Mr. R. Stuart for the Interior. --Occupations atAstoria. --Arrival of Messrs. Donald M'Kenzie and RobertM'Lellan. --Account of their Journey. --Arrival of Mr. Wilson P. Hunt. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Arrival of the Ship Beaver. --Unexpected Return of Messrs. D. Stuart, B. Stuart, M'Lelland, &c. --Cause of that Return. --Ship discharging. --NewExpeditions. --Hostile Attitude of the Natives. --Departure of theBeaver. --Journeys of the Author. --His Occupations at the Establishment. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

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

CHAPTER XIV. 

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

CHAPTER XV. 

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

CHAPTER XVI. 

Expeditions to the Interior. --Return of Messrs. John Stuart andD. M'Kenzie. --Theft committed by the Natives. --War Party againstthe Thieves. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Description of Tongue Point. --A Trip to the _Willamet_. --Arrivalof W. Hunt in the Brig Pedlar. --Narrative of the Loss of the ShipLark. --Preparations for crossing the Continent. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Situation of the Columbia River. --Qualities of its Soil. --Climate, &c. --Vegetable and Animal Productions of the Country. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Manners, Customs, Occupations, &c. , of the Natives on the River Columbia. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Manners and Customs of the Natives continued. --Their Wars. --TheirMarriages. --Medicine Men. --Funeral Ceremonies. --ReligiousNotions. --Language. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Departure from Astoria Or Fort George. --Accident. --Passage ofthe Dalles or Narrows. --Great Columbian Desert. --Aspect of theCountry. --Wallawalla and Sha-aptin Rivers. --Rattlesnakes. --SomeDetails regarding the Natives of the Upper Columbia. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Meeting with the Widow of a Hunter. --Her Narrative. --Reflections ofthe Author. --Priest's Rapid. --River Okenakan. --Kettle Falls. --PineMoss. --Scarcity of Food. --Rivers, Lakes, &c. --Accident. --ARencontre. --First View of the Rocky Mountains. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Course of the Columbian River. --Canoe River. --Foot-march toward theRocky Mountains. --Passage of the Mountains. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Arrival at the Fort of the Mountains. --Description of thisPost. --Some Details in Regard to the Rocky Mountains. --Mountain Sheep, &c. --Continuation of the Journey. --Unhappy Accident. --Reflections. --Newsfrom Canada. --Hunter's Lodge. --Pembina and Red Deer Rivers. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Red Deer Lake. --Antoine Déjarlais. --Beaver River. --N. Nadeau. --MooseRiver. --Bridge Lake. --Saskatchawine River. --Fort Vermilion. --Mr. Hallet. --Trading-Houses. --Beautiful Country. --Reflections. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Fort Montée. --Cumberland House. --Lake Bourbon. --Great WinipegRapids. --Lake Winipeg. --Trading-House. --Lake of the Woods. --RainyLake House, &c. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Arrival at Fort William. --Description of that Post--News from theRiver Columbia. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

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

CHAPTER XXIX. 

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

APPENDIX. 

Mr. Seton's Adventures. --Survivors of the Expedition in1851. --Author's Protest against some Expressions in Mr. Irving's"Astoria. "--Editor's Note. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Since the independence of the United States of America, the merchants ofthat industrious and enterprising nation have carried on an extremelyadvantageous commerce on the northwest coast of this continent. In thecourse of their voyages they have made a great number of discoverieswhich they have not thought proper to make public; no doubt to avoidcompetition in a lucrative business. 

In 1792, Captain Gray, commanding the ship Columbia of Boston, discovered in latitude 46° 19" north, the entrance of a great bay on thePacific coast. He sailed into it, and having perceived that it was theoutlet or estuary of a large river, by the fresh water which he foundat a little distance from the entrance, he continued his course upwardsome eighteen miles, and dropped anchor on the left bank, at the openingof a deep bay. There he made a map or rough sketch of what he had seenof this river (accompanied by a written description of the soundings, bearings, &c. ); and having finished his traffic with the natives (theobject of his voyage to these parts), he put out to sea, and soon afterfell in with Captain Vancouver, who was cruising by order of the Britishgovernment, to seek new discoveries. Mr. Gray acquainted him with theone he had just made, and even gave him a copy of the chart he had drawnup. Vancouver, who had just driven off a colony of Spaniards establishedon the coast, under the command of Señor Quadra (England and Spain beingthen at war), despatched his first-lieutenant Broughton, who ascendedthe river in boats some one hundred and twenty or one hundred and fiftymiles, took possession of the country in the name of his Britannicmajesty, giving the river the name of the _Columbia_, and to the baywhere the American captain stopped, that of _Gray's bay_. Since thatperiod the country had been seldom visited (till 1811), and chiefly byAmerican ships. 

Sir Alexander McKenzie, in his second overland voyage, tried to reachthe western ocean by the Columbia river, and thought he had succeededwhen he came out six degrees farther north, at the bottom of Puget'ssound, by another river. [A] In 1805, the American government sentCaptains Lewis and Clark, with about thirty men, including some Kentuckyhunters, on an overland journey to the mouth of the Columbia. Theyascended the Missouri, crossed the mountains at the source of thatriver, and following the course of the Columbia, reached the shores ofthe Pacific, where they were forced to winter. The report which theymade of their expedition to the United States government created alively sensation. [B]

[Footnote A: McKenzie's Travels. ]

[Footnote B: Lewis and Clark's Report. ]

Mr. John Jacob Astor, a New York merchant, who conducted almost alonethe trade in furs south of the great lakes Huron and Superior, and whohad acquired by that commerce a prodigious fortune, thought to augmentit by forming on the banks of the Columbia an establishment of which theprincipal or supply factory should be at the mouth of that river. Hecommunicated his views to the agents of the Northwest Company; he waseven desirous of forming the proposed establishment in concert withthem; but after some negotiations, the inland or wintering partners ofthat association of fur-traders having rejected the plan, Mr. Astordetermined to make the attempt alone. He needed for the success of hisenterprise, men long versed in the Indian trade, and he soon found them. Mr. Alexander M'Kay (the same who had accompanied Sir Alexander M'Kenziein his travels overland), a bold and enterprising man, left theNorthwest Company to join him; and soon after, Messrs Duncan M'Dougaland Donald M'Kenzie (also in the service of the company) and Messrs. David Stuart and Robert Stuart, all of Canada, did the same. At length, in the winter of 1810, a Mr. Wilson Price Hunt of St. Louis, on theMississippi, having also joined them, they determined that theexpedition should be set on foot in the following spring. 

It was in the course of that winter that one of my friends made meacquainted in confidence with the plan of these gentlemen, under theinjunction of strictest secrecy. The desire of seeing strange countries, joined to that of acquiring a fortune, determined me to solicitemployment of the new association; on the 20th of May I had an interviewwith Mr. A. M'Kay, with whom the preliminaries were arranged; and on the24th of the same month I signed an agreement as an apprenticed clerk forthe term of five years. 

When the associates had engaged a sufficient number of Canadian boatmen, they equipped a bark canoe under charge of Messrs. Hunt and M'Kenzie, with a Mr. Perrault as clerk, and a crew of fourteen men. Thesegentlemen were to proceed to Mackinaw, and thence to St. Louis, hiringon the way as many men as they could to man the canoes, in which, fromthe last-mentioned port, they were to ascend the Missouri to its source, and there diverging from the route followed by Lewis and Clark, reachthe mouth of the Columbia to form a junction with another party, whowere to go round by way of Cape Horn. In the course of my narrative Ishall have occasion to speak of the success of both these expeditions. 

NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA

CHAPTER I. 

 Departure from Montreal. --Arrival in New York. --Description of that City. --Names of the Persons engaged in the Expedition. 

We remained in Montreal the rest of the spring and a part of the summer. At last, having completed our arrangements for the journey, we receivedorders to proceed, and on the 26th of July, accompanied by my father andbrothers and a few friends, I repaired to the place of embarkation, where was prepared a birch bark canoe, manned by nine Canadians, havingMr. A. M'Kay as commander, and a Mr. A. Fisher as passenger. Thesentiments which I experienced at that moment would be as difficult forme to describe as they were painful to support; for the first time in mylife I quitted the place of my birth, and was separated from belovedparents and intimate friends, having for my whole consolation the fainthope of seeing them again. We embarked at about five, P. M. , and arrivedat La Prairie de la Madeleine (on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence), toward eight o'clock. [C] We slept at this village, and thenext morning, very early, having secured the canoe on a wagon, we got inmotion again, and reached St. John's on the river Richelieu, a littlebefore noon. Here we relaunched our canoe (after having well calked theseams), crossed or rather traversed the length of Lake Champlain, andarrived at Whitehall on the 30th. There we were overtaken by Mr. Ovid deMontigny, and a Mr. P. D. Jeremie, who were to be of the expedition. 

[Footnote C: This place is famous in the history of Canada, and moreparticularly in the thrilling story of the Indian missions. --ED. ]

Having again placed our canoe on a wagon, we pursued our journey, andarrived on the 1st of August at Lansingburg, a little village situatedon the bank of the river Hudson. Here we got our canoe once more afloat, passed by Troy, and by Albany, everywhere hospitably received, ourCanadian boatmen, having their hats decorated with parti-colored ribandsand feathers, being taken by the Americans for so many wild Indians, andarrived at New York on the 3d, at eleven o'clock in the evening. 

We had landed at the north end of the city, and the next day, beingSunday, we re-embarked, and were obliged to make a course round thecity, in order to arrive at our lodgings on Long Island. We sang as werowed; which, joined to the unusual sight of a birch bark canoe impelledby nine stout Canadians, dark as Indians, and as gayly adorned, attracted a crowd upon the wharves to gaze at us as we glided along. Wefound on Long Island (in the village of Brooklyn) those young gentlemenengaged in the service of the new company, who had left Canada inadvance of our party. 

The vessel in which we were to sail not being ready, I should have foundmyself quite isolated and a stranger in the great city of New York, butfor a letter of introduction to Mr. G----, given me on my setting out, by Madame his sister. I had formed the acquaintance of this gentlemanduring a stay which he had made at Montreal in 1801; but as I was thenvery young, he would probably have had some difficulty in recognising mewithout his sister's letter. He introduced me to several of his friends, and I passed in an agreeable manner the five weeks which elapsed betweenmy arrival in New York and the departure of the ship. 

I shall not undertake to describe New York; I will only say, that theelegance of the buildings, public and private, the cleanliness of thestreets, the shade of the poplars which border them, the public walks, the markets always abundantly provided with all sorts of commodities, the activity of its commerce, then in a flourishing condition, the vastnumber of ships of all nations which crowded the quays; all, in a word, conspired to make me feel the difference between this great maritimecity and my native town, of whose steeples I had never lost sightbefore, and which was by no means at that time what it is now. 

New York was not then, and indeed is not at this time a fortified town;still there were several batteries and military works, the mostconsiderable of which were seen on the _Narrows_, or channel which formsthe principal mouth of the Hudson. The isles called _Governor's Island_, and _Bedloe_ or _Gibbet Island_, were also well fortified. On the first, situated to the west of the city and about a mile from it, there werebarracks sufficiently capacious for several thousand soldiers, and aMoro, or castle, with three tiers of guns, all bomb-proof. These workshave been strengthened during the last war. 

The market-places are eight in number; the most considerable is called_Fly-Market_. 

The _Park_, the _Battery_, and _Vauxhall Garden_, are the principalpromenades. There were, in 1810, thirty-two churches, two of which weredevoted to the catholic worship; and the population was estimated atninety thousand souls, of whom ten thousand were French. It is thoughtthat this population has since been augmented (1819) by some thirtythousand souls. 

During my sojourn at New York, I lodged in Brooklyn, on Long Island. This island is separated from the city by a sound, or narrow arm of thesea. There is here a pretty village, not far from which is a basin, where some gun-boats were hauled up, and a few war vessels were on thestocks. Some barracks had been constructed here, and a guard wasmaintained. 

Before leaving New York, it is well to observe that during our stay inthat city, Mr. M'Kay thought it the part of prudence to have aninterview with the minister plenipotentiary of his Britannic majesty, Mr. Jackson, [D] to inform him of the object of our voyage, and get hisviews in regard to the line of conduct we ought to follow in case of warbreaking out between the two powers; intimating to him that we were allBritish subjects, and were about to trade under the American flag. Aftersome moments of reflection Mr. Jackson told him, "that we were going ona very hazardous enterprise; that he saw our object was purelycommercial, and that all he could promise us, was, that in case of a warwe should be respected as British subjects and traders. "

[Footnote D: This gentleman was really _chargé d'affaires_. ]

This reply appeared satisfactory, and Mr. M'Kay thought we had nothingto apprehend on that side. 

The vessel in which we were to sail was called the _Tonquin_, of about300 tons burden, commanded by Captain Thorn (a first-lieutenant of theAmerican navy, on furlough for this purpose), with a crew of twenty-onemen. The number of passengers was thirty-three. Here follow the names ofboth. 

PASSENGERS. 

 { Messrs. Alexander M'Kay } { " Duncan M'Dougall, } PARTNERS { " David Stuart, } all of Canada. { " Robert Stuart, }

 { James Lewis of New York, { Russel Farnham of Massachusetts, { William W. Matthews of New York, { Alexander Boss, } { Donald M'Gillis, } CLERKS { Ovide de Montigny, } { Francis B. Pillet, } all from Canada. { Donald M'Lennan, } { William Wallace, } { Thomas McKay, } { Gabriel Franchere, }

 { Oliver Roy Lapensée, Joseph Lapierre, { Ignace Lapensée, Joseph Nadeau, BOATMEN, { Basile Lapensée, J. B'te. Belleau, ETC. { Jacques Lafantaisie, Antoine Belleau, { Benjamin Roussel, Louis Bruslé, { Michel Laframboise, P. D. Jeremie, { Giles Leclerc, all of Canada. 

 Johann Koaster, ship-carpenter, a Russian, George Bell, cooper, New York, Job Aitken, rigger and calker, from Scotland, Augustus Roussil, blacksmith, Canada, Guilleaume Perreault, a boy. These last were all mechanics, &c. , destined for the establishment. 

CREW. 

 Jonathan Thorn, captain, New York State. Ebenezer D. Fox, 1st mate, of Boston. John M. Mumford, 2d mate, of Massachusetts. James Thorn, brother of the captain, New York. John Anderson, boatswain, foreigner. Egbert Vanderhuff, tailor, New York. John Weeks, carpenter, " Stephen Weeks, armorer, " John Coles, New York, } John Martin, a Frenchman, } sailmakers. 

 { John White, New York. { Adam Fisher, " { Peter Verbel, " SAILORS. { Edward Aymes, " { Robert Hill, Albany, New York. { John Adams, " { Joseph Johnson, Englishman, { Charles Roberts, New York, A colored man as cook, A mulatto steward, And three or four others whose names I have forgotten. 

CHAPTER II. 

 Departure from New York. --Reflections of the Author. --Navigation, falling in with other Ships, and various Incidents, till the Vessel comes in Sight of the Falkland Isles. 

All being ready for our departure, we went on board ship, and weighedanchor on the 6th of September, in the morning. The wind soon fell off, and the first day was spent in drifting down to Staten island, where wecame to anchor for the night. The next day we weighed anchor again; butthere came on another dead calm, and we were forced to cast anchor nearthe lighthouse at Sandy Hook. On the 8th we weighed anchor for the thirdtime, and by the help of a fresh breeze from the southwest, we succeededin passing the bar; the pilot quitted us at about eleven o'clock, andsoon after we lost sight of the coast. 

One must have experienced it one's self, to be able to conceive themelancholy which takes possession of the soul of a man of sensibility, at the instant that he leaves his country and the civilized world, to goto inhabit with strangers in wild and unknown lands. I should in vainendeavor to give my readers an idea, even faintly correct, of thepainful sinking of heart that I suddenly felt, and of the sad glancewhich I involuntarily cast toward a future so much the more frightful tome, as it offered nothing but what was perfectly confused and uncertain. A new scene of life was unfolded before me, but how monotonous, and illsuited to diminish the dejection with which my mind was overwhelmed! Forthe first time in my life, I found myself under way upon the main sea, with nothing to fix my regards and arrest my attention but the frailmachine which bore me between the abyss of waters and the immensity ofthe skies. I remained for a long time with my eyes fixed in thedirection of that land which I no longer saw, and almost despaired ofever seeing again; I made serious reflections on the nature andconsequences of the enterprise in which I had so rashly embarked; and Iconfess that if at that moment the offer had been made to release mefrom my engagement, I should have accepted the proposal with all myheart. It is true that the hopeless confusion and incumberment of thevessel's deck, the great number of strangers among whom I found myself, the brutal style which the captain and his subalterns used toward ouryoung Canadians; all, in a word, conspired to make me augur a vexatiousand disagreeable voyage. The sequel will show that I did not deceivemyself in that. 

We perceived very soon in the S. W. , which was our weather-side, a vesselthat bore directly toward us; she made a signal that was understood byour captain; we hove to, and stood on her bow. It turned out to be theAmerican frigate _Constitution_. We sent our boat on board of her, andsailed in company till toward five o'clock, when, our papers having beensent back to us, we separated. 

The wind having increased, the motion of the vessel made us sea-sick, those of us, I mean, who were for the first time at sea. The weather wasfine, however; the vessel, which at first sailing was lumbered in such amanner that we could hardly get in or out of our berths, and scarcelywork ship, by little and little got into order, so that we soon foundourselves more at ease. 

On the 14th we commenced to take flying fish. The 24th, we saw a greatquantity of dolphins. We prepared lines and took two of the latter, which we cooked. The flesh of this fish appeared to me excellent. 

After leaving New York, till the 4th of October, we headed southeast. Onthat day we struck the trade winds, and bore S. S. E. ; being, according toour observations, in latitude 17° 43" and longitude 22° 39". 

On the 5th, in the morning, we came in sight of the Cape-Verd islands, bearing W. N. W. , and distant about eight or nine miles, having the coastof Africa to the E. S. E. We should have been very glad to touch at theseislands to take in water; but as our vessel was an American bottom, andhad on board a number of British subjects, our captain did not think fitto expose himself to meet the English ships-of-war cruising on thesecoasts, who certainly would not have failed to make a strict search, andto take from us the best part of our crew; which would infallibly haveproved disastrous to the object for which we had shipped them. 

Speaking of water, I may mention that the rule was to serve it out inrations of a quart a day; but that we were now reduced to a pint and ahalf. For the rest, our fare consisted of fourteen ounces of hard bread, a pound and a quarter of salt beef or one of pork, per day, and half apint of souchong tea, with sugar, per man. The pork and beef were servedalternately: rice and beans, each once a week; corn-meal pudding withmolasses, ditto; on Sundays the steerage passengers were allowed abottle of Teneriffe wine. All except the four partners, Mr. Lewis, acting as captain's clerk, and Mr. T. M'Kay, were in the steerage; thecabin containing but six berths, besides the captain's and first-mate'sstate-rooms. 

As long as we were near the coast of Africa, we had light and variablewinds, and extremely hot weather; on the 8th, we had a dead calm, andsaw several sharks round the vessel; we took one which we ate. I foundthe taste to resemble sturgeon. We experienced on that day an excessiveheat, the mercury being at 94° of Fahrenheit. From the 8th to the 11thwe had on board a canary bird, which we treated with the greatest careand kindness, but which nevertheless quitted us, probably for a certaindeath. 

The nearer we approached to the equator the more we perceived the heatto increase: on the 16th, in latitude 6°, longitude 22° west fromGreenwich, the mercury stood at 108°. We discovered on that day a sailbearing down upon us. The next morning she reappeared, and approachedwithin gun-shot. She was a large brig, carrying about twenty guns: wesailed in company all day by a good breeze, all sail spread; but towardevening she dropped astern and altered her course to the S. S. E. 

On the 18th, at daybreak, the watch alarmed us by announcing that thesame brig which had followed us the day before, was under our lee, acable's length off, and seemed desirous of knowing who we were, withoutshowing her own colors. Our captain appeared to be in some alarm; andadmitting that she was a better sailer than we, he called all thepassengers and crew on deck, the drum beat to quarters, and we feignedto make preparations for combat. 

It is well to observe that our vessel mounted ten pieces of cannon, andwas pierced for twenty; the forward port-holes were adorned with shamguns. Whether it was our formidable appearance or no, at about ten A. M. The stranger again changed her course, and we soon lost sight of herentirely. 

Nothing further remarkable occurred to us till the 22d, when we passedthe line in longitude 25° 9". According to an ancient custom the crewbaptized those of their number who had never before crossed theequator; it was a holyday for them on board. About two o'clock in theafternoon we perceived a sail in the S. S. W. We were not a littlealarmed, believing that it was the same brig which we had seen some daysbefore; for it was lying to, as if awaiting our approach. We soon drewnear, and to our great joy discovered that she was a Portuguese; wehailed her, and learned that she came from some part of South America, and was bound to Pernambuco, on the coasts of Brazil. Very soon after webegan to see what navigators call the _Clouds of Magellan_: they arethree little white spots that one perceives in the sky almost as soon asone passes the equator: they were situated in the S. S. W. 

The 1st November, we began to see great numbers of aquatic birds. Towardthree o'clock P. M. , we discovered a sail on our larboard, but did notapproach sufficiently near to speak her. The 3d, we saw two more sails, making to the S. E. We passed the tropic of Capricorn on the 4th, with afine breeze, and in longitude 33° 27". We lost the trade-winds, and aswe advanced south the weather became cold and rainy. The 11th, we had acalm, although the swell was heavy. We saw several turtles, and thecaptain having sent out the small boat, we captured two of them. Duringthe night of the 11th and 12th, the wind changed to the N. E. , and raiseda terrible tempest, in which the gale, the rain, the lightning, andthunder, seemed to have sworn our destruction; the sea appeared alla-fire, while our little vessel was the sport of winds and waves. Wekept the hatches closed, which did not prevent us from passing veryuncomfortable nights while the storm lasted; for the great heats that wehad experienced between the tropics, had so opened the seams of the deckthat every time the waves passed over, the water rushed down inquantities upon our hammocks. The 14th, the wind shifted to the S. S. W. , which compelled us to beat to windward. During the night we were struckby a tremendous sea; the helm was seized beyond control, and the man atthe wheel was thrown from one side of the ship to the other, breakingtwo of his ribs, which confined him to his berth for a week. 

In latitude 35° 19", longitude 40°, the sea appeared to be covered withmarine plants, and the change that we observed in the color of thewater, as well as the immense number of gulls and other aquatic birdsthat we saw, proved to us that we were not far from the mouth of the_Rio de la Plata_. The wind continued to blow furiously till the 21st, when it subsided a little, and the weather cleared up. On the 25th, being in the 46th degree, and 30 minutes of latitude, we saw a penguin. 

We began to feel sensibly the want of water: since passing the tropic ofCapricorn the daily allowance had been always diminishing, till we werereduced to three gills a day, a slender modicum considering that we hadonly salt provisions. We had indeed a still, which we used to render thesea-water drinkable; but we distilled merely what sufficed for the dailyuse of the kitchen, as to do more would have required a great quantityof wood or coal. As we were not more than one hundred and fifty leaguesfrom the Falkland isles, we determined to put in there and endeavor toreplenish our casks, and the captain caused the anchors to be got ready. 

We had contrary winds from the 27th of November to the 3d December. Onthe evening of that day, we heard one of the officers, who was at themast head, cry "Land! Land!" Nevertheless, the night coming on, and thebarren rocks which we had before us being little elevated above theocean, we hove to. 

CHAPTER III. 

 Arrival at the Falkland Isles. --Landing. --Perilous Situation of the Author and some of his Companions. --Portrait of Captain Thorn. --Cape Horn. --Navigation to the Sandwich Islands. 

On the 4th (Dec. ) in the morning, I was not the last to mount on deck, to feast my eyes with the sight of land; for it is only those who havebeen three or four months at sea, who know how to appreciate thepleasure which one then feels even at sight of such barren and bristlingrocks as form the Falkland Isles. We drew near these rocks very soon, and entered between two of the islands, where we anchored on a goodground. The first mate being sent ashore to look for water, several ofour gentlemen accompanied him. They returned in the evening with thedisappointing intelligence that they had not been able to find freshwater. They brought us, to compensate for this, a number of wild geeseand two seals. 

The weather appearing to threaten, we weighed anchor and put out to sea. The night was tempestuous, and in the morning of the 5th we had lostsight of the first islands. The wind blowing off land, it was necessaryto beat up all that day; in the evening we found ourselves sufficientlynear the shore, and hove to for the night. The 6th brought us a clearsky, and with a fresh breeze we succeeded in gaining a good anchorage, which we took to be Port Egmont, and where we found good water. 

On the 7th, we sent ashore the water casks, as well as the cooper tosuperintend filling them, and the blacksmiths who were occupied in somerepairs required by the ship. For our part, having erected a tent nearthe springs, we passed the time while they were taking in water, incoursing over the isles: we had a boat for our accommodation, and killedevery day a great many wild geese and ducks. These birds differ inplumage from those which are seen in Canada. We also killed a greatmany seals. These animals ordinarily keep upon the rocks. We also sawseveral foxes of the species called _Virginia_ fox: they were shy andyet fierce, barking like dogs and then flying precipitately. Penguinsare also numerous on the Falkland Isles. These birds have a fineplumage, and resemble the loon: but they do not fly, having only littlestumps of wings which they use to help themselves in waddling along. Therocks were covered with them. It being their sitting season we foundthem on their nests, from which they would not stir. They are not wildor timid: far from flying at our approach, they attacked us with theirbill, which is very sharp, and with their short wings. The flesh of thepenguin is black and leathery, with a strong fishy taste, and one mustbe very hungry to make up one's mind to eat it. We got a great quantityof eggs by dislodging them from their nests. 

As the French and English had both attempted to form establishments onthese rocks, we endeavored to find some vestige of them; the trackswhich we met everywhere made us hope to find goats also: but all ourresearches were vain: all that we discovered was an old fishing cabin, constructed of whale bone, and some seal-skin moccasins; for these rocksoffer not a single tree to the view, and are frequented solely by thevessels which pursue the whale fishery in the southern seas. We found, however, two head-boards with inscriptions in English, marking the spotwhere two men had been interred: as the letters were nearly obliterated, we carved new ones on fresh pieces of board procured from the ship. Thispious attention to two dead men nearly proved fatal to a greater numberof the living; for all the casks having been filled and sent on board, the captain gave orders to re-embark, and without troubling himself toinquire if this order had been executed or not, caused the anchor to beweighed on the morning of the 11th, while I and some of my companionswere engaged in erecting the inscriptions of which I have spoken, otherswere cutting grass for the hogs, and Messrs M'Dougall and D. Stuart hadgone to the south side of the isle to look for game. The roaring of thesea against the rock-bound shore prevented them from hearing the gun, and they did not rejoin us till the vessel was already at sea. We thenlost no time, but pushed off, being eight in number, with our littleboat, only twenty feet keel. We rowed with all our might, but gainednothing upon the vessel. We were losing sight of the islands at last, and our case seemed desperate. While we paused, and were debating whatcourse to pursue, as we had no compass, we observed the ship tacking andstanding toward us. In fine after rowing for three hours and a half, inan excited state of feeling not easily described, we succeeded inregaining the vessel, and were taken on board at about three o'clockP. M. 

Having related this trait of malice on the part of our captain, I shallbe permitted to make some remarks on his character. Jonathan Thorn wasbrought up in the naval service of his country, and had distinguishedhimself in a battle fought between the Americans and the Turks atTripoli, some years before: he held the rank of first lieutenant. Hewas a strict disciplinarian, of a quick and passionate temper, accustomed to exact obedience, considering nothing but duty, and givinghimself no trouble about the murmurs of his crew, taking counsel ofnobody, and following Mr. Astor's instructions to the letter. Such wasthe man who had been selected to command our ship. His haughty manners, his rough and overbearing disposition, had lost him the affection ofmost of the crew and of all the passengers: he knew it, and inconsequence sought every opportunity to mortify us. It is true that thepassengers had some reason to reproach themselves; they were not freefrom blame; but he had been the aggressor; and nothing could excuse theact of cruelty and barbarity of which he was guilty, in intending toleave us upon those barren rocks of the Falkland isles, where we mustinevitably have perished. This lot was reserved for us, but for the boldinterference of Mr. B. Stuart, whose uncle was of our party, and who, seeing that the captain, far from waiting for us, coolly continued hiscourse, threatened to blow his brains out unless he hove to and took uson board. 

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS_Boat and five passengers pulling after Ship Tonquin. _]

We pursued our course, bearing S. S. W. , and on the 14th, in latitude 54°1', longitude 64° 18', we found bottom at sixty-five fathoms, and saw asail to the south. On the 15th, in the morning, we discovered before usthe high mountains of _Terra del fuego_, which we continued to see tillevening: the weather then thickened, and we lost sight of them. Weencountered a furious storm which drove us to the 56th degree and 18' oflatitude. On the 18th, we were only fifteen leagues from Cape Horn. Adead calm followed, but the current carried us within sight of the cape, five or six leagues distant. This cape, which forms the southernextremity of the American continent, has always been an object of terrorto the navigators who have to pass from one sea to the other; several ofwhom to avoid doubling it, have exposed themselves to the long anddangerous passage of the straits of Magellan, especially when aboutentering the Pacific ocean. When we saw ourselves under the stupendousrocks of the cape, we felt no other desire but to get away from them assoon as possible, so little agreeable were those rocks to the view, evenin the case of people who had been some months at sea! And by the helpof a land breeze we succeeded in gaining an offing. While becalmed here, we measured the velocity of the current setting east, which we found tobe about three miles an hour. 

The wind soon changed again to the S. S. W. , and blew a gale. We had tobeat. We passed in sight of the islands of Diego Ramirez, and saw alarge schooner under their lee. The distance that we had run from NewYork, was about 9, 165 miles. We had frightful weather till the 24th, when we found ourselves in 58° 16' of south latitude. Although it wasthe height of summer in that hemisphere, and the days as long as theyare at Quebec on the 21st of June (we could read on deck at midnightwithout artificial light), the cold was nevertheless very great and theair very humid: the mercury for several days was but fourteen degreesabove freezing point, by Fahrenheit's thermometer. If such is thetemperature in these latitudes at the end of December, corresponding toour June, what must it be in the shortest days of the year, and wherecan the Patagonians then take refuge, and the inhabitants of the islandsso improperly named the Land of Fire!

The wind, which till the 24th had been contrary, hauled round to thesouth, and we ran westward. The next day being Christmas, we had thesatisfaction to learn by our noon-day observation that we had weatheredthe cape, and were, consequently, now in the Pacific ocean. Up to thatdate we had but one man attacked with scurvy, a malady to which thosewho make long voyages are subject, and which is occasioned by theconstant use of salt provisions, by the humidity of the vessel, and theinaction. 

From the 25th of December till the 1st of January, we were favored witha fair wind and ran eighteen degrees to the north in that short space oftime. Though cold yet, the weather was nevertheless very agreeable. Onthe 17th, in latitude 10° S. , and longitude 110° 50' W. , we tookseveral _bonitas_, an excellent fish. We passed the equator on the 23d, in 128° 14' of west longitude. A great many porpoises came round thevessel. On the 25th arose a tempest which lasted till the 28th. The windthen shifted to the E. S. E. And carried us two hundred and twenty-fourmiles on our course in twenty-four hours. Then we had several days ofcontrary winds; on the 8th of February it hauled to the S. E. , and on the11th we saw the peak of a mountain covered with snow, which the firstmate, who was familiar with these seas, told me was the summit of_Mona-Roah_, a high mountain on the island of _Ohehy_, one of thosewhich the circumnavigator Cook named the Sandwich Isles, and where hemet his death in 1779. We headed to the land all day, and although wemade eight or nine knots an hour, it was not till evening that we werenear enough to distinguish the huts of the islanders: which issufficient to prove the prodigious elevation of _Mona Roah_ above thelevel of the sea. 

CHAPTER IV. 

 Accident. --View of the Coast. --Attempted Visit of the Natives. --Their Industry. --Bay of Karaka-koua. --Landing on the Island. --John Young, Governor of Owahee. 

We were ranging along the coast with the aid of a fine breeze, when theboy Perrault, who had mounted the fore-rigging to enjoy the scenery, lost his hold, and being to windward where the shrouds were taut, rebounded from them like a ball some twenty feet from the ship's sideinto the ocean. We perceived his fall and threw over to him chairs, barrels, benches, hen-coops, in a word everything we could lay hands on;then the captain gave the orders to heave to; in the twinkling of an eyethe lashings of one of the quarter-boats were cut apart, the boatlowered and manned: by this time the boy was considerably a-stern. Hewould have been lost undoubtedly but for a wide pair of canvassoveralls full of tar and grease, which operated like a life-preserver. His head, however, was under when he was picked up, and he was broughton board lifeless, about a quarter of an hour after he fell into thesea. We succeeded, notwithstanding, in a short time, in bringing him to, and in a few hours he was able to run upon the deck. 

The coast of the island, viewed from the sea, offers the mostpicturesque _coup d'oeil_ and the loveliest prospect; from the beach tothe mountains the land rises amphitheatrically, all along which is aborder of lower country covered with cocoa-trees and bananas, throughthe thick foliage whereof you perceive the huts of the islanders; thevalleys which divide the hills that lie beyond appear well cultivated, and the mountains themselves, though extremely high, are covered withwood to their summits, except those few peaks which glitter withperpetual snow. 

As we ran along the coast, some canoes left the beach and camealongside, with vegetables and cocoa-nuts; but as we wished to profitby the breeze to gain the anchorage, we did not think fit to stop. Wecoasted along during a part of the night; but a calm came on whichlasted till the morrow. As we were opposite the bay of Karaka-koua, thenatives came out again, in greater numbers, bringing us cabbages, yams, _taro_, bananas, bread-fruit, water-melons, poultry, &c. , for which wetraded in the way of exchange. Toward evening, by the aid of a seabreeze that rose as day declined, we got inside the harbor where weanchored on a coral bottom in fourteen fathoms water. 

The next day the islanders visited the vessel in great numbers all daylong, bringing, as on the day before, fruits, vegetables, and some pigs, in exchange for which we gave them glass beads, iron rings, needles, cotton cloth, &c. 

Some of our gentlemen went ashore and were astonished to find a nativeoccupied in building a small sloop of about thirty tons: the tools ofwhich he made use consisted of a half worn-out axe, an adze, abouttwo-inch blade, made out of a paring chisel, a saw, and an iron rodwhich he heated red hot and made it serve the purpose of an auger. Itrequired no little patience and dexterity to achieve anything with suchinstruments: he was apparently not deficient in these qualities, for hiswork was tolerably well advanced. Our people took him on board withthem, and we supplied him with suitable tools, for which he appearedextremely grateful. 

On the 14th, in the morning, while the ship's carpenter was engaged inreplacing one of the cat-heads, two composition sheaves fell into thesea; as we had no others on board, the captain proposed to theislanders, who are excellent swimmers, to dive for them, promising areward; and immediately two offered themselves. They plunged severaltimes, and each time brought up shells as a proof that they had been tothe bottom. We had the curiosity to hold our watches while they dove, and were astonished to find that they remained four minutes under thewater. That exertion appeared to me, however, to fatigue them a greatdeal, to such a degree that the blood streamed from their nostrils andears. At last one of them brought up the sheaves and received thepromised recompense, which consisted of four yards of cotton. 

Karaka-koua bay where we lay, may be three quarters of a mile deep, anda mile and a half wide at the entrance: the latter is formed by two lowpoints of rock which appear to have run down from the mountains in theform of lava, after a volcanic eruption. On each point is situated avillage of moderate size; that is to say, a small group of the low hutsof the islanders. The bottom of the bay terminates in a bold_escarpment_ of rock, some four hundred feet high, on the top of whichis seen a solitary cocoa-tree. 

On the evening of the 14th, I went ashore with some other passengers, and we landed at the group of cabins on the western point, of thosewhich I have described. The inhabitants entertained us with a danceexecuted by nineteen young women and one man, all singing together, andin pretty good time. An old man showed us the spot where Captain Cookwas killed, on the 14th of February, 1779, with the cocoa-nut treespierced by the balls from the boats which the unfortunate navigatorcommanded. This old man, whether it were feigned or real sensibility, seemed extremely affected and even shed tears, in showing us theseobjects. As for me, I could not help finding it a little singular to bethus, by mere chance, upon this spot, on the 14th of February, 1811;that is to say, thirty-two years after, on the anniversary of thecatastrophe which has rendered it for ever celebrated. I drew nosinister augury from the coincidence, however, and returned to the shipwith my companions as gay as I left it. When I say with my companions, Iought to except the boatswain, John Anderson, who, having had severalaltercations with the captain on the passage, now deserted the ship, preferring to live with the natives rather than obey any longer souncourteous a superior. A sailor also deserted; but the islandersbrought him back, at the request of the captain. They offered to bringback Anderson, but the captain preferred leaving him behind. 

We found no good water near Karaka-koua bay: what the natives brought usin gourds was brackish. We were also in great want of fresh meat, butcould not obtain it: the king of these islands having expresslyforbidden his subjects to supply any to the vessels which touched there. One of the chiefs sent a canoe to Tohehigh bay, to get from the governorof the island, who resided there, permission to sell us some pigs. Themessengers returned the next day, and brought us a letter, in which thegovernor ordered us to proceed without delay to the isle of Wahoo, wherethe king lives; assuring us that we should there find good water andeverything else we needed. 

We got under way on the 16th and with a light wind coasted the island asfar as Tohehigh bay. The wind then dropping away entirely, the captain, accompanied by Messrs. M'Kay and M'Dougall, went ashore, to pay a visitto the governor aforesaid. He was not a native, but a Scotchman namedJohn Young, who came hither some years after the death of Captain Cook. This man had married a native woman, and had so gained the friendshipand confidence of the king, as to be raised to the rank of chief andafter the conquest of Wahoo by King Tamehameha, was made governor ofOwhyhee (Hawaii) the most considerable of the Sandwich Islands, both byits extent and population. His excellency explained to our gentlemen thereason why the king had interdicted the trade in hogs to the inhabitantsof all the islands: this reason being that his majesty wished to reserveto himself the monopoly of that branch of commerce, for the augmentationof his royal revenue by its exclusive profits. The governor alsoinformed them that no rain had fallen on the south part of Hawaii forthree years; which explained why we found so little fresh water: headded that the north part of the island was more fertile than the south, where we were: but that there was no good anchorage: that part of thecoast being defended by sunken rocks which form heavy breakers. In fine, the governor dismissed our gentlemen with a present of four fine fathogs; and we, in return, sent him some tea, coffee, and chocolate, anda keg of Madeira wine. 

The night was nearly a perfect calm, and on the 17th we found ourselvesabreast of _Mona-Wororayea_ a snow-capped mountain, like _Mona-Roah_, but which appeared to me less lofty than the latter. A number ofislanders came to visit us as before, with some objects of curiosity, and some small fresh fish. The wind rising on the 18th, we soon passedthe western extremity of Hawaii, and sailed by Mowhee and Tahooraha, twomore islands of this group, and said to be, like the rest, thicklyinhabited. The first presents a highly picturesque aspect, beingcomposed of hills rising in the shape of a sugar loaf and completelycovered with cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees. 

At last, on the 21st, we approached Wahoo, and came to anchor oppositethe bay of _Ohetity_, outside the bar, at a distance of some two milesfrom the land. 

CHAPTER V. 

 Bay of Ohetity. --Tamehameha, King of the Islands. --His Visit to the Ship. --His Capital. --His Naval Force. --His Authority. --Productions of the Country. --Manners and Customs. --Reflections. 

There is no good anchorage in the bay of Ohetity, inside the bar orcoral reef: the holding-ground is bad: so that, in case of a storm, thesafety of the ship would have been endangered. Moreover, with a contrarywind, it would have been difficult to get out of the inner harbor; forwhich reasons, our captain preferred to remain in the road. For therest, the country surrounding the bay is even more lovely in aspect thanthat of Karaka-koua; the mountains rise to a less elevation in theback-ground, and the soil has an appearance of greater fertility. 

_Tamehameha_, whom all the Sandwich Isles obeyed when we were there in1811, was neither the son nor the relative of Tierroboo, who reigned inOwhyhee (Hawaii) in 1779, when Captain Cook and some of his people weremassacred. He was, at that date, but a chief of moderate power; but, being skilful, intriguing, and full of ambition, he succeeded in gaininga numerous party, and finally possessed himself of the sovereignty. Assoon as he saw himself master of Owhyhee, his native island, hemeditated the conquest of the leeward islands, and in a few years heaccomplished it. He even passed into _Atoudy_, the most remote of all, and vanquished the ruler of it, but contented himself with imposing onhim an annual tribute. He had fixed his residence at Wahoo, because ofall the Sandwich Isles it was the most fertile, the most picturesque--ina word, the most worthy of the residence of the sovereign. 

As soon as we arrived, we were visited by a canoe manned by three whitemen, Davis and Wadsworth, Americans, and Manini, a Spaniard. The lastoffered to be our interpreter during our stay; which was agreed to. Tamehameha presently sent to us his prime-minister, _Kraimoku_, to whomthe Americans have given the name of _Pitt_, on account of his skill inthe affairs of government. Our captain, accompanied by some of ourgentlemen, went ashore immediately, to be presented to Tamehameha. Aboutfour o'clock, P. M. , we saw them returning, accompanied by a doublepirogue conveying the king and his suite. We ran up our colors, andreceived his majesty with a salute of four guns. 

Tamehameha was above the middle height, well made, robust and inclinedto corpulency, and had a majestic carriage. He appeared to me from fiftyto sixty years old. He was clothed in the European style, and wore asword. He walked a long time on the deck, asking explanations in regardto those things which he had not seen on other vessels, and which werefound on ours. A thing which appeared to surprise him, was to see thatwe could render the water of the sea fresh, by means of the stillattached to our caboose; he could not imagine how that could be done. We invited him into the cabin, and, having regaled him with some glassesof wine, began to talk of business matters: we offered him merchandisein exchange for hogs, but were not able to conclude the bargain thatday. His majesty re-embarked in his double pirogue, at about six o'clockin the evening. It was manned by twenty-four men. A great chest, containing firearms, was lashed over the centre of the two canoesforming the pirogue; and it was there that Tamehameha sat, with hisprime-minister at his side. 

In the morning, on the 22d, we sent our water-casks ashore and filledthem with excellent water. At about noon his sable majesty paid usanother visit, accompanied by his three wives and his favorite minister. These females were of an extraordinary corpulence, and of unmeasuredsize. They were dressed in the fashion of the country, having nothingbut a piece of _tapa_, or bark-cloth, about two yards long, passed roundthe hips and falling to the knees. We resumed the negotiations of theday before, and were more successful. I remarked that when the bargainwas concluded, he insisted with great pertinacity that part of thepayment should be in Spanish dollars. We asked the reason, and he madeanswer that he wished to buy a frigate of his brother, King George, meaning the king of England. The bargain concluded, we prayed hismajesty and his suite to dine with us; they consented, and towardevening retired, apparently well satisfied with their visit and ourreception of them. 

In the meantime, the natives surrounded the ship in great numbers, withhundreds of canoes, offering us their goods, in the shape of eatablesand the rude manufactures of the island, in exchange for merchandise;but, as they had also brought intoxicating liquors in gourds, some ofthe crew got drunk; the captain was, consequently, obliged to suspendthe trade, and forbade any one to traffic with the islanders, exceptthrough the first-mate, who was intrusted with that business. 

I landed on the 22d, with Messrs. Pillet and M'Gillis: we passed thenight ashore, spending that day and the next morning in rambling overthe environs of the bay, followed by a crowd of men, women, andchildren. 

Ohetity, where Tamehameha resides, and which, consequently, may beregarded as the capital of his kingdom, is--or at least was at thattime--a moderate-sized city, or rather a large village. Besides theprivate houses, of which there were perhaps two hundred, constructed ofpoles planted in the ground and covered over with matting, there werethe royal palace, which was not magnificent by any means: a publicstore, of two stories, one of stone and the other of wood; two _morais_, or idol temples, and a wharf. At the latter we found an old vessel, the_Lady Bird_, which some American navigators had given in exchange for aschooner; it was the only large vessel which King Tamehameha possessed;and, besides, was worth nothing. As for schooners he had forty of them, of from twenty to thirty tons burthen: these vessels served to transportthe tributes in kind paid by his vassals in the other islands. Beforethe Europeans arrived among these savages, the latter had no means ofcommunication between one isle and another, but their canoes, and assome of the islands are not in sight of each other, these voyages musthave been dangerous. Near the palace I found an Indian from Bombay, occupied in making a twelve inch cable, for the use of the ship which Ihave described. 

Tamehameha kept constantly round his house a guard of twenty-four men. These soldiers wore, by way of uniform, a long blue coat with yellow;and each was armed with a musket. In front of the house, on an opensquare, were placed fourteen four-pounders, mounted on their carriages. 

The king was absolute, and judged in person the differences between hissubjects. We had an opportunity of witnessing a proof of it, the dayafter our landing. A Portuguese having had a quarrel with a native, whowas intoxicated, struck him: immediately the friends of the latter, whohad been the aggressor after all, gathered in a crowd to beat down thepoor foreigner with stones; he fled as fast as he could to the house ofthe king, followed by a mob of enraged natives, who nevertheless stoppedat some distance from the guards, while the Portuguese, all breathless, crouched in a corner. We were on the esplanade in front of the palaceroyal, and curiosity to see the trial led us into the presence of hismajesty, who having caused the quarrel to be explained to him, and heardthe witnesses on both sides, condemned the native to work four days inthe garden of the Portuguese and to give him a hog. A young Frenchmanfrom Bordeaux, preceptor of the king's sons, whom he taught to read, andwho understood the language, acted as interpreter to the Portuguese, andexplained to us the sentence. I can not say whether our presenceinfluenced the decision, or whether, under other circumstances, thePortuguese would have been less favorably treated. We were given tounderstand that Tamehameha was pleased to see whites establishthemselves in his dominions, but that he esteemed only people with someuseful trade, and despised idlers, and especially drunkards. We saw atWahoo about thirty of these white inhabitants, for the most part, peopleof no character, and who had remained on the islands either fromindolence, or from drunkenness and licentiousness. Some had taken wivesin the country, in which case the king gave them a portion of land tocultivate for themselves. But two of the worst sort had found means toprocure a small still, wherewith they manufactured rum and supplied itto the natives. 

The first navigators found only four sorts of quadrupeds on the Sandwichislands:--dogs, swine, lizards, and rats. Since then sheep have beencarried there, goats, horned cattle, and even horses, and these animalshave multiplied. 

The chief vegetable productions of these isles are the sugar cane, thebread-fruit tree, the banana, the water-melon, the musk-melon, the_taro_, the _ava_, the _pandanus_, the mulberry, &c. The bread-fruittree is about the size of a large apple-tree; the fruit resembles anapple and is about twelve or fourteen inches in circumference; the rindis thick and rough like a melon: when cut transversely it is found tobe full of sacs, like the inside of an orange; the pulp has theconsistence of water-melon, and is cooked before it is eaten. We saworchards of bread-fruit trees and bananas, and fields of sugar-cane, back of Ohetity. 

The _taro_ grows in low situations, and demands a great deal of care. Itis not unlike a white turnip, [E] and as it constitutes the principalfood of the natives, it is not to be wondered at that they bestow somuch attention on its culture. Wherever a spring of pure water is foundissuing out of the side of a hill, the gardener marks out on thedeclivity the size of the field he intends to plant. The ground islevelled and surrounded with a mud or stone wall, not exceeding eighteeninches in height, and having a flood gate above and below. Into thisenclosure the water of the spring is conducted, or is suffered to escapefrom it, according to the dryness of the season. When the root hasacquired a sufficient size it is pulled up for immediate use. Thisesculent is very bad to eat raw, but boiled it is better than the yam. Cut in slices, dried, pounded and reduced to a farina, it forms withbread fruit the principal food of the natives. Sometimes they boil it tothe consistence of porridge, which they put into gourds and allow toferment; it will then keep a long time. They also use to mix with it, fish, which they commonly eat raw with the addition of a little salt, obtained by evaporation. 

[Footnote E: Bougainville calls it "Calf-foot root. "]

The _ava_ is a plant more injurious than useful to the inhabitants ofthese isles; since they only make use of it to obtain a dangerous andintoxicating drink, which they also call _ava_. The mode of preparingthis beverage is as follows: they chew the root, and spit out the resultinto a basin; the juice thus expressed is exposed to the sun to undergofermentation; after which they decant it into a gourd; it is then fitfor use, and they drink it on occasions to intoxication. The toofrequent use of this disgusting liquor causes loss of sight, and a sortof leprosy, which can only be cured by abstaining from it, and bybathing frequently in the water of the sea. This leprosy turns theirskin white: we saw several of the lepers, who were also blind, or nearlyso. The natives are also fond of smoking: the tobacco grows in theislands, but I believe it has been introduced from abroad. The bark ofthe mulberry furnishes the cloth worn by both sexes; of the leaves ofthe _pandanus_ they make mats. They have also a kind of wax-nut, aboutthe size of a dried plum of which they make candles by running a stickthrough several of them. Lighted at one end, they burn like a wax taper, and are the only light they use in their huts at night. 

The men are generally well made and tall: they wear for their entireclothing what they call a _maro_; it is a piece of figured or whitetapa, two yards long and a foot wide, which they pass round the loinsand between the legs, tying the ends in a knot over the left hip. Atfirst sight I thought they were painted red, but soon perceived that itwas the natural _color_ of their skin. The women wear a petticoat of thesame stuff as the _maro_, but wider and longer, without, however, reaching below the knees. They have sufficiently regular features, andbut for the color, may pass, generally speaking, for handsome women. Some to heighten their charms, dye their black hair (cut short for thepurpose) with quick lime, forming round the head a strip of pure white, which disfigures them monstrously. Others among the young wear a morebecoming garland of flowers. For other traits, they are very lascivious, and far from observing a modest reserve, especially toward strangers. Inregard to articles of mere ornament, I was told that they were not thesame in all the island. I did not see them, either, clothed in their wardresses, or habits of ceremony. But I had an opportunity to see thempaint or print their _tapa_, or bark cloth, an occupation in which theyemploy a great deal of care and patience. The pigments they use arederived from vegetable juices, prepared with the oil of the cocoa-nut. Their pencils are little reeds or canes of bamboo, at the extremity ofwhich they carve out divers sorts of flowers. First they tinge the cloththey mean to print, yellow, green, or some other color which forms theground: then they draw upon it perfectly straight lines, without anyother guide but the eye; lastly they dip the ends of the bamboo sticksin paint of a different tint from the ground, and apply them between thedark or bright bars thus formed. This cloth resembles a good deal ourcalicoes and printed cottons; the oils with which it is impregnatedrenders it impervious to water. It is said that the natives of _Atowy_excel all the other islanders in the art of painting the tapa. 

The Sandwich-islanders live in villages of one or two hundred housesarranged without symmetry, or rather grouped together in completedefiance of it. These houses are constructed (as I have before said) ofposts driven in the ground, covered with long dry grass, and walled withmatting; the thatched roof gives them a sort of resemblance to ourCanadian barns or granges. The length of each house varies according tothe number of the family which occupies it: they are not smoky like thewigwams of our Indians, the fireplace being always outside in the openair, where all the cooking is performed. Hence their dwellings are veryclean and neat inside. 

Their pirogues or canoes are extremely light and neat: those which aresingle have an outrigger, consisting of two curved pieces of timberlashed across the bows, and touching the water at the distance of fiveor six feet from the side; another piece, turned up at each extremity, is tied to the end and drags in the water, on which it acts like askating iron on the ice, and by its weight keeps the canoe inequilibrium: without that contrivance they would infallibly upset. Theirpaddles are long, with a very broad blade. All these canoes carry alateen, or sprit-sail, which is made of a mat of grass or leaves, extremely well woven. 

I did not remain long enough with these people to acquire very extensiveand exact notions of their religion: I know that they recognise aSupreme Being, whom they call _Etoway_, and a number of inferiordivinities. Each village has one or more _morais_. These morais areenclosures which served for cemeteries; in the middle is a temple, where the priests alone have a right to enter: they contain severalidols of wood, rudely sculptured. At the feet of these images aredeposited, and left to putrify, the offerings of the people, consistingof dogs, pigs, fowls, vegetables, &c. The respect of these savages fortheir priests extends almost to adoration; they regard their persons assacred, and feel the greatest scruple in touching the objects, or goingnear the places, which they have declared _taboo_ or forbidden. The_taboo_ has often been useful to European navigators, by freeing themfrom the importunities of the crowd. 

In our rambles we met groups playing at different games. That ofdraughts appeared the most common. The checker-board is very simple, thesquares being marked on the ground with a sharp stick: the men aremerely shells or pebbles. The game was different from that played incivilized countries, so that we could not understand it. 

Although nature has done almost everything for the inhabitants of theSandwich islands--though they enjoy a perpetual spring, a clear sky, asalubrious climate, and scarcely any labor is required to produce thenecessaries of life--they can not be regarded as generally happy: theartisans and producers, whom they call _Tootoos_, are nearly in the samesituation as the Helots among the Lacedemonians, condemned to laboralmost incessantly for their lord or _Eris_, without hope of betteringtheir condition, and even restricted in the choice of their dailyfood. [F] How has it happened that among a people yet barbarous, whereknowledge is nearly equally distributed, the class which is beyondcomparison the most numerous has voluntarily submitted to such ahumiliating and oppressive yoke? The Tartars, though infinitely lessnumerous than the Chinese, have subjected them, because the former werewarlike and the latter were not. The same thing has happened, no doubt, at remote periods, in Poland, and other regions of Europe and Asia. Ifmoral causes are joined to physical ones, the superiority of one casteand the inferiority of the other will be still more marked; it is knownthat the natives of Hispaniola, when they saw the Spaniards arrive ontheir coast, in vessels of an astonishing size to their apprehensions, and heard them imitate the thunder with their cannon, took them forbeings of a superior nature to their own. Supposing that this island hadbeen extremely remote from every other country, and that the Spaniards, after conquering it, had held no further communication with anycivilized land, at the end of a century or two the language and themanners would have assimilated, but there would have been two castes, one of lords, enjoying all the advantages, the other of serfs, chargedwith all the burdens. This theory seems to have been realized ancientlyin Hindostan; but if we must credit the tradition of theSandwich-islanders, their country was originally peopled by a man andwoman, who came to Owyhee in a canoe. Unless, then, they mean that thisman and woman came with their slaves, and that the _Eris_ are descendedfrom the first, and the _Tootoos_ from the last, they ought to attributeto each other the same origin, and consequently regard each other asequals, and even as brothers, according to the manner of thinking thatprevails among savages. The cause of the slavery of women among mostbarbarous tribes is more easily explained: the men have subjected themby the right of the strongest, if ignorance and superstition have notcaused them to be previously regarded as beings of an inferior nature, made to be servants and not companions. [G]

[Footnote F: The _Tootoos_ and all the women, the wives of the king andprincipal chiefs excepted, are eternally condemned to the use of fruitsand vegetables; dogs and pigs being exclusively reserved for the tableof the _Eris_. ]

[Footnote G: Some Indian tribes think that women have no souls, but diealtogether like the brutes; others assign them a different paradise fromthat of men, which indeed they might have reason to prefer forthemselves, unless their relative condition were to be ameliorated inthe next world. ]

CHAPTER VI. 

 Departure from Wahoo. --Storm. --Arrival at the Mouth of the Columbia. --Reckless Order of the Captain. --Difficulty of the Entrance. --Perilous Situation of the Ship. --Unhappy Fate of a part of the Crew and People of the Expedition. 

Having taken on board a hundred head of live hogs, some goats, twosheep, a quantity of poultry, two boat-loads of sugar-cane, to feed thehogs, as many more of yams, taro, and other vegetables, and all ourwater-casks being snugly stowed, we weighed anchor on the 28th ofFebruary, sixteen days after our arrival at Karaka-koua. 

We left another man (Edward Aymes) at Wahoo. He belonged to a boat'screw which was sent ashore for a load of sugar canes. By the time theboat was loaded by the natives the ebb of the tide had left her aground, and Aymes asked leave of the coxswain to take a stroll, engaging to beback for the flood. Leave was granted him, but during his absence, thetide haying come in sufficiently to float the boat, James Thorn, thecoxswain, did not wait for the young sailor, who was thus left behind. The captain immediately missed the man, and, on being informed that hehad strolled away from the boat on leave, flew into a violent passion. Aymes soon made his appearance alongside, having hired some natives totake him on board; on perceiving him, the captain ordered him to stay inthe long-boat, then lashed to the side with its load of sugar-cane. Thecaptain then himself got into the boat, and, taking one of the canes, beat the poor fellow most unmercifully with it; after which, notsatisfied with this act of brutality, he seized his victim and threw himoverboard! Aymes, however, being an excellent swimmer, made for thenearest native canoe, of which there were, as usual, a great numberaround the ship. The islanders, more humane than our captain, took inthe poor fellow, who, in spite of his entreaties to be received onboard, could only succeed in getting his clothes, which were thrown intothe canoe. At parting, he told Captain Thorn that he knew enough of thelaws of his country, to obtain redress, should they ever meet in theterritory of the American Union. 

While we were getting under sail, Mr. M'Kay pointed out to the captainthat there was one water-cask empty, and proposed sending it ashore tobe filled, as the great number of live animals we had on board requireda large quantity of fresh water. The captain, who feared that some ofthe men would desert if he sent them ashore, made an observation to thateffect in answer to Mr. M'Kay, who then proposed sending me on a canoewhich lay alongside, to fill the cask in question: this was agreed to bythe captain, and I took the cask accordingly to the nearest spring. Having filled it, not without some difficulty, the islanders seeking todetain me, and I perceiving that they had given me some gourds full ofsalt water, I was forced also to demand a double pirogue (for the canoewhich had brought the empty cask, was found inadequate to carry a fullone), the ship being already under full sail and gaining an offing. Asthe natives would not lend a hand to procure what I wanted, I thought itnecessary to have recourse to the king, and in fact did so. For seeingthe vessel so far at sea, with what I knew of the captain's disposition, I began to fear that he had formed the plan of leaving me on the island. My fears, nevertheless were ill-founded; the vessel made a tack towardthe shore, to my great joy; and a double pirogue was furnished me, through the good offices of our young friend the French schoolmaster, toreturn on board with my cask. 

Our deck was now as much encumbered as when left New York; for we hadbeen obliged to place our live animals at the gangways, and to boardover their pens, on which it was necessary to pass, to work ship. Ourown numbers were also augmented; for we had taken a dozen islanders forthe service of our intended commercial establishment. Their term ofengagement was three years, during which we were to feed and clothethem, and at its expiration they were to receive a hundred dollars inmerchandise. The captain had shipped another dozen as hands on thecoasting voyage. These people, who make very good sailors, were eager tobe taken into employment, and we might easily have carried off a muchgreater number. 

We had contrary winds till the 2d of March, when, having doubled thewestern extremity of the island, we made northing, and lost sight ofthese smiling and temperate countries, to enter very soon a colderregion and less worthy of being inhabited. The winds were variable, andnothing extraordinary happened to us till the 16th, when, being arrivedat the latitude of 35° 11' north, and in 138° 16' of west longitude, thewind shifted all of a sudden to the S. S. W. , and blew with such violence, that we were forced to strike top-gallant masts and top-sails, and runbefore the gale with a double reef in our foresail. The rolling of thevessel was greater than in all the gales we had experienced previously. Nevertheless, as we made great headway, and were approaching thecontinent, the captain by way of precaution, lay to for two nightssuccessively. At last, on the 22d, in the morning, we saw the land. Although we had not been able to take any observations for several days, nevertheless, by the appearance of the coast, we perceived that we werenear the mouth of the river Columbia, and were not more than three milesfrom land. The breakers formed by the bar at the entrance of that river, and which we could distinguish from the ship, left us no room to doubtthat we had arrived at last at the end of our voyage. 

The wind was blowing in heavy squalls, and the sea ran very high: inspite of that, the captain caused a boat to be lowered, and Mr. Fox(first mate), Basile Lapensee, Ignace Lapensee, Jos. Nadeau, and JohnMartin, got into her, taking some provisions and firearms, with ordersto sound the channel and report themselves on board as soon as possible. The boat was not even supplied with a good sail, or a mast, but one ofthe partners gave Mr. Fox a pair of bed sheets to serve for the former. Messrs M'Kay and M'Dougall could not help remonstrating with thecaptain on the imprudence of sending the boat ashore in such weather;but they could not move his obstinacy. The boat's crew pulled away fromthe ship; alas! we were never to see her again; and we already had aforeboding of her fate. The next day the wind seemed to moderate, and weapproached very near the coast. The entrance of the river, which weplainly distinguished with the naked eye, appeared but a confused andagitated sea: the waves, impelled by a wind from the offing, broke uponthe bar, and left no perceptible passage. We got no sign of the boat;and toward evening, for our own safety, we hauled off to sea, with allcountenances extremely sad, not excepting the captain's, who appeared tome as much afflicted as the rest, and who had reason to be so. Duringthe night, the wind fell, the clouds dispersed, and the sky becameserene. On the morning of the 24th, we found that the current hadcarried us near the coast again, and we dropped anchor in fourteenfathoms water, north of Cape Disappointment. The _coup d'oeil_ is notso smiling by a great deal at this anchorage, as at the Sandwichislands, the coast offering little to the eye but a continuous range ofhigh mountains covered with snow. 

[Illustration: ENTRANCE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. _Ship Tonquin, crossing the bar, 25th March 1811. _]

Although it was calm, the sea continued to break over the reef withviolence, between Cape Disappointment and Point Adams. We sent Mr. Mumford (the second mate) to sound a passage; but having found thebreakers too heavy, he returned on board about mid-day. Messrs. M'Kayand D. Stuart offered their services to go ashore, to search for theboat's crew who left on the 22d; but they could not find a place toland. They saw Indians, who made signs to them to pull round the cape, but they deemed it more prudent to return to the vessel. Soon aftertheir return, a gentle breeze sprang up from the westward, we raisedanchor, and approached the entrance of the river. Mr. Aikin was thendespatched in the pinnace, accompanied by John Coles (sail-maker), Stephen Weeks (armorer), and two Sandwich-islanders; and we followedunder easy sail. Another boat had been sent out before this one, butthe captain judging that she bore too far south, made her a signal toreturn. Mr. Aikin not finding less than four fathoms, we followed himand advanced between the breakers, with a favorable wind, so that wepassed the boat on our starboard, within pistol-shot. We made signs toher to return on board, but she could not accomplish it; the ebb tidecarried her with such rapidity that in a few minutes we had lost sightof her amidst the tremendous breakers that surrounded us. It was nearnightfall, the wind began to give way, and the water was so low with theebb, that we struck six or seven times with violence: the breakers brokeover the ship and threatened to submerge her. At last we passed from twoand three quarters fathoms of water to seven, where we were obliged todrop anchor, the wind having entirely failed us. We were far, however, from being out of danger, and the darkness came to add to the horror ofour situation: our vessel, though at anchor, threatened to be carriedaway every moment by the tide; the best bower was let go, and it kepttwo men at the wheel to hold her head in the right direction. However, Providence came to our succor: the flood succeeded to the ebb, and thewind rising out of the offing, we weighed both anchors, in spite of theobscurity of the night, and succeeded in gaining a little bay or cove, formed at the entrance of the river by Cape Disappointment, and called_Baker's Bay_, where we found a good anchorage. It was about midnight, and all retired to take a little rest: the crew, above all, had greatneed of it. We were fortunate to be in a place of safety, for the windrose higher and higher during the rest of the night, and on the morningof the 25th allowed us to see that this ocean is not always pacific. 

Some natives visited us this day, bringing with them beaver-skins; butthe inquietude caused in our minds by the loss of two boats' crews, forwhom we wished to make search, did not permit us to think of traffic. Wetried to make the savages comprehend, by signs, that we had sent a boatashore three days previous, and that we had no news of her; but theyseemed not to understand us. The captain, accompanied by some of ourgentlemen, landed, and they set themselves to search for our missingpeople, in the woods, and along the shore N. W. Of the cape. After a fewhours we saw the captain return with Weeks, one of the crew of the lastboat sent out. He was stark naked, and after being clothed, andreceiving some nourishment, gave us an account of his almost miraculousescape from the waves on the preceding night, in nearly the followingterms:--

"After you had passed our boat;" said he, "the breakers caused by themeeting of the wind roll and ebb-tide, became a great deal heavier thanwhen we entered the river with the flood. The boat, for want of arudder, became very hard to manage, and we let her drift at the mercy ofthe tide, till, after having escaped several surges, one struck usmidship and capsized us. I lost sight of Mr. Aiken and John Coles: butthe two islanders were close by me; I saw them stripping off theirclothes, and I followed their example; and seeing the pinnace within myreach, keel upward, I seized it; the two natives came to my assistance;we righted her, and by sudden jerks threw out so much of the water thatshe would hold a man: one of the natives jumped in, and, bailing withhis two hands, succeeded in a short time in emptying her. The othernative found the oars, and about dark we were all three embarked. Thetide having now carried us outside the breakers, I endeavored topersuade my companions in misfortune to row, but they were so benumbedwith cold that they absolutely refused. I well knew that withoutclothing, and exposed to the rigor of the air, I must keep in constantexercise. Seeing besides that the night was advancing, and having noresource but the little strength left me, I set to work sculling, andpushed off the bar, but so as not to be carried out too far to sea. About midnight, one of my companions died: the other threw himself uponthe body of his comrade, and I could not persuade him to abandon it. Daylight appeared at last; and, being near the shore, I headed in forit, and arrived, thank God, safe and sound, through the breakers, on asandy beach. I helped the islander, who yet gave some signs of life, toget out of the boat, and we both took to the woods; but, seeing that hewas not able to follow me, I left him to his bad fortune, and, pursuinga beaten path that I perceived, I found myself, to my greatastonishment, in the course of a few hours, near the vessel. "

The gentlemen who went ashore with the captain divided themselves intothree parties, to search for the native whom Weeks had left at theentrance of the forest; but, after scouring the woods and the point ofthe cape all day, they came on board in the evening without having foundhim. 

CHAPTER VII. 

 Regrets of the Author at the Loss of his Companions. --Obsequies of a Sandwich Islander. --First steps in the Formation of the intended Establishment. --New Alarm. --Encampment. 

The narrative of Weeks informed us of the death of three of ourcompanions, and we could not doubt that the five others had met asimilar fate. This loss of eight of our number, in two days, before wehad set foot on shore, was a bad augury, and was sensibly felt by all ofus. In the course of so long a passage, the habit of seeing each otherevery day, the participation of the same cares and dangers, andconfinement to the same narrow limits, had formed between all thepassengers a connection that could not be broken, above all in a mannerso sad and so unlooked for, without making us feel a void like thatwhich is experienced in a well-regulated and loving family, when it issuddenly deprived by death, of the presence of one of its cherishedmembers. We had left New York, for the most part strangers to oneanother; but arrived at the river Columbia we were all friends, andregarded each other almost as brothers. We regretted especially the twobrothers Lapensée and Joseph Nadeau: these young men had been in anespecial manner recommended by their respectable parents in Canada tothe care of Mr. M'Kay; and had acquired by their good conduct the esteemof the captain, of the crew, and of all the passengers. The brothersLapensée were courageous and willing, never flinching in the hour ofdanger, and had become as good seamen as any on board. Messrs Fox andAikin were both highly regarded by all; the loss of Mr. Fox, above all, who was endeared to every one by his gentlemanly behavior andaffability, would have been severely regretted at any time, but it wasdoubly so in the present conjuncture: this gentleman, who had alreadymade a voyage to the Northwest, could have rendered important servicesto the captain and to the company. The preceding days had been days ofapprehension and of uneasiness; this was one of sorrow and mourning. 

The following day, the same gentlemen who had volunteered their servicesto seek for the missing islander, resumed their labors, and very soonafter they left us, we perceived a great fire kindled at the verge ofthe woods, over against the ship. I was sent in a boat and arrived atthe fire. It was our gentlemen who had kindled it, to restore animationto the poor islander, whom they had at last found under the rocks, halfdead with cold and fatigue, his legs swollen and his feet bleeding. Weclothed him, and brought him on board, where, by our care, we succeededin restoring him to life. 

Toward evening, a number of the Sandwich-islanders, provided with thenecessary utensils, and offerings consisting of biscuit, lard, andtobacco, went ashore, to pay the last duties to their compatriot, whodied in Mr. Aikin's boat, on the night of the 24th. Mr. Pillet and Iwent with them, and witnessed the obsequies, which took place in themanner following. Arrived at the spot where the body had been hung upona tree to preserve it from the wolves, the natives dug a grave in thesand; then taking down the body, and stretching it alongside the pit, they placed the biscuit under one of the arms, a piece of pork beneaththe other, and the tobacco beneath the chin and the genital parts. Thusprovided for the journey to the other world, the body was deposited inthe grave and covered with sand and stones. All the countrymen of thedead man then knelt on either side of the grave, in a double row, withtheir faces to the east, except one of them who officiated as priest;the latter went to the margin of the sea, and having filled his hat withwater, sprinkled the two rows of islanders, and recited a sort ofprayer, to which the others responded, nearly as we do in the litanies. That prayer ended, they rose and returned to the vessel, looking neitherto the right hand nor to the left. As every one of them appeared to mefamiliar with the part he performed, it is more than probable that theyobserved, as far as circumstances permitted, the ceremonies practised intheir country on like occasions. We all returned on board about sundown. 

The next day, the 27th, desirous of clearing the gangways of the livestock; we sent some men on shore to construct a pen, and soon afterlanded about fifty hogs, committing them to the care of one of thehands. On the 30th, the long boat was manned, armed and provisioned, andthe captain, with Messrs. M'Kay and D. Stuart, and some of the clerks, embarked on it, to ascend the river and choose an eligible spot for ourtrading establishment. Messrs. Boss and Pillet left at the same time, torun down south, and try to obtain intelligence of Mr. Fox and his crew. In the meantime, having reached some of the goods most at hand, wecommenced, with the natives who came every day to the vessel, a tradefor beaver-skins, and sea-otter stones. 

Messrs. Ross and Pillet returned on board on the 1st of April, withouthaving learned anything respecting Mr. Fox and his party. They did noteven perceive along the beach any vestiges of the boat. The natives whooccupy Point _Adams_, and who are called _Clatsops_, received our younggentlemen very amicably and hospitably. The captain and his companionsalso returned on the 4th, without having decided on a position for theestablishment, finding none which appeared to them eligible. It wasconsequently resolved to explore the south bank, and Messrs. M'Dougaland D. Stuart departed on that expedition the next day, promising toreturn by the 7th. 

The 7th came, and these gentlemen did not return. It rained almost allday. The day after, some natives came on board, and reported thatMessrs. M'Dougal and Stuart had capsized the evening before in crossingthe bay. This news at first alarmed us; and, if it had been verified, would have given the finishing blow to our discouragement. Still, as theweather was excessively bad, and we did not repose entire faith in thestory of the natives--whom, moreover, we might not have perfectlyunderstood--we remained in suspense till the 10th. On the morning ofthat day, we were preparing to send some of the people in search of ourtwo gentlemen, when we perceived two large canoes, full of Indians, coming toward the vessel: they were of the _Chinook_ village, which wassituated at the foot of a bluff on the north side of the river, and werebringing back Messrs. M'Dougal and Stuart. We made known to thesegentlemen the report we had heard on the 8th from the natives, and theyinformed us that it had been in fact well founded; that on the 7th, desirous of reaching the ship agreeably to their promise, they hadquitted _Chinook_ point, in spite of the remonstrances of the chief, _Comcomly_, who sought to detain them by pointing out the danger towhich they would expose themselves in crossing the bay in such a heavysea as it was; that they had scarcely made more than a mile and a halfbefore a huge wave broke over their boat and capsized it; that theIndians, aware of the danger to which they were exposed, had followedthem, and that, but for their assistance, Mr. M'Dougal, who could notswim, would inevitably have been drowned; that, after the Chinooks hadkindled a large fire and dried their clothes, they had been conducted bythem back to their village, where the principal chief had received themwith all imaginable hospitality, regaling them with every delicacy hiswigwam afforded; that, in fine, if they had got back safe and sound tothe vessel, it was to the timely succor and humane cares of the Indianswhom we saw before us that they owed it. We liberally rewarded thesegenerous children of the forest, and they returned home well satisfied. 

This last survey was also fruitless, as Messrs. M'Dougal and Stuart didnot find an advantageous site to build upon. But, as the captain wishedto take advantage of the fine season to pursue his traffic with thenatives along the N. W. Coast, it was resolved to establish ourselves onPoint _George_, situated on the south bank, about fourteen or fifteenmiles from our present anchorage. Accordingly, we embarked on the 12th, in the long-boat, to the number of twelve, furnished with tools, andwith provisions for a week. We landed at the bottom of a small bay, where we formed a sort of encampment. The spring, usually so tardy inthis latitude, was already far advanced; the foliage was budding, andthe earth was clothing itself with verdure; the weather was superb, andall nature smiled. We imagined ourselves in the garden of Eden; the wildforests seemed to us delightful groves, and the leaves transformed tobrilliant flowers. No doubt, the pleasure of finding ourselves at theend of our voyage, and liberated from the ship, made things appear to usa great deal more beautiful than they really were. Be that as it may, weset ourselves to work with enthusiasm, and cleared, in a few days, apoint of land of its under-brush, and of the huge trunks of pine-treesthat covered it, which we rolled, half-burnt, down the bank. The vesselcame to moor near our encampment, and the trade went on. The nativesvisited us constantly and in great numbers; some to trade, others togratify their curiosity, or to purloin some little articles if theyfound an opportunity. We landed the frame timbers which we had brought, ready cut for the purpose, in the vessel; and by the end of April, withthe aid of the ship-carpenters, John Weeks and Johann Koaster, we hadlaid the keel of a coasting-schooner of about thirty tons. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

 Voyage up the River. --Description of the Country. --Meeting with strange Indians. 

The Indians having informed us that above certain rapids, there was anestablishment of white men, we doubted not that it was a trading post ofthe Northwest Company; and to make sure of it, we procured a large canoeand a guide, and set out, on the 2d of May, Messrs M'Kay, R. Stuart, Montigny, and I, with a sufficient number of hands. We first passed alofty head-land, that seemed at a distance to be detached from the main, and to which we gave the name of _Tongue Point_. Here the river gains awidth of some nine or ten miles, and keeps it for about twelve miles up. The left bank, which we were coasting, being concealed by little lowislands, we encamped for the night on one of them, at the village of_Wahkaykum_, to which our guide belonged. 

We continued our journey on the 3d: the river narrows considerably, atabout thirty miles from its mouth, and is obstructed with islands, whichare thickly covered with the willow, poplar, alder, and ash. Theseislands are, without exception, uninhabited and uninhabitable, beingnothing but swamps, and entirely overflowed in the months of June andJuly; as we understood from _Coalpo_, our guide, who appeared to be anintelligent man. In proportion as we advanced, we saw the high mountainscapped with snow, which form the chief and majestic feature, though astern one, of the banks of the Columbia for some distance from itsmouth, recede, and give place to a country of moderate elevation, andrising amphitheatrically from the margin of the stream. The rivernarrows to a mile or thereabouts; the forest is less dense, and patchesof green prairie are seen. We passed a large village on the south bank, called _Kreluit_, above which is a fine forest of oaks; and encampedfor the night, on a low point, at the foot of an isolated rock, aboutone hundred and fifty feet high. This rock appeared to me remarkable onaccount of its situation, reposing in the midst of a low and swampyground, as if it had been dropped from the clouds, and seeming to haveno connection with the neighboring mountains. On a cornice or shelvingprojection about thirty feet from its base, the natives of the adjacentvillages deposite their dead, in canoes; and it is the same rock towhich, for this reason, Lieutenant Broughton gave the name of _MountCoffin_. 

On the 4th, in the morning, we arrived at a large village of the samename as that which we had passed the evening before, _Kreluit_, and welanded to obtain information respecting a considerable stream, whichhere discharges into the Columbia, and respecting its resources for thehunter and trader in furs. It comes from the north, and is called_Cowlitzk_ by the natives. Mr. M'Kay embarked with Mr. De Montigny andtwo Indians, in a small canoe, to examine the course of this river, acertain distance up. On entering the stream, they saw a great number ofbirds, which they took at first for turkeys, so much they resembledthem, but which were only a kind of carrion eagles, vulgarly called_turkey-buzzards_. We were not a little astonished to see Mr. DeMontigny return on foot and alone; he soon informed us of the reason:having ascended the _Kowlitzk_ about a mile and a half, on rounding abend of the stream, they suddenly came in view of about twenty canoes, full of Indians, who had made a rush upon them with the most frightfulyells; the two natives and the guide who conducted their little canoe, retreated with the utmost precipitancy, but seeing that they would beovertaken, they stopped short, and begged Mr. M'Kay to fire upon theapproaching savages, which he, being well acquainted with the Indiancharacter from the time he accompanied Sir Alexander M'Kenzie, andhaving met with similar occurrences before, would by no means do; butdisplayed a friendly sign to the astonished natives, and invited them toland for an amicable talk; to which they immediately assented. Mr. M'Kay had sent Mr. De Montigny to procure some tobacco and a pipe, inorder to strike a peace with these barbarians. The latter then returnedto Mr. M'Kay, with the necessary articles, and in the evening the partycame back to our camp, which we had fixed between the villages. We werethen informed that the Indians whom Mr. M'Kay had met, were at war withthe _Kreluits_. It was impossible, consequently, to close our eyes allnight; the natives passing and repassing continually from one village tothe other, making fearful cries, and coming every minute to solicit usto discharge our firearms; all to frighten their enemies, and let themsee that they were on their guard. 

On the 5th, in the morning, we paid a visit to the hostile camp; andthose savages, who had never seen white men, regarded us with curiosityand astonishment, lifting the legs of our trowsers and opening ourshirts, to see if the skin of our bodies resembled that of our faces andhands. We remained some time with them, to make proposals of peace; andhaving ascertained that this warlike demonstration originated in atrifling offence on the part of the _Kreluits_, we found them welldisposed to arrange matters in an amicable fashion. After having giventhem, therefore, some looking-glasses, beads, knives, tobacco, and othertrifles, we quitted them and pursued our way. 

Having passed a deserted village, and then several islands, we came insight of a noble mountain on the north, about twenty miles distant, allcovered with snow, contrasting remarkably with the dark foliage of theforests at its base, and probably the same which was seen by Broughton, and named by him _Mount St. Helen's_. We pulled against a strong currentall this day, and at evening our guide made us enter a little river, onthe bank of which we found a good camping place, under a grove of oaks, and in the midst of odoriferous wild flowers, where we passed a nightmore tranquil than that which had preceded it. 

On the morning of the 6th we ascended this small stream, and soonarrived at a large village called _Thlakalamah_, the chief whereof, whowas a young and handsome man, was called _Keasseno_, and was a relativeof our guide. The situation of this village is the most charming thatcan be, being built on the little river that we had ascended, and indeedat its navigable head, being here, but a torrent with numerous cascadesleaping from rock to rock in their descent to the deep, limpid water, which then flows through a beautiful prairie, enamelled with odorousflowers of all colors, and studded with superb groves of oak. Thefreshness and beauty of this spot, which Nature seemed to have takenpleasure in adorning and enriching with her most precious gifts, contrasted, in a striking manner, with the indigence and uncleanlinessof its inhabitants; and I regretted that it had not fallen to the lot ofcivilized men. I was wrong no doubt: it is just that those should bemost favored by their common mother, who are least disposed to perverther gifts, or to give the preference to advantages which are factitious, and often very frivolous. We quitted with regret this charming spot, and soon came to another large village, which our guide informed us wascalled _Kathlapootle_, and was situated at the confluence of a smallstream, that seemed to flow down from the mountain covered with snow, which we had seen the day before: this river is called _Cowilkt_. Wecoasted a pretty island, well timbered, and high enough above the levelof the Columbia to escape inundation in the freshets, and arrived at twovillages called _Maltnabah_. We then passed the confluence of the river_Wallamat_, or _Willamet_, above which the tide ceases to be felt in theColumbia. Our guide informed us that ascending this river about a day'sjourney, there was a considerable fall, beyond which the countryabounded in deer, elk, bear, beaver, and otter. But here, at the spotwhere we were, the oaks and poplar which line both banks of the river, the green and flowery prairies discerned through the trees, and themountains discovered in the distance, offer to the eye of the observerwho loves the beauties of simple nature, a prospect the most lovely andenchanting. We encamped for the night on the edge of one of these fineprairies. 

On the 7th we passed several low islands, and soon discovered _MountHood_, a high mountain, capped with snow, so named by LieutenantBroughton; and _Mount Washington_, another snowy summit, so called byLewis and Clarke. The prospect which the former had before his eyes atthis place, appeared to him so charming, that landing upon a point, totake possession of the country in the name of King George, he named it_Pointe Belle Vue_. At two o'clock we passed _Point Vancouver_, thehighest reached by Broughton. The width of the river diminishesconsiderably above this point, and we began very soon to encountershoals of sand and gravel; a sure indication that we were nearing therapids. We encamped that evening under a ledge of rocks, descendingalmost to the water's edge. 

The next day, the 8th, we did not proceed far before we encountered avery rapid current. Soon after, we saw a hut of Indians engaged infishing, where we stopped to breakfast. We found here an old blind man, who gave us a cordial reception. Our guide said that he was a white man, and that his name was _Soto_. We learned from the mouth of the old manhimself, that he was the son of a Spaniard who had been wrecked at themouth of the river; that a part of the crew on this occasion got safeashore, but were all massacred by the Clatsops, with the exception offour, who were spared and who married native women; that these fourSpaniards, of whom his father was one, disgusted with the savage life, attempted to reach a settlement of their own nation toward the south, but had never been heard of since; and that when his father, with hiscompanions, left the country, he himself was yet quite young. [H] Thesegood people having regaled us with fresh salmon, we left them, andarrived very soon at a rapid, opposite an island, named _StrawberryIsland_ by Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1806. We left our men at alarge village, to take care of the canoe and baggage; and following ourguide, after walking about two hours, in a beaten path, we came to thefoot of the fall, where we amused ourselves for some time with shootingthe seals, which were here in abundance, and in watching the Indianstaking salmon below the cataract, in their scoop-nets, from stageserected for that purpose over the eddies. A chief, a young man of fineperson and a good mien, came to us, followed by some twenty others, andinvited us to his wigwam: we accompanied him, had roasted salmon forsupper, and some mats were spread for our night's repose. 

[Footnote H: These facts, if they were authenticated, would prove thatthe Spaniards were the first who discovered the mouth of the Columbia. It is certain that long before the voyages of Captains Gray andVancouver, they knew at least a part of the course of that river, whichwas designated in their maps under the name of _Oregon_. ]

The next morning, having ascertained that there was no trading post nearthe Falls, and Coalpo absolutely refusing to proceed further, allegingthat the natives of the villages beyond were his enemies, and would notfail to kill him if they had him in their power, we decided to return tothe encampment. Having, therefore, distributed some presents to our host(I mean the young chief with whom we had supped and lodged) and to someof his followers, and procured a supply of fresh salmon for the returnvoyage, we re-embarked and reached the camp on the 14th, withoutaccidents or incidents worth relating. 

CHAPTER IX. 

 Departure of the Tonquin. --Indian Messengers. --Project of an Expedition to the Interior. --Arrival of Mr. Daniel Thompson. --Departure of the Expedition. --Designs upon us by the Natives. --Rumors of the Destruction of the Tonquin. --Scarcity of Provisions. --Narrative of a strange Indian. --Duplicity and Cunning of Comcomly. 

Having built a warehouse (62 feet by 20) to put under cover the articleswe were to receive from the ship, we were busily occupied, from the 16thto the 30th, in stowing away the goods and other effects intended forthe establishment. 

The ship, which had been detained by circumstances, much longer than hadbeen anticipated, left her anchorage at last, on the 1st of June, anddropped down to Baker's bay, there to wait for a favorable wind to getout of the river. As she was to coast along the north, and enter all theharbors, in order to procure as many furs as possible, and to touch atthe Columbia river before she finally left these seas for the UnitedStates, it was unanimously resolved among the partners, that Mr. M'Kayshould join the cruise, as well to aid the captain, as to obtain correctinformation in regard to the commerce with the natives on that coast. Mr. M'Kay selected Messrs. J. Lewis and O. De Montigny to accompany him;but the latter having represented that the sea made him sick, wasexcused; and Mr. M'Kay shipped in his place a young man named LouisBruslé, to serve him in the capacity of domestic, being one of the youngCanadian sailors. I had the good fortune not to be chosen for thisdisastrous voyage, thanks to my having made myself useful at theestablishment. Mr. Mumford (the second mate) owed the same happiness tothe incompatibility of his disposition with that of the captain; he hadpermission to remain, and engaged with the company in place of Mr. Aikinas coaster, and in command of the schooner. [I]

[Footnote I: This schooner was found too small for the purpose. Mr. Astor had no idea of the dangers to be met at the mouth of the Colombia, or he would have ordered the frame of a vessel of at least one hundredtons. The frames shipped in New York were used in the construction ofthis one only, which was employed solely in the river trade. ]

On the 5th of June, the ship got out to sea, with a good wind. Wecontinued in the meantime to labor without intermission at thecompletion of the storehouse, and in the erection of a dwelling forourselves, and a powder magazine. These buildings were constructed ofhewn logs, and, in the absence of boards, tightly covered and roofedwith cedar bark. The natives, of both sexes, visited us more frequently, and formed a pretty considerable camp near the establishment. 

On the 15th, some natives from up the river, brought us two strangeIndians, a man and a woman. They were not attired like the savages onthe river Columbia, but wore long robes of dressed deer-skin, withleggings and moccasins in the fashion of the tribes to the east of theRocky Mountains. We put questions to them in various Indian dialects;but they did not understand us. They showed us a letter addressed to"_Mr. John Stuart, Fort Estekatadene, New Caledonia_. " Mr. Pillet thenaddressing them in the _Knisteneaux_ language, they answered, althoughthey appeared not to understand it perfectly. Notwithstanding, welearned from them that they had been sent by a Mr. Finnan M'Donald, aclerk in the service of the Northwest Company, and who had a post on ariver which they called _Spokan_; that having lost their way, they hadfollowed the course of the _Tacousah-Tesseh_ (the Indian name of theColumbia), that when they arrived at the Falls, the natives made themunderstand that there were white men at the mouth of the river; and notdoubting that the person to whom the letter was addressed would be foundthere, they had come to deliver it. 

We kept these messengers for some days, and having drawn from themimportant information respecting the country in the interior, west ofthe Mountains, we decided to send an expedition thither, under thecommand of Mr. David Stuart; and the 15th July was fixed for itsdeparture. 

All was in fact ready on the appointed day, and we were about to loadthe canoes, when toward midday, we saw a large canoe, with a flagdisplayed at her stern, rounding the point which we called _TonguePoint_. We knew not who it could be; for we did not so soon expect ourown party, who (as the reader will remember) were to cross thecontinent, by the route which Captains Lewis and Clarke had followed, in1805, and to winter for that purpose somewhere on the Missouri. We weresoon relieved of our uncertainty by the arrival of the canoe, whichtouched shore at a little wharf that we had built to facilitate thelanding of goods from the vessel. The flag she bore was the British, andher crew was composed of eight Canadian boatmen or _voyageurs_. Awell-dressed man, who appeared to be the commander, was the first toleap ashore, and addressing us without ceremony, said that his name wasDavid Thompson, and that he was one of the partners of the NorthwestCompany. We invited him to our quarters, which were at one end of thewarehouse, the dwelling-house not being yet completed. After the usualcivilities had been extended to our visitor, Mr. Thompson said that hehad crossed the continent during the preceding season; but that thedesertion of a portion of his men had compelled him to winter at thebase of the Rocky mountains, at the head waters of the Columbia. In thespring he had built a canoe, the materials for which he had brought withhim across the mountains, and had come down the river to ourestablishment. He added that the wintering partners had resolved toabandon all their trading posts west of the mountains, not to enter intocompetition with us, provided our company would engage not to encroachupon their commerce on the east side: and to support what he said, produced a letter to that effect, addressed by the wintering partners tothe chief of their house in Canada, the Hon. William M'Gillivray. 

Mr. Thompson kept a regular journal, and travelled, I thought, more likea geographer than a fur-trader. He was provided with a sextant, chronometer and barometer, and during a week's sojourn which he made atour place, had an opportunity to make several astronomicalobservations. He recognised the two Indians who had brought the letteraddressed to Mr. J. Stuart, and told us that they were two women, one ofwhom had dressed herself as a man, to travel with more security. Thedescription which he gave us of the interior of the country was notcalculated to give us a very favorable idea of it, and did not perfectlyaccord with that of our two Indian guests. We persevered, however, inthe resolution we had taken, of sending an expedition thither; and, onthe 23d Mr. D. Stuart set out, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet, Boss, M'Clellan and de Montigny, with four Canadian _voyageurs_, and the twoIndian women, and in company with Mr. Thompson and his crew. The windbeing favorable, the little flotilla hoisted sail, and was soon out ofour sight. [J]

[Footnote J: Mr. Thompson had no doubt been sent by the agents of theNorthwest Company, to take possession of an eligible spot at the mouthof the Columbia, with a view of forestalling the plan of Mr. Astor. Hewould have been there before us, no doubt, but for the desertion of hismen. The consequence of this step would have been his taking possessionof the country, and displaying the British flag, as an emblem, of thatpossession and a guarantee of protection hereafter. He found himself toolate, however, and the stars and stripes floating over _Astoria_. Thisnote is not intended by the author as an after-thought: as the opinionit conveys was that which we all entertained at the time of thatgentleman's visit. ]

The natives, who till then had surrounded us in great numbers, began towithdraw, and very soon we saw no more of them. At first we attributedtheir absence to the want of furs to trade with; but we soon learnedthat they acted in that manner from another motive. One of the secondarychiefs who had formed a friendship for Mr. R. Stuart, informed him, thatseeing us reduced in number by the expedition lately sent off, they hadformed the design of surprising us, to take our lives and plunder thepost. We hastened, therefore, to put ourselves in the best possiblestate of defence. The dwelling house was raised, parallel to thewarehouse; we cut a great quantity of pickets in the forest, and formeda square, with palisades in front and rear, of about 90 feet by 120; thewarehouse, built on the edge of a ravine, formed one flank, the dwellinghouse and shops the other; with a little bastion at each angle northand south, on which were mounted four small cannon. The whole wasfinished in six days, and had a sufficiently formidable aspect to deterthe Indians from attacking us; and for greater surety, we organized aguard for day and night. 

Toward the end of the month, a large assemblage of Indians from theneighborhood of the straits _Juan de Fuca_, and _Gray's Harbor_, formeda great camp on Baker's Bay, for the ostensible object of fishing forsturgeon. It was bruited among these Indians that the Tonquin had beendestroyed on the coast, and Mr. M'Kay (or the chief trader, as theycalled him) and all the crew, massacred by the natives. We did not givecredence to this rumor. Some days after, other Indians from Gray'sHarbor, called _Tchikeylis_, confirmed what the first had narrated, andeven gave us, as far as we could judge by the little we knew of theirlanguage, a very circumstantial detail of the affair, so that withoutwholly convincing us, it did not fail to make a painful impression onour minds, and keep us in an excited state of feeling as to the truthof the report. The Indians of the Bay looked fiercer and more warlikethan those of our neighborhood; so we redoubled our vigilance, andperformed a regular daily drill to accustom ourselves to the use ofarms. 

To the necessity of securing ourselves against an attack on the part ofthe natives, was joined that of obtaining a stock of provisions for thewinter: those which we had received from the vessel were very quicklyexhausted, and from the commencement of the month of July we were forcedto depend upon fish. Not having brought hunters with us, we had to relyfor venison, on the precarious hunt of one of the natives who had notabandoned us when the rest of his countrymen retired. This man broughtus from time to time, a very lean and very dry doe-elk, for which we hadto pay, notwithstanding, very dear. The ordinary price of a stag was ablanket, a knife, some tobacco, powder and ball, besides supplying ourhunter with a musket. This dry meat, and smoke-dried fish, constitutedour daily food, and that in very insufficient quantity for hardworkingmen. "We had no bread, and vegetables, of course, were quite out of thequestion. In a word our fare was not sumptuous. Those who accommodatedthemselves best to our mode of living were the Sandwich-islanders:salmon and elk were to them exquisite viands. 

On the 11th of August a number of Chinooks visited us, bringing astrange Indian, who had, they said, something interesting tocommunicate. This savage told us, in fact, that he had been engaged withten more of his countrymen, by a Captain _Ayres_, to hunt seals on theislands in _Sir Francis Drake's Bay_, where these animals are verynumerous, with a promise of being taken home and paid for theirservices; the captain had left them on the islands, to go southwardlyand purchase provisions, he said, of the Spaniards of Monterey inCalifornia; but he had never returned: and they, believing that he hadbeen wrecked, had embarked in a skiff which he had left them, and hadreached the main land, from which they were not far distant; but theirskiff was shattered to pieces in the surf, and they had savedthemselves by swimming. Believing that they were not far from the riverColumbia, they had followed the shore, living, on the way, uponshell-fish and frogs; at last they arrived among strange Indians, who, far from receiving them kindly, had killed eight of them and made therest prisoners; but the _Klemooks_, a neighboring tribe to the_Clatsops_, hearing that they were captives, had ransomed them. 

These facts must have occurred in March or April, 1811. The Indian whogave us an account of them, appeared to have a great deal ofintelligence and knew some words of the English language. He added thathe had been at the Russian trading post at _Chitka_, that he had visitedthe coast of California, the Sandwich islands, and even China. 

About this time, old Comcomly sent to _Astoria_ for Mr. Stuart and me, to come and cure him of a swelled throat, which, he said, afflicted himsorely. As it was late in the day, we postponed till to-morrow going tocure the chief of the Chinooks; and it was well we did; for, the sameevening, the wife of the Indian who had accompanied us in our voyage tothe Falls, sent us word that Comcomly was perfectly well, the pretended_tonsillitis_ being only a pretext to get us in his power. This timelyadvice kept us at home. 

CHAPTER X. 

 Occupations at Astoria. --Return of a Portion of the Men of the Expedition to the Interior. --New Expedition. --Excursion in Search of three Deserters. 

On the 26th of September our house was finished, and we took possessionof it. The mason work had at first caused us some difficulty; but atlast, not being able to make lime for want of lime-stones, we employedblue clay as a substitute for mortar. This dwelling-house wassufficiently spacious to hold all our company, and we had distributed itin the most convenient manner that we could. It comprised a sitting, adining room, some lodging or sleeping rooms, and an apartment for themen and artificers, all under the same roof. We also completed a shopfor the blacksmith, who till that time had worked in the open air. 

The schooner, the construction of which had necessarily languished forwant of an adequate force at the ship-yard, was finally launched on the2d of October, and named the _Dolly_, with the formalities usual on suchoccasions. I was on that day at _Young's Bay_, where I saw the ruins ofthe quarters erected by Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1805-'06: theywere but piles of rough, unhewn logs, overgrown with parasite creepers. 

On the evening of the 5th, Messrs. Pillet and M'Lellan arrived, from theparty of Mr. David Stuart, in a canoe manned by two of his men. Theybrought, as passengers, Mr. Régis Bruguier, whom I had known in Canadaas a respectable country merchant, and an Iroquois family. Mr. Bruguierhad been a trader among the Indians on the Saskatchawine river, where hehad lost his outfit: he had since turned trapper, and had come into thisregion to hunt beaver, being provided with traps and other needfulimplements. The report which these gentlemen gave of the interior washighly satisfactory: they had found the climate salubrious, and hadbeen well received by the natives. The latter possessed a great numberof horses, and Mr. Stuart had purchased several of these animals at alow price. Ascending the river they had come to a pretty stream, whichthe natives called _Okenakan_. Mr. Stuart had resolved to establish hispost on the bank of this river, and having erected a log-house, hethought best to send back the above named persons, retaining with him, for the winter, only Messrs. Ross and de Montigny, and two men. [K]

[Footnote K: One of these men bad been left with him by Mr. Thompson, inexchange for a Sandwich-islander whom that gentleman proposed to take toCanada, and thence to England. ]

Meanwhile, the season being come when the Indians quit the seashore andthe banks of the Columbia, to retire into the woods and establish theirwinter quarters along the small streams and rivers, we began to findourselves short of provisions, having received no supplies from them forsome time. It was therefore determined that Mr. R. Stuart should set outin the schooner with Mr. Mumford, for the threefold purpose, ofobtaining all the provisions they could, cutting oaken staves for theuse of the cooper, and trading with the Indians up the river. They leftwith this design on the 12th. At the end of five days Mr. Mumfordreturned in a canoe of Indians. This man having wished to assume thecommand, and to order (in the style of Captain Thorn) the person who hadengaged him to obey, had been sent back in consequence to _Astoria_. 

On the 10th of November we discovered that three of our people hadabsconded, viz. , P. D. Jeremie, and the two Belleaux. They had leave togo out shooting for two days, and carried off with them firearms andammunition, and a handsome light Indian canoe. As soon as their flightwas known, having procured a large canoe of the Chinooks, we embarked, Mr. Matthews and I, with five natives, to pursue them, with orders toproceed as far as the Falls, if necessary. On the 11th, having ascendedthe river to a place called _Oak Point_, we overtook the schooner lyingat anchor, while Mr. Stuart was taking in a load of staves andhoop-poles. Mr. Farnham joined our party, as well as one of the hands, and thus reinforced, we pursued our way, journeying day and night, andstopping at every Indian village, to make inquiries and offer a rewardfor the apprehension of our runaways. Having reached the Falls withoutfinding any trace of them, and our provisions giving out, we retracedour steps, and arrived on the 16th at Oak Point, which we found Mr. Stuart ready to quit. 

Meanwhile, the natives of the vicinity informed us that they had seenthe marks of shoes imprinted on the sand, at the confluence of a smallstream in the neighborhood. We got three small canoes, carrying twopersons each, and having ascertained that the information was correct, after searching the environs during a part of the 17th, we ascended thesmall stream as far as some high lands which are seen from Oak Point, and which lie about eight or nine miles south of it. The space betweenthese high lands and the ridge crowned with oaks on the bank of theColumbia, is a low and swampy land, cut up by an infinity of littlechannels. Toward evening we returned on our path, to regain theschooner; but instead of taking the circuitous way of the river, bywhich we had come, we made for Oak Point by the most direct route, through these channels; but night coming on, we lost ourselves. Oursituation became the most disagreeable that can be imagined. Beingunable to find a place where we could land, on account of the morass, wewere obliged to continue rowing, or rather turning round, in thisspecies of labyrinth, constantly kneeling in our little canoes, whichany unlucky movement would infallibly have caused to upset. It rained intorrents and was dark as pitch. At last, after having wandered aboutduring a considerable part of the night, we succeeded in gaining theedge of the mainland. Leaving there our canoes, because we could notdrag them (as we attempted) through the forest, we crossed the woods inthe darkness, tearing ourselves with the brush, and reached theschooner, at about two in the morning, benumbed with cold and exhaustedwith fatigue. 

The 18th was spent in getting in the remainder of the lading of thelittle vessel, and on the morning of the 19th we raised anchor, anddropped down abreast of the Kreluit village, where some of the Indiansoffering to aid us in the search after our deserters, Mr. Stuart put Mr. Farnham and me on shore to make another attempt. We passed that day indrying our clothes, and the next day embarked in a canoe, with one_Kreluit_ man and a squaw, and ascended the river before described asentering the Columbia at this place. We soon met a canoe of natives, whoinformed us that our runaways had been made prisoners by the chief of atribe which dwells upon the banks of the Willamet river, and which theycalled _Cathlanaminim_. We kept on and encamped on a beach of sandopposite _Deer island_. There we passed a night almost as disagreeableas that of the 17th-18th. We had lighted a fire, and contrived a shelterof mats; but there came on presently a violent gust of wind, accompaniedwith a heavy rain: our fire was put out, our mats were carried away, andwe could neither rekindle the one nor find the others: so that we hadto remain all night exposed to the fury of the storm. As soon as it wasday we re-embarked, and set ourselves to paddling with all our might towarm ourselves. In the evening we arrived near the village where ourdeserters were, and saw one of them on the skirts of it. We proceeded tothe hut of the chief, where we found all three, more inclined to followus than to remain as slaves among these barbarians. We passed the nightin the chief's lodge, not without some fear and some precaution; thischief having the reputation of being a wicked man, and capable ofviolating the rights of parties. He was a man of high stature and a goodmien, and proud in proportion, as we discovered by the chilling andhaughty manner in which he received us. Farnham and I agreed to keepwatch alternately, but this arrangement was superfluous, as neither ofus could sleep a wink for the infernal thumping and singing made by themedicine men all night long, by a dying native. I had an opportunity ofseeing the sick man make his last will and testament: having caused tobe brought to him whatever he had that was most precious, his braceletsof copper, his bead necklace, his bow and arrows and quiver, his nets, his lines, his spear, his pipe, &c. , he distributed the whole to hismost intimate friends, with a promise on their part, to restore them, ifhe recovered. 

On the 22d, after a great deal of talk, and infinite quibbling on thepart of the chief, we agreed with him for the ransom of our men. I hadvisited every lodge in the village and found but few of the young men, the greater part having gone on a fishing excursion; knowing, therefore, that the chief could not be supported by his warriors, I was resolvednot be imposed upon, and as I knew where the firearms of the fugitiveshad been deposited, I would have them at all hazards; but we wereobliged to give him all our blankets, amounting to eight, a brasskettle, a hatchet, a small pistol, much out of order, a powder-horn, andsome rounds of ammunition: with these articles placed in a pile beforehim, we demanded the men's clothing, the three fowling-pieces, andtheir canoe, which he had caused to be hidden in the woods. Nothing butour firmness compelled him to accept the articles offered in exchange;but at last, with great reluctance, he closed the bargain, and sufferedus to depart in the evening with the prisoners and the property. 

We all five (including the three deserters) embarked in the large canoe, leaving our Kreluit and his wife to follow in the other, and proceededas far as the Cowlitzk, where we camped. The next day, we pursued ourjourney homeward, only stopping at the Kreluit village to get someprovisions, and soon entered the group of islands which crowd the riverabove Gray's bay. On one of these we stopped to amuse ourselves withshooting some ducks, and meanwhile a smart breeze springing up, we splitopen a double-rush mat (which had served as a bag), to make a sail, andhaving cut a forked sapling for a mast, shipped a few boulders to staythe foot of it, and spread our canvass to the wind. We soon arrived insight of Gray's bay, at a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles from ourestablishment. We had, notwithstanding, a long passage across, theriver forming in this place, as I have before observed, a sort of lake, by the recession of its shores on either hand: but the wind was fair. Weundertook, then, to cross, and quitted the island, to enter the broad, lake-like expanse, just as the sun was going down, hoping to reachAstoria in a couple of hours. 

We were not long before we repented of our temerity: for in a short timethe sky became overcast, the wind increased till it blew with violence, and meeting with the tide, caused the waves to rise prodigiously, whichbroke over our wretched canoe, and filled it with water. We lightened itas much as we could, by throwing overboard the little baggage we hadleft, and I set the men to baling with our remaining brass kettle. Atlast, after having been, for three hours, the sport of the ragingbillows, and threatened every instant with being swallowed up, we hadthe unexpected happiness of landing in a cove on the north shore of theriver. Our first care was to thank the Almighty for having delivered usfrom so imminent a danger. Then, when we had secured the canoe, andgroped our way to the forest, where we made, with branches of trees, ashelter against the wind--still continuing to blow with violence, andkindled a great fire to warm us and dry our clothes. That did notprevent us from shivering the rest of the night, even in congratulatingourselves on the happiness of setting our foot on shore at the momentwhen we began quite to despair of saving ourselves at all. 

The morning of the 24th brought with it a clear sky, but no abatement inthe violence of the wind, till toward evening, when we again embarked, and arrived with our deserters at the establishment, where they neverexpected to see us again. Some Indians who had followed us in a canoe, up to the moment when we undertook the passage across the eveningbefore, had followed the southern shore, and making the portage of theisthmus of Tongue Point, had happily arrived at Astoria. These natives, not doubting that we were lost, so reported us to Mr. M'Dougal;accordingly that gentleman was equally overjoyed and astonished atbeholding us safely landed, which procured, not only for us, but for theculprits, our companions, a cordial and hearty reception. 

CHAPTER XI. 

 Departure of Mr. R. Stuart for the Interior. --Occupations at Astoria. --Arrival of Messrs. Donald M'Kenzie and Robert M'Lellan. --Account of their Journey. --Arrival of Mr. Wilson P. Hunt. 

The natives having given us to understand that beaver was very abundantin the country watered by the Willamet, Mr. R. Stuart procured a guide, and set out, on the 5th of December, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet andM'Gillis and a few of the men, to ascend that river and ascertainwhether or no it would be advisable to establish a trading-post on itsbanks. Mr. R. Bruguier accompanied them to follow his pursuits as atrapper. 

The season at which we expected the return of the Tonquin was now past, and we began to regard as too probable the report of the Indians ofGray's Harbor. We still flattered ourselves, notwithstanding, with thehope that perhaps that vessel had sailed for the East Indies, withouttouching at Astoria; but this was at most a conjecture. 

The 25th, Christmas-day, passed very agreeably: we treated the men, onthat day, with the best the establishment afforded. Although that was nogreat affair, they seemed well satisfied; for they had been restricted, during the last few months, to a very meagre diet, living, as one maysay, on sun-dried fish. On the 27th, the schooner having returned fromher second voyage up the river, we dismantled her, and laid her up forthe winter at the entrance of a small creek. 

The weather, which had been raining, almost without interruption, fromthe beginning of October, cleared up on the evening of the 31st; and the1st January, 1812, brought us a clear and serene sky. We proclaimed thenew year with a discharge of artillery. A small allowance of spirits wasserved to the men, and the day passed in gayety, every one amusinghimself as well as he could. 

The festival over, our people resumed their ordinary occupations: whilesome cut timber for building, and others made charcoal for theblacksmith, the carpenter constructed a barge, and the cooper madebarrels for the use of the posts we proposed to establish in theinterior. On the 18th, in the evening, two canoes full of white menarrived at the establishment. Mr. M'Dougal, the resident agent, beingconfined to his room by sickness, the duty of receiving the strangersdevolved on me. My astonishment was not slight, when one of the partycalled me by name, as he extended his hand, and I recognised Mr. DonaldM'Kenzie, the same who had quitted Montreal, with Mr. W. P. Hunt, in themonth of July, 1810. He was accompanied by a Mr. Robert M'Lellan, apartner, Mr. John Reed, a clerk, and eight _voyageurs_, or boatmen. After having reposed themselves a little from their fatigues, thesegentlemen recounted to us the history of their journey, of which thefollowing is the substance. 

Messrs. Hunt and M'Kenzie, quitting Canada, proceeded by way ofMackinac and St. Louis, and ascended the Missouri, in the autumn of1810, to a place on that river called _Nadoway_, where they wintered. Here they were joined by Mr. R. M'Lellan, by a Mr. Crooks, and a Mr. Müller, traders with the Indians of the South, and all having businessrelations with Mr. Astor. 

In the spring of 1811, having procured two large keel-boats, theyascended the Missouri to the country of the _Arikaras_, or Rice Indians, where they disposed of their boats and a great part of their luggage, toa Spanish trader, by name _Manuel Lisa_. Having purchased of him, andamong the Indians, 130 horses, they resumed their route, in thebeginning of August, to the number of some sixty-five persons, toproceed across the mountains to the river Columbia. Wishing to avoid the_Blackfeet_ Indians, a warlike and ferocious tribe, who put to death allthe strangers that fall into their hands, they directed their coursesouthwardly, until they arrived at the 40th degree of latitude. Thencethey turned to the northwest, and arrived, by-and-by, at an old fort, or trading post, on the banks of a little river flowing west. This post, which was then deserted, had been established, as they afterwardlearned, by a trader named Henry. Our people, not doubting that thisstream would conduct them to the Columbia, and finding it navigable, constructed some canoes to descend it. Having left some hunters (ortrappers) near the old fort, with Mr. Miller, who, dissatisfied with theexpedition, was resolved to return to the United States, the partyembarked; but very soon finding the river obstructed with rapids andwaterfalls, after having upset some of the canoes, lost one man bydrowning, and also a part of their baggage, perceiving that the streamwas impracticable, they resolved to abandon their canoes and proceed onfoot. The enterprise was one of great difficulty, considering the smallstock of provisions they had left. Nevertheless, as there was no time tolose in deliberation, after depositing in a _cache_ the superfluous partof their baggage, they divided themselves into four companies, underthe command of Messrs. M'Kenzie, Hunt, M'Lellan and Crooks, andproceeded to follow the course of the stream, which they named _Madriver_, on account of the insurmountable difficulties it presented. Messrs. M'Kenzie and M'Lellan took the right bank, and Messrs. Hunt andCrook the left. They counted on arriving very quickly at the Columbia;but they followed this Mad river for twenty days, finding nothing at allto eat, and suffering horribly from thirst. The rocks between which theriver flows being so steep and abrupt as to prevent their descending toquench their thirst (so that even their dogs died of it), they sufferedthe torments of Tantalus, with this difference, that he had the waterwhich he could not reach above his head, while our travellers had itbeneath their feet. Several, not to die of this raging thirst, dranktheir own urine: all, to appease the cravings of hunger, ate beaverskins roasted in the evening at the camp-fire. They even were at lastconstrained to eat their moccasins. Those on the or southeast bank, suffered, however, less than the others, because they occasionally fellin with Indians, utterly wild indeed, and who fled at their approach, carrying off their horses. According to all appearances these savageshad never seen white men. Our travellers, when they arrived in sight ofthe camp of one of these wandering hordes, approached it with as muchprecaution, and with the same stratagem that they would have used with atroop of wild beasts. Having thus surprised them, they would fire uponthe horses, some of which would fall; but they took care to leave sometrinkets on the spot, to indemnify the owners for what they had takenfrom them by violence. This resource prevented the party from perishingof hunger. 

Mr. M'Kenzie having overtaken Mr. M'Lellan, their two companies pursuedthe journey together. Very soon after this junction, they had anopportunity of approaching sufficiently near to Mr. Hunt, who, as I haveremarked, was on the other bank, to speak to him, and inform him oftheir distressed state. Mr. Hunt caused a canoe to be made of ahorse-hide; it was not, as one may suppose, very large; but theysucceeded, nevertheless, by that means, in conveying a littlehorse-flesh to the people on the north bank. It was attempted, even, topass them across, one by one (for the skiff would not hold any more);several had actually crossed to the south side, when, unhappily, owingto the impetuosity of the current, the canoe capsized, a man wasdrowned, and the two parties lost all hope of being able to unite. Theycontinued their route, therefore, each on their own side of the river. In a short time those upon the north bank came to a more considerablestream, which they followed down. They also met, very opportunely, someIndians, who sold them a number of horses. They also encountered, inthese parts, a young American, who was deranged, but who sometimesrecovered his reason. This young man told them, in one of his lucidintervals, that he was from Connecticut, and was named Archibald Pelton;that he had come up the Missouri with Mr. Henry; that all the people atthe post established by that trader were massacred by the Blackfeet;that he alone had escaped, and had been wandering, for three yearssince, with the _Snake_ Indians. [L] Our people took this young man withthem. Arriving at the confluence with the Columbia, of the river whosebanks they were following, they perceived that it was the same which hadbeen called _Lewis river_, by the American captain of that name, in1805. Here, then, they exchanged their remaining horses for canoes, andso arrived at the establishment, safe and sound, it is true, but in apitiable condition to see; their clothes being nothing but flutteringrags. 

[Footnote L: A thoroughly savage and lazy tribe, inhabiting the plainsof the Columbia, between the 43d and 44th degrees of latitude. ]

The narrative of these gentlemen interested us very much. They added, that since their separation from Messrs. Hunt and Crooks, they hadneither seen nor heard aught of them, and believed it impossible thatthey should arrive at the establishment before spring. They weremistaken, however, for Mr. Hunt arrived on the 15th February, withthirty men, one woman, and two children, having left Mr. Crooks, withfive men, among the _Snakes_. They might have reached Astoria almost assoon as Mr. M'Kenzie, but they had passed from eight to ten days in themidst of a plain, among some friendly Indians, as well to recruit theirstrength, as to make search for two of the party, who had been lost inthe woods. Not finding them, they had resumed their journey, and struckthe banks of the Columbia a little lower down than the mouth of Lewisriver, where Mr. M'Kenzie had come out. 

The arrival of so great a number of persons would have embarrassed us, had it taken place a month sooner. Happily, at this time, the nativeswere bringing in fresh fish in abundance. Until the 30th of March, wewere occupied in preparing triplicates of letters and other necessarypapers, in order to send Mr. Astor the news of our arrival, and of thereunion of the two expeditions. The letters were intrusted to Mr. JohnReed, who quitted Astoria for St. Louis, in company with Mr. M'Lellan--another discontented partner, who wished to disconnect himselfwith the association, --and Mr. R. Stuart, who was conveying twocanoe-loads of goods for his uncle's post on the _Okenakan_. Messrs. Farnham and M'Gillis set out at the same time, with a guide, and wereinstructed to proceed to the _cache_, [M] where the overland travellershad hidden their goods, near old Fort Henry, on the Mad river. Iprofited by this opportunity to write to my family in Canada. Two daysafter, Messrs. M'Kenzie and Matthews set out, with five or six men, ashunters, to make an excursion up the Willamet river. 

[Footnote M: These _caches_ are famous in all the narratives of overlandtravel, whether for trade or discovery. The manner of making them isdescribed by Captains Lewis and Clarke, as follows: they choose a drysituation, then describing a circle of some twenty inches diameter, remove the sod as gently and carefully as possible. The hole is thensunk a foot deep or more, perpendicularly; it is then worked graduallywider as it descends, till it becomes six or seven feet deep, and shapedlike a kettle, or the lower part of a large still. As the earth is dugout, it is handed up in a vessel, and carefully laid upon a skin orcloth, in which it is carried away, and usually thrown into the river, if there be one, or concealed so as to leave no trace of it. A floor ofthree or four inches thick is then made of dry sticks, on which isthrown hay or a hide perfectly dry. The goods, after being well airedand dried, are laid down, and preserved from contact with the wall by alayer of other dried sticks, till all is stowed away. When the hole isnearly full, a hide is laid on top, and the earth is thrown upon this, and beaten down, until, with the addition of the sod first removed, thewhole is on a level with the ground, and there remains not the slightestappearance of an excavation. The first shower effaces every sign of whathas been done, and such a cache is safe for years. --ED. ]

CHAPTER XII

 Arrival of the Ship Beaver. --Unexpected Return of Messrs. D. Stuart, R. Stuart, M'Lelland, &c. --Cause of that Return. --Ship discharging. --New Expeditions. --Hostile Attitude of the Natives. --Departure of the Beaver. --Journeys of the Author. --His Occupations at the Establishment. 

From the departure of the last outfit under Mr. M'Kenzie, nothingremarkable took place at Astoria, till the 9th of May. On that day wedescried, to our great surprise and great joy, a sail in the offing, opposite the mouth of the river. Forthwith Mr. M'Dougal was despatchedin a boat to the cape, to make the signals. On the morning of the 10th, the weather being fine and the sea smooth, the boat pushed out andarrived safely alongside. Soon after, the wind springing up, the vesselmade sail and entered the river, where she dropped anchor, in Baker'sBay, at about 2 P. M. Toward evening the boat returned to the Fort, withthe following passengers: Messrs. John Clarke of Canada (a winteringpartner), Alfred Seton, George Ehnainger, a nephew of Mr. Astor(clerks), and two men. We learned from these gentlemen that the vesselwas the _Beaver_, Captain _Cornelius Sowles_, and was consigned to us;that she left New York on the 10th of October, and had touched, in thepassage, at _Massa Fuero_ and the Sandwich Isles. Mr. Clarke handed meletters from my father and from several of my friends: I thus learnedthat death had deprived me of a beloved sister. 

On the morning of the 11th, we were strangely surprised by the return ofMessrs. D. Stuart, R. Stuart, R. M'Lelland, Crooks, Reed, and Farnham. This return, as sudden as unlooked for, was owing to an unfortunateadventure which befell the party, in ascending the river. When theyreached the Falls, where the portage is very long, some natives camewith their horses, to offer their aid in transporting the goods. Mr. R. Stuart, not distrusting them, confided to their care some bales ofmerchandise, which they packed on their horses: but, in making thetransit, they darted up a narrow path among the rocks, and fled at fullgallop toward the prairie, without its being possible to overtake them. Mr. Stuart had several shots fired over their heads, to frighten them, but it had no other effect than to increase their speed. Meanwhile ourown people continued the transportation of the rest of the goods, and ofthe canoes; but as there was a great number of natives about, whom thesuccess and impunity of those thieves had emboldened, Mr. Stuart thoughtit prudent to keep watch over the goods at the upper end of the portage, while Messrs. M'Lellan and Reed made the rear-guard. The last namedgentleman, who carried, strapped to his shoulders, a tin box containingthe letters and despatches for New York with which he was charged, happened to be at some distance from the former, and the Indians thoughtit a favorable opportunity to attack him and carry off his box, thebrightness of which no doubt had tempted their cupidity. They threwthemselves upon him so suddenly that he had no time to place himself onthe defensive. After a short resistance, he received a blow on the headfrom a war club, which felled him to the ground, and the Indians seizedupon their booty. Mr. M'Lellan perceiving what was done, fired hiscarabine at one of the robbers and made him bite the dust; the rest tookto flight, but carried off the box notwithstanding. Mr. M'Lellanimmediately ran up to Mr. Reed; but finding the latter motionless andbathed in blood, he hastened to rejoin Mr. Stuart, urging him to getaway from these robbers and murderers. But Mr. Stuart, being aself-possessed and fearless man, would not proceed without ascertainingif Mr. Reed were really dead, or if he were, without carrying off hisbody; and notwithstanding the remonstrances of Mr. M'Lellan, taking hisway back to the spot where the latter had left his companion, had notgone two hundred paces, when he met him coming toward them, holding hisbleeding head with both hands. [N]

[Footnote N: We were apprized of this unfortunate rencontre by nativesfrom up the river, on the 15th of April, but disbelieved it. [It iscurious to observe the want of military sagacity and precaution whichcharacterized the operations of these traders, compared with the exactcalculations of danger and the unfailing measures of defence, employedfrom the very outset by Captains Lewis and Clarke in the same country. There was one very audacious attempt at plunder made upon the latter;but besides that it cost the Indians a life or two, the latter lostproperty of their own far exceeding their booty. It is true that theAmerican officers had a stronger force at their disposal than ourmerchants had, and that, too, consisting of experienced western huntersand veteran soldiers of the frontier; but it is not less interesting tonote the difference, because it is easy to account for it. --J. V. H. ]]

The object of Mr. Reed's journey being defeated by the loss of hispapers, he repaired, with the other gentlemen, to Mr. David Stuart'strading post, at Okenakan, whence they had all set out, in the beginningof May, to return to Astoria. Coming down the river, they fell in withMr. R. Crooks, and a man named _John Day_. It was observed in thepreceding chapter that Mr. Crooks remained with five men among someIndians who were there termed _friendly_: but this gentleman and hiscompanion were the only members of that party who ever reached theestablishment: and they too arrived in a most pitiable condition, thesavages having stripped them of everything, leaving them but some bitsof deerskin to cover their nakedness. 

On the 12th, the schooner, which had been sent down the river to theBeaver's anchorage, returned with a cargo (being the stores intended forAstoria), and the following passengers: to wit, Messrs. B. Clapp, J. C. Halsey, C. A. Nichols, and R. Cox, clerks; five Canadians, sevenAmericans (all mechanics), and a dozen Sandwich-islanders for theservice of the establishment. The captain of the Beaver sounded thechannel diligently for several days; but finding it scarcely deep enoughfor so large a vessel, he was unwilling to bring her up to Astoria. Itwas necessary, in consequence, to use the schooner as a lighter indischarging the ship, and this tedious operation occupied us during thebalance of this month and a part of June. 

Captain Sowles and Mr. Clarke confirmed the report of the destruction ofthe Tonquin; they had learned it at Owhyhee, by means of a letter whicha certain Captain Ebbetts, in the employ of Mr. Astor, had left there. It was nevertheless resolved that Mr. Hunt should embark upon the"Beaver, " to carry out the plan of an exact commercial survey of thecoast, which Mr. M'Kay had been sent to accomplish, and in particular tovisit for that purpose the Russian establishments at Chitka sound. 

The necessary papers having been prepared anew, and being now ready toexpedite, were confided to Mr. R. Stuart, who was to cross the continentin company with Messrs. Crooks and R. M'Lellan, partners dissatisfiedwith the enterprise, and who had made up their minds to return to theUnited States. Mr. Clark, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet, Donald, M'Lellan, Farnham and Cox, was fitted out at the same time, with aconsiderable assortment of merchandise, to form a new establishment onthe _Spokan_ or Clarke's river. Mr. M'Kenzie, with Mr. Seton, wasdestined for the borders of _Lewis_ river: while Mr. David Stuart, reinforced by Messrs. Matthews and M'Gillis, was to explore the regionlying north of his post at Okenakan. All these outfits being ready, withthe canoes, boatmen, and hunters, the flotilla quitted Astoria on the30th of June, in the afternoon, having on board sixty-two persons. Thesequel will show the result of the several expeditions. 

During the whole month of July, the natives (seeing us weakened no doubtby these outfits), manifested their hostile intentions so openly that wewere obliged to be constantly on our guard. We constructed covered waysinside our palisades, and raised our bastions or towers another story. The alarm became so serious toward the latter end of the month that wedoubled our sentries day and night, and never allowed more than two orthree Indians at a time within our gates. 

The Beaver was ready to depart on her coasting voyage at the end ofJune, and on the 1st of July Mr. Hunt went on board: but westerly windsprevailing all that month, it was not till the 4th of August that shewas able to get out of the river; being due again by the end of Octoberto leave her surplus goods and take in our furs for market. 

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

Experience having taught us that from the beginning of October to theend of January, provisions were brought in by the natives in very smallquantity, it was thought expedient that I should proceed in theschooner, accompanied by Mr. Clapp, on a trading voyage up the river tosecure 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 ofour venison, wild fowl, and bear meat, besides seven hundred, and fiftysmoked salmon, a quantity of the _Wapto_ root (so called by thenatives), which is found a good substitute for potatoes, and fourhundred and fifty skins of beaver and other animals of the furry tribe. 

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

Messrs. Halsey and Wallace having been sent on the 23d, with fourteenmen, to establish a trading post on the Willamet, and Mr. M'Dougal beingconfined to his room by sickness, Mr. Clapp and I were left with theentire charge of the post at Astoria, and were each other's onlyresource for society. Happily Mr. Clapp was a man of amiable character, of a gay, lively humor, and agreeable conversation. In the intervals ofour daily duties, we amused ourselves with music and reading; havingsome instruments and a choice library. Otherwise we should have passedour time in a state of insufferable ennui, at this rainy season, in themidst of the deep mud which surrounded us, and which interdicted thepleasure 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 anynews of the "Beaver, " and we began to fear that there had happened toher, as to the Tonquin, some disastrous accident. It will be seen, inthe following chapter, why this vessel did not return to Astoria in theautumn of 1812. 

On the 15th of January, Mr. M'Kenzie arrived from the interior, havingabandoned his trading establishment, after securing his stock of goodsin a _cache_. Before his departure he had paid a visit to Mr. Clark onthe Spokan, and while there had learned the news, which he came toannounce to us, that hostilities had actually commenced between GreatBritain and the United States. The news had been brought by somegentlemen of the Northwest Company, who handed to them a copy of theProclamation of the President to that effect. 

When we learned this news, all of us at Astoria who were Britishsubjects and Canadians, wished ourselves in Canada; but we could notentertain even the thought of transporting ourselves thither, at leastimmediately: we were separated from our country by an immense space; andthe 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 factorywere invited _pro formâ_, as they had no voice in the deliberations. Having maturely weighed our situation; after having seriously consideredthat being almost to a man British subjects, we were trading, notwithstanding, under the American flag: and foreseeing theimprobability, or rather, to cut the matter short, the impossibilitythat Mr. Astor could send us further supplies or reinforcements whilethe war lasted, as most of the ports of the United States wouldinevitably be blockaded by the British; we concluded to abandon theestablishment in the ensuing spring, or at latest, in the beginning ofthe summer. We did not communicate these resolutions to the men, lestthey should in consequence abandon their labor: but we discontinued, from that moment, our trade with the natives, except for provisions; aswell because we had no longer a large stock of goods on hand, as for thereason 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 tothe 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 toreduce the ration of each man to four ounces of flour and half a poundof dried fish _per diem_: and even to send a portion of the hands topass the rest of the winter with Messrs. Wallace and Halsey on theWillamet, where game was plenty. 

Meanwhile, the sturgeon having begun to enter the river, I left, on the13th of February, to fish for them; and on the 15th sent the firstboat-load to the establishment; which proved a very timely succor to themen, who for several days had broken off work from want of sufficientfood. I formed a camp near Oak Point, whence I continued to despatchcanoe after canoe of fine fresh fish to Astoria, and Mr. M'Dougal sentto me thither all the men who were sick of scurvy, for there-establishment of their health. 

On the 20th of March, Messrs. Reed and Seton, who had led a part of ourmen to the post on the Willamet, to subsist them, returned to Astoria, with a supply of dried venison. These gentlemen spoke to us in glowingterms of the country of the Willamet as charming, and abounding inbeaver, elk, and deer; and informed us that Messrs. Wallace and Halseyhad constructed a dwelling and trading house, on a great prairie, aboutone hundred and fifty miles from the confluence of that river with theColumbia. Mr. M'Kenzie and his party quitted us again on the 31st, tomake known the resolutions recently adopted at Astoria, to the gentlemenwho 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 andJoseph Laroque, and manned by nineteen Canadian _voyageurs_. They landedon a point of land under the guns of the fort, and formed their camp. Weinvited these gentlemen to our quarters and learned from them the objectof their visit. They had come to await the arrival of the ship _IsaacTodd_, despatched from Canada by the Northwest Company, in October, 1811, with furs, and from England in March, 1812, with a cargo ofsuitable merchandise for the Indian trade. They had orders to wait atthe mouth of the Columbia till the month of July, and then to return, ifthe vessel did not make her appearance by that time. They also informedus that the natives near Lewis river had shown them fowling-pieces, gun-flints, lead, and powder; and that they had communicated this newsto Mr. M'Kenzie, presuming that the Indians had discovered and plunderedhis _cache_; which turned out afterward to be the case. 

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

[Footnote O: The profits of the last establishment were slender; becausethe people engaged at it were obliged to subsist on horse-flesh, andthey 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 weintended, the thing being (as they observed) impracticable, from thewant 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 againfor their trading posts on the 7th of July. But Mr. M'Kenzie, whosegoods had been pillaged by the natives (it will be remembered), remainedat Astoria, and was occupied with the care of collecting as great aquantity as possible of dried salmon from the Indians. He made seven oreight voyages up the river for that purpose, while we at the Fort werebusy in baling the beaver-skins and other furs, in suitable packs forhorses to carry. Mr. Reed, in the meantime, was sent on to themountain-passes where Mr. Miller had been left with the trappers, towinter, there, and to procure as many horses as he could from thenatives for our use in the contemplated journey. He was furnished forthis expedition with three Canadians, and a half-breed hunter named_Daion_, the latter accompanied by his wife and two children. This mancame from the lower Missouri with Mr. Hunt in 1811-'12. 

Our object being to provide ourselves, before quitting the country, withthe food and horses necessary for the journey; in order to avoid allopposition on the part of the Northwest Company, we entered into anarrangement with Mr. M'Tavish. This gentleman having represented to usthat he was destitute of the necessary goods to procure wherewith tosubsist his party on their way homeward, we supplied him from ourwarehouse, payment to be made us in the ensuing spring, either in fursor 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 themouth of the river. One of our gentlemen immediately got into the barge, to ascertain her nationality and object: but before he had fairlycrossed the river, we saw her pass the bar and direct her course towardAstoria, as if she were commanded by a captain to whom the intricaciesof the channel were familiar. I had stayed at the Fort with Mr. Clappand four men. As soon as we had recognised the American flag, notdoubting any longer that it was a ship destined for the factory, wesaluted 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 ashort time after, we saw, or rather we heard, the oars of a boat (for itwas already night) that came toward us. We expected her approach withimpatience, 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 wascommanded 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 havereturned with that vessel, in the month of October of the same year. Wetestified to him our surprise that he had not returned at the timeappointed, and expressed the fears which we had entertained in regard tohis fate, as well as that of the Beaver itself: and in reply heexplained to us the reasons why neither he nor Captain Sowles had beenable to fulfil the promise which they had made us. 

After having got clear of the river Columbia, they had scudded to thenorth, and had repaired to the Russian post of Chitka, where they hadexchanged a part of their goods for furs. They had made with thegovernor of that establishment, Barnoff by name, arrangements to supplyhim regularly with all the goods of which he had need, and to send himevery year a vessel for that purpose, as well as for the transportationof his surplus furs to the East Indies. They had then advanced stillfurther to the north, to the coast of _Kamskatka_; and being thereinformed that some Kodiak hunters had been left on some adjacent isles, called the islands of St. Peter and St. Paul, and that these hunters hadnot been visited for three years, they determined to go thither, andhaving reached those isles, they opened a brisk trade, and secured noless than eighty thousand skins of the South-sea seal. These operationshad consumed a great deal of time; the season was already far advanced;ice was forming around them, and it was not without having incurredconsiderable dangers that they succeeded in making their way out ofthose latitudes. Having extricated themselves from the frozen seas ofthe north, but in a shattered condition, they deemed it more prudent torun for the Sandwich isles, where they arrived after enduring asuccession of severe gales. Here Mr. Hunt disembarked, with the men whohad accompanied him, and who did not form a part of the ship's crew; andthe 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 warhad 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 ofWahoo, and was engaged in getting her ready to sail for the mouth of theColumbia, when four sails hove in sight, and presently came to anchor in_Ohetity bay_. He immediately, went on board of one of them, and learnedthat they came from the Indies, whence they had sailed precipitately, toavoid the English cruisers. He also learned from the captain of thevessel he boarded, that the Beaver had arrived in Canton some daysbefore 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 totake him with his people and the goods to the Columbia. That gentlemanhad not been idle during the time that he sojourned at Wahoo: he broughtus 35 barrels of salt pork or beef, nine tierces of rice, a greatquantity of dried _Taro_, and a good supply of salt. 

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

Captain Smith informed us that in 1810, a year before the founding ofour establishment, he had entered the river in the same vessel, andascended it in boats as far as Oak Point; and that he had attempted toform an establishment there; but the spot which he chose for building, and on which he had even commenced fencing for a garden, beingoverflowed in the summer freshet, he had been forced to abandon hisproject and re-embark. We had seen, in fact, at Oak Point, some tracesof this projected establishment. The bold manner in which this captainhad 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 ofsandal wood at the _Marquesas_, where that gentleman had left some mento collect it, the year before. He could not, therefore, comply with therequest we made him, to remain during the summer with us, in order totransport 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 theresolution we had taken of abandoning the country: he blamed us severelyfor having acted with so much precipitation, pointing out that thesuccess of the late coasting voyage, and the arrangements we had madewith the Russians, promised a most advantageous trade, which it was athousand pities to sacrifice, and lose the fruits of the hardships hehad endured and the dangers he had braved, at one fell swoop, by thisrash measure. Nevertheless, seeing the partners were determined to abideby their first resolution, and not being able, by himself alone, tofulfil his engagements to Governor Barnoff, he consented to embark oncemore, in order to seek a vessel to transport our heavy goods, and suchof 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 hopeof meeting there some of the American vessels which frequently visitthat coast to obtain provisions from the Spaniards. 

Some days after the departure of Mr. Hunt, the old one-eyed chiefComcomly came to tell us that an Indian of _Gray's Harbor_, who hadsailed on the Tonquin in 1811, and who was the only soul that hadescaped the massacre of the crew of that unfortunate vessel, hadreturned to his tribe. As the distance from the River Columbia to Gray'sHarbor was not great, we sent for this native. At first he madeconsiderable difficulty about following our people, but was finallypersuaded. He arrived at Astoria, and related to us the circumstances ofthat 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_, wedropped 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 severaldays at their village, and made him lie, every night, on a couch ofsea-otter skins. Meanwhile the captain was engaged in trading with suchof the natives as resorted to his ship: but having had a difficulty withone of the principal chiefs in regard to the price of certain goods, heended by putting the latter out of the ship, and in the act of sorepelling him, struck him on the face with the roll of furs which he hadbrought to trade. This act was regarded by that chief and his followersas the most grievous insult, and they resolved to take vengeance for it. To arrive more surely at their purpose, they dissembled theirresentment, and came, as usual, on board the ship. One day, very earlyin 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 itover his head as a sign that they came to trade. The watch let them comeon deck. A little after, arrived a second pirogue, carrying about asmany men as the other. The sailors believed that these also came toexchange their furs, and allowed them to mount the ship's side like thefirst. Very soon, the pirogues thus succeeding one another, the crewsaw themselves surrounded by a multitude of savages, who came upon thedeck from all sides. Becoming alarmed at the appearance of things, theywent to apprize the captain and Mr. M'Kay, who hastened to the poop. Iwas with them, " said the narrator, "and fearing, from the greatmultitude of Indians whom I saw already on the deck, and from themovements of those on shore, who were hurrying to embark in theircanoes, to approach the vessel, and from the women being left in chargeof the canoes of those who had arrived, that some evil design was onfoot, I communicated my suspicions to Mr. M'Kay, who himself spoke tothe captain. The latter affected an air of security, and said that withthe firearms on board, there was no reason to fear even a greater numberof Indians. Meanwhile these gentlemen had come on deck unarmed, withouteven their sidearms. The trade, nevertheless, did not advance; theIndians offered less than was asked, and pressing with their furs closeto the captain, Mr. M'Kay, and Mr. Lewis, repeated the word _Makoke!Makoke!_ "Trade! Trade!" I urged the gentlemen to put to sea, and thecaptain, at last, seeing the number of Indians increase every moment, allowed himself to be persuaded: he ordered a part of the crew to raisethe anchor, and the rest to go aloft and unfurl the sails. At the sametime he warned the natives to withdraw, as the ship was going to sea. Afresh breeze was then springing up, and in a few moments more their preywould have escaped them; but immediately on receiving this notice, by apreconcerted signal, the Indians, with a terrific yell, drew forth theknives and war-bludgeons they had concealed in their bundles of furs, and rushed upon the crew of the ship. Mr. Lewis was struck, and fellover a bale of blankets. Mr. M'Kay, however, was the first victim whomthey sacrificed to their fury. Two savages, whom, from the crown of thepoop, 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 headwith 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 withtheir paddles. Another set flung themselves upon the captain, whodefended himself for a long time with his pocket-knife, but, overpoweredby numbers, perished also under the blows of these murderers. I next saw(and that was the last occurrence of which I was witness before quittingthe ship) the sailors who were aloft, slip down by the rigging, and getbelow through the steerage hatchway. They were five, I think, in number, and one of them, in descending, received a knife-stab in the back. Ithen jumped overboard, to escape a similar fate to that of the captainand Mr. M'Kay: the women in the canoes, to whom I surrendered myself asa slave, took me in, and bade me hide myself under some mats which werein the pirogues; which I did. Soon after, I heard the discharge offirearms, immediately upon which the Indians fled from the vessel, andpulled for the shore as fast as possible, nor did they venture to goalongside the ship again the whole of that day. The next day, hayingseen four men lower a boat, and pull away from the ship, they sent somepirogues in chase: but whether those men were overtaken and murdered, orgained the open sea and perished there, I never could learn. Nothingmore was seen stirring on board the Tonquin; the natives pulledcautiously around her, and some of the more daring went on board; atlast, the savages, finding themselves absolute masters of the ship, rushed on board in a crowd to pillage her. But very soon, when therewere about four or five hundred either huddled together on deck, orclinging to the sides, all eager for plunder, the ship blew up with ahorrible noise. "I was on the shore, " said the Indian, "when theexplosion took place, saw the great volume of smoke burst forth in thespot where the ship had been, and high in the air above, arms, legs, heads and bodies, flying in every direction. The tribe acknowledged aloss of over two hundred of their people on that occasion. As for me Iremained their prisoner, and have been their slave for two years. It isbut now that I have been ransomed by my friends. I have told you thetruth, and hope you will acquit me of having in any way participated inthat bloody affair. "

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

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

Our Indian having finished his discourse, we made him presentsproportioned to the melancholy satisfaction he had given us incommunicating 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 returnedapparently well satisfied with our liberality. 

According to the narrative of this Indian, Captain Thorn, by his abruptmanner and passionate temper, was the primary cause of his own death andthat of all on board his vessel. What appears certain at least, is, thathe was guilty of unpardonable negligence and imprudence, in not causingthe boarding netting to be rigged, as is the custom of all thenavigators who frequent this coast, and in suffering (contrary to hisinstructions) 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 CaptainThorn was first notified of the dangerous crowd and threateningappearance of the natives, a display of firearms would have sufficed toprevent 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 isplain from the timidity the savages afterward displayed, that he mighthave 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 disasterto the rash conduct of a Captain Ayres, of Boston. That navigator hadtaken off, as I have mentioned already, ten or a dozen natives ofNew-itty, as hunters, with a promise of bringing them back to theircountry, which promise he inhumanly broke by leaving them on some desertislands in Sir Francis Drake's Bay. The countrymen of theseunfortunates, indignant at the conduct of the American captain, hadsworn to avenge themselves on the first white men who appeared amongthem. 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 ofvengeance. 

Whatever may, have been the first and principal cause of this misfortune(for doubtless it is necessary to suppose more than one), seventeenwhite men and twelve Sandwich-Islanders, were massacred: not one escapedfrom the butchery, to bring us the news of it, but the Indian of _Gray'sHarbor_. The massacre of our people was avenged, it is true, by thedestruction of ten times the number of their murderers; but thiscircumstance, which could perhaps gladden the heart of a savage, was afeeble consolation (if it was any) for civilized men. The death of Mr. Alexander M'Kay was an irreparable loss to the Company, which wouldprobably have been dissolved by the remaining partners, but for thearrival of the energetic Mr. Hunt. Interesting as was the recital of theIndian of Gray's Harbor throughout, when he came to the unhappy end ofthat estimable man, marks of regret were visibly painted on thecountenances 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 winteringin the interior, as well as to inform them of the arrangementsconcluded with Mr. Hunt, and to enjoin them to send down all their furs, and all the Sandwich-Islanders, that the former might be shipped forAmerica, 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 theappearance of two canoes bearing the British flag, with a third betweenthem, 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 thesegentlemen near the first rapids, and had determined to return with themto the establishment, in consequence of information which they gave him. Those gentlemen were in _light_ canoes (i. E. , without any lading), andformed the vanguard to a flotilla of eight, loaded with furs, under theconduct 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. AngusShaw, his uncle, and one of the partners of the Northwest Company. Mr. Shaw informed his nephew that the ship _Isaac Todd_ had sailed fromLondon, with letters of _marque_, in the month of March, in company withthe frigate _Phoebe_, having orders from the government to seize ourestablishment, which had been represented to the lords of the admiraltyas an important colony founded by the American government. The eightcanoes left behind, came up meanwhile, and uniting themselves to theothers, they formed a camp of about seventy-five men, at the bottom of alittle bay or cove, near our factory. As they were destitute ofprovisions, we supplied them; but Messrs. M'Dougal and M'Kenzieaffecting 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 neighborsfound themselves in a very disagreeable situation, without food, ormerchandise wherewith to procure it from the natives; viewed by thelatter with a distrustful and hostile eye, as being our enemies andtherefore exposed to attack and plunder on their part with impunity;supplied with good hunters, indeed, but wanting ammunition to rendertheir skill available. Weary, at length, of applying to us incessantlyfor food (which we furnished them with a sparing hand), unable either toretrace their steps through the wilderness or to remain in their presentposition, they came to the conclusion of proposing to buy of us thewhole establishment. 

Placed, as we were, in the situation of expecting, day by day, thearrival of an English ship-of-war to seize upon all we possessed, welistened to their propositions. Several meetings and discussions tookplace; the negotiations were protracted by the hope of one party thatthe long-expected armed force would arrive, to render the purchaseunnecessary, and were urged forward by the other in order to concludethe affair before that occurrence should intervene; at length the priceof the goods and furs in the factory was agreed upon, and the bargainwas signed by both parties on the 23d of October. The gentlemen of theNorthwest Company took possession of Astoria, agreeing to pay theservants of the Pacific Fur Company (the name which had been chosen byMr. Astor), the arrears of their wages, to be deducted from the price ofthe goods which we delivered, to supply them with provisions, and give afree passage to those who wished to return to Canada over land. TheAmerican colors were hauled down from the factory, and the British runup, to the no small chagrin and mortification of those who were Americancitizens. 

It was thus, that after having passed the seas, and suffered all sortsof 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 suchtreatment on the part of the British government, after the assurances wehad received from Mr. Jackson, his majesty's _chargé 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 ofthe factory in the eyes of the British ministry; for if the latter hadknown what it really was--a mere trading-post--and that nothing but therivalry of the fur-traders of the Northwest Company was interested inits destruction, they would never have taken umbrage at it, or at leastwould never have sent a maritime expedition to destroy it. The sequelwill show that I was not mistaken in this opinion. 

The greater part of the servants of the Pacific Fur Company entered theservice of the Company of the Northwest: the rest preferred to return totheir country, and I was of the number of these last. Nevertheless, Mr. M'Tavish, after many ineffectual attempts to persuade me to remain withthem, having intimated that the establishment could not dispense withmy services, as I was the only person who could assist them in theirtrade, especially for provisions, of which they would soon be in thegreatest need, I agreed with them (without however relinquishing myprevious engagement with Mr. Astor's agents) for five months, that is tosay, till the departure of the expedition which was to ascend theColumbia in the spring, and reach Canada by way of the Rocky Mountainsand the rivers of the interior. Messrs. John Stuart and M'Kenzie set offabout the end of this month, for the interior, in order that the lattermight make over to the former the posts established on the Spokan andOkenakan. 

On the 15th of November, Messrs. Alexander Stuart and Alexander Henry, both partners of the N. W. Company, arrived at the factory, in a coupleof bark canoes manned by sixteen _voyageurs_. They had set out from_Fort William_, on Lake Superior, in the month of July. They brought usCanadian papers, by which we learned that the British arms so far hadbeen in the ascendant. They confirmed also the news that an Englishfrigate was coming to take possession of our quondam establishment; theywere 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 itsname); and soon after that vessel came to anchor in _Baker's bay_. Notknowing whether it was a friendly or a hostile sail, we thought itprudent to send on board Mr. M'Dougal in a canoe, manned by such of themen as had been previously in the service of the Pacific Fur Company, with injunctions to declare themselves Americans, if the vessel wasAmerican, and Englishmen in the contrary case. While this party was onits way, Mr. M'Tavish caused all the furs which were marked with theinitials of the N. W. Company to be placed on board the two barges at theFort, and sent them up the river above Tongue Point, where they were towait for a concerted signal, that was to inform them whether thenew-comers were friends or foes. Toward midnight, Mr. Halsey, who hadaccompanied Mr. M'Dougal to the vessel, returned to the Fort, andannounced to us that she was the British sloop-of-war _Raccoon_, of 26guns, commanded by Captain Black, with a complement of 120 men, fore andaft. Mr. John M'Donald, a partner of the N. W. Company, was a passengeron the Raccoon, with five _voyageurs_, destined for the Company'sservice. He had left England in the frigate _Phoebe_, which had sailedin company with the _Isaac Todd_ as far as Rio Janeiro; but therefalling in with the British squadron, the admiral changed thedestination of the frigate, despatching the sloops-of-war _Raccoon_ and_Cherub_ to convoy the Isaac Todd, and sent the Phoebe to search for theAmerican commodore Porter, who was then on the Pacific, capturing allthe British whalers and other trading vessels he met with. These fourvessels then sailed in company as far as Cape Horn, they parted, afteragreeing on the island of _Juan Fernandez_ as a _rendezvous_. The threeships-of-war met, in fact, at that island; but after having a long timewaited in vain for the _Isaac Todd_, Commodore Hillier (Hillyer?) whocommanded this little squadron, hearing of the injury inflicted byCommodore Porter, on the British commerce, and especially on the whalerswho frequent these seas, resolved to go in quest of him in order to givehim combat; and retaining the _Cherub_ to assist him, detailed theRaccoon to go and destroy the American establishment on the RiverColumbia, being assured by Mr. M'Donald that a single sloop-of-war wouldbe sufficient for that service. 

Mr. M'Donald had consequently embarked, with his people, on board theRaccoon. This gentleman informed us that they had experienced frightfulweather in doubling the Cape, and that he entertained seriousapprehensions for the safety of the Isaac Todd, but that if she wassafe, 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 thebarges, Mr. M'Tavish came back to the Port with the furs, and wasoverjoyed to learn the arrival of Mr. M'Donald. 

On the 1st of December the Raccoon's gig came up to the fort, bringingMr. M'Donald (surnamed _Bras Croche_, or crooked arm), and the firstlieutenant, Mr. Sheriff. Both these gentlemen were convalescent from theeffects, of an accident which had happened to them in the passagebetween Juan Fernandez and the mouth of the Columbia. The captainwishing to clean the guns, ordered them to be scaled, that is, firedoff: during this exercise one of the guns hung fire; the sparks fellinto a cartridge tub, and setting fire to the combustibles, communicatedalso to some priming horns suspended above; an explosion followed, whichreached some twenty persons; eight were killed on the spot, the restwere severely burnt; Messrs. M'Donald and Sheriff had suffered a greatdeal; it was with difficulty that their clothes had been removed; andwhen the lieutenant came ashore, he had not recovered the use of hishands. Among the killed was an American named _Flatt_, who was in theservice of the Northwest Company and whose loss these gentlemen appearedexceedingly to regret. 

As there were goods destined for the Company on board the Raccoon, theschooner _Dolly_ was sent to Baker's bay to bring them up: but theweather was so bad, and the wind so violent that she did not return tillthe 12th, bringing up, together with the goods, Captain Black, alieutenant of marines, four soldiers and as many sailors. We entertainedour guests as splendidly as it lay in our power to do. After dinner, thecaptain caused firearms to be given to the servants of the Company, andwe all marched under arms to the square or platform, where a flag-staffhad been erected. There the captain took a British Union Jack, which hehad brought on shore for the occasion, and caused it to be run up to thetop of the staff; then, taking a bottle of Madeira wine, he broke it onthe flag-staff, declaring in a loud voice, that he took possession ofthe establishment and of the country in the name of His BritannicMajesty; and changed the name of Astoria to _Fort George_. Some fewIndian chiefs had been got together to witness this ceremony, and Iexplained to them in their own language what it signified. Three roundsof artillery and musketry were fired, and the health of the king wasdrunk by the parties interested, according to the usage on likeoccasions. 

The sloop being detained by contrary winds, the captain caused an exactsurvey to be made of the entrance of the river, as well as of thenavigable channel between Baker's bay and Fort George. The officersvisited the fort, turn about, and seemed to me in general very muchdissatisfied with their fool's errand, as they called it: they hadexpected to find a number of American vessels loaded with rich furs, andhad calculated in advance their share in the booty of Astoria. They hadnot met a vessel, and their astonishment was at its height when they sawthat our establishment had been transferred to the Northwest Company, and was under the British flag. It will suffice to quote a singleexpression of Captain Black's, in order to show how much they weredeceived in their expectations. The Captain landed after dark; when weshowed him the next morning the palisades and log bastions of thefactory, he inquired if there was not another fort; on being assuredthat there was no other, he cried out, with an air of the greatestastonishment:--"What! is this the fort which was represented to me as soformidable! Good God! I could batter it down in two hours with afour-pounder!"

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

From the account given in this chapter the reader will see with whatfacility the establishment of the Pacific Fur Company could have escapedcapture by the British force. It was only necessary to get rid of theland party of the Northwest Company--who were completely in ourpower--then remove our effects up the river upon some small stream, andawait the result. The sloop-of-war arrived, it is true; but as, in thecase I suppose, she would have found nothing, she would have left, aftersetting fire to our deserted houses. None of their boats would havedared follow us, even if the Indians had betrayed to them ourlurking-place. Those at the head of affairs had their own fortunes toseek, and thought it more for their interest, doubtless, to act as theydid, but that will not clear them in the eyes of the world, and thecharge of treason to Mr. Astor's interests will always be attached totheir characters. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

 Expeditions to the Interior. --Return of Messrs. John Stuart and D. M'Kenzie. --Theft committed by the Natives. --War Party against the Thieves. 

On the 3d of January, 1814, two canoes laden with merchandise for theinterior, were despatched under the command of Mr. Alexander Stuart andMr. James Keith, with fifteen men under them. Two of the latter werecharged with letters for the posts (of the Northwest Company) east ofthe mountains, containing instructions to the persons in superintendencethere, to have in readiness canoes and the requisite provisions for alarge party intending to go east the ensuing spring. I took thisopportunity of advising my friends in Canada of my intention to returnhome that season. It was the third attempt I had made to send news of myexistence to my relatives and friends: the first two had miscarried andthis was doomed to meet the same fate. 

Messrs. J. Stuart and M'Kenzie, who (as was seen in a previous chapter)had been sent to notify the gentlemen in the interior of what had takenplace at Astoria, and to transfer the wintering posts to the NorthwestCompany, returned to Fort George on the morning of the 6th. They statedthat they had left Messrs. Clarke and D. Stuart behind, with the loadedcanoes, and also that the party had been attacked by the natives abovethe falls. 

As they were descending the river toward evening, between the first andsecond portages, they had espied a large number of Indians congregatedat no great distance in the prairie; which gave them some uneasiness. Infact, some time after they had encamped, and when all the people (_toutle monde_) were asleep, except Mr. Stuart, who was on guard, thesesavages had stealthily approached the camp, and discharged some arrows, one of which had penetrated the coverlet of one of the men, who waslying near the baggage, and had pierced the cartilage of his ear; thepain made him utter a sharp cry, which alarmed the whole camp and threwit into an uproar. The natives perceiving it, fled to the woods, howlingand yelling like so many demons. In the morning our people picked upeight arrows round the camp: they could yet hear the savages yell andwhoop in the woods: but, notwithstanding, the party reached the lowerend of the portage unmolested. 

The audacity which these barbarians had displayed in attacking a partyof from forty to forty-five persons, made us suppose that they would, much more probably, attack the party of Mr. Stuart, which was composedof but seventeen men. Consequently, I received orders to get readyforthwith a canoe and firearms, in order to proceed to their relief. Thewhole was ready in the short space of two hours, and I embarkedimmediately with a guide and eight men. Our instructions were to use allpossible diligence to overtake Messrs. Stewart and Keith, and to conveythem to the upper end of the last portage; or to return with the goods, if we met too much resistance on the part of the natives. We travelled, then, all that day, and all the night of the 6th, and on the 7th, tillevening. Finding ourselves then at a little distance from the rapids, Icame to a halt, to put the firearms in order, and let the men take somerepose. About midnight I caused them to re-embark, and ordered the mento sing as they rowed, that the party whom we wished to overtake mighthear us as we passed, if perchance they were encamped on some one of theislands of which the river is full in this part. In fact, we had hardlyproceeded five or six miles, when we were hailed by some one apparentlyin the middle of the stream. We stopped rowing, and answered, and weresoon joined by our people of the expedition, who were all descending theriver in a canoe. They informed us that they had been attacked theevening before, and that Mr. Stuart had been wounded. We turned about, and all proceeded in company toward the fort. In the morning, when westopped to breakfast, Mr. Keith gave me the particulars of the affair ofthe day preceding. 

Having arrived at the foot of the rapids, they commenced the portage onthe south bank of the river, which is obstructed with boulders, overwhich it was necessary to pass the effects. After they had hauled overthe two canoes, and a part of the goods, the natives approached in greatnumbers, trying to carry off something unobserved. Mr. Stuart was at theupper end of the portage (the portage being about six hundred yards inlength), and Mr. Keith accompanied the loaded men. An Indian seized abag containing articles of little value, and fled: Mr. Stuart, who sawthe act, pursued the thief, and after some resistance on the latter'spart, succeeded in making him relinquish his booty. Immediately he saw anumber of Indians armed with bows and arrows; approaching him: one ofthem bent his bow and took aim; Mr. Stuart, on his part, levelled hisgun at the Indian, warning the latter not to shoot, and at the sameinstant received an arrow, which pierced his left shoulder. He thendrew the trigger; but as it had rained all day, the gun missed fire, andbefore he could re-prime, another arrow, better aimed than the first, struck him in the left side and penetrated between two of his ribs, inthe region of the heart, and would have proved fatal, no doubt, but fora stone-pipe he had fortunately in his side-pocket, and which was brokenby the arrow; at the same moment his gun was discharged, and the Indianfell dead. Several others then rushed forward to avenge the death oftheir compatriot; but two of the men came up with their loads and theirgun (for these portages were made arms in hand), and seeing what wasgoing forward, one of them threw his pack on the ground, fired on one ofthe Indians and brought him down. He got up again, however, and pickedup his weapons, but the other man ran upon him, wrested from him hiswar-club, and despatched him by repeated blows on the head with it. Theother savages, seeing the bulk of our people approaching the scene ofcombat, retired and crossed the river. In the meantime, Mr. Stuartextracted the arrows from his body, by the aid of one of the men: theblood flowed in abundance from the wounds, and he saw that it would beimpossible for him to pursue his journey; he therefore gave orders forthe canoes and goods to be carried back to the lower end of the portage. Presently they saw a great number of pirogues full of warriors comingfrom the opposite side of the river. Our people then considered thatthey could do nothing better than to get away as fast as possible; theycontrived to transport over one canoe, on which they all embarked, abandoning the other and the goods, to the natives. While the barbarianswere plundering these effects, more precious in their estimation thanthe apples of gold in the garden of the Hesperides, our party retiredand got out of sight. The retreat was, notwithstanding, so precipitate, that they left behind an Indian from the Lake of the Two Mountains, whowas in the service of the Company as a hunter. This Indian had persistedin concealing himself behind the rocks, meaning, he said, to kill someof those thieves, and did not return in time for the embarkation. Mr. Keith regretted this brave man's obstinacy, fearing, with good reason, that he would be discovered and murdered by the natives. We rowed allthat day and night, and reached the factory on the 9th, at sunrise. Ourfirst care, after having announced the misfortune of our people, was todress the wounds of Mr. Stuart, which had been merely bound with awretched piece of cotton cloth. 

The goods which had been abandoned, were of consequence to the Company, inasmuch as they could not be replaced. It was dangerous, besides, toleave the natives in possession of some fifty guns and a considerablequantity of ammunition, which they might use against us. [S] Thepartners, therefore, decided to fit out an expedition immediately tochastise the robbers, or at least to endeavor to recover the goods. Iwent, by their order, to find the principal chiefs of the neighboringtribes, to explain to them what had taken place, and invite them tojoin us, to which they willingly consented. Then, having got ready sixcanoes, we re-embarked on the 10th, to the number of sixty-two men, allarmed from head to foot, and provided with a small brass field-piece. 

[Footnote S: However, some cases of guns and kegs of powder were throwninto the falls, before the party retreated. ]

We soon reached the lower end of the first rapid: but the essentialthing was wanting to our little force; it was without provisions; ourfirst care then was to try to procure these. Having arrived opposite avillage, we perceived on the bank about thirty armed savages, who seemedto await us firmly. As it was not our policy to seem bent onhostilities, we landed on the opposite bank, and I crossed the riverwith five or six men, to enter into parley with them, and try to obtainprovisions. I immediately became aware that the village was abandoned, the women and children having fled to the woods, taking with them allthe articles of food. The young men, however, offered us dogs, of whichwe purchased a score. Then we passed to a second village, where theywere already informed of our coming. Here we bought forty-five dogs anda horse. With this stock we formed an encampment on an island called_Strawberry island_. 

Seeing ourselves now provided with food for several days, we informedthe natives touching the motives which had brought us, and announced tothem that we were determined to put them all to death and burn theirvillages, if they did not bring back in two days the effects stolen onthe 7th. A party was detached to the rapids, where the attack on Mr. Stuart had taken place. We found the villages all deserted. Crossing tothe north bank, we found a few natives, of whom we made inquiriesrespecting the Nipissingue Indian, who had been left behind, but theyassured us that they had seen nothing of him. [T]

[Footnote T: This Indian returned some time after to the factory, but ina pitiable condition. After the departure of the canoe, he had concealedhimself behind a rock, and so passed the night. At daybreak, fearing tobe discovered, he gained the woods and directed his steps toward thefort, across a mountainous region. He arrived at length at the bank of alittle stream, which he was at first unable to cross. Hunger, in themeantime, began to urge him; he might have appeased it with game, ofwhich he saw plenty, but unfortunately he had lost the flint of his gun. At last, with a raft of sticks, he crossed the river, and arrived at avillage, the inhabitants of which disarmed him, and made him prisoner. Our people hearing where he was, sent to seek him, and gave someblankets for his ransom. ]

Not having succeeded in recovering, above the rapids, any part of thelost goods, the inhabitants all protesting that it was not they, but thevillages below, which had perpetrated the robbery, we descended theriver again, and re-encamped on _Strawberry island_. As the intention ofthe partners was to intimidate the natives, without (if possible)shedding blood, we made a display of our numbers, and from time to timefired off our little field-piece, to let them see that we could reachthem from one side of the river to the other. The Indian _Coalpo_ andhis wife, who had accompanied us, advised us to make prisoner one of thechiefs. We succeeded in this design, without incurring any danger. Having invited one of the natives to come and smoke with us, he cameaccordingly: a little after, came another; at last, one of the chiefs, and he one of the most considered among them, also came. Being notifiedsecretly of his character by _Coalpo_, who was concealed in the tent, we seized him forthwith, tied him to a stake, and placed a guard overhim with a naked sword, as if ready to cut his head off on the leastattempt being made by his people for his liberation. The other Indianswere then suffered to depart with the news for his tribe, that unlessthe goods were brought to us in twenty-four hours, their chief would beput to death. Our stratagem succeeded: soon after we heard wailing andlamentation in the village, and they presently brought us part of theguns, some brass kettles, and a variety of smaller articles, protestingthat this was all their share of the plunder. Keeping our chief as ahostage, we passed to the other village, and succeeded in recovering therest of the guns, and about a third of the other goods. 

Although they had been the aggressors, yet as they had had two menkilled and we had not lost any on our side, we thought it our duty toconform to the usage of the country, and abandon to them the remainderof the stolen effects, to cover, according to their expression, thebodies of their two slain compatriots. Besides, we began to findourselves short of provisions, and it would not have been easy to get atour enemies to punish them, if they had taken refuge in the woods, according to their custom when they feel themselves the weaker party. Sowe released our prisoner, and gave him a flag, telling him that when hepresented it unfurled, we should regard it as a sign of peace andfriendship: but if, when we were passing the portage, any one of thenatives should have the misfortune to come near the baggage, we wouldkill him on the spot. We re-embarked on the 19th, and on the 22d reachedthe fort, where we made a report of our martial expedition. We found Mr. Stuart very ill of his wounds, especially of the one in the side, whichwas so much swelled that we had every reason to think the arrow had beenpoisoned. 

If we did not do the savages as much harm as we might have done, it wasnot from timidity but from humanity, and in order not to shed humanblood uselessly. For after all, what good would it have done us to haveslaughtered some of these barbarians, whose crime was not the effect ofdepravity and wickedness, but of an ardent and irresistible desire toameliorate their condition? It must be allowed also that the interest, well-understood, of the partners of the Northwest Company, was opposedto too strongly marked acts of hostility on their part: it behooved themexceedingly not to make irreconciliable enemies of the populationsneighboring on the portages of the Columbia, which they would so oftenbe obliged to pass and repass in future. It is also probable that theother natives on the banks, as well as of the river as of the sea, wouldnot have seen with indifference, their countrymen too signally or toorigorously punished by strangers; and that they would have made commoncause with the former to resist the latter, and perhaps even to drivethem from the country. 

I must not omit to state that all the firearms surrendered by theIndians on this occasion, were found loaded with ball, and primed, witha little piece of cotton laid over the priming to keep the powder dry. This shows how soon they would acquire the use of guns, and how carefultraders should be in intercourse with strange Indians, not to teach themtheir use. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

 Description of Tongue Point. --A Trip to the _Willamet_. --Arrival of W. Hunt in the Brig Pedlar. --Narrative of the Loss of the Ship Lark. --Preparations for crossing the Continent. 

The new proprietors of our establishment, being dissatisfied with thesite we had chosen, came to the determination to change it; aftersurveying both sides of the river, they found no better place than thehead-land which we had named Tongue point. This point, or to speak moreaccurately, perhaps, this cape, extends about a quarter of a mile intothe river, being connected with the main-land by a low, narrow neck, over which the Indians, in stormy weather, haul their canoes in passingup and down the river; and terminating in an almost perpendicular rock, of about 250 or 300 feet elevation. This bold summit was covered with adense forest of pine trees; the ascent from the lower neck was gradualand easy; it abounded in springs of the finest water; on either side ithad a cove to shelter the boats necessary for a trading establishment. This peninsula had truly the appearance of a huge tongue. Astoria hadbeen built nearer the ocean, but the advantages offered by Tongue pointmore than compensated for its greater distance. Its soil, in the rainyseason, could be drained with little or no trouble; it was a betterposition to guard against attacks on the part of the natives, and lessexposed to that of civilized enemies by sea or land in time of war. 

All the hands who had returned from the interior, added to those whowere already at the Fort, consumed, in an incredibly short space of timethe small stock of provisions which had been conveyed by the Pacific FurCompany to the Company of the Northwest. It became a matter ofnecessity, therefore, to seek some spot where a part, at least, could besent to subsist. With these views I left the fort on the 7th Februarywith a number of men, belonging to the old concern, and who had refusedto enter the service of the new one, to proceed to the establishment onthe _Willamet_ river, under the charge of Mr. Alexander Henry, who hadwith him a number of first-rate hunters. Leaving the Columbia to ascendthe _Willamet_, I found the banks on either side of that stream wellwooded, but low and swampy, until I reached the first falls; havingpassed which, by making a portage, I commenced ascending a clear butmoderately deep channel, against a swift current. The banks on eitherside were bordered with forest-trees, but behind that narrow belt, diversified with prairie, the landscape was magnificent; the hills wereof moderate elevation, and rising in an amphitheatre. Deer and elk arefound here in great abundance; and the post in charge of Mr. Henry hadbeen established with a view of keeping constantly there a number ofhunters to prepare dried venison for the use of the factory. On ourarrival at the Columbia, considering the latitude, we had expectedsevere winter weather, such as is experienced in the same latitudeseast; but we were soon undeceived; the mildness of the climate neverpermitted us to transport fresh provisions from the Willamet to Astoria. We had not a particle of salt; and the attempts we made to smoke or drythe venison proved abortive. 

Having left the men under my charge with Mr. Henry, I took leave of thatgentleman, and returned. At Oak point I found Messrs. Keith and Pilletencamped, to pass there the season of sturgeon-fishing. They informed methat I was to stay with them. 

Accordingly I remained at Oak point the rest of the winter, occupied intrading with the Indians spread all along the river for some 30 or 40miles above, in order to supply the factory with provisions. I used totake a boat with four or five men, visit every fishing station, tradefor as much fish as would load the boat, and send her down to the fort. The surplus fish traded in the interval between the departure and returnof the boat, was cut up, salted and barrelled for future use. The salthad been recently obtained from a quarter to be presently mentioned. 

About the middle of March Messrs. Keith and Pillet both left me andreturned to the fort. Being now alone, I began seriously to reflect onmy position, and it was in this interval that I positively decided toreturn to Canada. I made inquiries of the men sent up with the boats forfish, concerning the preparations for departure, but whether they hadbeen enjoined secrecy, or were unwilling to communicate, I could learnnothing of what was doing below. 

At last I heard that on the 28th February a sail had appeared at themouth of the river. The gentlemen of the N. W. Company at first flatteredthemselves that it was the vessel they had so long expected. They weresoon undeceived by a letter from Mr. Hunt, which was brought to the fortby the Indians of _Baker's bay_. That gentleman had purchased at theMarquesas islands a brig called _The Pedlar_: it was on that vessel thathe arrived, having for pilot Captain Northrop, formerly commander ofthe ship _Lark_. The latter vessel had been outfitted by Mr. Astor, anddespatched from New York, in spite of the blockading squadron, withsupplies for the _ci-devant_ Pacific Fur Company; but unhappily she hadbeen assailed by a furious tempest and capsized in lat. 16° N. , andthree or four hundred miles from the Sandwich Islands. The mate who wassick, was drowned in the cabin, and four of the crew perished at thesame time. The captain had the masts and rigging cut away, which causedthe vessel to right again, though full of water. One of the hands diveddown to the sail-maker's locker, and got out a small sail, which theyattached to the bowsprit. He dived a second time, and brought up a boxcontaining a dozen bottles of wine. For thirteen days they had no othersustenance but the flesh of a small shark, which they had the goodfortune to take, and which they ate raw, and for drink, a gill of thewine each man _per diem_. At last the trade winds carried them upon theisland of _Tahouraka_, where the vessel went to pieces on the reef. Theislanders saved the crew, and seized all the goods which floated on thewater. Mr. Hunt was then at _Wahoo_, and learned through some islandersfrom _Morotoi_, that some Americans had been wrecked on the isle of_Tahouraka_. He went immediately to take them off, and gave the pilotageof his own vessel to Captain Northrop. 

It may be imagined what was the surprise of Mr. Hunt when he saw Astoriaunder the British flag, and passed into stranger hands. But themisfortune was beyond remedy, and he was obliged to content himself withtaking on board all the Americans who were at the establishment, and whohad not entered the service of the Company of the Northwest. Messrs. Halsey, Seton, and Farnham were among those who embarked. I shall haveoccasion to inform the reader of the part each of them played, and howthey reached their homes. 

When I heard that Mr. Hunt was in the river, and knowing that theoverland expedition was to set out early in April, I raised camp at Oakpoint, and reached the fort on the 2d of that month. But the brig_Pedlar_ had that very day got outside the river, after severalfruitless attempts, in one of which she narrowly missed being lost onthe bar. 

I would gladly have gone in her, had I but arrived a day sooner. Ifound, however, all things prepared for the departure of the canoes, which was to take place on the 4th. I got ready the few articles Ipossessed, and in spite of the very advantageous offers of the gentlemenof the N. W. Company, and their reiterated persuasions, aided by thecrafty M'Dougal, to induce me to remain, at least one year more, Ipersisted in my resolution to leave the country. The journey I was aboutto undertake was a long one: it would be accompanied with great fatiguesand many privations, and even by some dangers; but I was used toprivations and fatigues; I had braved dangers of more than one sort; andeven had it been otherwise, the ardent desire of revisiting my country, my relatives, and my friends, the hope of finding myself, in a fewmonths, in their midst, would have made me overlook every otherconsideration. 

I am about, then, to quit the banks of the river Columbia, and conductthe reader through the mountain passes, over the plains, the forests, and the lakes of our continent: but I ought first to give him at leastan idea of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, as well as of theprincipal productions of the country that I now quit, after a sojourn ofthree years. This is what I shall try to do in the followingchapters. [U]

[Footnote U: Some of my readers would, no doubt, desire some scientificdetails on the botany and natural history of this country. That is, infact, what they ought to expect from a man who had travelled for hispleasure, or to make discoveries: but the object of my travels was notof this description; my occupations had no relation with science; and, as I have said in my preface, I was not, and am not now, either anaturalist or a botanist. ]

CHAPTER XVIII. 

 Situation of the Columbia River. --Qualities of its Soil. --Climate, &c. --Vegetable and Animal Productions of the Country. 

The mouth of the Columbia river is situated in 46° 19' north latitude, and 125° or 126° of longitude west of the meridian of Greenwich. Thehighest tides are very little over nine or ten feet, at its entrance, and are felt up stream for a distance of twenty-five or thirty leagues. 

During the three years I spent there, the cold never was much below thefreezing point; and I do not think the heat ever exceeded 76°. Westerlywinds prevail from the early part of spring, and during a part of thesummer; that wind generally springs up with the flood tide, and tempersthe heat of the day. The northwest wind prevails during the latter partof summer and commencement of autumn. This last is succeeded by asoutheast wind, which blows almost without intermission from thebeginning of October to the end of December, or commencement of January. This interval is the rainy season, the most disagreeable of the year. Fogs (so thick that sometimes for days no object is discernible for fiveor six hundred yards from the beach), are also very prevalent. 

The surface of the soil consists (in the valleys) of a layer of blackvegetable mould, about five or six inches thick at most; under thislayer is found another of gray and loose, but extremely cold earth;below which is a bed of coarse sand and gravel, and next to that pebbleor hard rock. On the more elevated parts, the same black vegetable mouldis found, but much thinner, and under it is the trap rock. We foundalong the seashore, south of Point Adams, a bank of earth white aschalk, which we used for white-washing our walls. The natives alsobrought us several specimens of blue, red and yellow earth or clay, which they said was to be found at a great distance south; and also asort of shining earth, resembling lead ore. [V] We found no limestone, although we burnt several kilns, but never could get one ounce of lime. 

[Footnote V: Plumbago. ]

We had brought with us from New York a variety of garden seeds, whichwere put in the ground in the month of May, 1811, on a rich piece ofland laid out for the purpose on a sloping ground in front of ourestablishment. The garden had a fine appearance in the month of August;but although the plants were left in the ground until December, not oneof them came to maturity, with the exception of the radishes, theturnips, and the potatoes. The turnips grew to a prodigious size; one ofthe largest we had the curiosity to weigh and measure; its circumferencewas thirty-three inches, its weight fifteen and a half pounds. Theradishes were in full blossom in the month of December, and were left inthe ground to perfect the seeds for the ensuing season, but they wereall destroyed by the ground mice, who hid themselves under the stumpswhich we had not rooted out, and infested our garden. With all the carewe could bestow on them during the passage from New York, only twelvepotatoes were saved, and even these so shrivelled up, that we despairedof raising any from the few sprouts that still gave signs of life. Nevertheless we raised one hundred and ninety potatoes the first season, and after sparing a few plants for our inland traders, we planted aboutfifty or sixty hills, which produced five bushels the second year; abouttwo of these were planted, and gave us a welcome crop of fifty bushelsin the year 1813. 

It would result from these facts, that the soil on the banks of theriver, as far as tide water, or for a distance of fifty or sixty miles, is very little adapted for agriculture; at all events, vegetation isvery slow. It may be that the soil is not everywhere so cold as the spotwe selected for our garden, and some other positions might have given abetter reward for our labor: this supposition is rendered more thanprobable when we take into consideration the great difference in theindigenous vegetables of the country in different localities. 

The forest trees most common at the mouth of the river and near ourestablishment, were cedar, hemlock, white and red spruce, and alder. There were a few dwarf white and gray ashes; and here and there a softmaple. The alder grows also to a very large size; I measured some oftwelve to fifteen inches diameter; the wood was used by us inpreference, to make charcoal for the blacksmith's forge. But the largestof all the trees that I saw in the country, was a white spruce: thistree, which had lost its top branches, and bore evident marks of havingbeen struck by lightning, was a mere, straight trunk of about eighty toone hundred feet in height; its bark whitened by age, made it veryconspicuous among the other trees with their brown bark and darkfoliage, like a huge column of white marble. It stood on the slope of ahill immediately in the rear of our palisades. Seven of us placedourselves round its trunk, and we could not embrace it by extending ourarms and touching merely the tips of our fingers; we measured itafterward in a more regular manner, and found it forty-two feet incircumference. It kept the same size, or nearly the same, to the verytop. 

We had it in contemplation at one time to construct a circular staircaseto its summit, and erect a platform thereon for an observatory, but morenecessary and pressing demands on our time made us abandon the project. 

A short distance above Astoria, the oak and ash are plentiful, butneither of these is of much value or beauty. 

From the middle of June to the middle of October, we had abundance ofwild fruit; first, strawberries, almost white, small but very sweet;then raspberries, both red and orange color. These grow on a bushsometimes twelve feet in height: they are not sweet, but of a largesize. 

The months of July and August furnish a small berry of an agreeable, slightly acid flavor; this berry grows on a slender bush of some eightto nine feet high, with small round leaves; they are in size like a wildcherry: some are blue, while others are of a cherry red: the last beingsmaller; they have no pits, or stones in them, but seeds, such as are tobe seen in currants. 

I noticed in the month of August another berry growing in bunches orgrapes like the currant, on a bush very similar to the currant bush: theleaves of this shrub resemble those of the laurel: they are very thickand always green. The fruit is oblong, and disposed in two rows on thestem: the extremity of the berry is open, having a little speck or tuftlike that of an apple. It is not of a particularly fine flavor, but itis wholesome, and one may eat a quantity of it, without inconvenience. The natives make great use of it; they prepare it for the winter bybruising and drying it; after which it is moulded into cakes accordingto fancy, and laid up for use. There is also a great abundance ofcranberries, which proved very useful as an antiscorbutic. 

We found also the whortleberry, chokecherries, gooseberries, and blackcurrants with wild crab-apples: these last grow in clusters, are ofsmall size and very tart. On the upper part of the river are foundblackberries, hazel-nuts, acorns, &c. The country also possesses a greatvariety of nutritive roots: the natives make great use of those whichhave the virtue of curing or preventing the scurvy. We ate freely ofthem with the same intention, and with the same success. One of theseroots, which much resembles a small onion, serves them, in some sort, inplace of cheese. Having gathered a sufficient quantity, they bake themwith red-hot stones, until the steam ceases to ooze from the layer ofgrass and earth with which the roots are covered; then they pound theminto a paste, and make the paste into loaves, of five or six poundsweight: the taste is not unlike liquorice, but not of so sickly asweetness. When we made our first voyage up the river the natives gaveus square biscuits, very well worked, and printed with differentfigures. These are made of a white root, pounded, reduced to paste, anddried in the sun. They call it _Chapaleel_: it is not very palatable;nor very nutritive. 

But the principal food of the natives of the Columbia is fish. Thesalmon-fishery begins in July: that fish is here of an exquisite flavor, but it is extremely fat and oily; which renders it unwholesome for thosewho are not accustomed to it, and who eat too great a quantity: thusseveral of our people were attacked with diarrhoea in a few days afterwe began to make this fish our ordinary sustenance; but they found aremedy in the raspberries of the country which have an astringentproperty. 

The months of August and September furnish excellent sturgeon. This fishvaries exceedingly in size; I have seen some eleven feet long; and wetook one that weighed, after the removal of the eggs and intestines, three hundred and ninety pounds. We took out nine gallons of roe. Thesturgeon does not enter the river in so great quantities as the salmon. 

In October and November we had salmon too, but of a quite differentspecies--lean, dry and insipid. It differs from the other sort in formalso; having very long teeth, and a hooked nose like the beak of aparrot. Our men termed it in derision "seven bark salmon, " because ithad almost no nutritive substance. 

February brings a small fish about the size of a sardine. It has anexquisite flavor, and is taken in immense quantities, by means of ascoop net, which the Indians, seated in canoes, plunge into the schools:but the season is short, not even lasting two weeks. 

The principal quadrupeds of the country are the elk, the black and whitetailed deer; four species of bear, distinguished chiefly by the color ofthe fur or _poil_, to wit, the black, brown, white and grisly bear; thegrisly bear is extremely ferocious; the white is found on the seashoretoward the north; the wolf, the panther, the catamount, the lynx, theraccoon, the ground hog, opossum, mink, fisher, beaver, and the land andsea otter. [W] The sea otter has the handsomest fur that is known; theskin surpasses that of the land variety in size and in the beauty of the_poil_; the most esteemed color is the silver gray, which is highlyprized in the Indies, and commands a great price. 

[Footnote W: Horses are abundant up the river; but they are notindigenous to the country. They will be spoken of in a future chapter. ]

The most remarkable birds are the eagle, the turkey-buzzard, the hawk, pelican, heron, gull, cormorant, crane, swan, and a great variety ofwild ducks and geese. The pigeon, woodcock, and pheasant, are found inthe forests as with us. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

 Manners, Customs, Occupations, &c. , of the Natives on the River Columbia. 

The natives inhabiting on the Columbia, from the mouth of that river tothe falls, that is to say, on a space extending about 250 miles fromeast to west, are, generally speaking, of low stature, few of thempassing five feet six inches, and many not even five feet. They pluckout the beard, in the manner of the other Indians of North America; buta few of the old men only suffer a tuft to grow upon their chins. Onarriving among them we were exceedingly surprised to see that they hadalmost all flattened heads. This configuration is not a naturaldeformity, but an effect of art, caused by compression of the skull ininfancy. It shocks strangers extremely, especially at first sight;nevertheless, among these barbarians it is an indispensable ornament:and when we signified to them how much this mode of flattening theforehead appeared to us to violate nature and good taste, they answeredthat it was only slaves who had not their heads flattened. The slaves, in fact, have the usual rounded head, and they are not permitted toflatten the foreheads of their children, destined to bear the chains oftheir sires. The natives of the Columbia procure these slaves from theneighboring tribes, and from the interior, in exchange for beads andfurs. They treat them with humanity while their services are useful, butas soon as they become incapable of labor, neglect them and suffer themto perish of want. When dead, they throw their bodies, without ceremony, under the stump of an old decayed tree, or drag them to the woods to bedevoured by the wolves and vultures. 

The Indians of the Columbia are of a light copper color, active in body, and, above all, excellent swimmers. They are addicted to theft, orrather, they make no scruple of laying hands on whatever suits them inthe property of strangers, whenever they can find an opportunity. Thegoods and effects of European manufacture are so precious in the eyes ofthese barbarians, that they rarely resist the temptation of stealingthem. 

These savages are not addicted to intemperance, unlike, in that respectthe other American Indians, if we must not also except the Patagonians, who, like the Flatheads, regard intoxicating drinks as poisons, anddrunkenness as disgraceful. I will relate a fact in point: one of thesons of the chief Comcomly being at the establishment one day, some ofthe gentlemen amused themselves with making him drink wine, and he wasvery soon drunk. He was sick in consequence, and remained in a state ofstupor for two days. The old chief came to reproach us, saying that wehad degraded his son by exposing him to the ridicule of the slaves, andbesought us not to induce him to take strong liquors in future. 

The men go entirely naked, not concealing any part of their bodies. Onlyin winter they throw over the shoulders a panther's skin, or else asort of mantle made of the skins of wood-rats sewed together. In rainyweather I have seen them wear a mantle of rush mats, like a Roman toga, or the vestment which a priest wears in celebrating mass; thus equipped, and furnished with a conical hat made from fibrous roots andimpermeable, they may call themselves rain-proof. The women, in additionto the mantle of skins, wear a petticoat made of the cedar bark, whichthey attach round the girdle, and which reaches to the middle of thethigh. It is a little longer behind than before, and is fabricated inthe following manner: They strip off the fine bark of the cedar, soak itas one soaks hemp, and when it is drawn out into fibres, work it into afringe; then with a strong cord they bind the fringes together. With sopoor a vestment they contrive to satisfy the requirements of modesty;when they stand it drapes them fairly enough; and when they squat downin their manner, it falls between their legs, leaving nothing exposedbut the bare knees and thighs. Some of the younger women twist thefibres of bark into small cords, knotted at the ends, and so form thepetticoat, disposed in a fringe, like the first, but more easily keptclean and of better appearance. 

Cleanliness is not a virtue among these females, who, in that respect, resemble the other Indian women of the continent. They anoint the bodyand dress the hair with fish oil, which does not diffuse an agreeableperfume. Their hair (which both sexes wear long) is jet black; it isbadly combed, but parted in the middle, as is the custom of the sexeverywhere, and kept shining by the fish-oil before-mentioned. Sometimes, in imitation of the men, they paint the whole body with a redearth mixed with fish-oil. Their ornaments consist of bracelets ofbrass, which they wear indifferently on the wrists and ankles; ofstrings of beads of different colors (they give a preference to theblue), and displayed in great profusion around the neck, and on the armsand legs; and of white shells, called _Haiqua_, which are their ordinarycirculating medium. These shells are found beyond the straits of _Juande Fuca_, and are from one to four inches long, and about half an inchin diameter: they are a little curved and naturally perforated: thelongest are most valued. The price of all commodities is reckoned inthese shells; a fathom string of the largest of them is worth about tenbeaver-skins. 

Although a little less slaves than the greater part of the Indian womenelsewhere, the women on the Columbia are, nevertheless, charged with themost painful labors; they fetch water and wood, and carry the goods intheir frequent changes of residence; they clean the fish and cut it upfor drying; they prepare the food and cook the fruits in their season. Among their principal occupations is that of making rush mats, basketsfor gathering roots, and hats very ingeniously wrought. As they wantlittle clothing, they do not sew much, and the men have the needle inhand oftener than they. 

The men are not lazy, especially during the fishing season. Not beinghunters, and eating, consequently, little flesh-meat (although they arefond of it), fish makes, as I have observed, their principal diet. Theyprofit, therefore, by the season when it is to be had, by taking as muchas they can; knowing that the intervals will be periods of famine andabstinence, unless they provide sufficiently beforehand. 

Their canoes are all made of cedar, and of a single trunk: we saw somewhich were five feet wide at midships, and thirty feet in length; theseare the largest, and will carry from 25 to 30 men; the smallest willcarry but two or three. The bows terminate in a very elongated point, running out four or five feet from the water line. It constitutes aseparate piece, very ingeniously attached, and serves to break the surfin landing, or the wave on a rough sea. In landing they put the canoeround, so as to strike the beach stern on. Their oars or paddles aremade of ash, and are about five feet long, with a broad blade, in theshape of an inverted crescent, and a cross at the top, like the handleof a crutch. The object of the crescent shape of the blade is to be ableto draw it, edge-wise, through the water without making any noise, whenthey hunt the sea-otter, an animal which can only be caught when it islying asleep on the rocks, and which has the sense of hearing veryacute. All their canoes are painted red, and fancifully decorated. 

Their houses, constructed of cedar, are remarkable for their form andsize: some of them are one hundred feet in length by thirty or fortyfeet in width. They are constructed as follows: An oblong square of theintended size of the building is dug out to the depth of two or threefeet; a double row of cedar posts is driven into the earth about tenfeet apart; between these the planks are laid, overlapping each other tothe requisite height. The roof is formed by a ridge-pole laid on tallerposts, notched to receive it, and is constructed with rafters and plankslaid clapboard-wise, and secured by cords for want of nails. When thehouse is designed for several families, there is a door for each, and aseparate fireplace; the smoke escapes through an aperture formed byremoving one of the boards of the roof. The door is low, of an ovalshape, and is provided with a ladder, cut out of a log, to descend intothe lodge. The entrance is generally effected stern-foremost. 

The kitchen utensils consist of plates of ash-wood, bowls of fibrousroots, and a wooden kettle: with these they succeed in cooking theirfish and meat in less time than we take with the help of pots andstewpans. See how they do it! Having heated a number of stones red-hot, they plunge them, one by one, in the vessel which is to contain the foodto be prepared; as soon as the water boils, they put in the fish ormeat, with some more heated stones on top, and cover up the whole withsmall rush mats, to retain the steam. In an incredibly short space oftime the article is taken out and placed on a wooden platter, perfectlydone and very palatable. The broth is taken out also, with a ladle ofwood or horn. 

It will be asked, no doubt, what instruments these savages use in theconstruction of their canoes and their houses. To cause their patienceand industry to be admired as much as they deserve, it will besufficient for me to mention that we did not find among them a singlehatchet: their only tools consisted of an inch or half-inch chisel, usually made of an old file, and of a mallet, which was nothing but anoblong stone. With these wretched implements, and wedges made of hemlockknots, steeped in oil and hardened by the fire, they would undertake tocut down the largest cedars of the forest, to dig them out and fashionthem into canoes, to split them, and get out the boards wherewith tobuild their houses. Such achievements with such means, are a marvel ofingenuity and patience. 

CHAPTER XX. 

 Manners and Customs of the Natives continued. --Their Wars. --Their Marriages. --Medicine Men. --Funeral Ceremonies. --Religious Notions. --Language. 

The politics of the natives of the Columbia are a simple affair: eachvillage has its chief, but that chief does not seem to exercise a greatauthority over his fellow-citizens. Nevertheless, at his death, they payhim great honors: they use a kind of mourning, which consists inpainting the face with black, in lieu of gay colors; they chant hisfuneral song or oration for a whole month. The chiefs are considered inproportion to their riches: such a chief has a great many wives, slaves, and strings of beads--he is accounted a great chief. These barbariansapproach in that respect to certain civilized nations, among whom theworth of a man is estimated by the quantity of gold he possesses. 

As all the villages form so many independent sovereignties, differencessometimes arise, whether between the chiefs or the tribes. Ordinarily, these terminate by compensations equivalent to the injury. But when thelatter is of a grave character, like a murder (which is rare), or theabduction of a woman (which is very common), the parties, having madesure of a number of young braves to aid them, prepare for war. Beforecommencing hostilities, however, they give notice of the day when theywill proceed to attack the hostile village; not following in thatrespect the custom of almost all other American Indians, who are wont toburst upon their enemy unawares, and to massacre or carry off men, women, and children; these people, on the contrary, embark in theircanoes, which on these occasions are paddled by the women, repair to thehostile village, enter into parley, and do all they can to terminate theaffair amicably: sometimes a third party becomes mediator between thefirst two, and of course observes an exact neutrality. If those who seekjustice do not obtain it to their satisfaction, they retire to somedistance, and the combat begins, and is continued for some time withfury on both sides; but as soon as one or two men are killed, the partywhich has lost these, owns itself beaten and the battle ceases. If it isthe people of the village attacked who are worsted, the others do notretire without receiving presents. When the conflict is postponed tillthe next day (for they never fight but in open daylight, as if to rendernature witness of their exploits), they keep up frightful cries allnight long, and, when they are sufficiently near to understand eachother, defy one another by menaces, railleries, and sarcasms, like theheroes of Homer and Virgil. The women and children are always removedfrom the village before the action. 

Their combats are almost all maritime: for they fight ordinarily intheir pirogues, which they take care to careen, so as to present thebroadside to the enemy, and half lying down, avoid the greater part ofthe arrows let fly at them. 

But the chief reason of the bloodlessness of their combats is theinefficiency of their offensive weapons, and the excellence of theirdefensive armor. Their offensive arms are merely a bow and arrow, and akind of double-edged sabre, about two and a half feet long, and sixinches wide in the blade: they rarely come to sufficiently closequarters to make use of the last. For defensive armor they wear acassock or tunic of elk-skin double, descending to the ankles, withholes for the arms. It is impenetrable by their arrows, which can notpierce two thicknesses of leather; and as their heads are also coveredwith a sort of helmet, the neck is almost the only part in which theycan be wounded. They have another kind of corslet, made like the corsetsof our ladies, of splinters of hard wood interlaced with nettle twine. The warrior who wears this cuirass does not use the tunic of elk-skin;he is consequently less protected, but a great deal more free; the saidtunic being very heavy and very stiff. 

It is almost useless to observe that, in their military expeditions, they have their bodies and faces daubed with different paints, often ofthe most extravagant designs. I remember to have seen a war-chief, withone exact half of his face painted white and the other half black. 

Their marriages are conducted with a good deal of ceremony. When a youngman seeks a girl in marriage, his parents make the proposals to those ofthe intended bride, and when it has been agreed upon what presents thefuture bridegroom is to offer to the parents of the bride, all partiesassemble at the house of the latter, whither the neighbors are invitedto witness the contract. The presents, which consist of slaves, stringsof beads, copper bracelets, _haiqua_ shells, &c. , are distributed by theyoung man, who, on his part receives as many, and sometimes more, according to the means or the munificence of the parents of hisbetrothed. The latter is then led forward by the old matrons andpresented to the young man, who takes her as his wife, and all retire totheir quarters. 

The men are not very scrupulous in their choice, and take small pains toinform themselves what conduct a young girl has observed before hernuptials; and it must be owned that few marriages would take place, ifthe youth would only espouse maidens without reproach on the score ofchastity; for the unmarried girls are by no means scrupulous in thatparticular, and their parents give them, on that head, full liberty. Butonce the marriage is contracted, the spouses observe toward each otheran inviolable fidelity; adultery is almost unknown among them, and thewoman who should be guilty of it would be punished with death. At thesame time, the husband may repudiate his wife, and the latter may thenunite herself in marriage to another man. Polygamy is permitted, indeedis customary; there are some who have as many as four or five wives; andalthough it often happens that the husband loves one better than therest, they never show any jealousy, but live, together in the mostperfect concord. [X]

[Footnote X: This appears improbable, and is, no doubt, overstated; butso far as it is true, only shows the degradation of these women, and theabsence of moral love on both sides. The indifference to virgin chastitydescribed by Mr. F. , is a characteristic of barbarous nations ingeneral, and is explained by the principle stated in the next notebelow; the savage state being essentially one in which the supernaturalbond of human fellowship is snapped: it is (as it has been called) thestate of _nature_, in which continence is practically impossible; andwhat men can not have, that they soon cease to prize. The same utterindifference to the past conduct of the girls they marry is mentioned byMAYHEW as existing among the costermongers and street population ofLondon, whom he well likens to the barbarous tribes lying on theoutskirts of more ancient nations. --ED. ]

There are charlatans everywhere, but they are more numerous amongsavages than anywhere else, because among these ignorant andsuperstitious people the trade is at once more profitable and lessdangerous. As soon as a native of the Columbia is indisposed, no matterwhat the malady, they send for the medicine man, who treats the patientin the absurd manner usually adopted by these impostors, and with suchviolence of manipulation, that often a sick man, whom a timely bleedingor purgative would have saved, is carried off by a sudden death. 

They deposite their dead in canoes, on rocks sufficiently elevated notto be overflowed by the spring freshets. By the side of the dead arelaid his bow, his arrows, and some of his fishing implements; if it isa woman, her beads and bracelets: the wives, the relatives and theslaves of the defunct cut their hair in sign of grief, and for severaldays, at the rising and setting of the sun, go to some distance from thevillage to chant a funeral song. 

These people have not, properly speaking, a public worship. [Y] I couldnever perceive, during my residence among them, that they worshipped anyidol. They had, nevertheless, some small sculptured figures; but theyappeared to hold them in light esteem, offering to barter them fortrifles. 

[Footnote Y: It is Coleridge who observes that _every tribe isbarbarous_ which has no recognised public worship or cult, and noregular priesthood as opposed to self-constituted conjurors. It is, infact, by public worship alone that human society is organized andvivified; and it is impossible to maintain such worship without asacerdotal order, however it be constituted. _No culture without acult_, is the result of the study of the races of mankind. Hence thosewho would destroy religion are the enemies of civilization. --ED. ]

Having travelled with one of the sons of the chief of the Chinooks(Comcomly), an intelligent and communicative young man, I put to himseveral questions touching their religious belief, and the followingis, in substance, what he told me respecting it: Men, according to theirideas, were created by a divinity whom they name _Etalapass_; but theywere imperfect, having a mouth that was not opened, eyes that were fastclosed, hands and feet that were not moveable; in a word, they wererather statues of flesh, than living men. A second divinity, whom theycall _Ecannum_, less powerful, but more benign than the former, havingseen men in their state of imperfection, took a sharp stone and laidopen their mouths and eyes; he gave agility, also, to their feet, andmotion to their hands. This compassionate divinity was not content withconferring these first benefits; he taught men to make canoes, paddles, nets, and, in a word, all the tools and instruments they use. He didstill more: he threw great rocks into the river, to obstruct the ascentof the salmon, in order that they might take as many as they wanted. 

The natives of the Columbia further believe, that the men who have beengood citizens, good fathers, good husbands, and good fishermen, whohave not committed murder, &c. , will be perfectly happy after theirdeath, and will go to a country where they will find fish, fruit, &c. , in abundance; and that, on the contrary, those who have lived wickedly, will inhabit a country of fasting and want, where they will eat nothingbut bitter roots, and have nothing to drink but salt water. 

If these notions in regard to the origin and future destiny of man arenot exactly conformed to sound reason or to divine revelation, it willbe allowed that they do not offer the absurdities with which themythologies of many ancient nations abound. [Z] The article which makesskill in fishing a virtue worthy of being compensated in the otherworld, does not disfigure the salutary and consoling dogma of theimmortality of the soul, and that of future rewards and punishments, somuch as one is at first tempted to think; for if we reflect a little, weshall discover that the skilful fisherman, in laboring for himself, labors also for society; he is a useful citizen, who contributes, asmuch as lies in his power, to avert from his fellow-men the scourge offamine; he is a religious man, who honors the divinity by making use ofhis benefits. Surely a great deal of the theology of a future lifeprevalent among civilized men, does not excel this in profundity. 

[Footnote Z: It seems clear that this Indian mythology is a form of theprimitive tradition obscured by symbol. The creation of man by theSupreme Divinity, but in an imperfect state ("his eyes not yet opened"), his deliverance from that condition by an inferior but more beneficentdeity (the Satan of the Bible), and the progress of the emancipated andenlightened being, in the arts of industry, are clearly set forth. Thusthe devil has his cosmogony as well as the Almighty, and his traditionin opposition to the divine. --ED. ]

It is not to be expected that men perfectly ignorant, like theseIndians, should be free from superstitions: one of the most ridiculousthey have, regards the method of preparing and eating fish. In the monthof July, 1811, the natives brought us at first a very scanty supply ofthe fresh salmon, from the fear that we would cut the fish crosswiseinstead of lengthwise; being persuaded that if we did so, the riverwould be obstructed, and the fishing ruined. Having reproached the chiefon that account, they brought us a greater quantity, but all cooked, andwhich, not to displease them, it was necessary to eat before sunset. Re-assured at last by our solemn promises not to cut the fish crosswise, they supplied us abundantly during the remainder of the season. 

In spite of the vices that may be laid to the charge of the natives ofthe Columbia, I regard them as nearer to a state of civilization thanany of the tribes who dwell east of the Rocky mountains. They did notappear to me so attached to their customs that they could not easilyadopt those of civilized nations: they would dress themselves willinglyin the European mode, if they had the means. To encourage this taste, welent pantaloons to the chiefs who visited us, when they wished to enterour houses, never allowing them to do it in a state of nudity. Theypossess, in an eminent degree, the qualities opposed to indolence, improvidence, and stupidity: the chiefs, above all, are distinguishedfor their good sense and intelligence. Generally speaking, they have aready intellect and a tenacious memory. Thus old Comcomly recognised themate of the _Albatross_ as having visited the country sixteen yearsbefore, and recalled to the latter the name of the captain under whom hehad sailed at that period. 

The _Chinook_ language is spoken by all the nations from the mouth ofthe Columbia to the falls. It is hard and difficult to pronounce, forstrangers; being full of gutturals, like the Gaelic. The combinations_thl_, or _tl_, and _lt_, are as frequent in the Chinook as in theMexican. [AA]

[Footnote AA: There can not be a doubt that the existing tribes on theN. W. Coast, have reached that country from the _South_, and not from theNorth. They are the _debris_ of the civilization of Central America, expelled by a defecating process that is going on in all humansocieties, and so have sunk into barbarism. --ED. ]

CHAPTER XXI. 

 Departure from Astoria or Fort George. --Accident. --Passage of the Dalles or Narrows. --Great Columbian Desert. --Aspect of the Country. --Wallawalla and Shaptin Rivers. --Rattlesnakes. --Some Details regarding the Natives of the Upper Columbia. 

We quitted Fort George (or Astoria, if you please) on Monday morning, the 4th of April, 1814, in ten canoes, five of which were of bark andfive of cedar wood, carrying each seven men as crew, and two passengers, in all ninety persons, and all well armed. Messrs. J. G. M'Tavish, D. Stuart, J. Clarke, B. Pillet, W. Wallace, D. M'Gillis, D. M'Kenzie, &c. , were of the party. Nothing remarkable occurred to us as far as the firstfalls, which we reached on the 10th. The portage was effectedimmediately, and we encamped on an island for the night. Our numbershad caused the greater part of the natives to take to flight, and thosewho remained in the villages showed the most pacific dispositions. Theysold us four horses and thirty dogs, which were immediately slaughteredfor food. 

We resumed our route on the 11th, at an early hour. The wind wasfavorable, but blew with violence. Toward evening, the canoe in whichMr. M'Tavish was, in doubling a point of rock, was run under by itspress of sail, and sunk. Happily the river was not deep at this place;no one was drowned; and we succeeded in saving all the goods. Thisaccident compelled us to camp at an early hour. 

On the 12th, we arrived at a rapid called the _Dalles_: this is achannel cut by nature through the rocks, which are here almostperpendicular: the channel is from 150 to 300 feet wide, and about twomiles long. The whole body of the river rushes through it, with greatviolence, and renders navigation impracticable. The portage occupied ustill dusk. Although we had not seen a single Indian in the course of theday, we kept sentinels on duty all night: for it was here that Messrs. Stuart and Reed were attacked by the natives. 

On the 13th, we made two more portages, and met Indians, of whom wepurchased horses and wood. We camped early on a sandy plain, where wepassed a bad night; the wind, which blew violently, raised clouds ofsand, which incommoded us greatly, and spoiled every mouthful of food wetook. 

On the 14th and 15th, we passed what are called the Great Plains of theColumbia. From the top of the first rapid to this point, the aspect ofthe country becomes more and more _triste_ and disagreeable; one meetsat first nothing but bare hills, which scarcely offer a few isolatedpines, at a great distance from each other; after that, the earth, stripped of verdure, does not afford you the sight of a single shrub;the little grass which grows in that arid soil, appears burnt by therigor of the climate. The natives who frequent the banks of the river, for the salmon fishery, have no other wood but that which they takefloating down. We passed several rapids, and a small stream calledUtalah, which flows from the southeast. 

On the 16th, we found the river narrowed; the banks rose on either sidein elevations, without, however, offering a single tree. We reached theriver _Wallawalla_, which empties into the Columbia on the southeast. Itis narrow at its confluence, and is not navigable for any greatdistance. A range of mountains was visible to the S. E. , about fifty orsixty miles off. Behind these mountains the country becomes again flatand sandy, and is inhabited by a tribe called the _Snakes_. We found onthe left bank of the _Wallawalla_, an encampment of Indians, consistingof about twenty lodges. They sold us six dogs and eight horses, thegreater part extremely lean. We killed two of the horses immediately: Imounted one of the six that remained; Mr. Ross took another; and wedrove the other four before us. Toward the decline of day we passed theriver _Lewis_, called, in the language of the country, the _Sha-ap-tin_. It comes from the S. E. , and is the same that Lewis and Clarke descendedin 1805. The _Sha-ap-tin_ appeared to me to have little depth, and to beabout 300 yards wide, at its confluence. 

The country through which we were now passing, was a mingling of hills, steep rocks, and valleys covered with wormwood; the stems of which shrubare nearly six inches thick, and might serve for fuel. We killed sixrattlesnakes on the 15th, and on the 16th saw a great many more amongthe rocks. These dangerous reptiles appeared to be very numerous in thispart of the country. The plains are also inhabited by a littlequadruped, only about eight or nine inches in length, and approachingthe dog in form. These animals have the hair, or _poil_, of a reddishbrown, and strong fore-paws, armed with long claws which serve them todig out their holes under the earth. They have a great deal ofcuriosity: as soon as they hear a noise they come out of their holes andbark. They are not vicious, but, though easily tamed, can not bedomesticated. 

The natives of the upper Columbia, beginning at the falls, differessentially in language, manners, and habits, from those of whom I havespoken in the preceding chapters. They do not dwell in villages, likethe latter, but are nomads, like the Tartars and the Arabs of thedesert: their women are more industrious, and the young girls morereserved and chaste than those of the populations lower down. They donot go naked, but both sexes wear habits made of dressed deer-skin, which they take care to rub with chalk, to keep them clean and white. They are almost always seen on horseback, and are in general goodriders; they pursue the deer and penetrate even to Missouri, to killbuffalo, the flesh of which they dry, and bring it back on their horses, to make their principal food during the winter. These expeditions arenot free from danger; for they have a great deal to apprehend from the_Black-feet_, who are their enemies. As this last tribe is powerful andferocious, the _Snakes_, the _Pierced-noses_ or _Sha-ap-tins_, the_Flatheads_, &c. , make common cause against them, when the former go tohunt east of the mountains. They set out with their families, and thecavalcade often numbers two thousand horses. When they have the goodfortune not to encounter the enemy, they return with the spoils of anabundant chase; they load a part of their horses with the hides andbeef, and return home to pass the winter in peace. Sometimes, on thecontrary, they are so harassed by the Blackfeet, who surprise them inthe night and carry off their horses, that they are forced to returnlight-handed, and then they have nothing to eat but roots, all thewinter. 

These Indians are passionately fond of horseraces: by the bets they makeon these occasions they sometimes lose all that they possess. The womenride, as well as the men. For a bridle they use a cord of horse-hair, which they attach round the animal's mouth; with that he is easilychecked, and by laying the hand on his neck, is made to wheel to thisside or that. The saddle is a cushion of stuffed deer-skin, verysuitable for the purpose to which it is destined, rarely hurting thehorse, and not fatiguing the rider so much as our European saddles. Thestirrups are pieces of hard wood, ingeniously wrought, and of the sameshape as those which are used in civilized countries. They are coveredwith a piece of deer-skin, which is sewed on wet, and in drying stiffensand becomes hard and firm. The saddles for women differ in form, beingfurnished with the antlers of a deer, so as to resemble the highpommelled saddle of the Mexican ladies. 

They procure their horses from the herds of these animals which arefound in a wild state in the country extending between the northernlatitudes and the gulf of Mexico, and which sometimes count a thousandor fifteen hundred in a troop. These horses come from New Mexico, andare of Spanish race. We even saw some which had been marked with a hotiron by Spaniards. Some of our men, who had been at the south, told methat they had seen among the Indians, bridles, the bits of which were ofsilver. The form of the saddles used by the females, proves that theyhave taken their pattern from the Spanish ones destined for the sameuse. One of the partners of the N. W. Company (Mr. M'Tavish) assured usthat he had seen among the _Spokans_, an old woman who told him that shehad seen men ploughing the earth; she told him that she had also seenchurches, which she made him understand by imitating the sound of a belland the action of pulling a bell-rope; and further to confirm heraccount, made the sign of the cross. That gentleman concluded that shehad been made prisoner and sold to the Spaniards on the _Del Norte_; butI think it more probable it was nearer, in North California, at themission of _San Carlos_ or _San Francisco_. 

As the manner of taking wild horses should not be generally known to myreaders, I will relate it here in few words. The Indian who wishes tocapture some horses, mounts one of his fleetest coursers, being armedwith a long cord of horsehair, one end of which is attached to hissaddle, and the other is a running noose. Arrived at the herd, he dashesinto the midst of it, and flinging his cord, or _lasso_, passes itdexterously over the head of the animal he selects; then wheeling hiscourser, draws the cord after him; the wild horse, finding itselfstrangling, makes little resistance; the Indian then approaches, tieshis fore and hind legs together, and leaves him till he has taken inthis manner as many as he can. He then drives them home before him, andbreaks them in at leisure. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

 Meeting with the Widow of a Hunter. --Her Narrative. --Reflections of the Author. --Priest's Rapid. --River Okenakan. --Kettle Falls. --Pine Moss. --Scarcity of Food. --Rivers, Lakes, &c. --Accident. --A Rencontre. --First View of the Rocky Mountains. 

On the 17th, the fatigue I had experienced the day before, on horseback, obliged me to re-embark in my canoe. About eight o'clock, we passed alittle river flowing from the N. W. We perceived, soon after, threecanoes, the persons in which were struggling with their paddles toovertake us. As we were still pursuing our way, we heard a child's voicecry out in French--"_arrêtez donc, arrêtez donc_"--(stop! stop!). We putashore, and the canoes having joined us, we perceived in one of them thewife and children of a man named _Pierre Dorion_, a hunter, who had beensent on with a party of eight, under the command of Mr. J. Reed, amongthe _Snakes_, to join there the hunters left by Messrs. Hunt and Crooks, near Fort Henry, and to secure horses and provisions for our journey. This woman informed us, to our no small dismay, of the tragical fate ofall those who composed that party. She told us that in the month ofJanuary, the hunters being dispersed here and there, setting their trapsfor the beaver, Jacob Regner, Gilles Leclerc, and Pierre Dorion, herhusband, had been attacked by the natives. Leclerc, having been mortallywounded, reached her tent or hut, where he expired in a few minutes, after having announced to her that her husband had been killed. Sheimmediately took two horses that were near the lodge, mounted her twoboys upon them, and fled in all haste to the wintering house of Mr. Reed, which was about five days' march from the spot where her husbandfell. Her horror and disappointment were extreme, when she found thehouse--a log cabin--deserted, and on drawing nearer, was soon convinced, by the traces of blood, that Mr. Reed also had been murdered. No timewas to be lost in lamentations, and she had immediately fled toward themountains south of the _Wallawalla_, where, being impeded by the depthof the snow, she was forced to winter, having killed both the horses tosubsist herself and her children. But at last, finding herself out ofprovisions, and the snow beginning to melt, she had crossed themountains with her boys, hoping to find some more humane Indians, whowould let her live among them till the boats from the fort below shouldbe ascending the river in the spring, and so reached the banks of theColumbia, by the Wallawalla. Here, indeed, the natives had received herwith much hospitality, and it was the Indians of Wallawalla who broughther to us. We made them some presents to repay their care and pains, andthey returned well satisfied. 

The persons who lost their lives in this unfortunate wintering party, were Mr. John Reed, (clerk), Jacob Regner, John Hubbough, Pierre Dorion(hunters), Gilles Leclerc, François Landry, J. B. Turcotte, André laChapelle and Pierre De Launay, (_voyageurs_). [AB] We had no doubt thatthis massacre was an act of vengeance, on the part of the natives, inretaliation for the death of one of their people, whom Mr. John Clarkhad hanged for theft the spring before. This fact, the massacre on theTonquin, the unhappy end of Captain Cook, and many other similarexamples, prove how carefully the Europeans, who have relations with abarbarous people, should abstain from acting in regard to them on thefooting of too marked an inequality, and especially from punishing theiroffences according to usages and codes, in which there is too often anenormous disproportion between the crime and the punishment. If thesepretended exemplary punishments seem to have a good effect at firstsight, they almost always produce terrible consequences in the sequel. 

[Footnote AB: Turcotte died of _King's Evil_. De Launay was ahalf-breed, of violent temper, who had taken an Indian woman to livewith him; he left Mr. Reed in the autumn, and was never heard of again. ]

On the 18th, we passed _Priest's Rapid_, so named by Mr. Stuart and hispeople, who saw at this spot, in 1811, as they were ascending theriver, a number of savages, one of whom was performing on the restcertain aspersions and other ceremonies, which had the air of beingcoarse imitations of the Catholic worship. For our part, we met heresome Indians of whom we bought two horses. The banks of the river atthis place are tolerably high, but the country back of them is flat anduninteresting. 

On the 20th, we arrived at a place where the bed of the river isextremely contracted, and where we were obliged to make a portage. Messrs. J. Stuart and Clarke left us here, to proceed on horseback tothe Spokan trading house, to procure there the provisions which would benecessary for us, in order to push on to the mountains. 

On the 21st, we lightened of their cargoes, three canoes, in which thosewho were to cross the continent embarked, to get on with greater speed. We passed several rapids, and began to see mountains covered with snow. 

On the 22d, we began to see some pines on the ridge of the neighboringhills; and at evening we encamped under _trees_, a thing which had nothappened to us since the 12th. 

On the 23d, toward 9, A. M. , we reached the trading post established byD. Stuart, at the mouth of the river _Okenakan_. The spot appeared to uscharming, in comparison with the country through which we had journeyedfor twelve days past: the two rivers here meeting, and the immenseprairies covered with a fine verdure, strike agreeably the eye of theobserver; but there is not a tree or a shrub to diversify the scene, andrender it a little less naked and less monotonous. We found here Messrs. J. M'Gillivray and Ross, and Mr. O. De Montigny, who had taken servicewith the N. W. Company, and who charged me with a letter for his brother. 

Toward midday we re-embarked, to continue our journey. After havingpassed several dangerous rapids without accident, always through acountry broken by shelving rocks, diversified with hills and verdantprairies, we arrived, on the 29th, at the portage of the _Chaudieres_or Kettle falls. This is a fall where the water precipitates itselfover an immense rock of white marble, veined with red and green, thattraverses the bed of the river from N. W. To S. E. We effected the portageimmediately, and encamped on the edge of a charming prairie. 

We found at this place some Indians who had been fasting, they assuredus, for several days. They appeared, in fact, reduced to the mostpitiable state, having nothing left but skin and bones, and scarcelyable to drag themselves along, so that not without difficulty could theyeven reach the margin of the river, to get a little water to wet theirparched lips. It is a thing that often happens to these poor people, when their chase has not been productive; their principal nourishmentconsisting, in that case, of the pine moss, which they boil till it isreduced to a sort of glue or black paste, of a sufficient consistence totake the form of biscuit. I had the curiosity to taste this bread, and Ithought I had got in my mouth a bit of soap. Yet some of our people, whohad been reduced to eat this glue, assured me that when fresh made ithad a very good taste, seasoned with meat. [AC] We partly relieved thesewretched natives from our scanty store. 

[Footnote AC: The process of boiling employed by the Indians in thiscase, extracts from the moss its gelatine, which serves to supply thewaste of those tissues into which that principle enters; but as the mosscontains little or none of the proximates which constitute the bulk ofthe living solids and fluids, it will not, of course, by itself, supportlife or strength. --ED. ]

On the 30th, while we were yet encamped at Kettle falls, Messrs. J. Stuart and Clarke arrived from the post at Spokan. The last was mountedon the finest-proportioned gray charger, full seventeen hands high, thatI had seen in these parts: Mr. Stuart had got a fall from his, in tryingto urge him, and had hurt himself severely. These gentlemen not havingbrought us the provisions we expected, because the hunters who had beensent for that purpose among the _Flatheads_, had not been able toprocure any, it was resolved to divide our party, and that Messrs. M'Donald, J. Stuart, and M'Kenzie should go forward to the post situatedeast of the mountains, in order to send us thence horses and supplies. These gentlemen quitted us on the 1st of May. After their departure wekilled two horses and dried the meat; which occupied us the rest of thatday and all the next. In the evening of the 2d, Mr. A. Stuart arrived atour camp. He had recovered from his wounds (received in the conflictwith the natives, before related), and was on his way to his oldwintering place on _Slave lake_, to fetch his family to the Columbia. 

We resumed our route on the morning of the 3d of May, and went to encampthat evening at the upper-end of a rapid, where we began to descrymountains covered with forests, and where the banks of the riverthemselves were low and thinly timbered. 

On the 4th, after having passed several considerable rapids, we reachedthe confluence of _Flathead_ river. This stream comes from the S. E. , andfalls into the Columbia in the form of a cascade: it may be one hundredand fifty yards wide at its junction. 

On the morning of the 5th, we arrived at the confluence of the_Coutonais_ river. This stream also flows from the south, and has nearlythe same width as the _Flathead_. Shortly after passing it, we entereda lake or enlargement of the river, which we crossed to encamp at itsupper extremity. This lake may be thirty or forty miles, and about fourwide at its broadest part: it is surrounded by lofty hills, which forthe most part have their base at the water's edge, and rise by gradualand finely-wooded terraces, offering a sufficiently pretty view. 

On the 6th, after we had run through a narrow strait or channel somefifteen miles long, we entered another lake, of less extent than theformer but equally picturesque. When we were nearly in the middle of it, an accident occurred which, if not very disastrous, was sufficientlysingular. One of the men, who had been on the sick-list for severaldays, requested to be landed for an instant. Not being more than a milefrom the shore, we acceded to his request, and made accordingly for aprojecting head-land; but when we were about three hundred or fourhundred yards from the point, the canoe struck with force against thetrunk of a tree which was planted in the bottom of the lake, and theextremity of which barely reached the surface of the water. [AD] Itneeded no more to break a hole in so frail a vessel; the canoe waspierced through the bottom and filled in a trice; and despite all ourefforts we could not get off the tree, which had penetrated two or threefeet within her; perhaps that was our good fortune, for the opening wasat least a yard long. One of the men, who was an expert swimmer, stripped, and was about to go ashore with an axe lashed to his back, tomake a raft for us, when the other canoe, which had been proceeding upthe lake, and was a mile ahead, perceived our signals of distress, andcame to our succor. They carried us to land, where it was necessary toencamp forthwith, as well to dry ourselves as to mend the canoe. 

[Footnote AD: A _snag_ of course, of the nature of which the youngCanadian seems to have been ignorant. ]

On the 7th, Mr. A. Stuart, whom we had left behind at Kettle falls, cameup with us, and we pursued our route in company. Toward evening we metnatives, camped on the bank of the river: they gave us a letter fromwhich we learned that Mr. M'Donald and his party had passed there on the4th. The women at this camp were busy spinning the coarse wool of themountain sheep: they had blankets or mantles, woven or platted of thesame material, with a heavy fringe all round: I would gladly havepurchased one of these, but as we were to carry all our baggage on ourbacks across the mountains, was forced to relinquish the idea. Havingbought of these savages some pieces of dried venison, we pursued ourjourney. The country began to be ascending; the stream was very rapid;and we made that day little progress. 

On the 8th we began to see snow on the shoals or sand-banks of theriver: the atmosphere grew very cold. The banks on either side presentedonly high hills covered to the top with impenetrable forests. While thecanoes were working up a considerable rapid, I climbed the hills withMr. M'Gillis, and we walked on, following the course of the river, somefive or six miles. The snow was very deep in the ravines or narrowgorges which are found between the bases of the hills. The most commontrees are the Norway pine and the cedar: the last is here, as on theborders of the sea, of a prodigious size. 

On the 9th and 10th, as we advanced but slowly, the country presentedthe same aspect as on the 8th. Toward evening of the 10th, we perceiveda-head of us a chain of high mountains entirely covered with snow. Thebed of the river was hardly more than sixty yards wide, and was filledwith dry banks composed of coarse gravel and small pebble. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

 Course of the Columbia River. --Canoe River. --Foot-march toward the Rocky Mountains. --Passage of the Mountains. 

On the 11th, that is to say, one month, day for day, after our departurefrom the falls, we quitted the Columbia, to enter a little stream towhich Mr. Thompson had given, in 1811, the name of _Canoe_ river, fromthe fact that it was on this fork that he constructed the canoes whichcarried him to the Pacific. 

The Columbia, which in the portion above the falls (not taking intoconsideration some local sinuosities) comes from the N. N. E. , takes abend here so that the stream appears to flow from the S. E. [AE] Someboatmen, and particularly Mr. Regis Bruguier, who had ascended thatriver to its source, informed me that it came out of two small lakes, not far from the chain of the Rocky Mountains, which, at that place, diverges considerably to the east. According to Arrowsmith's map, thecourse of the _Tacoutche Tessé_, from its mouth in the Pacific Ocean, toits source in the Rocky mountains, is about twelve hundred Englishmiles, or four hundred French leagues of twenty-five to a degree; thatis to say, from two hundred and forty to two hundred and eighty milesfrom west to east, from its mouth to the first falls: seven hundred andfifty miles nearly from S. S. W. To N. N. E. , from the first rapids to thebend at the confluence of _Canoe_ river; and one hundred and fifty orone hundred and eighty miles from that confluence to its source. We werenot provided with the necessary instruments to determine the latitude, and still less the longitude, of our different stations; but it took usfour or five days to go up from the factory at Astoria to the falls, andwe could not have made less than sixty miles a day: and, as I have justremarked, we occupied an entire month in getting from the falls to Canoeriver: deducting four or five days, on which we did not travel, thereremain twenty-five days march; and it is not possible that we made lessthan thirty miles a day, one day with another. 

[Footnote AE: Mr. Franchere uniformly mentions the direction from whicha stream appears to flow, not that toward which it runs; a naturalmethod on the part of one who was ascending the current. ]

We ascended Canoe river to the point where it ceases to be navigable, and encamped in the same place where Mr. Thompson wintered in 1810-'11. We proceeded immediately to secure our canoes, and to divide the baggageamong the men, giving each fifty pounds to carry, including hisprovisions. A sack of _pemican_, or pounded meat, which we found in a_cache_, where it had been left for us, was a great acquisition, as oursupplies were nearly exhausted. 

On the 12th we began our foot march to the mountains, being twenty-fourin number, rank and file. Mr. A. Stuart remained at the portage tobestow in a place of safety the effects which we could not carry, suchas boxes, kegs, camp-kettles, &c. We traversed first some swamps, next adense bit of forest, and then we found ourselves marching up thegravelly banks of the little _Canoe_ river. Fatigue obliged us to campearly. 

On the 13th we pursued our journey, and entered into the valleys betweenthe mountains, where there lay not less than four or five feet of snow. We were obliged to ford the river ten or a dozen times in the course ofthe day, sometimes with the water up to our necks. These frequentfordings were rendered necessary by abrupt and steep rocks or bluffs, which it was impossible to get over without plunging into the wood for agreat distance. The stream being very swift, and rushing over a bed ofstones, one of the men fell and lost a sack containing our last piece ofsalt pork, which we were preserving as a most precious treasure. Thecircumstances in which we found ourselves made us regard this as a mostunfortunate accident. We encamped that night at the foot of a steepmountain, and sent on Mr. Pillet and the guide, M'Kay, to hasten asupply of provisions to meet us. 

On the morning of the 14th we began to climb the mountain which we hadbefore us. We were obliged to stop every moment, to take breath, sostiff was the ascent. Happily it had frozen hard the night before, andthe crust of the snow was sufficient to bear us. After two or threehours of incredible exertions and fatigues, we arrived at the _plateau_or summit, and followed the footprints of those who had preceded us. This mountain is placed between two others a great deal more elevated, compared with which it is but a hill, and of which, indeed, it is only, as it were, the valley. Our march soon became fatiguing, on account ofthe depth of the snow, which, softened by the rays of the sun, could nolonger bear us as in the morning. We were obliged to follow exactly thetraces of those who had preceded us, and to plunge our legs up to theknees in the holes they had made, so that it was as if we had put on andtaken off, at every step, a very large pair of boots. At last we arrivedat a good hard bottom, and a clear space, which our guide said was alittle lake frozen over, and here we stopped for the night. This lake, or rather these lakes (for there are two) are situated in the midst ofthe valley or _cup_ of the mountains. On either side were immenseglaciers, or ice-bound rocks, on which the rays of the setting sunreflected the most beautiful prismatic colors. One of these icy peakswas like a fortress of rock; it rose perpendicularly some fifteen oreighteen hundred feet above the level of the lakes, and had the summitcovered with ice. Mr. J. Henry, who first discovered the pass, gave thisextraordinary rock the name of _M'Gillivray's Rock_, in honor of one ofthe partners of the N. W. Company. The lakes themselves are not much overthree or four hundred yards in circuit, and not over two hundred yardsapart. Canoe river, which, as we have already seen, flows to the west, and falls into the Columbia, takes its rise in one of them; while theother gives birth to one of the branches of the _Athabasca_, which runsfirst eastward, then northward, and which, after its junction with the_Unjighah_, north of the Lake of the Mountains, takes the name of_Slave_ river, as far the lake of that name, and afterward that of_M'Kenzie_ river, till it empties into, or is lost in, the Frozen ocean. Having cut a large pile of wood, and having, by tedious labor for nearlyan hour, got through the ice to the clear water of the lake on which wewere encamped, we supped frugally on pounded maize, arranged ourbivouac, and passed a pretty good night, though it was bitterly cold. The most common wood of the locality was cedar and stunted pine. Theheat of our fire made the snow melt, and by morning the embers hadreached the solid ice: the depth from the snow surface was about fivefeet. 

On the 15th, we continued our route, and soon began to descend themountain. At the end of three hours, we reached the banks of astream--the outlet of the second lake above mentioned--here and therefrozen over, and then again tumbling down over rock and pebbly bottom ina thousand fantastic gambols; and very soon we had to ford it. After atiresome march, by an extremely difficult path in the midst of woods, weencamped in the evening under some cypresses. I had hit my right kneeagainst the branch of a fallen tree on the first day of our march, andnow began to suffer acutely with it. It was impossible, however, toflinch, as I must keep up with the party or be left to perish. 

On the 16th, our path lay through thick swamps and forest; we recrossedthe small stream we had forded the day before, and our guide conductedus to the banks of the _Athabasca_, which we also forded. As thispassage was the last to be made, we dried our clothes, and pursued ourjourney through a more agreeable country than on the preceding days. Inthe evening we camped on the margin of a verdant plain, which, the guideinformed us, was called _Coro prairie_. We had met in the course of theday several buffalo tracks, and a number of the bones of that quadrupedbleached by time. Our flesh-meat having given out entirely, our supperconsisted in some handfuls of corn, which we parched in a pan. 

We resumed our route very early on the 17th, and after passing a forestof trembling poplar or aspen, we again came in sight of the river whichwe had left the day before. Arriving then at an elevated promontory orcape, our guide made us turn back in order to pass it at its mostaccessible point. After crossing it, not without difficulty, we sooncame upon fresh horse-prints, a sure indication that there were some ofthose animals in our neighborhood. Emerging from the forest, each tookthe direction which he thought would lead soonest to an encampment. Weall presently arrived at an old house which the traders of the N. W. Company had once constructed, but which had been abandoned for some fouror five years. The site of this trading post is the most charming thatcan be imagined: suffice to say that it is built on the bank of thebeautiful river _Athabasca_, and is surrounded by green, and smilingprairies and superb woodlands. Pity there is nobody there to enjoy theserural beauties and to praise, while admiring them, the Author of Nature. We found there Mr. Pillet, and one of Mr. J. M'Donald's party, who hadhis leg broken by the kick of a horse. After regaling ourselves with_pemican_ and some fresh venison, we set out again, leaving two of theparty to take care of the lame man, and went on about eight or ninemiles farther to encamp. 

On the 18th, we had rain. I took the lead, and after having walked aboutten or twelve miles, on the slope of a mountain denuded of trees, Iperceived some smoke issuing from a tuft of trees in the bottom of avalley, and near the river. I descended immediately, and reached a smallcamp, where I found two men who were coming to meet us with four horses. I made them fire off two guns as a signal to the rest of our people whowere coming up in the rear, and presently we heard it repeated on theriver, from which we were not far distant. We repaired thither, andfound two of the men, who had been left at the last ford, and who, having constructed a bark canoe, were descending the river. I made oneof them disembark, and took his place, my knee being so painful that Icould walk no further. Meanwhile the whole party came up; they loadedthe horses, and pursued their route. In the course of the day mycompanion (an Iroquois) and I, shot seven ducks. Coming, at last, to ahigh promontory called _Millet's rock_, we found some of ourfoot-travellers with Messrs. Stewart and Clarke, who were on horseback, all at a stand, doubting whether it would answer to wade round the baseof the rock, which dipped in the water. We sounded the stream for them, and found it fordable. So they all passed round, thereby avoiding theinland path, which is excessively fatiguing by reason of the hills, which it is necessary perpetually to mount and descend. We encamped, tothe number of seven, at the entrance of what at high water might be alake, but was then but a flat of blackish sand, with a narrow channel inthe centre. Here we made an excellent supper on the wild ducks, whilethose who were behind had nothing to eat. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

 Arrival at the Fort of the Mountains. --Description of this Post. --Some Details in Regard to the Rocky Mountains. --Mountain Sheep, &c. --Continuation of the Journey. --Unhappy Accident. --Reflections. --News from Canada. --Hunter's Lodge. --Pembina and Red Deer Rivers. 

On the 19th we raised our camp and followed the shore of the little drylake, along a smooth sandy beach, having abandoned our little barkcanoe, both because it had become nearly unserviceable, and because weknew ourselves to be very near the Rocky Mountains House. In fact, wehad not gone above five or six miles when we discerned a column of smokeon the opposite side of the stream. We immediately forded across, andarrived at the post, where we found Messrs. M'Donald, Stuart, andM'Kenzie, who had preceded us only two days. 

The post of the Rocky Mountains, in English, _Rocky Mountains House_, issituated on the shore of the little lake I have mentioned, in the midstof a wood, and is surrounded, except on the water side, by steep rocks, inhabited only by the mountain sheep and goat. Here is seen in the westthe chain of the Rocky Mountains, whose summits are covered withperpetual snow. On the lake side, _Millet's Rock_, of which I havespoken above, is in full view, of an immense height, and resembles thefront of a huge church seen in perspective. The post was under thecharge of a Mr. Decoigne. He does not procure many furs for the company, which has only established the house as a provision depôt, with the viewof facilitating the passage of the mountains to those of its _employés_who are repairing to, or returning from, the Columbia. 

People speak so often of the Rocky Mountains, and appear to know solittle about them, that the reader will naturally desire me to say herea word on that subject. If we are to credit travellers, and the mostrecent maps, these mountains extend nearly in a straight line, from the35th or 36th degree of north latitude, to the mouth of the _Unjighah_, or _M'Kenzie's river_, in the Arctic ocean, in latitude 65° or 66° N. This distance of thirty degrees of latitude, or seven hundred and fiftyleagues, equivalent to two thousand two hundred and fifty English milesor thereabouts, is, however, only the mean side of a right-angledtriangle, the base of which occupies twenty-six degrees of longitude, inlatitude 35° or 36°, that is to say, is about sixteen hundred mileslong, while the chain of mountains forms the _hypotenuse_; so that thereal, and as it were diagonal, length of the chain, across thecontinent, must be very near three thousand miles from S. E. To N. W. Insuch a vast extent of mountains, the perpendicular height and width ofbase must necessarily be very unequal. We were about eight days incrossing them; whence I conclude, from our daily rate of travel, thatthey may have, at this point, i. E. , about latitude 54°, a base of twohundred miles. 

The geographer Pinkerton is assuredly mistaken, when he gives thesemountains an elevation of but three thousand feet above the level of thesea; from my own observations I would not hesitate to give them sixthousand; we attained, in crossing them, an elevation probably offifteen hundred feet above the valleys, and were not, perhaps, nearerthan half way of their total height, while the valleys themselves mustbe considerably elevated above the level of the Pacific, considering theprodigious number of rapids and falls which are met in the Columbia, from the first falls to Canoe river. Be that as it may, if thesemountains yield to the Andes in elevation and extent, they very muchsurpass in both respects the Apalachian chain, regarded until recentlyas the principal mountains of North America: they give rise, accordingly, to an infinity of streams, and to the greatest rivers ofthe continent. [AF]

[Footnote AF: This is interesting, as the rough calculation of anunscientific traveller, unprovided with instruments, and at that date. The real height of the Rocky Mountains, as now ascertained, averagestwelve thousand feet; the highest known peak is about sixteenthousand. --ED. ]

They offer a vast and unexplored field to natural history: no botanist, no mineralogist, has yet examined them. The first travellers called themthe Glittering mountains, on account of the infinite number of immenserock crystals, which, they say, cover their surface, and which, whenthey are not covered with snow, or in the bare places, reflect to animmense distance the rays of the sun. The name of Rocky mountains wasgiven them, probably, by later travellers, in consequence of theenormous isolated rocks which they offer here and there to the view. Infact, Millet's rock, and _M'Gillivray's_ above all, appeared to mewonders of nature. Some think that they contain metals, and preciousstones. 

With the exception of the mountain sheep and goat, the animals of theRocky mountains, if these rocky passes support any, are not better knownthan their vegetable and mineral productions. The mountain sheep resortsgenerally to steep rocks, where it is impossible for men or even forwolves to reach them: we saw several on the rocks which surround theMountain House. This animal has great curved horns, like those of thedomestic ram: its wool is long, but coarse; that on the belly is thefinest and whitest. The Indians who dwell near the mountains, makeblankets of it, similar to ours, which they exchange with the Indians ofthe Columbia for fish, and other commodities. The ibex, or mountaingoat, frequents, like the sheep, the top and the declivities of therocks: it differs from the sheep in having hair instead of wool, andstraight horns projecting backward, instead of curved ones. The color isalso different. The natives soften the horns of these animals byboiling, and make platters, spoons, &c. , of them, in a very artisticmanner. 

Mr. Decoigne had not sufficient food for us, not having expected so manypeople to arrive at once. His hunters were then absent on _Smoke_ river(so called by some travellers who saw in the neighborhood a volcanicmountain belching smoke), in quest of game. We were therefore compelledto kill one of the horses for food. We found no birch bark either tomake canoes, and set the men to work in constructing some of wood. Forwant of better materials, we were obliged to use poplar. On the 22d, thethree men whom we had left at the old-house, arrived in a little canoemade of two elk-skins sewed together, and stretched like a drum, on aframe of poles. 

On the 24th, four canoes being ready, we fastened them together two andtwo, and embarked, to descend the river to an old post called _Hunter'sLodge_, where Mr. Decoigne, who was to return with us to Canada, informed us that we should find some bark canoes _en cache_, placedthere for the use of the persons who descend the river. The water wasnot deep, and the stream was rapid; we glided along, so to speak, forten or a dozen leagues, and encamped, having lost sight of themountains. In proportion as we advanced, the banks of the river grewless steep, and the country became more agreeable. 

On the 25th, having only a little _pemican_ left, which we wished tokeep, we sent forward a hunter in the little elk-skin canoe, to killsome game. About ten o'clock, we found him waiting for us with twomoose that he had killed. He had suspended the hearts from the branch ofa tree as a signal. We landed some men to help him in cutting up andshipping the game. We continued to glide safely down. But toward twoo'clock, P. M. , after doubling a point, we got into a considerable rapid, where, by the maladroitness of those who managed the double pirogue inwhich I was, we met with a melancholy accident. I had proposed to goashore, in order to lighten the canoes, which were loaded to the water'sedge; but the steersman insisted that we could go down safe, while thebow-man was turning the head of the pirogue toward the beach; by thismanoeuvre we were brought athwart the stream, which was carrying us fasttoward the falls; just then our frail bark struck upon a sunken rock;the lower canoe broke amid-ships and filled instantly, and the upper onebeing lighted, rolled over, precipitating us all into the water. Two ofour men, Olivier Roy Lapensée and André Bélanger, were drowned; and itwas not without extreme difficulty that we succeeded in saving Messrs. Pillet and Wallace, as well as a man named _J. Hurteau_. The latter wasso far gone that we were obliged to have recourse to the usual means forthe resuscitation of drowned persons. The men lost all their effects;the others recovered but a part of theirs; and all our provisions went. Toward evening, in ascending the river (for I had gone about two milesbelow, to recover the effects floating down), we found the body ofLapensée. We interred it as decently as we could, and planted at hisgrave a cross, on which I inscribed with the point of my knife, his nameand the manner and date of his death. Bélanger's body was not found. Ifanything could console the shades of the departed for a premature andunfortunate end, it would be, no doubt, that the funeral rites have beenpaid to their remains, and that they themselves have given their namesto the places where they perished: it is thus that the shade ofPalinurus rejoiced in the regions below, at learning from the mouth ofthe Sibyl, that the promontory near which he was drowned wouldhenceforth be called by his name: _gaudet cognomine terra_. The rapidand the point of land where the accident I have described took place, will bear, and bears already, probably, the name of _Lapensée_. [AG]

[Footnote AG: Mr. Franchere, not having the fear of the _Abbé Gaume_before his eyes, so wrote in his Journal of 1814; finding consolation ina thought savoring, we confess, more of Virgil than of the catechism. Itis a classic term that calls to our mind rough Captain _Thorn's_sailor-like contempt for his literary passengers so comically describedby Mr. _Irving_. Half of the humor as well as of the real interest ofMr. Franchere's charming narrative, is lost by one who has never read"Astoria. "]

On the 26th, a part of our people embarked in the three canoes whichremained, and the others followed the banks of the river on foot. We sawin several places some veins of bituminous coal, on the banks betweenthe surface of the water and that of the plain, say thirty feet belowthe latter; the veins had a dip of about 25°. We tried some and found itto burn well. We halted in the evening near a small stream, where weconstructed some rafts, to carry all our people. 

On the 27th, I went forward in the little canoe of skins, with the twohunters. We soon killed an elk, which we skinned and suspended the hide, besmeared with blood, from the branch of a tree at the extremity of apoint, in order that the people behind, as they came up, might perceiveand take in the fruit of our chase. After fortifying ourselves with alittle food, we continued to glide down, and encamped for the night neara thick wood where our hunters, from the tracks they observed, had hopesof encountering and capturing some bears. This hope was not realized. 

On the 28th, a little after quitting camp, we killed a swan. While I wasbusy cooking it, the hunters having plunged into the wood, I heard arifle-shot, which seemed to me to proceed from a direction opposite tothat which they had taken. They returned very soon running, and wereextremely surprised to learn that it was not I who had fired it. Nevertheless, the canoes and rafts having overtaken us, we continued todescend the river. Very soon we met a bark canoe, containing two men anda woman, who were ascending the river and bringing letters and somegoods for the _Rocky Mountains House_. We learned from these lettersaddressed to Mr. Decoigne, several circumstances of the war, and amongothers the defeat of Captain Barclay on Lake Erie. We arrived thatevening at _Hunter's Lodge_, where we found four new birch-bark canoes. We got ready two of them, and resumed our journey down, on the 31st. Mr. Pillet set out before us with the hunters, at a very early hour. Theykilled an elk, which they left on a point, and which we took in. Thecountry through which we passed that day is the most charming possible;the river is wide, handsome, and bordered with low outjutting points, covered with birch and poplar. 

On the 1st of June, in the evening, we encamped at the confluence of theriver _Pembina_. This stream comes from the south, and takes its rise inone of the spurs of the great chain of the Rocky mountains; ascending itfor two days, and crossing a neck of land about seventy-five miles, onereaches Fort Augustus, a trading post on the _Saskatchawine_ river. Messrs. M'Donald and M'Kenzie had taken this route, and had left for ushalf a sack of pemican in a _cache_, at the mouth of the river_Pembina_. After landing that evening, Mr. Stuart and I amused ourselveswith angling, but took only five or six small fish. 

On the 2d, we passed the confluence of _Little Slave Lake_ river. Ateight o'clock in the morning, we met a band or family of Indians, of the_Knisteneaux_ tribe. They had just killed a buffalo, which we bought ofthem for a small brass-kettle. We could not have had a more seasonable_rencontre_, for our provisions were all consumed. 

On the 3d, we reached _Little Red Elk_ river, which we began to ascend, quitting the _Athabasca_, or _Great Red Elk_. This stream was verynarrow in its channel, and obstructed with boulders: we were obliged totake to the shore, while some of the men dragged along the canoes. Theirmethod was to lash poles across, and wading themselves, lift the canoesover the rocks--a laborious and infinitely tedious operation. The marchalong the banks was not less disagreeable: for we had to traverse pointsof forest where the fire had passed, and which were filled with fallentrees. 

Wallace and I having stopped to quench our thirst at a rill, the restgot in advance of us; and we lost our way in a labyrinth of buffalotracks which we mistook for the trail, so that we wandered about forthree hours before we came up with the party, who began to fear for oursafety, and were firing signal-guns to direct us. As the river now grewdeeper, we all embarked in the canoes, and about evening overtook ourhunters, who had killed a moose and her two calves. 

We continued our journey on the 4th, sometimes seated in our canoes, sometimes marching along the river on foot, and encamped in the evening, excessively fatigued. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

 Red Deer Lake. --Antoine Déjarlais. --Beaver River. --N. Nadeau. --Moose River. --Bridge Lake. --Saskatchawine River. --Fort Vermilion. --Mr. Hallet. --Trading-Houses. --Beautiful Country. --Reflections. 

The 5th of June brought us to the beautiful sheet of water called _RedDeer lake_, irregular in shape, dotted with islands, and about fortymiles in length by thirty in its greatest width. We met, about themiddle of it, a small canoe conducted by two young women. They weresearching for gulls' and ducks' eggs on the islands, this being theseason of laying for those aquatics. They told us that their father wasnot far distant from the place where we met them. In fact, we presentlysaw him appear in a canoe with his two boys, rounding a little isle. Wejoined him, and learned that his name was Antoine Déjarlais; that hehad been a guide in the service of the Northwest Company, but had leftthem since 1805. On being made acquainted with our need of provisions, he offered us a great quantity of eggs, and made one of our men embarkwith his two daughters in their little canoe, to seek some moresubstantial supplies at his cabin, on the other side of the lake. Hehimself accompanied us as far as a portage of about twenty-five yardsformed at the outlet of the lake by a Beaver dam. Having performed theportage, and passed a small pond or marsh, we encamped to await thereturn of our man. He arrived the next morning, with Déjarlais, bringingus about fifty pounds of dried venison and from ten to twelve pounds oftallow. We invited our host to breakfast with us: it was the least wecould do after the good offices he had rendered us. This man was marriedto an Indian woman, and lived with his family, on the produce of hischase; he appeared quite contented with his lot. Nobody at leastdisputed with him the sovereignty of Red Deer lake, of which he had; asit were, taken possession. He begged me to read for him two letterswhich he had had in his possession for two years, and of which he didnot yet know the contents. They were from one of his sisters, and datedat _Verchères_, in Canada. I even thought that I recognised thehandwriting of Mr. L. G. Labadie, teacher of that parish. At last, havingtestified to this good man, in suitable terms, our gratitude for theservices he had rendered us, we quitted him and prosecuted our journey. 

After making two portages, we arrived on the banks of Beaver river, which was here but a rivulet. It is by this route that the canoesordinarily pass to reach Little Slave lake and the Athabasca country, from the head of Lake Superior, via. , _Cumberland House_, on _Englishriver_. We were obliged by the shallowness of the stream, to drag alongour canoes, walking on a bottom or beach of sand, where we began to feelthe importunity of the mosquitoes. One of the hunters scoured the woodsfor game but without success. By-and-by we passed a small canoe turnedbottom up and covered with a blanket. Soon after we came to a cabin orlodge, where we found an old Canadian hunter named _Nadeau_. He wasreduced to the last stage of weakness, having had nothing to eat for twodays. Nevertheless, a young man who was married to one of his daughters, came in shortly after, with the good news that he had just killed abuffalo; a circumstance which determined us to encamp there for thenight. We sent some of our men to get in the meat. Nadeau gave us halfof it, and told us that we should find, thirty miles lower down, at thefoot of a pine tree, a _cache_, where he had deposited ten swan-skins, and some of martin, with a net, which he prayed us to take to the nexttrading-post. We quitted this good fellow the next morning, and pursuedour way. Arriving at the place indicated, we found the _cache_, and tookthe net, leaving the other articles. A short distance further, we cameto Moose river, which we had to ascend, in order to reach the lake ofthat name. The water in this river was so low that we were obligedentirely to unload the canoes, and to lash poles across them, as we haddone before, that the men might carry them on their shoulders over theplaces where they could not be floated. Having distributed the baggageto the remainder of the hands, we pursued our way through the woods, under the guidance of Mr. Decoigne. 

This gentleman, who had not passed here for nineteen years, soon losthis way, and we got separated into small parties, in the course of theafternoon, some going one way, and some another, in search of Mooselake. But as we had outstripped the men who carried the baggage and thesmall stock of provision that old Nadeau had given us, Mr. Wallace and Ithought it prudent to retrace our steps and keep with the rear-guard. Wesoon met Mr. Pillet and one of the hunters. The latter, ferreting thewoods on both sides of a trail that he had discovered, soon gave awhoop, to signify that we should stop. Presently emerging from theunderwood, he showed us a horsewhip which he had found, and from whichand from other unmistakeable signs, he was confident the trail wouldlead either to the lake or a navigable part of the river. The men withthe baggage then coming up, we entered the thicket single file, and wereconducted by this path, in a very short time, to the river, on the banksof which were visible the traces of an old camping ground. The night wascoming on; and soon after, the canoes arrived, to our greatsatisfaction; for we had begun to fear that they had already passed. Thesplashing of their paddles was a welcome sound, and we who had been wiseenough to keep behind, all encamped together. 

Very early on the 8th, I set out accompanied by one of the hunters, inquest of Messrs. D. Stuart, Clarke and Decoigne, who had gone on ahead, the night previous. I soon found MM. Clarke and M'Gillis encamped on theshore of the lake. The canoes presently arrived and we embarked; MM. Stuart and Decoigne rejoined us shortly after, and informed us that theyhad bivouacked on the shore of Lac _Puant_, or Stinking lake, a pondsituated about twelve miles E. N. E. From the lake we were now entering. Finding ourselves thus reunited, we traversed the latter, which is abouteighteen miles in circuit, and has very pretty shores. We encamped, veryearly, on an island, in order to use old Nadeau's fishing net. I visitedit that evening and brought back three carp and two water-hens. We leftit set all night, and the next morning found in it twenty white-fish. Leaving camp at an early hour, we gained the entrance of a small streamthat descends between some hills of moderate elevation, and therestopped to breakfast. I found the white-fish more delicious in flavor, even than the salmon. We had again to foot it, following the bank ofthis little stream. It was a painful task, as we were obliged to open apath through thick underbrush, in the midst of a rain that lasted allday and kept us drenched. Two men being left in each canoe, conveyedthem up the river about thirty miles, as far as Long lake--a narrowpond, on the margin of which we spent the night. 

On the 10th, we got through this lakelet, and entered another smallstream, which it was necessary to navigate in the same manner as thepreceding, and which conducted us to Bridge lake. The latter receivedits name from a sort of bridge or causeway, formed at its southernextremity, and which is nothing more than a huge beaver dam. We foundhere a lodge, where were a young man and two women, who had charge ofsome horses appertaining to one of the Hudson's Bay trading houses. Weborrowed of them half a dozen pack horses, and crossed the bridge withthem. After surmounting a considerable hill, we reached an open, level, and dry prairie, which conducted us in about two hours to an ancienttrading-post on the banks of the _Saskatchawine_. Knowing that we werenear a factory, we made our toilets as well as we could, beforearriving. Toward sundown, we reached Fort Vermilion, which is situatedon the bank of a river, at the foot of a superb hill. 

We found at this post some ninety persons, men, women, and children;these people depend for subsistence on the chase, and fishing withhooks and lines, which is very precarious. Mr. Hallet, the clerk incharge was absent, and we were dismayed to hear that there were noprovisions on the place: a very disagreeable piece of news for peoplefamished as we were. We had been led to suppose that if we could onlyreach the plains of the Saskatchawine, we should be in the land ofplenty. Mr. Hallet, however, was not long in arriving: he had twoquarters of buffalo meat brought out, which had been laid in ice, andprepared us supper. Mr. Hallet was a polite sociable man, loving hisease passably well, and desirous of living in these wild countries, aspeople do in civilized lands. Having testified to him our surprise atseeing in one of the buildings a large _cariole_, like those of Canada, he informed us that having horses, he had had this carriage made inorder to enjoy a sleigh-ride; but that the workmen having forgot to takethe measure of the doors of the building before constructing it, it wasfound when finished, much too large for them, and could never be got outof the room where it was; and it was like to remain there a long time, as he was not disposed to demolish the house for the pleasure of usingthe cariole. 

By the side of the factory of the Northwest Company, is anotherbelonging to the Company of Hudson's Bay. In general thesetrading-houses are constructed thus, one close to the other, andsurrounded with a common palisade, with a door of communication in theinterior for mutual succor, in case of attack on the part of theIndians. The latter, in this region, particularly the Black-feet, _Gros-ventres_, and those of the Yellow river, are very ferocious: theylive by the chase, but bring few furs to the traders; and the lattermaintain these posts principally to procure themselves provisions. 

On the. 11th, after breakfasting at Fort Vermilion, we resumed ourjourney, with six or seven pounds of tallow for our whole stock of food. This slender supply brought us through to the evening of the third day, when we had for supper two ounces of tallow each. 

On the 14th, in the morning, we killed a wild goose, and toward midday, collected some flag-root and _choux-gras_, a wild herb, which we boiledwith the small game: we did not forget to throw into the pot the littletallow we had left, and made a delicious repast. Toward the decline ofday, we had the good luck to kill a buffalo. 

On the 15th, MM. Clarke and Decoigne having landed during our course, tohunt, returned presently with the agreeable intelligence that they hadkilled three buffaloes. We immediately encamped, and sent the greaterpart of the men to cut up the meat and jerk it. This operation lastedtill the next evening, and we set forward again in the canoes on the17th, with about six hundred pounds of meat half cured. The same eveningwe perceived from our camp several herds of buffaloes, but did not givechase, thinking we had enough meat to take us to the next post. 

The river _Saskatchawine_ flows over a bed composed of sand and marl, which contributes not a little to diminish the purity and transparencyof its waters, which, like those of the Missouri, are turbid andwhitish. Except for that it is one of the prettiest rivers in the world. The banks are perfectly charming, and offer in many places a scene thefairest, the most smiling, and the best diversified that can be seen orimagined: hills in varied forms, crowned with superb groves; valleysagreeably embrowned, at evening and morning, by the prolonged shadow ofthe hills, and of the woods which adorn them; herds of light-limbedantelopes, and heavy colossal buffalo--the former bounding along theslopes of the hills, the latter trampling under their heavy feet theverdure of the plains; all these champaign beauties reflected anddoubled as it were, by the waters of the river; the melodious and variedsong of a thousand birds, perched on the tree-tops; the refreshingbreath of the zephyrs; the serenity of the sky; the purity and salubrityof the air; all, in a word, pours contentment and joy into the soul ofthe enchanted spectator. It is above all in the morning, when the sun isrising, and in the evening when he is setting, that the spectacle isreally ravishing. I could not detach my regards from that superbpicture, till the nascent obscurity had obliterated its perfection. Then, to the sweet pleasure that I had tasted, succeeded a _triste_, notto say, a sombre, melancholy. How comes it to pass, I said to myself, that so beautiful a country is not inhabited by human creatures? Thesongs, the hymns, the prayers, of the laborer and the artisan, shallthey never be heard in these fine plains? Wherefore, while in Europe, and above all in England, so many thousands of men do not possess astheir own an inch of ground, and cultivate the soil of theircountry for proprietors who scarcely leave them whereon to supportexistence;--wherefore--do so many millions of acres of apparently fatand fertile land, remain uncultivated and absolutely useless? Or, atleast, why do they support only herds of wild animals? Will men alwayslove better to vegetate all their lives on an ungrateful soil, than toseek afar fertile regions, in order to pass in peace and plenty, atleast the last portion of their days? But I deceive myself; it is notso easy as one thinks, for the poor man to better his condition: he hasnot the means of transporting himself to distant countries, or he hasnot those of acquiring a property there; for these untilled lands, deserted, abandoned, do not appertain to whoever wishes to establishhimself upon them and reduce them to culture; they have owners, and fromthese must be purchased the right of rendering them productive! Besidesone ought not to give way to illusions: these countries, at times sodelightful, do not enjoy a perpetual spring; they have their winter, anda rigorous one; a piercing cold is then spread through the atmosphere;deep snows cover the surface; the frozen rivers flow only for the fish;the trees are stripped of their leaves and hung with icicles; theverdure of the plains has disappeared; the hills and valleys offer but auniform whiteness; Nature has lost all her beauty; and man has enough todo, to shelter himself from the injuries of the inclement season. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

 Fort Montée--Cumberland House. --Lake Bourbon. --Great Winipeg Rapids. --Lake Winipeg. --Trading-House. --Lake of the Woods. --Rainy Lake House, &c. 

On the 18th of June (a day which its next anniversary was to render forever celebrated in the annals of the world), we re-embarked at an earlyhour: and the wind rising, spread sail, a thing we had not done before, since we quitted the river Columbia. In the afternoon the cloudsgathered thick and black, and we had a gust, accompanied with hail, butof short duration; the weather cleared up again, and about sundown wearrived at _Le Fort de la Montêe_, so called, on account of its being adepôt, where the traders going south, leave their canoes and takepack-horses to reach their several posts. We found here, as at FortVermilion, two trading-houses joined together, to make common causeagainst the Indians; one belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, theother to the company of the Northwest: the Hudson's Bay house being thenunder the charge of a Mr. Prudent, and the N. W. Company's under a Mr. John M'Lean. Mr. De Roche Blave, one of the partners of the last companyhaving the superintendence of this district, where he had wintered, hadgone to Lake Superior to attend the annual meeting of the partners. There were cultivated fields around the house; the barley and peasappeared to promise an abundant harvest. Mr. M'Lean received us as wellas circumstances permitted; but that gentleman having no food to giveus, and our buffalo meat beginning to spoil, we set off the nextmorning, to reach Cumberland house as quick as possible. In the courseof the day, we passed two old forts, one of which had been built by theFrench before the conquest of Canada. According to our guide, it was themost distant western post that the French traders ever had in thenorthwestern wilderness. Toward evening we shot a moose. The aspect ofthe country changes considerably since leaving _Montée_; the banks ofthe river rise more boldly, and the country is covered with forests. 

On the 20th, we saw some elms--a tree that I had not seen hitherto, since my departure from Canada. We reached Fort Cumberland a littlebefore the setting of the sun. This post, called in English _CumberlandHouse_, is situated at the outlet of the _Saskatchawine_, where itempties into _English lake_, between the 53d and 54th degrees of northlatitude. It is a depot for those traders who are going to Slave lake orthe Athabasca, or are returning thence, as well as for those destinedfor the Rocky mountains. It was under the orders of Mr. J. D. Campbell, who having gone down to Fort William, however, had left it in charge ofa Mr. Harrison. There are two factories, as at Vermilion and la Montée. At this place the traders who resort every year to Fort William, leavetheir half-breed or Indian wives and families, as they can live here atlittle expense, the lake abounding in fish. Messrs. Clarke and Stuart, who were behind, arrived on the 22d, and in the evening we had a dance. They gave us four sacs of pemican, and we set off again, on the 23d, ateight A. M. We crossed the lake, and entered a small river, and havingmade some eighty or ninety miles under sail, encamped on a low shore, where the mosquitoes tormented us horribly all night. 

On the 24th, we passed _Muddy_ lake, and entered Lake _Bourbon_, wherewe fell in with a canoe from _York_ factory, under the command of a Mr. Kennedy, clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company. We collected some dozens ofgulls' eggs, on the rocky islands of the lake: and stopping on one ofthe last at night, having a little flour left, Mr. Decoigne and I amusedourselves in making fritters for the next day's breakfast: anoccupation, which despite the small amount of materials, employed ustill we were surprised by the daybreak; the night being but brief atthis season in that high latitude. 

At sunrise on the 25th, we were again afloat, passed Lake _Travers_, or_Cross_ lake, which empties into Lake Winipeg by a succession ofrapids; shot down these cascades without accident, and arrived, towardnoon, at the great rapid _Ouénipic_ or Winipeg, which is about fourmiles long. We disembarked here, and the men worked down the canoes. Atthe foot of this rapid, which is the inlet of Winipeg, we found an oldCanadian fisherman, who called himself _King of the lake_. He mightfairly style himself king of the fish, which are abundant and which healone enjoyed. Having made a boil, and regaled ourselves with excellentsturgeon, we left this old man, and entered the great lake Winipeg, which appeared to me like a sea of fresh water. This lake is now toowell known to need a particular description: I will content myself withsaying that it visibly yields in extent only to Lake Superior and GreatSlave lake: it has for tributaries several large rivers, and amongothers the Saskatchawine, the Winipeg, in the east; and Red river in thesouth; and empties into Hudson's bay by the _Nelson_, N. N. E. , and the_Severn_, E. N. E. The shores which it bathes are generally very low; itappears to have little depth, and is dotted with a vast number ofislands, lying pretty close to land. We reached one called _Egg island_, whence it was necessary to cross to the south to reach the main; but thewind was so violent that it was only at decline of day that we couldperform the passage. We profited by the calm, to coast along all day anda part of the night of the 26th; but to pay for it, remained in camp onthe 27th, till evening: the wind not suffering us to proceed. The windhaving appeared to abate somewhat after sunset, we embarked, but weresoon forced to land again. On the 28th, we passed the openings ofseveral deep bays, and the isles of _St. Martin_, and camped at thebottom of a little bay, where the mosquitoes did not suffer us to closeour eyes all night. We were rejoiced when dawn appeared, and were eagerto embark, to free ourselves from these inconvenient guests. A calmpermitted us that day to make good progress with our oars, and we campedat _Buffalo Strait_. We saw that day two Indian wigwams. 

The 30th brought us to Winipeg river, which we began to ascend, andabout noon reached Port _Bas de la Rivière_. This trading post had morethe air of a large and well-cultivated farm, than of a fur traders'factory: a neat and elegant mansion, built on a slight eminence, andsurrounded with barns, stables, storehouses, &c. , and by fields ofbarley, peas, oats, and potatoes, reminded us of the civilized countrieswhich we had left so long ago. Messrs. Crébassa and Kennedy, who hadthis post in charge, received us with all possible hospitality, andsupplied us with all the political news which had been learned throughthe arrival of canoes from Canada. 

They also informed us that Messrs M'Donald and de Rocheblave had passed, a few days before our arrival, having been obliged to go up Red river tostop the effusion of blood, which would probably have taken place butfor their intervention, in the colony founded on that river by the earlof Selkirk. Mr. Miles M'Donnell, the governor of that colony, or ratherof the _Assiniboyne_ district, had issued a proclamation forbidding allpersons whomsoever, to send provisions of any kind out of the district. The Hudson's Bay traders had conformed to this proclamation, but thoseof the Northwest Company paid no attention to it, thinking it illegal, and had sent their servants, as usual to get provisions up the river. Mr. M'Donnell having heard that several hundred sacks of pemican[AH]were laid up in a storehouse under the care of a Mr. Pritchard, sent torequire their surrender: Pritchard refused to deliver them, whereuponMr. M'Donnell had them carried off by force. The traders who winter onLittle Slave lake, English river, the Athabasca country, &c. , learningthis, and being aware that they would not find their usual supply at_Bas de la Rivière_, resolved to go and recover the seized provisions byforce, if they were not peaceably given up. Things were in this positionwhen Messrs, de Rocheblave and M'Donald arrived. They found the Canadian_voyageurs_ in arms, and ready to give battle to the colonists, whopersisted in their refusal to surrender the bags of pemican. The twopeacemakers visited the governor, and having explained to him thesituation in which the traders of the Northwest Company would findthemselves, by the want of necessary provisions to enable them totransport their peltries to Fort William, and the exasperation of theirmen, who saw no other alternative for them, but to get possession ofthose provisions or to perish of hunger, requested him to surrender thesame without delay. Mr. M'Donnell, on his part, pointed out the miseryto which the colonists would be reduced by a failure in the supply offood. In consequence of these mutual representations, it was agreed thatone half of the pemican should be restored, and the other half remainfor the use of the colonists. Thus was arranged, without bloodshed, thefirst difficulty which occurred between the rival companies of theNorthwest, and of Hudson's Bay. 

[Footnote AH: _Pemican_, of which I have already spoken several times, is the Indian name for the dried and pounded meat which the natives sellto the traders. About fifty pounds of this meat is placed in a trough(_un grand vaisseau fait d'un tronc d'arbre_), and about an equalquantity of tallow is melted and poured over it; it is thoroughly mixedinto one mass, and when cold, is put up in bags made of undressedbuffalo hide, with the hair outside, and sewed up as tightly aspossible. The meat thus impregnated with tallow, hardens, and will keepfor years. It is eaten without any other preparation; but sometimes wildpears or dried berries are added, which render the flavor moreagreeable. ]

Having spent the 1st of July in repairing our canoes, we re-embarked onthe 2d, and continued to ascend Winipeg river, called also _Whiteriver_, on account of the great number of its cascades, which being verynear each other, offer to the sight an almost continuous foam. We madethat day twenty-seven portages, all very short. On the 3d, and 4th, wemade nine more, and arrived on the 5th, at the _Lake of the Woods_. Thislake takes its name from the great number of woody islands with which itis dotted. Our guide pointed out to me one of these isles, telling methat a Jesuit father had said mass there, and that it was the mostremote spot to which those missionaries had ever penetrated. We encampedon one of the islands. The next day the wind did not allow us to makemuch 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 onthe banks of this river. Having landed near a little rapid to lightenthe canoes, we had the misfortune, in getting through the brush, todislodge these insects from under the leaves where they had taken refugefrom the rain of the night before; they attached themselves to us, followed us into the canoes, and tormented us all the remainder of theday. 

On the 8th, at sunset, we reached _Rainy Lake House_. This fort issituated about a mile from a considerable rapid. We saw here cultivatedfields and domestic animals, such as horses, oxen, cows, &c. The port isa depôt for the wintering parties of the Athabasca, and others stillmore remote, who bring to it their peltries and return from it withtheir outfits of merchandise. Mr. John Dease, to whose charge the placehad been confided, received us in the most friendly manner possible; andafter 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 lakeitself, which I estimated to be forty miles long, we encamped at theentrance of a small river. On the next day we pursued our way, nowthridding streams impeded with wild rice, which rendered our progressdifficult, now traversing little lakes, now passing straits where wescarcely found water to float our canoes. On the 13th, we encamped near_Dog Portage (Portage des chiens_), where, from not having followed theadvice of Mr. Dease, who had counselled us to take along a bag ofpemican, 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, andeffected the portage, which is long and difficult. At the foot of therapid 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 breakfastedon 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 itselfover a rock of immense height, and forms a fall scarcely less curious tosee than that of Niagara. Below, the succession of falls and rapids isconstant, so that we made no fewer than thirty-six portages in thecourse of the day. Nevertheless we pursued our laborious way with goodcheer, and without a murmur from our Canadian boatmen, who kept theirspirits up by singing their _voyageur_ songs. At last, at about nineo'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 _GrandPortage_. It was built in 1805, when the two rival Canadian companieswere united, and was named in honor of Mr. (now the Honorable) WilliamM'Gillivray, principal agent of the Northwest Company. The proprietors, perceiving that the old fort of _Grand Portage_ was on the territoryclaimed by the American government, resolved to demolish it and buildanother on the British territory. No site appeared more advantageousthan the present for the purposes intended; the river is deep, of easyaccess, and offers a safe harbor for shipping. It is true they had tocontend with all the difficulties consequent on a low and swampy soil;but by incredible labor and perseverance they succeeded in draining themarshes and reducing the loose and yielding soil to solidity. 

Fort William has really the appearance of a fort, with its palisadefifteen feet high, and that of a pretty village, from the number ofedifices it encloses. In the middle of a spacious square rises a largebuilding elegantly constructed, though of wood, with a long piazza orportico, raised about five feet from the ground, and surmounted by abalcony, extending along the whole front. In the centre is a saloon orhall, sixty feet in length by thirty in width, decorated with severalpieces of painting, and some portraits of the leading partners. It is inthis hall that the agents, partners, clerks, interpreters, and guides, take their meals together, at different tables. At each extremity of theapartment are two rooms; two of these are destined for the two principalagents; the other two to the steward and his department. The kitchen andservants' rooms are in the basement. On either side of this edifice, isanother of the same extent, but of less elevation; they are eachdivided by a corridor running through its length, and contain each, adozen pretty bed-rooms. One is destined for the wintering partners, theother for the clerks. On the east of the square is another buildingsimilar to the last two, and intended for the same use, and a warehousewhere the furs are inspected and repacked for shipment. In the rear ofthese, are the lodging-house of the guides, another fur-warehouse, andfinally, a powder magazine. The last is of stone, and has a roof coveredwith 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 ofbuildings, some of which serve for stores, and others for workshops;there is one for the equipment of the men, another for the fitting outof the canoes, one for the retail of goods, another where they sellliquors, bread, pork, butter, &c. , and where a treat is given to thetravellers who arrive. This consists in a white loaf, half a pound ofbutter, and a gill of rum. The _voyageurs_ give this tavern the name of_Cantino salope_. Behind all this is another range, where we find thecounting-house, a fine square building, and well-lighted; anotherstorehouse of stone, tin-roofed; and a _jail_, not less necessary thanthe rest. The _voyageurs_ give it the name of _pot au beurre_--thebutter-tub. Beyond these we discover the shops of the carpenter, thecooper, the tinsmith, the blacksmith, &c. ; and spacious yards and shedsfor the shelter, reparation, and construction of canoes. Near the gateof 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 wharfconstructed, extending the whole length of the fort, for the dischargeof the vessels which it keeps on Lake Superior, whether to transport itsfurs from Fort William to the _Saut Ste. Marie_, or merchandise andprovisions from _Saut Ste. Marie_ to Fort William. The land behind thefort and on both sides of it, is cleared and under tillage. We sawbarley, peas, and oats, which had a very fine appearance. At the end ofthe clearing is the burying-ground. There are also, on the opposite bankof the river, a certain number of log-houses, all inhabited by oldCanadian _voyageurs_, worn out in the service of the company, withouthaving enriched themselves. Married to women of the country, andincumbered with large families of half-breed children, these men preferto cultivate a little Indian corn and potatoes, and to fish, for asubsistence, rather than return to their native districts, to give theirrelatives and former acquaintance certain proofs of their misconduct ortheir imprudence. 

Fort William is the grand depôt of the Northwest Company for theirinterior posts, and the general _rendezvous_ of the partners. The agentsfrom Montreal and the wintering partners assemble here every summer, toreceive the returns of the respective outfits, prepare for theoperations of the ensuing season, and discuss the general interests oftheir association. The greater part of them were assembled at the timeof our arrival. The wintering hands who are to return with theiremployers, pass also a great part of the summer here; they form a greatencampment on the west side of the fort, outside the palisades. Thosewho engage at Montreal to go no further than Fort William or _Rainylake_, and who do not _winter_, occupy yet another space, on the eastside. 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 betweenthese two camps, which are composed sometimes of three or four hundredmen each; that of the pork-eaters is always dirty and disorderly, whilethat of the winterers is clean and neat. 

To clear its land and improve its property, the company inserts a clausein the engagement of all who enter its service as canoe-men, that theyshall work for a certain number of days during their stay at FortWilliam. It is thus that it has cleared and drained the environs of thefort, and has erected so many fine buildings. But when a hand has onceworked the stipulated number of days, he is for ever after exempt, evenif he remain in the service twenty or thirty years, and should come downto the fort every summer. 

They received us very courteously at Fort William, and I perceived bythe reception given to myself in particular, that thanks to the Chinookdialect of which I was sufficiently master, they would not have askedbetter than to give me employment, on advantageous terms. But I felt agreat deal more eagerness to arrive in Montreal, than desire to returnto the River Columbia. 

A few days after we reached Fort William, Mr. Keith made his appearancethere from Fort George, or Astoria, with the news of the arrival of the"Isaac Todd" in the Columbia river. This vessel, which was a dullsailer, had been kept back a long time by contrary winds in doublingCape Horn, and had never been able to rejoin the vessels-of-war, herconsorts, from which she was then separated. When she reached the_rendezvous_ at the island of Juan Fernandez, finding that the threeships-of-war had sailed, the captain and passengers, as they were shortof provisions, determined to range the coast. Entering the harbor of_Monterey_, [AI] on the coast of California, in order to obtainprovisions, they learned that there was an English vessel-of-war indistress, in the bay of _San Francisco_. [AJ] They repaired thitheraccordingly, and found, to their great surprise, that it was the sloop_Raccoon_. This vessel, in getting out of the River Columbia, hadtouched on the bar, with such violence, that a part of her false keelwas carried away; and she had with difficulty made San Francisco, withseven feet of water in the hold, although her crew had been constantlyat the pumps. Captain Black, finding it impossible to repair his ship, had decided to abandon her, and to cross the continent to the Gulf ofMexico, thence to reach some of the British West India islands. However, on the arrival of the Isaac Todd, means were found to careen the vesseland repair the damage. The Isaac Todd then pursued her voyage andentered the Columbia on the 17th of April, thirteen months after herdeparture from England. 

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

[Footnote AJ: Another Spanish presidency, in about the 38th degree oflatitude, and the first European establishment to be met with south ofthe Columbia. [These now obsolete notes are interesting as indicative ofthe 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 heshould start the next morning for Montreal, in a light canoe. Iimmediately wrote to my relatives: but the next morning Mr. Stuart toldme that I was to be myself the bearer of my letters, by embarking withhim. I got ready my effects, and toward evening we quitted Fort William, with fourteen stout _voyageurs_ to man our large canoe, and were soonfloating on the bosom of the largest body of fresh water on the surfaceof 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 ornine years, who came from Kildonan, on Red river. We passed the firstnight on one of the islands in _Thunder bay_, so named on account of thefrequent storms, accompanied with lightning and thunder, which burstover it at certain seasons of the year. On the 22d and 23d, we continuedto range the southern coast of Lake Superior. The navigation of thissuperb lake would be extremely agreeable but for the thick fogs whichreign during a part of the day, and do not permit a rapid progress. Onthe 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, maybe nine miles wide, and twenty fathoms deep. As we were nearing theeastern 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'Cargoinformed us that he had just escaped from _Saut Ste. Marie_, whither theAmericans had sent a detachment of one hundred and fifty men; and thathaving been obliged to abandon his schooner, he had set fire to her. Inconsequence of this news it was resolved that the canoe on which we wereproceeding, should return to Fort William. I embarked, with Mr. Stuartand two men, in Captain M'Cargo's canoe, while he and his crew took ourplaces. In the haste and confusion of this exchange, which was made onthe lake, they gave us a ham, a little tea and sugar, and a bagcontaining about twenty-five pounds of flour, but forgot entirely akettle, knives, forks, and so on, all articles which Mr. M'Cargo had nottime to take when he left _Saut Ste. Marie_. We subsisted miserably inconsequence for two days and a half that we continued to coast the lakebefore reaching any post. We moistened in the bag a little flour, andhaving kneaded it, made cakes, which we baked on flat stones by our campfire. 

On the 29th, we reached Batchawainon, where we found some women, whoprepared us food and received us well. It is a poor little post, situated at the bottom of a sandy cove, which offers nothing agreeableto the eye. Mr. Frederic Goedike, who resided here, was gone to see whathad taken place at Saut Ste. Marie. He returned the next day, and toldus that the Americans had come, with a force of one hundred and fiftymen, under the command of Major Holmes; and that after having pillagedthat 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, andretired, without molesting any other person. [AK] Our canoe arrived fromFort William in the evening, with that of Mr. M'Gillivray; and on themorrow we all repaired to Saut Ste. Marie, where we saw the ruins whichthe enemy had left. The houses, stores, and saw-mills of the companywere still smoking. 

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

The schooner was at the foot of the rapids; the Americans had run herdown, but she grounded on a ledge of rocks, whence they could notdislodge 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 orsix hundred yards wide; its length may be estimated at three quarters ofa mile, and the descent of the water at about twenty feet. At the lowerextremity the river widens to about a mile, and here there are a certainnumber of houses. The north bank belongs to Great Britain; the southernto the United States. It was on the American side that Mr. Johnstonlived. Before the war he was collector of the port for the Americangovernment. On the same side resided a Mr. Nolin, with his family, consisting of three half-breed boys and as many girls, one of whom waspassably pretty. He was an old Indian trader, and his house andfurniture showed signs of his former prosperity. On the British side wefound Mr. Charles Ermatinger, who had a pretty establishment: he dwelttemporarily in a house that belonged to Nolin, but he was buildinganother of stone, very elegant, and had just finished a grist mill. Hethought that the last would lead the inhabitants to sow more grain thanthey did. These inhabitants are principally old Canadian boatmen, married to half-breed or Indian women. The fish afford them subsistenceduring the greater part of the year, and provided they secure potatoesenough to carry them through the remainder, they are content. It is tobe regretted that these people are not more industrious, for the land isvery fertile. 

On the 1st of August, an express was sent to _Michilimackinac_(Mackinaw) to inform the commandant thereof what had happened at _SautSte. Marie_. While expecting the return of the messenger, we putourselves in a state of defence, in case that by chance the Americansshould make another irruption. The thing was not improbable, foraccording to some expressions which fell from one of their number whospoke French, their objects was to capture the furs of the NorthwestCompany, which were expected to arrive shortly from the interior. Weinvited some Indians, who were camped on _Pine Point_, at some distancefrom 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 bythe American forces, and were obliged to subsist on such brook trout aswe could take with hook and line, and on wild raspberries. 

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

On the 12th, we heard distinctly the discharges of artillery which ourpeople were firing off at Michilimackinac, although the distance wasnearly sixty miles. We thought it was an attempt of the enemy to retakethat post, but we afterward learned that it was only a royal salute inhonor of the birthday of the prince regent. We learned, however, duringour stay at Saut Ste. Marie, that the Americans had really made adescent upon the island, but were compelled to retire with aconsiderable loss. 

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

On the 21st, the canoe on which I was a passenger, was sent to the mouthof _French_ river, to observe the motions of the enemy. The route laybetween a range of low islands, and a shelvy beach, very monotonous anddreary. We remained at the entrance of the aforesaid river till the25th, when the fleet of loaded canoes, forty-seven in number, arrivedthere. The value of the furs which they carried could not be estimatedat 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 andthirty-five men, all well armed; a large camp was formed, with abreast-work of fur-packs, and we kept watch all night. The next morningwe began to ascend French river, and were soon out of reach of thedreaded foe. French river flows from the N. E. And empties into LakeHuron, about one hundred and twenty miles from Saut Ste. Marie. Wereached Lake Nipissing, of which it is the outlet, the same evening, andencamped. 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_, andencamped, in the evening, at the _Portage des deux Joachims_. This is agrand river, but obstructed by many falls and rapids on its way to jointhe St. Lawrence; which caused us to make many portages, and so wearrived on the 31st at _Kettle falls_. 

The rock which here arrests the course of the _Ottawa_, extends fromshore to shore, and so completely cuts off the waters, that at the timewe passed none was seen falling over, but sinking by subterraneanchannels, or fissures in the rock, it boiled up below, from seven oreight different openings, not unlike water in a huge caldron, whence thefirst explorers of the country gave it the name of _Chaudière_ orCaldron falls. Mr. P. Wright resided in this place, where he had a fineestablishment and a great number of men employed in cultivating theland, and getting out lumber. 

We left the _Chaudières_ a little before sunset, and passed very soonthe confluence of the _Rideau_ or _Curtain river_. This river, whichcasts itself into the Ottawa over a rock twenty-five by thirty feethigh, is divided in the middle of the fall by a little island, whichparts the waters into two white sheets, resembling a double curtain openin the middle and spreading out below. The _coup d'oeil_ is reallypicturesque; the rays of the setting sun, which struck the watersobliquely as we passed, heightened exceedingly their beauty, andrendered it worthy of a pencil more skilful than mine. 

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

[Footnote AL: "Far-famed and so well described, " adds Mr. Franchere, inhis own translation, but I prefer to leave the expression in itsoriginal striking simplicity, as he wrote it before he had heard ofMOORE. 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 lesssurprised than overjoyed at beholding me. Not having heard of me, sinceI had sailed from New York, they had believed, in accordance with thecommon report, that I had been murdered by the savages, with Mr. M'Kayand the crew of the Tonquin: and certainly, it was by the goodness ofProvidence that I found myself thus safe and sound, in the midst of myrelations and friends, at the end of a voyage accompanied by so manyperils, and in which so many of my companions had met with an untimelydeath. 

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 travelsaround and across the continent, as published thirty-three years ago. The translation follows that narrative as exactly as possible, varyingfrom it only in the correction of a few not very important errors offact. It speaks of places and persons as I spoke of them then. I wouldnot willingly lose the verisimilitude of this natural and unadorneddescription, in order to indulge in any new turns of style or morephilosophical reflections. 

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

The natives of the Sandwich islands, who were in a state of paganism atthat time, have since adopted a form of Christianity, have madeconsiderable progress in imitating the civilization of Europe, and even, at this moment, begin to entertain the idea of annexation to the UnitedStates. It appears, however, that the real natives are rapidly dwindlingaway by the effects of their vices, which an exotic and ill-assimilatedcivilization has rather increased than diminished, and to which religionhas 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, licentioushabits universally diffused, spread a fatal disorder through the wholenation, and undermining the constitutions of all, left them an easy preyto the first contagion or epidemic sickness. But missionaries of variousChristian sects have labored among the Indians of the Columbia also; notto speak of the missions of the Catholic Church, so well known by thenarrative of Father De Smet and others; and numbers have been taught tocultivate the soil, and thus to provide against the famines to whichthey were formerly exposed from their dependence on the precariousresources of the chase; while others have received, in the faith ofChrist, the true principle of national permanence, and a living germ ofcivilization, which may afterward be developed. 

Emigration has also carried to the Oregon the axe of the settler, aswell as the canoe and pack of the fur-trader. The fertile valleys andprairies of the Willamet--once the resort of the deer, the elk, and theantelope, are now tilled by the industrious husbandman. Oregon City, sonear old "Astoria, " whose first log fort I saw and described, is now anArchiepiscopal see, and the capital of a territory, which must soon be astate of the Union. 

Of the regions east of the mountains described in my itinerary, littlecan be said in respect to improvement: they remain in the same wildstate. The interest of the Hudson's Bay Company, as an association offur-traders, is opposed to agricultural improvements, whose operationwould be to drive off and extinguish the wild animals that furnish theircommerce with its object. But on Lake Superior steamboats havesupplanted the birch-bark canoe of the Indian and the fur-trader, and atSaut Ste. Marie, especially on the American side, there is now everysign of prosperity. How remote and wild was the region beyond, throughwhich I passed, may be estimated by the fact that in thirty-eight yearsthe onward-rolling wave of our population has but just reached itsconfines. 

Canada, although it has not kept pace with the United States, has yetwonderfully advanced in forty years. The valley of the Ottawa, thatgreat artery of the St. Lawrence, where I thought it worth while tonotice the residence of an enterprising farmer and lumber merchant, isnow a populous district, well cultivated, and sprinkled with villages, towns, and cities. 

The reader, in perusing my first chapter, found a description of thecity of New York in 1810, and of the neighboring village of Brooklyn. It would be superfluous to establish a comparison at this day. At thattime, it will be observed, the mere breaking out of war between Americaand England was thought to involve the sacrifice of an Americancommercial establishment on the Pacific, on the ground of its suppliesbeing necessarily cut off (it was supposed), and of the United Statesgovernment being unable to protect it from hostile attack. At present itsuffices 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 formidableabroad, to the greatest nations. 

As in my preface I alluded to Mr. Irving's "Astoria, " as reflecting, inmy opinion, unjustly, upon the young men engaged in the first expeditionto the mouth of the Columbia, it may suffice here to observe, withoutentering into particulars, that my narrative, which I think answers forits own fidelity, clearly shows that some of them, at least did not wantcourage, activity, zeal for the interests of the company, while itexisted, and patient endurance of hardship. And although it forms nopart of the narrative or my voyage, yet as subsequent visits to the Westand an intimate knowledge of St. Louis, enable me to correct Mr. Irving's poetical rather than accurate description of that place, I maywell do it here. St. Louis now bids fair to rival ere long the "Queen ofthe West;" Mr. Irving describes her as a small trading place, wheretrappers, half-breeds, gay, frivolous Canadian boatmen, &c. , &c. , congregated and revelled, with that lightness and buoyancy of spiritinherited from their French forefathers; the indolent Creole of St. Louis caring for little more than the enjoyment of the present hour; amotley population, half-civilized, half-barbarous, thrown, on hiscanvas, into one general, confused (I allow highly _picturesque_) mass, without respect of persons: but it is fair to say, with due homage tothe talent of the sketcher, who has verged slightly on caricature in theuse of that humor-loving pencil admired by all the world, that St. Louiseven then contained its noble, industrious, and I may say, princelymerchants; it could boast its _Chouteaus_, _Soulands_, _Céré_, _Chéniers_, _Vallées_, and _La Croix_, with other kindred spirits, whosedescendants prove the worth of their sires by their own, and are nowamong the leading business men, as their fathers were the pioneers, ofthe flourishing St. Louis. 

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

APPENDIX. [AM]

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

[Footnote AM: We have thought it best to give this Appendix, exceptingsome abbreviations rendered necessary to avoid repetition of what hasbeen stated before, in Mr. Franchere's own words, particularly as aspecimen of his own English style may be justly interesting to thereader. ]

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

Mr. Clapp went to the Marquesas Islands, where he entered into theservice of his country in the capacity of Midshipman under CommodorePorter--made his escape from there in company with Lieutenant Gamble ofthe Marine corps, by directions of the Commodore, was captured by theBritish, 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 themountains, and died a miserable death at _Bas de la Rivière_, Winipeg. Donald M'Kenzie, his coadjutor, went back to the Columbia River, wherehe amassed a considerable fortune, with which he retired, and lived inChautauque County in this state, where he died a few years since unknownand neglected:--he was a very selfish man, who cared for no one buthimself. 

It remains only to speak of Messrs. J. C. Halsey, Russell, Farnham, andAlfred 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 Russianestablishment at Sitka, Norfolk Sound, where they fell in with two orthree more American vessels, which had come to trade with the natives orto avoid the British cruisers. While there, a sail under British colorsappeared, and Mr. Hunt sent Mr. Seton to ascertain who she was. Sheturned out to be the "Forester, " Captain Pigott, a repeating signal shipand letter-of-marque, sent from England in company of a fleet intendedfor the South Seas. On further acquaintance with the captain, Mr. Seton(from whom I derive these particulars) learned a fact which has neverbefore been published, and which will show the solicitude andperseverance of Mr. ASTOR. After despatching the "Lark" from New York, fearing that she might be intercepted by the British, he sent orders tohis 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 atSitka, and proceeding himself northward, landed Mr. Farnham on the coastof _Kamskatka_, to go over land with despatches for Mr. Astor. Mr. Farnham accomplished the journey, reached Hamburg, whence he sailed forthe West Indies, and finally arrived at New York, having made the entirecircuit of the globe. 

The "Pedlar" then sailed to the southeast, and soon reached the coast ofCalifornia, which she approached to get a supply of provisions. Nearingone of the harbors, they descried a vessel at anchor inside, showingAmerican colors. Hauling their wind, they soon came close to thestranger, which, to their surprise, turned out to be the Spanishcorvette "Santa Barbara, " which sent boats alongside the "Pedlar, " andcaptured her, and kept possession of the prize for some two months, during which they dropped down to _San Blas_. Here Mr. Hunt proposed toMr. Seton to cross the continent and reach the United States the bestway he could. Mr. Seton, accordingly, went to the Isthmus of Darien, where he was detained several months by sickness, but finally reachedCarthagena, where a British fleet was lying in the roads, to take offthe English merchants, who in consequence of the revolutionarymovements going on, sought shelter under their own flag. Here Mr. Seton, reduced to the last stage of destitution and squalor, boldly applied toCaptain Bentham, the commander of the squadron, who, finding him to be agentleman, offered him every needful assistance, gave him a berth in hisown 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 foursurvivors--Ramsay Crooks, Esq. The late President of the American FurCompany; Alfred Seton, Esq. , Vice-president of the Sun Mutual InsuranceCompany; both of New York city; Benjamin Pillet of Canada; and theauthor, living also in New York. All the rest have paid the debt ofnature, but their names are recorded in the foregoing pages. 

Notwithstanding the illiberal remarks made by Captain Thorn on thepersons who were on board the ill-fated Tonquin, and reproduced by Mr. Irving in his "Astoria"--these young men who were represented as "Barkeepers or Billiard markers, most of whom had fled from Justice, &c. "--Ifeel it a duty to say that they were for the most part, of goodparentage, liberal education and every way were qualified to dischargethe duties of their respective stations. The remarks on the generalcharacter of the voyageurs employed as boat-men and Mechanics, and theattempt to cast ridicule on their "Braggart and swaggering manners" comewith a bad grace from the author of "Astoria, " when we consider that inthat very work Mr. Irving is compelled to admit their indomitableenergy, their fidelity to their employers, and their cheerfulness underthe most trying circumstances in which men can be placed. 

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

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

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.