Page:Astoria by Irving.djvu/346

342 numerous packs of beaver, the result of a few months' sojourn on that river. These were the ﬁrst fruits of the enterprise, gathered by men as yet mere strangers in the land: but they were such as to give substantial grounds for sanguine anticipations of proﬁt, when the country should be more completely explored, and the trade established.

partners found Mr. M'Dougal in all the bustle of preparation; having about nine days previously announced at the factory, his intention of breaking up the establishment, and ﬁxed upon the 1st of July for the time of departure. Messrs. Stuart and Clarke felt highly displeased at his taking so precipitate a step, without waiting for their concurrence, when he must have known that their arrival could not be far distant.

Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal was such as to awaken strong doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause. His old sympathies with the Northwest Company seemed to have revived. He had received M'Tavish and his party with uncalled-for hospitality, as though they were friends and allies, instead of being a party of observation, come to reconnoitre the state of affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a hostile ship. Had they been left to themselves, they would have been starved off for want of provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who only wanted a signal from the factory to treat them as intruders and enemies. M'Dougal, on the contrary, had supplied them from the stores of the garrison, and had gained them the favor of the Indians, by treating them as friends.

Having set his mind ﬁxedly on the project of breaking up the establishment at Astoria, in the current year, M'Dougal was sorely disappointed at ﬁnding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke had omitted to comply with his request to purchase horses and provisions for the caravan across the mountains. It was now too late to make the necessary preparations in time for traversing the mountains before winter, and the project had to be postponed.

In the meantime the non-arrival of the annual ship, and the apprehensions entertained of the loss of the Beaver, and of Mr.