Page:Astoria by Irving.djvu/370

366 for Americans or Englishmen, according to the exigencies of the case.

The vessel proved to be the British sloop-of-war Racoon, of twenty-six guns and one hundred and twenty men, commanded by Captain Black. According to the account of that officer, the frigate Phoebe, and the two sloops-of-war Cherub and Racoon, had sailed in convoy of the Isaac Todd, from Rio Janeiro. On board of the Phoebe Mr. John M'Donald, a partner of the Northwest Company, embarked as passenger, to profit by the anticipated catastrophe at Astoria. The convoy was separated by stress of weather off Cape Horn. The three ships of war came together again at the island of Juan Fernandez, their appointed rendezvous, but waited in vain for the Isaac Todd.

In the meantime intelligence was received of the mischief that Commodore Porter was doing among the British whaleships. Commodore Hillyer immediately set sail in quest of him, with the Phoebe and the Cherub, transferring Mr. M'Donald to the Racoon, and ordering that vessel to proceed to the Columbia.

The officers of the Racoon were in high spirits. The agents of the Northwest Company, in instigating the expedition, had talked of immense booty to be made by the fortunate captors of Astoria. Mr. M'Donald had kept up the excitement during the voyage, so that not a midshipman but revelled in dreams of ample prize-money, nor a lieutenant that would have sold his chance for a thousand pounds. Their disappointment, therefore, may easily be conceived, when they learned that their warlike attack upon Astoria had been forestalled by a snug commercial arrangement; that their anticipated booty had become British property in the regular course of traffic, and that all this had been effected by the very company which had been instrumental in getting them sent on what they now stigmatized as a fool's errand. They felt as if they had been duped and made tools of, by a set of shrewd men of traffic, who had employed them to crack the nut while they carried off the kernel. In a word, M'Dougal found himself so ungraciously received by his countrymen onboard of the ship, that he was glad to cut short his visit and return to shore. He was busy at the fort making preparations for the reception of the captain of the Racoon, when his one-eyed Indian father-in-law made his appearance, with a train of Chinook warriors, all painted and equipped in warlike style.