Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 29).djvu/199

 opposite shore, and then you will recognise me." He is not a {113} beaver hunter, said I to myself; yet under this tattered garb and slouched hat, I could not easily descry one of the principal members of the Hon. Hudson Bay Co., the worthy and respectable Mr. Ogden. I had the honor and good fortune of making a voyage with him, and in his own barge, from Colville to Fort Vancouver, in 1842; and no one could desire more agreeable society.[89] It would be necessary for you to traverse the desert, to feel yourself insulated, remote from brethren, friends, to conceive the consolation and joy of such an rencounter.

Mr. Ogden left England in the month of April last, accompanied by two distinguished officers. It was a source of great pleasure to receive recent news from Europe. The Oregon question appeared to me somewhat alarming. It was neither curiosity nor pleasure that induced these two officers to cross so many desolate regions, and hasten their course towards the mouth of the Columbia. They were invested with orders from their government to take possession of "Cape Disappointment," to hoist the English standard, and erect a fortress for the purpose of securing the entrance of the river, in case of war.[90] In the Oregon*