Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 7).djvu/259

 wreck belonged to the state. "Who," said Tammeatameah, "brought the ship to shore?" "The waves," replied Mr. Ogden. "Then the waves are mine," rejoined the king. "Had you brought the vessel to land," said his majesty to Mr. Ogden, "the ship and cargo both would have belonged to you, and I should have granted you protection and restitution; but as you abandoned the wreck at sea, and fortune drove it on my territories, the wreck is no longer yours but mine. The clothing you and your people brought to shore, shall be restored; but whatever was in the ship, at the time of her stranding or grounding, belongs to me:" and here the conversation ended.

Such, then, was the fate of the unfortunate Lark, and such the statement of her commander to Mr. Hunt on his arrival at the Sandwich Islands; and here again we must leave Mr. Hunt in the happy isles, while we go back to see what is passing in the Columbia interior, and after that we shall return {263} again to the subject of Mr. Hunt's voyage: by so doing, we shall conform better to the natural connection of the different subjects, without perplexing the reader's attention. In the mean time, it may be stated that Messrs. M'Kenzie and John Stuart proceeded to the interior, to see the property delivered over to the North-West Company, agreeably to the late contract. After these gentlemen had settled the business at Spokane, and assembled all the people of the late concern belonging to that district, they came to me at Oakinacken on the 15th of December: here also Mr. Stuart, from the She Whaps, had arrived with the men of that quarter. Finishing, then, the business at Oakinacken, we all prepared to embark, and left that place for Fort George on the 20th of December.