Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/68



60 LIEUTENANT HOWISON REPORT ON OREGON, 1846

F.

OREGON CITY, December 21, 1846.

DEAR SIR: I received your esteemed favor of the 1st De- cember, accompanied with the flags of the late U. S. schooner "Shark," (an ensign and union-jack) as a "memento of parental regard from the general government" to the citizens of this Territory.

Please accept my thanks and the thanks of this community for the (to us) very valuable present. We will fling it to the breeze on every suitable occasion, and rejoice under the em- blem of our country's glory. Sincerely hoping that the "star- spangled banner" may ever wave over this portion of the United States, I remain, dear sir, yours truly,

GEO. ABERNETHY. NEIL HOWISON,

Lieutenant commanding, &c., &c.

G.

A very snug harbor has within a few years been sounded out and taken possession of by the Hudson's Bay Company on the southeastern part of Vancouver's island. They have named it Victoria, and it is destined to become the most important British seaport contiguous to our territory. Eighteen feet water can be carried into its inmost recesses, which is a fine large basin. There is besides pretty good anchorage for fri- gates outside this basin. The company are making this their principal shipping port, depositing, by means of small craft during the summer, all their furs and other articles for the English market at this place, which is safe for their large ships to enter during the winter season. They no longer permit them to come into the Columbia between November and March.