Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/102

 astronomer to the North-west Company, of which he was also a proprietor, arrived with nine men in a canoe at Astoria, from the interior. This gentleman came on a voyage of discovery to the Columbia, preparatory to the North-west Company forming a settlement at the entrance of the river. He remained at Astoria until the latter end of July, when he took his departure for the interior; Mr. David Stuart, with three clerks and a party of Canadians accompanying him, for the purpose of selecting a proper place on the upper parts of the river for a trading establishment.

Early in the month of August a party of Indians from Gray's Harbour arrived at the mouth of the Columbia for the purpose of fishing. They told the Chinooks that the Tonquin had been cut off by one of the northern tribes, and that every soul on board had been massacred. This intelligence was not at first believed; but several other rumours of a similar nature having reached Astoria, caused considerable uneasiness, particularly as the month passed away without any news of a satisfactory nature having been received.

During the month of September the people at the fort were kept in a state of feverish alarm