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/270

 the men came to his assistance, and for a while succeeded in keeping back their assailants, who every moment became more daring, and evinced not merely a determination to revenge the death of their countrymen, but to seize and carry away all the merchandise in the portage. Mr. Keith having observed a large reinforcement of the savages from the opposite side approach in their war-canoes, to join those by whom Mr. Stewart was surrounded, and seeing that gentlman's wounds bleeding profusely, felt that it would have been foolish obstinacy, and would have produced an unnecessary sacrifice of lives to remain longer in such a dangerous situation. He therefore determined to abandon the goods; and having embarked Mr. Stewart, the whole party pushed off in one canoe, leaving the other, with all the property, to the mercy of the Indians. The latter were so overjoyed at becoming masters of such an unexpected quantity of plunder, that they allowed the party to effect their retreat unmolested; and on the second day the canoe reached Fort George.

Among the goods thus abandoned were upwards of fifty guns, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, which, if allowed to remain in the hands of the savages, might have been turned