Mr. M'Dougal undertook to comply; assuming the whole
management of the negotiation in virtue of the power vested in
him, in case of the non-arrival of Mr. Hunt. That power, however,
was limited and specific, and did not extend to an operation of
this nature and extent; no objection, however, was made to his
assumption, and he and M'Tavish soon made a preliminary
arrangement, perfectly satisfactory to the latter.
Mr. Stuart, and the reserve party of Northwesters, arrived
shortly afterwards, and encamped with M'Tavish. The former
exclaimed loudly against the terms of the arrangement, and
insisted upon a reduction of the prices. New negotiations had now
to be entered into. The demands of the Northwesters were made in
a peremptory tone, and they seemed disposed to dictate like
conquerors. The Americans looked on with indignation and
impatience. They considered M'Dougal as acting, if not a
perfidious, certainly a craven part. He was continually repairing
to the camp to negotiate, instead of keeping within his walls and
receiving overtures in his fortress. His case, they observed, was
not so desperate as to excuse such crouching. He might, in fact,
hold out for his own terms. The Northwest party had lost their
ammunition; they had no goods to trade with the natives for
provisions; and they were so destitute that M'Dougal had
absolutely to feed them, while he negotiated with them. He, on
the contrary, was well lodged and victualled; had sixty men, with
arms, ammunition, boats, and everything requisite either for
defense or retreat. The party, beneath the guns of his fort, were
at his mercy; should an enemy appear in the offing, he could pack
up the most valuable part of the property and retire to some
place of concealment, or make off for the interior.
These considerations, however, had no weight with Mr. M'Dougal,
or were overruled by other motives. The terms of sale were
lowered by him to the standard fixed by Mr. Stuart, and an
agreement executed on the 16th of October, by which the furs and
merchandise of all kinds in the country, belonging to Mr. Astor,
passed into the possession of the Northwest Company at about a
third of their value. * A safe passage through the Northwest
posts was guaranteed to such as did not choose to enter into the
service of that Company, and the amount of wages due to them was
to be deducted from the price paid for Astoria.
The conduct and motives of Mr. M'Dougal, throughout the whole of
this proceeding, have been strongly questioned by the other
partners. He has been accused of availing himself of a wrong
construction of powers vested in him at his own request, and of
sacrificing the interests of Mr. Astor to the Northwest Company,
under the promise or hope of advantage to himself.
He always insisted, however, that he made the best bargain for
Mr. Astor that circumstances would permit; the frigate being
hourly expected, in which case the whole property of that
gentleman would be liable to capture. That the return of Mr. Hunt
was problematical; the frigate intending to cruise along the
coast for two years, and clear it of all American vessels. He
moreover averred, and M'Tavish corroborated his averment by
certificate, that he proposed an arrangement to that gentleman,
by which the furs were to be sent to Canton, and sold there at
Mr. Astor's risk, and for his account; but the proposition was
not acceded to.
Notwithstanding all his representations, several of the persons
present at the transaction, and acquainted with the whole course
of the affair, and among the number Mr. M'Kenzie himself, his
occasional coadjutor, remained firm in the belief that he had
acted a hollow part. Neither did he succeed in exculpating
himself to Mr. Astor; that gentleman declaring, in a letter
written some time afterwards, to Mr. Hunt, that he considered the
property virtually given away. "Had our place and our property,"
he adds, "been fairly captured, I should have preferred it; I
should not feel as if I were disgraced."
All these may be unmerited suspicions; but it certainly is a
circumstance strongly corroborative of them, that Mr. M'Dougal,
shortly after concluding this agreement, became a member of the
Northwest Company, and received a share productive of a handsome
income.
* Not quite $40,000 were allowed for furs worth upwards of
$100,000. Beaver was valued at two dollars per skin, though worth
five dollars. Land otter at fifty cents, though worth five
dollars. Sea-otter at twelve dollars, worth from forty-five to
sixty dollars; and for several kinds of furs nothing was allowed.
Moreover, the goods and merchandise for the Indian trade ought to
have brought three times the amount for which they were sold.
The following estimate has been made of the articles on hand, and
the prices:
17,705 lbs. beaver parchment, valued at $2.00 worth $5.00
465 old coat beaver, valued at 1.66 worth 3.50
907 land otter, valued at .50 worth 5.00
68 sea-otter, valued at 12.00 worth 45 to 60.00
30 sea-otter, valued at 5.00 worth 25.00
Nothing was allowed for
179 mink skins, worth each .40
22 raccoon, worth each .40
28 lynx, worth each 2.00
18 fox, worth each 1.00
106 fox, worth each 1.50
71 black bear, worth each 4.00
16 grizzly bear, worth each 10.00
CHAPTER LX.
Arrival of a Strange Sail.- Agitation at Astoria.- Warlike Offer
of Comcomly. - Astoria Taken Possession of by the British. -
Indignation of Comcomly at the Conduct of His Son-in-Law.
0N the morning of the 30th of November, a sail was descried
doubling Cape Disappointment.
