Stuart and Clarke
felt highly displeased at his taking so precipitate a step,
without waiting for their concurrence, when he must have known
that their arrival could not be far distant.
Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal was such as to awaken
strong doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause. His old
sympathies with the Northwest Company seem to have revived. He
had received M'Tavish and his party with uncalled for
hospitality, as though they were friends and allies, instead of
being a party of observation, come to reconnoitre the state of
affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a hostile ship.
Had they been left to themselves, they would have been starved
off for want of provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who
only wanted a signal from the factory to treat them as intruders
and enemies. M'Dougal, on the contrary, had supplied them from
the stores of the garrison, and had gained them the favor of the
Indians, by treating them as friends.
Having set his mind fixedly on the project of breaking up the
establishment at Astoria, in the current year, M'Dougal was
sorely disappointed at finding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke had
omitted to comply with his request to purchase horses and
provisions for the caravan across the mountains.
