The Lark might reach Astoria in safety
and, that, aided by her supplies, and by the good management of
Mr. Hunt and his associates, the little colony might be able to
maintain itself until the return of peace.
CHAPTER LVI.
Affairs of State at Astoria.-M'Dougal Proposes for the Hand of An
Indian Princess- Matrimonial Embassy to Comcomly.- Matrimonial
Notions Among the Chinooks.- Settlements and Pin-Money.- The
Bringing Home of the Bride.- A Managing Father-in-Law.- Arrival
of Mr. Hunt at Astoria.
WE have hitherto had so much to relate of a gloomy and disastrous
nature, that it is with a feeling of momentary relief we turn to
something of a more pleasing complexion, and record the first,
and indeed only nuptials in high life that took place in the
infant settlement of Astoria.
M'Dougal, who appears to have been a man of a thousand projects,
and of great, though somewhat irregular ambition, suddenly
conceived the idea of seeking the hand of one of the native
princesses, a daughter of the one-eyed potentate Comcomly, who
held sway over the fishing tribe of the Chinooks, and had long
supplied the factory with smelts and sturgeons.
Some accounts give rather a romantic origin to this affair,
tracing it to the stormy night when M'Dougal, in the course of an
exploring expedition, was driven by stress of weather to seek
shelter in the royal abode of Comcomly.
