MR. HUNT Was Overwhelmed With Surprise When He Learnt The
Resolution Taken By The Partners To Abandon Astoria.
He soon
found, however, that matters had gone too far, and the minds of
his colleagues had become too firmly bent upon the measure, to
render any opposition of avail.
He was beset, too, with the same
disparaging accounts of the interior trade, and of the whole
concerns and prospects of the company that had been rendered to
Mr. Astor. His own experience had been full of perplexities and
discouragements. He had a conscientious anxiety for the interests
of Mr. Astor, and, not comprehending the extended views of that
gentleman, and his habit of operating with great amounts, he had
from the first been daunted by the enormous expenses required,
and had become disheartened by the subsequent losses sustained,
which appeared to him to be ruinous in their magnitude. By
degrees, therefore, he was brought to acquiesce in the step taken
by his colleagues, as perhaps advisable in the exigencies of the
case; his only care was to wind up the business with as little
further loss as possible to Mr. Astor.
A large stock of valuable furs was collected at the factory,
which it was necessary to get to a market. There were twenty-five
Sandwich Islanders also in the employ of the company, whom they
were bound, by express agreement, to restore to their native
country. For these purposes a ship was necessary.
The Albatross was bound to the Marquesas, and thence to the
Sandwich Islands.
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