560 WASHINGTON IRVING^ ASTORIA. 



the intention to leave the country. This alliance, therefore, would infallibly 

 rivet Comcomly to the interests of the Astorians, and with him the powerful 

 tribe of the Chinooks. Be this as it may, and it is hard to fathom the real 

 policy of governors and princes, M'Dougal despatched two of the clerks as 

 ambassadors extraordinary, to wait upon the one-eyed chieftain, and make 

 overtures for the hand of his daughter. 



" We have more than once had occasion to speak of the shrewdness of 

 Comcomly ; but never was it exerted more adroitly than on this occasion. 

 He was a great friend of M'Dougal, and pleased with the idea of having so 

 distinguished a son-in-law ; but so favourable an opportunity of benefiting 

 his own fortune was not likely to occur a second time, and he determined to 

 make the most of it. Accordingly, the negotiation was protracted with true 

 diplomatic skill. Conference after conference was held with the two ambas- 

 sadors ; Comcomly was extravagant in his terms ; rating the charms of his 

 daughter at the highest price, and indeed she is represented as having one of 

 the flattest and most aristocratical heads in the tribe. At length the preli- 

 minaries were all happily adjusted. On the 20th of July, early in the after- 

 noon, a squadron of canoes crossed from the village of the Chinooks, bearing 

 the royal family of Comcomly, and all his court. 



"That worthy sachem landed in princely state, arrayed in a bright blue 

 blanket and red breech clout, with an extra quantity of paint and feathers, 

 attended by a train of half-naked warriors and nobles. A horse was in wait- 

 ing to receive the princess, who was mounted behind one of the clerks, and 

 thus conveyed, coy but compliant, to the fortress. Here she was received 

 with devout though decent joys by her expecting bridegroom. Her bridal 

 adornments, it is true, at first caused some little dismay, having painted and 

 anointed herself for the occasion according to the Chinook toilet ; by dint, 

 however, of copious ablutions, she was free from all adventitious tint and 

 fragrance, and entered into the nuptial state the cleanest princess that had 

 ever been known, of the somewhat unctuous tribe of the Chinooks." Vol. 

 Hi. p. 188192. 



So much for Mr. M'Dougal, the unworthy partner of the expe- 

 dition, who was undoubtedly the main cause of its subsequent aban- 

 donment to the North-west Company. Leaving him to the enjoy- 

 ment of his squaw, we proceed, however briefly, to notice the 

 indefatigable exertions of the zealous and conscientious Mr. Hunt, 

 who went through a variety of adventures in different parts of the 

 Pacific with the view of enlarging the Company's commercial con- 

 nexions, " that might have furnished a chapter in the wanderings of 

 Sinbad." What must have been the surprise and grief of this active 

 partner on his arrival at Astoria in the Albatross on the 20th of Au- 

 gust 1813, to find that all his brightest hopes had been frustrated by 

 the timidity or misconduct of his coadjutors in the Astorian company 1 ? 

 Indeed, from the date of his departure in the Beaver, nothing seemed 

 to go on well. Fears from the Indians, the uncertainty of supplies by 

 sea, and a considerable portion of a negative quality, viz., dishonesty, 

 caused him to become very easily the dupe of a certain Mr. J. G. 

 M'Tavish, a partner in the North-west Company, who fooled him 

 and his comrades to the top of their bent with all kinds of unwelcome 

 intelligence. Frightened out of their common prudence, they agreed 

 to surrender at discretion, and arrangements for breaking up the 

 establishment were actually on foot, when Mr. Hunt arrived at the 

 colony. Mr. Hunt, it appears, was in some measure infected with 

 the North-westo-phobia, or perhaps he bent to an imperious neces- 



