THE NOR WESTERS COUP 27 



lay on the sand sodden with corruption; and if one 

 died from carousals, companions weighted neck and 

 feet with stones and pushed the corpse into the river. 

 Quarrels broke out between the wassailing governor 

 and the other partners. Emboldened, the underlings 

 and hangers-on indulged in all sorts of theft. &quot; All the 

 gentlemen were intoxicated/ writes one who was pres 

 ent; seven hours rowing one mile., innocently states the 

 record of another day, the tide running seven feet high 

 past the fort. 



The spring rains had ceased. Mountain peaks 

 emerged from the empurpled horizon in domes of opal 

 above the clouds, and the Columbia was running its 

 annual mill-race of spring floods, waters milky from 

 the silt of countless glaciers and turbulent from the 

 rush of a thousand cataracts. Governor MacTavish * 

 and Alexander Henry had embarked with six voyageurs 

 to cross the river. A blustering wind caught the sail. 

 A tidal wave pitched amidships. The craft filled and 

 sank within sight of the fort. 



So perished the conquerors of Astoria ! 



* In justice to the many descendants of the numerous clan 

 MacTavish in the service of the fur companies, this MacTavish 

 should be distinguished from others of blameless lives. 



