FROM NISQUALLY TO COLUMBIA RIVER. 257 



couver the principal trading port, Astoria has been suffered 

 to decline ; and, now, all it can boast of is some half-dozen log 

 houses, and as many shades, which, of course, is a great falling 

 off, if the accounts of its former size and prosperity be true. 



There are many Indians hanging round Astoria ; most of 

 them belong to the Clatsop tribe, whose principal town is 

 situated near Point Adams. They have an American mis- 

 sionary among them, by the name of Frost, and I should judge 

 they had need for many more, for certainly they are the most 

 degraded set of beings we have seen since our arrival in the 

 country. They will sell anything they have for rum, and while 

 it lasts they are never sober ; they are likewise much addicted 

 to lying and stealing. It is also said of them that they are very 

 belligerent ; there is scarcely a tribe on the coast with which 

 they are on friendly terms. A white man, however, can 

 travel through any part of their territory quite as safely as he 

 can in any other, for the Hudson's Bay Company are sure to 

 punish all murders, or robberies, with death ; and the severity, 

 as well as the certainty of the punishment, is sufficient to pre- 

 vent the commission of such crimes more frequently than they 

 occur in civilized countries. About a year since, a white man 

 was murdered for his property by a slave belonging to a Chief; 

 the instant the murder was made known to the Company, the 

 slave was seized, and hung in presence of all the tribe. 



We performed our jaunt to Vancouver in a flat- bottomed 

 barge, furnished by Mr. Birnie. These boats are, from their 

 light draft of water, exceedingly well adapted for the naviga- 

 tion of the river. They are used by the Company to carry 

 freight up and down the river, and are capable of carryiug 

 large cargoes, and when well-manned can make quite as much 

 headway as a canoe. 



The breadth of the river gradually diminishes as you ap- 



