New disposition of the 

 squadron. 



LOSS OF THE PEACOCK. 



Vincennes sails for San 

 Francisco. 



291 



from the officers and naturalists, in reply to a call 

 I made upon them, for the aspect in which the 

 transactions presented themselves to those present; 

 and more particularly to those of the latter gentle- 

 men, who, as spectators, had an opportunity of 

 witnessing the whole proceedings. 



By three o'clock, Lieutenant Emmons, with the 

 boats, was again approaching the ship; but the sea 

 was still too rough to venture near her, and it was 

 not till five o'clock that he succeeded in getting 

 alongside, when the remaining men were distributed 

 among the boats, and embarked in good order, 

 Captain Hudson being the last to leave the ship. 

 After a pull of two miles, they landed in Baker's 

 Bay, when Captain Hudson was received by the 

 other officers and men with three hearty cheers, 

 the spontaneous expression of their admiration and 

 gratitude for the courage and conduct he had ex- 

 hibited in his efforts for the preservation of the 

 ship, and in finally preserving the lives of all. 



The exertions of the officers and men were not 

 yet at an end ; for some faint hopes were enter- 

 tained that a portion of the property might still be 

 saved from the wreck, as a relief in their state of 

 utter destitution ; and, in consequence, the boats 

 were despatched the next morning at daybreak to 

 the bar. But nothing was there to be seen of the 

 Peacock, except the cap of her bowsprit ; for her 

 upper deck had been separated, and the pieces 

 scattered for many miles along the coast. 



Captain Hudson passed the highest encomiums 

 on his officers and crew, for the faithful manner in 

 which they continued to perform their duties and 

 carry out his orders to the very last. 



I am satisfied that every thing that seamanship 

 could devise to save the vessel, was resorted to; 

 and I am quite confident that when the facts are 

 all known and fully weighed by the community, the 

 conduct of Captain Hudson, and that of his officers 

 and crew, in this perilous and trying scene, will be 

 considered as redounding to the credit of the 

 service. 



Mr. Birnie, the agent of the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany at Astoria, Messrs. Frost and Koen, the 

 missionaries, with several residents, came promptly 

 to the aid of the shipwrecked crew, with provisions, 

 tents, cooking utensils, and clothing, all vying with 

 each other in affording assistance. 



When all hopes of getting any thing from the 

 wreck were at an end, Captain Hudson sent the 

 crew to Astoria, in the boats, with orders to form 

 an encampment there, where they found an ample 

 supply of provisions in the stores that had been 

 sent from the Sandwich Islands, and were supplied 

 with clothing by the kindness of Dr. M'Laughlin 

 and the officers of the Hudson Bay Company. 



As soon as I learned the exact state of affairs in 

 the river, I determined to make such disposition of 

 the squadron as would be most advantageous, in 



the performance, under the new circumstances, of 

 the duties which remained to be accomplished. 



With this intent, I resolved to shift my pennant 

 to the Porpoise, and with that vessel, the Flying- 

 Fish, and the boats of the Peacock, to survey the 

 Columbia to its extreme navigable point. This 

 force would be amply sufficient to perform this 

 survey in the shortest possible time, and yet enable 

 me to despatch a party, as I had before intended, 

 through the southern section of the Oregon ter- 

 ritory to San Francisco. The Vincennes, to which 

 I ordered Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, I 

 resolved to send to San Francisco, to make a sur- 

 vey of the Sacramento river, while I was engaged 

 upon that of the Columbia. 



In conformity with this plan, I directed the Vin- 

 cennes to be off and on at tire mouth of the river, 

 while I proceeded in with the Porpoise to make 

 the necessary changes and transfers. Taking Mr. 

 Knox, and Ramsey the pilot, on board the latter 

 vessel, we passed the bar and stood towards 

 Astoria, but were compelled by the tide to anchor 

 before reaching that place. On the morning of 

 the 7th, we anchored in front of Astoria, where all 

 the necessary arrangements were completed ; and 

 Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, on the next 

 day, proceeded in the Flying-Fish, with the trans- 

 ferred officers, to join the Vincennes. As soon as 

 this was effected, that vessel bore away for San 

 Francisco, and the tender returned to the rivei\ 



As it became absolutely necessary to economize 

 our time as much as possible, every disposition was 

 now made of the men and boats. I soon, however, 

 found that, although I had sent a number of men to 

 the Vincennes, there would be many that could 

 not be well accommodated in the smaller vessel, 

 and I was desirous, of procuring some extra ac- 

 commodation. Fortunately, the American brig, 

 the Thomas H. Perkins, Captain Varney, was 

 lying at Astoria ; and a reasonable agreement 

 was entered into for her purchase. Dr. M'Laugh- 

 liu, who had entered into a charter party, readily 

 agreed to surrender it for a small consideration, 

 if the goods he had on board were delivered 

 at Vancouver. This there was no difficulty in, as 

 it was found necessary to make some alterations in 

 her accommodations, and it would be necessary to 

 resort to Vancouver for many articles; and these 

 repairs could be easily effected during the time we 

 were engaged in the survey of the river, and better 

 at Vancouver than elsewhere. It was, therefore, 

 determined to proceed up with both vessels, at the 

 time of making the survey. 



It is now proper that I should return to the 

 regular order of events, and take up the narra- 

 tion of the interesting cruise of the Peacock, the 

 unforeseen and disastrous termination of which has i 

 just been related. 



c 2 



