he had received very
disparaging accounts from Captain Thorn. The British government, also,
might deem it worth while to send a force against the establishment,
having been urged to do so some time previously by the Northwest
Company.

Under all these circumstances, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr. Monroe, then
secretary of state, requesting protection from the government of the
United States. He represented the importance of his settlement, in
a commercial point of view, and the shelter it might afford to the
American vessels in those seas. All he asked was that the American
government would throw forty or fifty men into the fort at his
establishment, which would be sufficient for its defense until he could
send reinforcements over land.

He waited in vain for a reply to this letter, the government, no doubt,
being engrossed at the time by an overwhelming crowd of affairs. The
month of March arrived, and the Lark was ordered by Mr. Astor to put to
sea. The officer who was to command her shrunk from his engagement, and
in the exigency of the moment, she was given in charge to Mr. Northrup,
the mate. Mr. Nicholas G. Ogden, a gentleman on whose talents and
integrity the highest reliance could be placed, sailed as supercargo.
The Lark put to sea in the beginning of March, 1813.

By this opportunity, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr. Hunt, as head of the
establishment at the mouth of the Columbia, for he would not allow
himself to doubt of his welfare. "I always think you are well," said he,
"and that I shall see you again, which Heaven, I hope, will grant."

He warned him to be on his guard against any attempts to surprise the
post; suggesting the probability of armed hostility on the part of the
Northwest Company, and expressing his indignation at the ungrateful
returns made by that association for his frank and open conduct, and
advantageous overtures. "Were I on the spot," said he, "and had the
management of affairs, I would defy them all; but, as it is, everything
depends upon you and your friends about you. Our enterprise is grand,
and deserves success, and I hope in God it will meet it. If my object
was merely gain of money, I should say, think whether it is best to save
what we can, and abandon the place; but the very idea is like a dagger
to my heart." This extract is sufficient to show the spirit and the
views which actuated Mr. Astor in this great undertaking.

Week after week and month after month elapsed, without anything to