July for the
time of departure. Messrs. Stuart and Clarke felt highly displeased at
his taking so precipitate a step, without waiting for their concurrence,
when he must have known that their arrival could not be far distant.

Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal was such as to awaken strong
doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause. His old sympathies with
the Northwest Company seem to have revived. He had received M'Tavish and
his party with uncalled for hospitality, as though they were friends and
allies, instead of being a party of observation, come to reconnoitre the
state of affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a hostile ship.
Had they been left to themselves, they would have been starved off for
want of provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who only wanted
a signal from the factory to treat them as intruders and enemies.
M'Dougal, on the contrary, had supplied them from the stores of the
garrison, and had gained them the favor of the Indians, by treating them
as friends.

Having set his mind fixedly on the project of breaking up the
establishment at Astoria, in the current year, M'Dougal was sorely
disappointed at finding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke had omitted
to comply with his request to purchase horses and provisions for the
caravan across the mountains. It was now too late to make the necessary
preparations in time for traversing the mountains before winter, and the
project had to be postponed.

In the meantime, the non-arrival of the annual ship, and the
apprehensions entertained of the loss of the Beaver and of Mr. Hunt, had
their effect upon the minds of Messrs. Stuart and Clarke. They began
to listen to the desponding representations of M'Dougal, seconded
by M'Kenzie, who inveighed against their situation as desperate and
forlorn; left to shift for themselves, or perish upon a barbarous coast;
neglected by those who sent them there; and threatened with dangers
of every kind. In this way they were brought to consent to the plan of
abandoning the country in the ensuing year.

About this time, M'Tavish applied at the factory to purchase a small
supply of goods wherewith to trade his way back to his post on the upper
waters of the Columbia, having waited in vain for the arrival of the
Isaac Todd. His request brought on a consultation among the partners.
M'Dougal urged that it should be complied with. He furthermore proposed,
that they should give up to M'Tavish, for a proper c