furnish a constant supply of provisions
to Astoria.

As there was too great a proportion of clerks for the number of privates
in the service, the engagements of three of them, Ross Cox, Ross,
and M'Lennan, were surrendered to them, and they immediately enrolled
themselves in the service of the Northwest Company; glad, no doubt, to
escape from what they considered a sinking ship.

Having made all these arrangements, the four partners, on the first of
July, signed a formal manifesto, stating the alarming state of their
affairs, from the non-arrival of the annual ship, and the absence and
apprehended loss of the Beaver, their want of goods, their despair of
receiving any further supply, their ignorance of the coast, and their
disappointment as to the interior trade, which they pronounced unequal
to the expenses incurred, and incompetent to stand against the powerful
opposition of the Northwest Company. And as by the 16th article of the
company's agreement, they were authorized to abandon this undertaking,
and dissolve the concern, if before the period of five years it should
be found unprofitable, they now formally announced their intention to
do so on the 1st day of June, of the ensuing year, unless in the interim
they should receive the necessary support and supplies from Mr. Astor,
or the stockholders, with orders to continue.

This instrument, accompanied by private letters of similar import, was
delivered to Mr. M'Tavish, who departed on the 5th of July. He engaged
to forward the despatches to Mr. Astor, by the usual winter express sent
overland by the Northwest Company.

The manifesto was signed with great reluctance by Messrs. Clarke and D.
Stuart, whose experience by no means justified the discouraging
account given in it of the internal trade, and who considered the
main difficulties of exploring an unknown and savage country, and of
ascertaining the best trading and trapping grounds, in a great measure
overcome. They were overruled, however, by the urgent instances
of M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, who, having resolved upon abandoning the
enterprise, were desirous of making as strong a case as possible to
excuse their conduct to Mr. Astor and to the world.

CHAPTER LV.

Anxieties of Mr. Astor.--Memorial of the Northwest Company--
Tidings of a British Naval Expedition Against Astoria.--Mr.
Astor Applies to Government for Protection.--The Frigate
Adams Ordered to be Fitted Out.--Bright New