isited, the body had
been stolen, in all likelihood for cannibal rites, as no more degraded
savages exist than those of this archipelago. Over on Queen Charlotte
Island, Kendrick, who had returned from China on the _Lady Washington_,
{232} was having his own time. One day, when all had gone below decks
to rest, a taunting laugh was heard from the hatchway. Kendrick rushed
above to find Indians scrambling over the decks of the _Lady
Washington_ like a nest of disgruntled hornets. A warrior flourished
the key of the ammunition chest, which stood by the hatchway, in
Kendrick's face with the words: "Key is mine! So is the ship!"

If Kendrick had hesitated for the fraction of a second, all would have
been lost, as on Astor's ship a few years later; but before the savages
had time for any concerted signal, he had seized the speaker by the
scruff of the neck, and tossed him into the sea. In a second every
savage had scuttled over decks; but the scalp of Kendrick's son Solomon
was found on the beach. Henceforth neither Kendrick nor Gray allowed
more than ten savages on board at a time, and Kendrick at once headed
south to take the harvest of furs to China. At Nootka things had gone
from bad to worse between the English and the Spaniards. Though
Kendrick bought great tracts of land from the Indian chiefs at Nootka
for the price of a copper kettle, he judged it prudent to keep away
from a Spanish commander, whose mission it was to capture the ships of
rival traders; so the American sloop moored in Clayoquot, south of
Nootka, where Gray found Kendrick ready to sail for China by September.

At Clayoquot was built the first American fort on the Pacific coast.
Here Gray erected winter quarters. {233} The _Columbia_ was unrigged
and beached. The dense forest rang with the sound of the choppers.
The enormous spruce, cedar, and fir trees were hewn into logs for
several cabins and a barracks, the bark slabs being used as a palisade.
Inside the main house were quarters for ten men. Loopholes punctured
all sides of the house. Two cannon were mounted outside the window
embrasures, one inside the gate or door. The post was named Fort
Defence. Sentinels kept guard night and day. Military discipline was
maintained, and divine service held each Sunday. On October 3 timbers
were laid for a new ship, to be called the _Adventure_, to collect furs
for the _Columbia_. All the winter of 1791-1792, Gray visited the
Indians, sent med