They had not been long posted in this manner, when they saw a canoe approaching.  It contained the war-chief of the tribe, and three of his principal warriors.  He drew near, and made a long harangue, in which he informed them that they had killed one and wounded another of his nation; that the relations of the slain cried out for vengeance, and he had been compelled to lead them to fight.  Still he wished to spare unnecessary bloodshed; he proposed, therefore, that Mr. Reed, who, he observed, was little better than a dead man, might be given up to be sacrificed to the manes of the deceased warrior.  This would appease the fury of his friends; the hatchet would then be buried, and all thenceforward would be friends.  The answer was a stern refusal and a defiance, and the war-chief saw that the canoes were well prepared for a vigorous defense.  He withdrew, therefore, and returning to his warriors among the rocks held long deliberations.  Blood for blood is a principle in Indian equity and Indian honor; but though the inhabitants of Wish-ram were men of war, they were likewise men of traffic, and it was suggested that honor for once might give way to profit.  A negotiation was accordingly opened with the white men, and after some diplomacy, the matter was compromised for a blanket to cover the dead, and some tobacco to be smoked by the living.  This being granted, the heroes of Wish-ram crossed the river once more, returned to their villages to feast upon the horses whose blood they had so vaingloriously drunk, and the travellers pursued their voyage without further molestation.

The tin case, however, containing the important despatches for New York, was irretrievably lost; the very precaution taken by the worthy Hibernian to secure his missives, had, by rendering them conspicuous, produced their robbery.  The object of his overland journey, therefore, being defeated, he gave up the expedition.  The whole party repaired with Mr. Robert Stuart to the establishment of Mr. David Stuart, on the Oakinagan River.  After remaining here two or three days, they all set out on their return to Astoria accompanied by Mr. David Stuart.  This gentleman had a large quantity of beaver skins at his establishment, but did not think it prudent to take them with him fearing the levy of “black mail” at the falls.

On their way down, when below the forks of the Columbia, they were hailed one day from the shore in English.  Looking around, they descried two wretched men, entirely naked.  They pulled to shore; the men came up and made themselves known.  They proved to be Mr. Crooks and his faithful follower, John Day.