In the meanwhile, Mr. Hunt soon saw reason to repent the resolution he had adopted in altering the destination of the ship.  His stay at the Sandwich Islands was prolonged far beyond expectation.  He looked in vain for the annual ship in the spring.  Month after month passed by, and still she did not make her appearance.  He, too, proved the danger of departing from orders.  Had he returned from St. Paul’s to Astoria, all the anxiety and despondency about his fate, and about the whole course of the undertaking, would have been obviated.  The Beaver would have received the furs collected at the factory and taken them to Canton, and great gains, instead of great losses, would have been the result.  The greatest blunder, however, was that committed by Captain Sowle.

At length, about the 20th of June, the ship Albatross, Captain Smith, arrived from China, and brought the first tidings of the war to the Sandwich Islands.  Mr. Hunt was no longer in doubt and perplexity as to the reason of the non-appearance of the annual ship.  His first thoughts were for the welfare of Astoria, and, concluding that the inhabitants would probably be in want of provisions, he chartered the Albatross for two thousand dollars, to land him, with some supplies, at the mouth of the Columbia, where he arrived, as we have seen, on the 20th of August, after a year’s seafaring that might have furnished a chapter in the wanderings of Sinbad.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Arrangements Among the Partners—­Mr. Hunt Sails in the Albatross.—­Arrives at the Marquesas—­News of the Frigate Phoebe.—­Mr. Hunt Proceeds to the Sandwich Islands.—­Voyage of the Lark.—­Her Shipwreck.—­Transactions With the Natives of the Sandwich Islands—­Conduct of Tamaahmaah.

Mr. Hunt was overwhelmed with surprise when he learnt the resolution taken by the partners to abandon Astoria.  He soon found, however, that matters had gone too far, and the minds of his colleagues had become too firmly bent upon the measure, to render any opposition of avail.  He was beset, too, with the same disparaging accounts of the interior trade, and of the whole concerns and prospects of the company that had been rendered to Mr. Astor.  His own experience had been full of perplexities and discouragements.  He had a conscientious anxiety for the interests of Mr. Astor, and, not comprehending the extended views of that gentleman, and his habit of operating with great amounts, he had from the first been daunted by the enormous expenses required, and had become disheartened by the subsequent losses sustained, which appeared to him to be ruinous in their magnitude.  By degrees, therefore, he was brought to acquiesce in the step taken by his colleagues, as perhaps advisable in the exigencies of the case; his only care was to wind up the business with as little further loss as possible to Mr. Astor.

A large stock of valuable furs was collected at the factory, which it was necessary to get to a market.  There were twenty-five Sandwich Islanders also in the employ of the company, whom they were bound, by express agreement, to restore to their native country.  For these purposes a ship was necessary.