be repurchased at an advance of fifty per cent.  This overture was not calculated to soothe the angry feelings of Mr. Hunt, and his indignation was complete, when he discovered that M’Dougal had become a partner of the Northwest Company, and had actually been so since the 23d of December.  He had kept his partnership a secret, however; had retained the papers of the Pacific Fur Company in his possession; and had continued to act as Mr. Astor’s agent, though two of the partners of the other company, Mr. M’Kenzie and Mr. Clarke, were present.  He had, moreover, divulged to his new associates all that he knew as to Mr. Astor’s plans and affairs, and had made copies of his business letters for their perusal.

Mr. Hunt now considered the whole conduct of M’Dougal hollow and collusive.  His only thought was, therefore, to get all the papers of the concern out of his hands, and bring the business to a close; for the interests of Mr. Astor were yet completely at stake; the drafts of the Northwest Company in his favor, for the purchase money, not having yet been obtained.  With some difficulty he succeeded in getting possession of the papers.  The bills or drafts were delivered without hesitation.  The latter he remitted to Mr. Astor by some of his associates, who were about to cross the continent to New York.  This done, he embarked on board the Pedler, on the 3d of April, accompanied by two of the clerks, Mr. Seton and Mr. Halsey, and bade a final adieu to Astoria.

The next day, April 4th, Messrs. Clarke, M’Kenzie, David Stuart, and such of the Astorians as had not entered into the service of the Northwest Company, set out to cross the Rocky Mountains.  It is not our intention to take the reader another journey across those rugged barriers; but we will step forward with the travellers to a distance on their way, merely to relate their interview with a character already noted in this work.

As the party were proceeding up the Columbia, near the mouth of the Wallah-Wallah River, several Indian canoes put off from the shore to overtake them, and a voice called upon them in French and requested them to stop.  They accordingly put to shore, and were joined by those in the canoes.  To their surprise, they recognized in the person who had hailed them the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, accompanied by her two children.  She had a story to tell, involving the fate of several of our unfortunate adventurers.

Mr. John Reed, the Hibernian, it will be remembered, had been detached during the summer to the Snake River.  His party consisted of four Canadians, Giles Le Clerc, Francois Landry, Jean Baptiste Turcot, and Andre La Chapelle, together with two hunters, Pierre Dorion and Pierre Delaunay; Dorion, as usual, being accompanied by his wife and children.  The objects of this expedition were twofold:  to trap beaver, and to search for the three hunters, Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner.

In the course of the autumn, Reed lost one man, Landry, by death; another one, Pierre Delaunay, who was of a sullen, perverse disposition, left him in a moody fit, and was never heard of afterwards.  The number of his party was not, however, reduced by these losses, as the three hunters, Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner, had joined it.