harbors, in order to procure as many furs as possible, and to touch at
the Columbia river before she finally left these seas for the United
States, it was unanimously resolved among the partners, that Mr. M'Kay
should join the cruise, as well to aid the captain, as to obtain correct
information in regard to the commerce with the natives on that coast.
Mr. M'Kay selected Messrs. J. Lewis and O. de Montigny to accompany him;
but the latter having represented that the sea made him sick, was
excused; and Mr. M'Kay shipped in his place a young man named Louis
Bruslé, to serve him in the capacity of domestic, being one of the young
Canadian sailors. I had the good fortune not to be chosen for this
disastrous voyage, thanks to my having made myself useful at the
establishment. Mr. Mumford (the second mate) owed the same happiness to
the incompatibility of his disposition with that of the captain; he had
permission to remain, and engaged with the company in place of Mr. Aikin
as coaster, and in command of the schooner.[I]

[Footnote I: This schooner was found too small for the purpose. Mr.
Astor had no idea of the dangers to be met at the mouth of the Colombia,
or he would have ordered the frame of a vessel of at least one hundred
tons. The frames shipped in New York were used in the construction of
this one only, which was employed solely in the river trade.]

On the 5th of June, the ship got out to sea, with a good wind. We
continued in the meantime to labor without intermission at the
completion of the storehouse, and in the erection of a dwelling for
ourselves, and a powder magazine. These buildings were constructed of
hewn logs, and, in the absence of boards, tightly covered and roofed
with cedar bark. The natives, of both sexes, visited us more frequently,
and formed a pretty considerable camp near the establishment.