quin, for the voyage around Cape Horn. She was placed in charge of Captain Jonathan Thorn, and left New York under the convoy of the famous American warship Constitution. On board the Tonquin were several of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company, organized by Mr. Astor to carry out his project. Most of these had been engaged in Canada, among the men belonging to the Northwest Company. The clerks, too, were nearly all Canadians.[1] The Tonquin left New York on the 6th of September, 1810, rounded Cape Horn in December, and two months later arrived at the Hawaiian Islands. The voyage thus far had been without serious accident, but was marred by almost ceaseless wrangling between the captain and the Canadian partners. While a good disciplinarian, and doubtless a very successful commander on a ship of war, Captain Thorn was not well qualified to manage a group of independent Scotch and American fur traders.
Arrival at the Columbia; Astoria. When the ship arrived off the mouth of the Columbia, March 22, 181 1, new difficulties arose. The waves were running high, and the line of breakers across the entrance to the river struck terror to the hearts of inexperienced sailors. Yet the captain sent out men in the ship's boat to sound the channel, a proceeding in which seven of the little company lost their lives. Three days passed
- ↑ For a delightful account of the way these Canadians went down to New York, by boat, to await the sailing of the Tonquin, see Franchere's Narrative, New York, 1854, pp. 23–25.
