inoffensive, but never cordial. The ultra-American and missionary portion of the inhabitants regarded them with disfavor, and beneath guarded phrases a covert sneer could be detected.[1]
There was another object in the gayeties of the Modeste, which was to avert the temptation on the part of the inferior officers and seamen to desert and take up a section of land, without price, under the Oregon land law. Though the legislature of 1844 had passed an act in relation to deserting seamen, that they should be returned to their vessels, there to be dealt with by their officers, the practice of abandoning their ships in the Columbia River was one that gave sea-captains much trouble. In a country so wild and free, it was useless to employ severe measures, even if a captain might venture it, and kindness and tact were judged by the officers of the Modeste and the Hudson's Bay Company as more effectual. Roberts remarks that sufficient importance has never been attached to the influence of the good order maintained at Fort Vancouver in preserving the peace of the country; and also that the naval service gave them more trouble than the landsmen, the captains of vessels often having to appeal to the authority of McLoughlin or Douglas to keep their men under control. Palmer, who visited Vancouver during the Christmas holidays, one of
- ↑ Recollections, MS., 5. At a ball held in McLoughlin's mill, one of the Modeste's officers wagered a bottle of wine that the majority of the men present would fight on the British side in the event of having to choose; but a count being made he lost his bet. He then singled out one man who he offered to bet would fight on England's side, W. H. Rees. On the question being put, 'Sir, which flag would you support in the event of war?' Rees replied, 'I fight under the stars and stripes, sir!' to the no small chagrin of the challenger. Minto's Early Days, MS., 10; Or. Pioneer Assoc. Trans., 1874, 26-7. 'At one of the plays,' says Roberts, 'I heard, "Modeste is our ship, and modest men are we — one word more, and up shall rise the scene: Ladies and gentlemen all — God save the Queen!" One slouched hat was unremoved amongst the uncovered crowd, and I heard a tar say, "Please, sir, may I pitch that chap overboard?"' Roberts' Rec., MS., 33. On the other side: George W. Jackson, an immigrant of 1845, being at an entertainment on board the Modeste, where there was singing, treated the audience first to the 'Star-spangled Banner,' to which they did not object, and afterward to 'Ye Parliaments of England' of 1812 memory, which displeased his entertainers. Camp-fire Orations, MS., 8, 9; Palmer's Journal, 111.
