specified in article fourth, at three several instalments; the first one third on or before the 25th of October, 1814, the second one third on or before the 25th of November, and the remaining one third on or be fore the 25th of December. And, further, it is hereby understood that, should the party of the former part find it convenient to leave the amount of the several drafts, after becoming payable, as already specified, in the hands of the party of the latter part, or their agents, they, the said party of the latter part, or their agents, will allow interest at six per cent. until paid on demand; and, as there are several moneys, the produce of their wages, due unto the people employed in the service of the late Pacific Fur Company, carrying on trade on the Columbia and Thompson's Rivers, the said party of the latter part, namely, John George McTavish and John Stuart, acting for themselves and the North-West Company, as their agents, do hereby bind and oblige themselves to pay, or cause to be paid, unto the several individuals employed by the party of the former part, the amount of the balances due to them, according to the statement that shall be delivered by the said Duncan McDougal, acting for himself and his associates, as before mentioned, within one month after their arrival at Montreal, in the province of Lower Canada; the amount of which several sums, so paid, is to be considered as part of, and deducted from, the first instalment, to be paid unto the said Duncan McDougal, acting for himself and his associates, as before mentioned, his attorneys, assigns, or order, on or before the 25th of October, 1814.

ART. 3. And, further, the said John George McTavish and John Stuart, acting for themselves and the North-West Company, will be at liberty to make a selection, and take into their service such of the people in the employment of the party of the former part as they may think proper; in consideration of which, the said party of the latter part bind and oblige themselves to pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said party of the former part, the several sums due to them by such as may enter into the service of the party of the latter part: and the said party of the latter part further bind and oblige themselves to provide and insure a safe passage to the said party of the former part, and the remaining part, that will not be taken into their service, to their respective homes.

ART. 4. And, further, it is hereby agreed and concluded upon, by the said parties, that the following are the rates at which the establishments, furs, and stock on hand, be valued at, as follows: dry goods, stationery, gunpowder, and leaf tobacco, fifty per cent. on the prime cost; ship chandlery, sixty per cent.; shot, ball, lead, iron, and steel, one hundred per cent.; deduction on made-up iron works at Columbia River, thirty-three and one third per cent.; new boats, each, ten pounds Halifax currency; boats in use, each, five pounds Halifax currency; shallop, with rigging complete, one hundred and twelve pounds ten shillings; two blacksmith's forges complete, twenty-five pounds; plug tobacco, one shilling and six pence per pound; plug tobacco manufactured at Columbia, one shilling and three pence per pound; beads assorted, five shillings per pound; arms, cannon, &c., prime cost; provisions at fixed prices; articles in use, half inventory prices; horses, thirty shillings each; buildings, two hundred pounds; John Reid's adventure, and Freeman's, in the vicinity of Snake country and Spanish River, to deduct one hundred per cent.; beaver furs, ten shillings per pound; beaver coating, eight shillings and four pence per pound; muskrats, seven pence half-penny each; land

otters, two shillings and six pence each; sea otters, large, sixty shillings each.

And for the faithful performance of all and singular the said covenants and agreements, to be by them respectively kept and performed, all and every of the parties to these presents bind themselves, separately and jointly, for their several associates, firmly by these presents. In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals, this 16th day of October, 1813, at the entrance of Columbia River, north-west coast of America. DUNCAN MCDOUGAL, J. G. McTavish,

Account of the Capture of Astoria by the British Sloop of War Raccoon, Captain Black, in December, 1813. Extracted from "Adventures on the Columbia River, by John Ross Cox.”

THE Isaac Todd sailed from London in March, 1813, in company with the Phoebe frigate, and the Cherub and Raccoon sloops of war. They arrived safe at Rio Janeiro, and thence proceeded around Cape Horn to the Pacific, having previously made arrangements to meet at Juan Fernandez. The three men-of-war reached the latter island, after encountering dreadful gales about the cape: they waited there some time for the Isaac Todd; but, as she did not make her appearance, Cominodore Hillyer did not deem it prudent to remain any longer inactive. He therefore, in company with the Cherub, proceeded in search of Commodore Porter, who, in the American frigate Essex, was clearing the South Sea of English whalers, and inflicting other injuries of a serious nature on our commerce; he shortly after met the Essex at Valparaiso, and, after a severe contest, captured her.

At the same time, he ordered Captain Black, in the Raccoon, to proceed direct to the Columbia, for the purpose of destroying the American establishments at Astoria. The Raccoon arrived at the Columbia on the 1st of December, 1813. The surprise and disappointment of Captain Black and his officers were extreme, on learning the arrangement that had taken place between the two companies, by which the establishment had become British property. They had calculated on obtaining a splendid prize by the capture of Astoria, the strength and importance of which had been much magnified; and the contracting parties were therefore fortunate in having closed their bargain previous to the arrival of the Raccoon. On looking at the wooden fortifications, Captain Black exclaimed, "Is this the fort about which I have heard so much? D-n me but I'd batter it down in two hours with a four-pounder." Captain Black, however, took possession of Astoria in the name of his Britannic majesty,

and rebaptized it by the name of "Fort George." He also insisted on having an inventory taken of the valuable stock of furs, and all other property purchased from the American company, with a view to the adoption of ulterior proceedings in England for the recovery of the value from the North-West Company; but he subsequently relinquished this idea, and we heard no more about his claims.

The Indians at the mouth of the Columbia knew well that Great Britain and America were distinct nations, and that they were then at war, but were ignorant of the arrangement made between Messrs. McDougal and McTavish, the former of whom still continued as nominal chief at the fort. On the arrival of the Raccoon, which they quickly discovered to be one of "King George's fighting ships," they repaired, armed, to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. McDougal. He was somewhat surprised at their numbers and warlike appearance, and demanded the object of such an unusual visit. Comcomly, the principal chief of the Chinooks, (whose daughter McDougal had married,) thereupon addressed him in a long speech, in the course of which he said that King George had sent a ship full of warriors, and loaded with nothing but big guns, to take the Americans and make them all slaves, and that, as they (the Americans) were the first white men who settled in their country, and treated the Indians like good relations, they had resolved to defend them from King George's warriors, and were now ready to conceal themselves in the woods close to the wharf, from whence they would be able, with their guns and arrows, to shoot all the men that should attempt to land from the English boats, while the people in the fort could fire at them with their big guns and rifles. This proposition was uttered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt of its sincerity. Two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching; and, had the people in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man in them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal thanked them for their friendly offer, but added, that, notwithstanding the nations were at war, the people in the boats would not injure him or any of his people, and therefore requested them to throw by their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as their friends. They at first seemed astonished at this answer; but, on assuring them, in the most positive manner, that he was under no apprehensions, they consented to give up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they were sorry for having complied with Mr. McDougal's wishes; for when they observed Captain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines, break the bottle of Port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British ensign, after changing the name of the fort, they remarked that, however we might wish to conceal the fact, the Americans were undoubtedly made slaves; and they were not convinced of their mistake until the sloop of war had departed without taking any prisoners.

H.

DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE NEGOTIATION IN 1826–7. *

(1.)

British Statement annexed to the Protocol of the sixth Conference, by Messrs. Huskisson and Addington, Plenipotentiaries on the Part of Great Britain.

for a

further

THE government of Great Britain, in proposing to renew, term of years, the third article of the convention of 1818, respecting the territory on the north-west coast of America, west of the Rocky Mountains, regrets that it has been found impossible, in the present negotiation, to agree upon a line of boundary which should separate those parts of that territory, which might henceforward be occupied or settled by the subjects of Great Britain, from the parts which would remain open to occupancy and settlement by the United States.

To establish such a boundary must be the ultimate object of both countries. With this object in contemplation, and from a persuasion that a part of the difficulties which have hitherto prevented its attainment is to be attributed to a misconception, on the part of the United States, of the claims and views of Great Britain in regard to the territory in question, the British plenipotentiaries deem it advisable to bring under the notice of the American plenipotentiary a full and explicit exposition of those claims and views.

As preliminary to this discussion, it is highly desirable to mark distinctly the broad difference between the nature of the rights claimed by Great Britain and those asserted by the United States, in respect to the territory in question.

Over a large portion of that territory, namely, from the 42d degree to the 49th degree of north latitude, the United States claim full and exclusive sovereignty.

Great Britain claims no exclusive sovereignty over any portion of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any part, but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy, in common with other states, leaving the right of exclusive dominion in abeyance

In other words, the pretensions of the United States tend to the ejection of all other nations, and, among the rest, of Great Britain, from all right of settlement in the district claimed by the United States.

The pretensions of Great Britain, on the contrary, tend to the mere maintenance of her own rights, in resistance to the exclusive character of the pretensions of the United States.

Having thus stated the nature of the respective claims of the two parties, the British plenipotentiaries will now examine the grounds on which those claims are founded.

* These two documents, which were published with President Adams's Message to Congress of December 12th, 1827, are here inserted in full, because reference is frequently made to them in the History, particularly to the British paper, the numerous misstatements in which are exposed and refuted. See page 347, and other pages, as specified in the notes.

The claims of the United States are urged upon three grounds: 1st. As resulting from their own proper right.

2dly. As resulting from a right derived to them from Spain; that power having, by the treaty of Florida, concluded with the United States in 1819, ceded to the latter all their rights and claims on the western coast of America north of the 42d degree.

3dly. As resulting from a right derived to them from France, to whom the United States succeeded, by treaty, in possession of the province of Louisiana.

The first right, or right proper, of the United States, is founded on the alleged discovery of the Columbia River by Mr. Gray, of Boston, who, in 1792, entered that river, and explored it to some distance from its mouth.

To this are added the first exploration, by Lewis and Clarke, of a main branch of the same river, from its source downwards, and also the alleged priority of settlement, by citizens of the United States, of the country in the vicinity of the same river. "

The second right, or right derived from Spain, is founded on the alleged prior discovery of the region in dispute by Spanish navigators, of whom the chief were, 1st, Cabrillo, who, in 1543, visited that coast as far as 44 degrees north latitude; 2d, De Fuca, who, as it is affirmed, in 1598, entered the straits known by his name, in latitude 49 degrees; 3d, Gualle, who, in 1582, is said to have pushed his researches as high as 57 degrees north latitude; 4th, Perez, and others, who, between the years 1774 and 1792, visited Nootka Sound and the adjacent coasts.

The third right, derived from the cession of Louisiana to the United States, is founded on the assumption that that province, its boundaries never having been exactly defined longitudinally, may fairly be asserted to extend westward across the Rocky Mountains, to the shore of the Pacific.

Before the merits of these respective claims are considered, it is necessary to observe that one only out of the three can be valid.

They are, in fact, claims obviously incompatible the one with the other. If, for example, the title of Spain by first discovery, or the title of France as the original possessor of Louisiana, be valid, then must one or the other of those kingdoms have been the lawful possessor of that territory, at the moment when the United States claim to have discovered it. If, on the other hand, the Americans were the first discoverers, there is necessarily an end of the Spanish claim; and if priority of discovery constitutes the title, that of France falls equally to the ground.

Upon the question, how far prior discovery constitutes a legal claim to sovereignty, the law of nations is somewhat vague and undefined. It is, however, admitted by the most approved writers that mere accidental discovery, unattended by exploration-by formally taking possession in the name of the discoverer's sovereign-by occupation and settlement, more or less permanent― by purchase of the territory- or receiving the sovereignty from the natives-constitutes the lowest degree of title, and that it is only in proportion as first discovery is followed by any or all of these acts, that such title is strengthened and confirmed.

The rights conferred by discovery, therefore, must be discussed on their own merits.

But before the British plenipotentiaries proceed to compare the relative