Through the influence of Messrs. M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, this proposition
was adopted, and was promptly accepted by M'Tavish. The merchandise sold
to him amounted to eight hundred and fifty-eight dollars, to be paid
for, in the following spring, in horses, or in any other manner most
acceptable to the partners at that period.
This agreement being concluded, the partners formed their plans for
the year that they would yet have to pass in the country. Their objects
were, chiefly, present subsistence, and the purchase of horses for
the contemplated journey, though they were likewise to collect as much
peltries as their diminished means would command. Accordingly, it was
arranged that David Stuart should return to his former post on the
Oakinagan, and Mr. Clarke should make his sojourn among the Flatheads.
John Reed, the sturdy Hibernian, was to undertake the Snake River
country, accompanied by Pierre Dorion and Pierre Delaunay, as hunters,
and Francis Landry, Jean Baptiste Turcotte, Andre la Chapelle, and
Gilles le Clerc, Canadian voyageurs.
Astoria, however, was the post about which they felt the greatest
solicitude, and on which they all more or less depended. The maintenance
of this in safety throughout the coming year, was, therefore, their
grand consideration.
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