Hunt;
but there were other considerations, which more strongly swayed his
mind. The lateness of the season, and the unforeseen delays the ship
had encountered at New Archangel, and by being obliged to proceed to St.
Paul's, had put her so much back in her calculated time, that there was
a risk of her arriving so late at Canton, as to come to a bad market,
both for the sale of her peltries, and the purchase of a return cargo.
He considered it to the interest of the company, therefore, that he
should proceed at once to the Sandwich Islands; there wait the arrival
of the annual vessel from New York, take passage in her to Astoria, and
suffer the Beaver to continue on to Canton.
On the other hand, he was urged to the other course by his engagements;
by the plan of the voyage marked out for the Beaver, by Mr. Astor; by
his inclination, and the possibility that the establishment might need
his presence, and by the recollection that there must already be a large
amount of peltries collected at Astoria, and waiting for the return of
the Beaver, to convey them to market.
These conflicting questions perplexed and agitated his mind and gave
rise to much anxious reflection, for he was a conscientious man that
seems ever to have aimed at a faithful discharge of his duties, and to
have had the interests of his employers earnestly at heart.
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