Columbia, on the banks of which they arrived a few days previous to the descent of Mr. Stuart's party.
Here was a frightful addition to our stock of disasters. Fighting, robbery, and starvation, in the interior, with drownings, massacres, and apprehensions of farther attacks from the Indians on the coast, formed a combination sufficient to damp the ardour of the youngest, or the courage of the most enterprizing. The retrospect was gloomy, and the future full of "shadows, clouds, and darkness." The scene before us, however, was novel, and for a time our ideas were diverted from the thoughts of "battle, murder, and sudden death," to the striking peculiarities connected with our present situation.
The spot selected for the fort was on a handsome eminence called Point George, which commanded an extensive view of the majestic Columbia in front, bounded by the bold and thickly wooded northern shore. On the right, about three miles distant, a long, high and rocky peninsula covered with timber, called Tongue Point, extended a considerable distance into the river from the southern side, with which it was connected by a narrow neck of land; while on the
