Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/283

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two degrees to the southward of Monterey. Captain Smith of the Isaac Tod immediately proceeded thither, and found the vessel alluded to was the Racoon sloop of war, commanded by Captain Black. This vessel, on quitting the Columbia, struck several times on the bar, and was so severely damaged in consequence, that she was obliged to make for San Francisco, which port she reached in a sinking state, with seven feet water in her hold. Finding it impossible to procure the necessary materials there to repair the damage, Captain Black and his officers had determined to abandon the vessel, and proceed overland to the Gulf of Mexico, whence they could have obtained a passage to England; but when the Isaac Tod arrived they succeeded, with her assistance, in stopping the leaks, and putting the Racoon in good sailing order; after which the Isaac Tod weighed anchor, and on the 17th of April crossed the bar of the Columbia, after a voyage of thirteen months from England.

She brought out the following passengers; viz. Messrs. Donald M'Tavish and John M'Donald, proprietors; and Messrs. Alexander and James M'Tavish, Alexander Frazer, and Alexander M'Kenzie, clerks, with Doctor Swan, a medi-