The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-28

dience 10 his signals. the shig came
s bowling on, and the fitful breeze sud
denly frsshening. she ran through the
breakers, passing Athens boat to star
board in pistoi-shot distance. Signals
were made for the boat TO return. but
the tide had turned. ana the strong
ebb, with the current of the river, bore
the boat into the breakers IN spite of
all her crew could do While they were
watching the boat, over which the
waves We're seen breaking furiousfy.
the ship. the wind failing. was driven
seward by the tide, and struck six or
seven times on the bar. The breakers,
running frightfIllIy high, swept over
her decks again and again. Nothing
could be done for the boat by the ship.
their own condition being so serious as
to demand all their efforts.
Thorn at last extricated the Tonquin
from her predicaTnent. The wind favor
ed her again, and she got over the bar
and through the breakers. anchoring at
nightfall in seven fathoFns of water
The night was very dark. The ebb and
current threatened to sweep the ship
on the shore. Both anchors We're car
ried out. Still the holding was made
quate and the ships position most dan
hours until the turn of the tide, when
in spite of the fact that it was pitch
dark they weighed anchor, made sail,
and succeeded in finding a safe haven
under the lee of. Cape Disappointment,
in a place called Bakers Bay. The next
day the captain anu some of the part
ners landed in the morning to see if
they could find the missing party. AS
they Were wandering aimlessly upon
the shore they came across Weeks, ex-
hausted and almost naked.
He had sad story to tell. The boat
had icapsized in the breakers and his
two white companions had been drown
ed. He and the Kanakas had succeed
ed in righting the boat and clambering
into her. BY some fortunate chance they
We're tossed outside the breakers and in
to calmer waters. The boat was bailed
out, and the next morning Weeks scull-
ed her ashore with the one remaining
oar. One of the Sandwich-Islanders
was SO severely injured that he died in
the boat. and the other was probably
dying from exposure. The relief party
prosecuted their search for the Kanaka
and found him the next day almost
dead.
The loss of these eight men and these
TWO sDOaUS was q serious dow 10 so
small an expedition but there was
nothing to be done about it, and the
work of selecting a permanent location
for the trading post on the south shore,
unloading the cargo, and building the
fort was rapidly carried on, although
not without the usual quarreis between
captain and men,. After landing the
company. Thorn had been directed by
Mr.. ,Astor to take the Tonquin UP the
coast to gather load of -furs. He was
to touch at the settlement, which they
had named Astoria, on his syay back,
and take on board what furs the part
ners had been able to procure and bring
them back to New York. Thorn was
anxious to get away. and on the 1st
of June, having finished the unloading
of the ship, and having seen the build
inss approaching compilation. accom-
panied by Mckay as supercargo, and
James Lewis, of New York, as clerk,
he started on his trading voyage.
That was the last that anybody ever
saw of Thorn and the Tonquin or her
men. Several months after her depart
ure a Chehaiis Indian, named Lamanse,
wandered into Astoria with a terrible
story of an appalling disaster. The
Tonquin made her way up the coast,
Thorn buying furs as he could. At one
of her stops, at Gray's Harbor, this In
N N