quickly built; a factory soon rose beside it; the natives came in with their furs for sale; and all seemed likely to go so well, that the Tonquin was allowed to start on a trading trip up the coast, leaving but a few settlers to await the arrival of the land party. No sooner was the vessel out of reach, however, than rumors began to be circulated of a conspiracy among the neighboring tribes to massacre all the white men; and while preparations were being made to meet this unexpected danger, some wandering Indians from the Straits of Juan de Fuca brought tidings that the Tonquin had been lost with all on board. The truth of this melancholy event was soon confirmed by members of yet another tribe, and gradually the whole story leaked out.
The Tonquin had fallen a victim, not to the usual perils of the deep, but to a quarrel between Thorn, its captain, and some natives of Vancouver's Island. Steering to the north, with an Indian named Samazee as interpreter in his proposed dealings with the natives, Thorn reached Vancouver's Island in safety, and cast anchor in the harbor of Neweetee, though Samazee warned him that the people about there were not to be trusted. On the following day the ship was boarded by a number of natives, including two sons of Wicanainsh, the chief of the country round Neweetee, and an old chief named Nookamis, who had long been accustomed to drive bargains with the English.
Suspecting no evil, Captain Thorn prepared for a good day's business, and made what seemed to him fair offers for the finest of the sea-otter peltries brought by the redskins. Nookamis shook his head; he must have double the prices quoted. His companions followed suit; not a skin could poor Captain Thorn obtain.
Surprised and disgusted at the turn affairs had taken, the English now tried new tactics. They took no further notice of the Indians, but paced up and down the deck with their hands in their pockets. Nookamis, however, looking upon all this as a mere maneuver to try his patience, continued to ply the captain with offers of otter-skins; and finding that nothing he said had any effect, he began to jeer the white man for a stingy fellow. Thorn now lost his temper, and, turning upon his persecutor, he snatched the otter-skins from him, flung them in his face, and kicked him down the ship's ladder.
The rest of the natives were furious, and hurried after their spokesman, leaving the deck strewn with peltries. A little later, some of the whites
