This Inconvenient Entrance Was Probably For The Purpose
Of Defense; There Were Loop-Holes Also Under The Eaves,
Apparently For The Discharge Of Arrows.
The houses were large,
generally containing two or three families.
Immediately within
the door were sleeping places, ranged along the walls, like
berths in a ship; and furnished with pallets of matting. These
extended along one half of the building; the remaining half was
appropriated to the storing of dried fish.
The trading operations of the inhabitants of Wish-ram had given
them a wider scope of information, and rendered their village a
kind of headquarters of intelligence. Mr. Hunt was able,
therefore, to collect more distinct tidings concerning the
settlement of Astoria and its affairs. One of the inhabitants had
been at the trading post established by David Stuart on the
Oakinagan, and had picked up a few words of English there. From
him, Mr. Hunt gleaned various particulars about that
establishment, as well as about the general concerns of the
enterprise. Others repeated the name of Mr. M'Kay, the partner
who perished in the massacre on board of the Tonquin, and gave
some account of that melancholy affair. They said Mr. M'Kay was a
chief among the white men, and had built a great house at the
mouth of the river, but had left it and sailed away in a large
ship to the northward where he had been attacked by bad Indians
in canoes. Mr. Hunt was startled by this intelligence, and made
further inquiries.
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