According to the testimony given in the case of The Hudson's Bay Company _v._ United States, the amount of furs seized by the company at that time was forty packs, worth at the time $1,000 each, besides the animals and equipments belonging to the party, a large portion of which was given to the Indians, to compensate them for their services rendered to the company, in destroying Smith's expedition and killing his men, corresponding with transactions of recent date, as stated in an article found in the San Francisco _Bulletin_:-- "HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY AND THE INDIANS.--A gentleman from Victoria gives us the following facts concerning the Indian outrages on the northern coast, and their allies, the Hudson's Bay Company: Captain D. Warren said to M. A. Foster and William McCurdy, that, on returning to Victoria and reporting the circumstances of the attack of the Indians upon his sloop, _Thornton_, to the first lieutenant of the ship _Zealous_, he was the next day arrested and put under $2,000 bonds. The _Sparrowhawk_ was to leave last Wednesday, but had not yet gone to inquire into the matter. It is known that the same Indians murdered Captain Jack Knight and partner but a short time before. The same crowd or band of Indians robbed the _Nanaimo_ packet. Since thus attacked, Captain Warren, the captain of the _Ocean Queen_, informed them that a friendly Indian chief told him to leave; the Indians were hostile; they were preparing for war with the neighboring tribes. "From a statement found in the _Chronicle_, of the 27th of June, we learn that Captain Mowatt, of the Hudson's Bay Company, is in charge of Fort Rupert. We also learn that Captain Mowatt's prejudices and feelings are peculiarly hostile to all American fur traders, and not any too friendly to those claiming to be English. The facts indicate a strong Hudson's Bay Company Indian war influence against American or other traders in behalf of that company. It is evident from the statement of the two gentlemen above named that her Majesty's naval officers are inclined, and more than probably instructed, to protect the Hudson's Bay Company's people in encouraging the Indian hostility and murder of all outside venturers upon their trading localities, as they are prompt to insinuate and affirm that the whites are the aggressors, and to arrest them for punishment." It is difficult to understand why our American government is so tolerant and generous to a foreign monopoly that has invariably sought and accomplished the destruction of its fur trade on its western borders, and used its entire influence against American institutions and citizens; not hesitating to incite the Indians to the most inhuman and brutal murders. CHAPTER XXIX.