During these years, Thompson worked on the narrative account of his explorations which he had undertaken to give the world at the time when he planned to publish his map. He was anxious also to earn what money he could from the publication of his book. It is said that Washington Irving, the great American writer, and the author of _Astoria_, wished to buy the manuscript. Irving, however, was unwilling to promise that in using it he would give to Thompson the recognition which he felt was his due; and, jealous to the last of his reputation, the old man refused to part with his work. The manuscript therefore, like the map, lay forgotten, until it was discovered in recent years, and published in 1915 by the Champlain Society. The American Revolutionary War had left a legacy of boundary disputes which were destined to disturb peaceful relations between Great Britain and the United States for years to come. Owing to his work both for the North West Company and on the International Boundary Commission, Thompson was better acquainted than most men with the issues involved in these disputes; and he was convinced that on account of the stupidity and carelessness of British diplomats, the just claims of British America had been continuously ignored or overridden from the time when the original treaty of peace had been drawn in 1783. In his narrative, Thompson relates an interesting story regarding the settlement made in that year. The story is worth repeating, not only because it illustrates his attitude toward the boundary question, but also because of the light it sheds on conditions in the North West at the time, and the greatness of the service which Thompson and others performed in mapping the country. Among the traders, he says, who made their way from Montreal into the fur countries was a certain Peter Pond, a native of Boston. Pond was a man of violent and unprincipled character. In the winter of 1780-1, he was stationed at Lake La Ronge with orders to act in concert with Wadin, a fellow trader of the North West Company. One evening, while dining with Wadin, he made himself drunk; and in an outburst of passion shot Wadin through the thigh. His unhappy victim expired from loss of blood. Pond, however, was an energetic trader; and since in those wild times and remote places the arm of the law was weak, he escaped the punishment which he richly deserved. A few years later he had penetrated to Lake Athabaska, the first white man to do so. There he disputed the fur trade with a certain John Ross, who followed him into the country in the interests of a rival firm. An altercation took place between the two traders, and Pond shot Ross dead. On this occasion Pond was arrested and brought to Canada for trial. But the authorities at Quebec did not consider that their jurisdiction extended to the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the prisoner was set at liberty. He thereupon returned to Boston, his native city.