The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: in support of his great undertaking. His project with respect to
the Russian establishments along the northwest coast had been
diligently prosecuted. The agent sent by him to St. Petersburg,
to negotiate in his name as president of the American Fur
Company, had, under sanction of the Russian government, made a
provisional agreement with the Russian company.
By this agreement, which was ratified by Mr. Astor in 1813, the
two companies bound themselves not to interfere with each other's
trading and hunting grounds, nor to furnish arms and ammunition
to the Indians. They were to act in concert, also, against all
interlopers, and to succor each other in case of danger. The
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