instruments needed in exploration. After his return he ascended the
Peace River, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and on a rock on the shore of
the Pacific Ocean in British Columbia, inscribed with vermillion and
grease, in large letters, "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land,
the Twenty-second of July, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-three."
That was his record as the first white man to cross North America,
north of Mexico. A few years afterwards he received the honor of
knighthood for his discoveries. He gained much distinction as a leader,
though the great McTavish in his Company was never very friendly to him.
At length he retired, became a representative in the legislature of
Lower Canada, and was for a time a travelling companion of the Duke of
Kent. With a desire for loftier station, he settled in his native land,
married the beautiful and gifted daughter of the House of Seaforth, and
from her enjoyed the property of Avoch, near Inverness.

Three years before the starting of Lord Selkirk's Colonists and before
his marriage with Geddes Mackenzie, Sir Alexander took up his abode in
Scotland. He was the guardian of the rights of the North-West Company
and manfully he stood for them.

Mackenzie was startled when he heard in 1810 of Lord Selkirk's scheme to
send his Colonists to Red River. This he thought to be a plan of the
Hudson's Bay Company, to regain their failing prestige and to strike a
blow at the Nor'-Wester trade. To the fur trader or the rancher, the
incoming of the farmer is ever obnoxious. The beaver and the mink desert
the streams whenever the plowshare disturbs the soil. The deer flee to
their coverts, the wolf and the fox are exterminated, and even the
muskrat has a troubled existence when the dog and cat, the domestic
animals, make their appearance. The proposed settlement is to be
opposed, and Lord Selkirk's plans thwarted at any cost. Lord Selkirk had