at the beginning of
his career of discovery.

It may not be out of place here to say a word or two as to the early
career of the hero whose footsteps we are about to follow.

He was a Highlander, to begin with; and possessed all the fire and
determination peculiar to that race. At an early period of life he was
led to engage in commercial enterprises in the country north-west of
Lake Superior, joined the North-West Fur Company of Canada in 1784, and
went into the Indian country the following spring. It is not necessary
to say more than that Alexander Mackenzie proved himself to be a
first-rate fur-trader at a time when the fur-trade was carried on under
great difficulties and amid severe privations. For many years he was in
charge of Fort Chipewyan, the remote establishment to which we have just
conducted our reader. Seven years before his coming on the scene, the
Lake of the Hills had not been visited by white men, and was known only
through Indian report. When Mackenzie became ruler of the district, all
beyond the lake was _terra incognita_. His spirit was one which
thirsted to explore the unknown. He was eminently fitted both to hold
an advanced post and to invade new regions, being robust in
constitution, powerful in frame, inquisitive in mind, and enterprising
in spirit. Frequently had he arrived at Fort Chipewyan with ninety or a
hundred men without any provision for their sustenance for the winter
save their fishing-nets and guns. He was therefore accustomed to live
from hand to mouth, and to depend on his own exertions and resources in
a country where the winter is upwards of eight months long and the
severity of the climate extreme.

It was in June 1789 that he made preparations to start on his first
voyage of discovery.

Rising from the table at which he had been studying his projected route,
Mackenzie turned, with the air of a man who has made up his mind, and
said to a clerk who was smoking beside the fireplace--

"Le Roux, if we cannot prevail on these Indians to accompany us, I have
determined to start without them. Has the small canoe been gummed?"

"It has," answered Le Roux, "but I would advise delay for a day or two.
If we give them time, the Indians may change their minds; besides, the
ice has not yet sufficiently cleared away."

Mackenzie paced the room impatiently, and his eyes flashed for one
moment with impatience. They were deep blue eyes that could beam with
melting tendernes