along the
Arctic coast as far as Icy Cape.

[Illustration: Sir Alexander Mackenzie. From the painting by Sir T.
Lawrence.]

The general outline of the north of the {71} continent of America, and
at any rate the vast distance to be traversed to reach the Pacific from
the Atlantic, could now be surmised with some accuracy. But the
internal geography of the continent still contained an unsolved
mystery. It was known that vast bodies of fresh water far beyond the
basin of the Saskatchewan and the Columbia emptied towards the north.
Hearne had revealed the existence of the Great Slave Lake, and the
advance of daring fur-traders into the north had brought some knowledge
of the great stream called the Peace, which rises far in the mountains
of the west, and joins its waters to Lake Athabaska. It was known that
this river after issuing from the Athabaska Lake moved onwards, as a
new river, in a vast flood towards the north, carrying with it the
tribute of uncounted streams. These rivers did not flow into the
Pacific. Nor could so great a volume of water make its way to the sea
through the shallow torrent of the Coppermine or the rivers that flowed
north-eastward over the barren grounds. There must exist somewhere a
mighty river of the north running to the frozen seas.

It fell to the lot of Alexander Mackenzie to find the solution of this
problem. The {72} circumstances which led to his famous journey arose
out of the progress of the fur trade and its extension into the Far
West. The British possession of Canada in 1760 had created a new
situation. The monopoly enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay Company was rudely
disturbed. Enterprising British traders from Montreal, passing up the
Great Lakes, made their way to the valley of the Saskatchewan and,
whether legally or not, contrived to obtain an increasing share of the
furs brought from the interior. These traders were at first divided
into partnerships and small groups, but presently, for the sake of
co-operation and joint defence, they combined (1787) into the powerful
body known as the North-West Company, which from now on entered into
desperate competition with the great corporation that had first
occupied the field. The Hudson's Bay Company and its rival sought to
carry their operations as far inland as possible in order to tap the
supplies at their source. They penetrated the valleys of the
Assiniboine, the Red, and the Saskatchewan rivers, and founded, among
ot