nt Captain Broughton home to
report the conduct of the Spaniards, and spent his time surveying the
coast to the south. Finally all was arranged satisfactorily, and
Vancouver sailed off to the Sandwich Islands. When he returned home
in the autumn of 1794 he had completed the gigantic task of surveying
nine thousand miles of unknown coast chiefly in open boats, with only
the loss of two men in both crews--a feat that almost rivalled that
of Captain Cook.

It has been said that Vancouver "may proudly take his place with Drake,
Cook, Baffin, Parry, and other British navigators to whom England
looks with pride and geographers with gratitude."

CHAPTER L

MACKENZIE AND HIS RIVER

Even while Vancouver was making discoveries on the western coast of
North America, Alexander Mackenzie, an enthusiastic young Scotsman,
was making discoveries on behalf of the North-Western Company, which
was rivalling the old Hudson Bay Company in its work of expansion.
His journey right across America from sea to sea is worthy of note,
and it has well been said that "by opening intercourse between Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans and forming regular establishments through the
interior and at both extremes, as well as along the coasts and islands,
the entire command of the fur trade of North America might be obtained.
To this may be added the fishing in both seas and the markets of the
four quarters of the globe."

Mackenzie had already explored the great river flowing through North
America to the Arctic seas in 1789. He had brought back news of its
great size, its width, its volume of water, only to be mistrusted,
till many years later it was found that every word was true, and
tributes were paid not only to his general accuracy, but to his general
intelligence as an explorer.

In 1792 he started off again, and this time he discovered the immense
country that lay hidden behind the Rocky Mountains, known to-day as
British Columbia. He ascended the Peace River, which flows from the
Rocky Mountains, and in the spring of 1793, having made his way with
much difficulty across this rugged chain, he embarked on a river
running to the south-west. Through wild mountainous country on either
side he paddled on; the cold was still intense and the strong mountain
currents nearly dashed the canoes to pieces. His Indian guides were
obstinate, ignorant, and timid. Mackenzie relates some of his
difficulties in graphic language: "Throughout the whole of th