f the British Empire. His name is commemorated in
Vancouver's Island, an important portion of British Columbia.
Vancouver entered the navy when only thirteen, sailed with Captain
Cook, and eventually was appointed to command a naval expedition sent
out in 1791 to survey and take over from the Spaniards the north-west
American coast north of Oregon. It is remarkable that he should only
have missed Mackenzie's arrival at Point Menzies by about two months.
With what amazed rejoicing would these two heroic explorers have
greeted one another had they met on this remote point of the Pacific
coast, the one coming overland (so to speak) from Quebec and the
Atlantic, and the other all the way by sea from Falmouth via the Cape
of Good Hope, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Hawaii.]

At this camp there was a rock, and on this Alexander Mackenzie, mixing
up some vermilion or red clay in melted grease, inscribed in large
characters the following words: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by
land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and
ninety-three". He then shifted his camp to a place three miles to the
north-east, below a precipice from which issued streams of fine water
as cold as ice. And here he took careful observations with his
astronomical and surveying instruments, in order to fix his position.
Fortunately the day was one of bright sunshine. Otherwise, had there
been a long persistence of cloud, he might have been obliged to leave
the Pacific coast without being able to fix precisely the place where
he had reached the sea.

Then he yielded to the passionate desire of his people to withdraw
inland from the possibly dangerous inhabitants of the coast, and
returned with them to the encampment where the porcupine had been
eaten. Here the guide made off into the woods. Mackenzie followed him,
and thus reached a village from which two men issued armed with
daggers and intending to attack him. While stopping to defend himself,
many other people assembled, and amongst them he recognized the
irritating person who incessantly repeated the names "Makuba" and
"Benzins". However, this threatened danger was narrowly averted, and
eventually they left the village with a supply of food; but also in a
state of considerable irritation with--fleas! For some of the houses
of these Pacific coast villages swarmed with fleas to such an extent
that Mackenzie and his men were obliged to take to the water to rid
themselves of th