, and notably our great Lord
Strathcona, who came as a mere lad to Canada, Alexander Mackenzie, a
stripling of sixteen, arrived in Montreal to make his fortune. He was
born as the Scottish people say of "kenn't" of "well-to-do" folk in
Stornoway, in the Hebrides. He received a fair education and as a boy
had a liking for the sea. Two partners, Gregory and McLeod, were
fighting at Montreal in opposition to the dominant firm of McTavish and
Frobisher. Young Alexander Mackenzie joined this opposition. So great
was his aptitude, that boy as he was, he was despatched West to lead an
expedition to Detroit. Soon he was pushed on to be a bourgeois, and was
appointed at the age of twenty-two to go to the far West fur country of
Athabasca, the vast Northern country which was to be the area of his
discoveries and his fame. His energy and skill were amazing, although
like many of his class, he had to battle against the envy of rivals.
After completely planning his expedition, he made a dash for the Arctic
Sea, by way of Mackenzie River, which he--first of white men--descended,
and which bears his name. Finding his astronomical knowledge defective,
he took a year off, and in his native land learned the use of the
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