g the trail to the sea. Terrible rapids
(they imitated the noise of the cataracts) barred his way by this
river. {83} He must turn back to where another river (the Blackwater)
came in on the west, and ascend that stream to a portage which would
lead over to the sea.

The post of Alexandria on the Cariboo Road marks Mackenzie's farthest
south on the Fraser. At this point, after learning all he could of the
route from the Indians, he turned the prow of his canoe up the river.
The Carrier Indians provided him with a guide. On July 4, nearly two
months from the time of leaving the fort on the Peace river, the
portage on the Blackwater was reached; the canoe was abandoned, some
provisions were cached, and each man set off afoot with a ninety-pound
pack on his back. Heavy mist lay on the thick forest. The Indian
trail was but a dimly defined track over forest mould. The dripping
underbrush that skirted the path soaked the men to the skin. The guide
had shown an inclination to desert, and Mackenzie slept beside him,
ready to seize and hold him on the slightest movement. Totem
cedar-poles in front of the Indian villages told the explorers that
they were approaching the home of the coastal tribes. The men's
clothing was by this time torn to shreds. They were barefooted,
bareheaded, {84} almost naked. For nearly two weeks they journeyed on
foot; then, having forded the Dean river, they embarked for the sea on
the Bella Coola in cedar dug-outs which they procured from Indians of
one of the coastal tribes. Daily now Mackenzie saw signs of white
traders. The Indians possessed beads and trinkets. One Indian had a
Spanish or Russian lance. Fishing weirs were passed. There was a
whiff of salt water in the air; then far out between the hills lay a
gap of illimitable blue. At eight o'clock in the morning of Saturday,
July 20, 1793, Mackenzie reached the mouth of the river and found
himself on the sea. The next day he went down North Bentinck Arm, and,
passing the entrance to the south arm, landed at the cape on the
opposite shore. He then proceeded down Burke Channel. It was near the
mouth of this inlet that he inscribed, in red letters on a large rock,
the memorable words: '_Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the
twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
Lat. 52 deg. 20' 48" N._'

Barely two months previously Vancouver had explored and named these
very waters and headlands. A hos