144. Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

lations were brought out within a few months,
and three editions were printed in the United
States by the end of 1803. The French trans-
lation is said to have been made at the com-
mand of Napoleon as a guide-book for a pos-
sible invasion of Canada from Louisiana;
Napoleon took a copy with him to St. Helena.
The book soon brought distinction to its
author: on February 10, 1802, he received
from George III the well-deserved honour of
knighthood.

While in England Mackenzie began to
urge once more the extension of British influ-
ence to the Pacific coast. His journey had
remained an isolated achievement; no one had
followed it up, and in the interval American
traders had secured control of the maritime
fur-trade. He added a few pages at the end
of his Voyages in which he stated his views in
a general form. The mystery of the North-
West Passage had been solved; “the non-
existence of a practicable passage by sea, and
the existence of one through the continent,
are clearly proved.” To make use of the land
passage “‘the countenance and support of the