34 Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE once a day, good tobacco to smoke, a warm blanket, and a kind master who will take his share of hard times and be the first in danger. Credulous, superstitious, and careless of the morrow, they were easily discouraged if they lacked confidence in their leader; but they could be persuaded to follow to the ends of the world a man whom they trusted, as Mackenzie was to show. During the long winter months time dragged slowly for those who had been used to better things. The work of a post took up only a small part of the trader’s day, except when traffic with the Indians was actually in progress. Books were valued possessions; the library at Chipewyan became famous through- out the North-West. Mackenzie did not pass his time in idleness. Attracted by geographi- cal questions, he had trained himself to take observations of latitude and longitude, and had provided himself with a few instruments. As a fur-trader he was naturally interested in the discovery of new regions from which furs might be secured, but he was inspired by broader ideas than those of trade alone. His