SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

CHAPTER I
EARLY LIFE

HE scene is the shore of a winding inlet

of the Pacific Ocean in the mountainous

and broken coast of northern British Colum-
bia. It isa brilliant morning in July. On the
west side of the inlet, about half way between
its head and the open sea, a small point ends
in a large rock with steep sides and a level
grassy top. On this rock is gathered a group
of toil-worn and anxious men, two Scots, six
French Canadians, and three Indians, one an
unwilling member of the party and trembling
with fear. They have spent a restless night
on the rock; now some are keeping watch up
and down the inlet, for hostile Indians are
nearby and an attack is feared; others are
hastily packing up their belongings so as to
be ready for instant departure. A little apart
from the rest, one, whose dress and bearing
1

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