150 Mackenzie’s Voyages

and cons, he had to think out his plans, and then by persuasion
to induce his followers to continue with him.

It is remarkable that the world owes some of its most
important advances out of “‘chaos and old night” to the
persistence of an idea, held often by an obscure individual,
cherished in loneliness, and pursued unflinchingly in the
face of indifference, ridicule and active opposition, to ultimate
success. No other circumstance in life suggests so con-
vincingly the possibility of inspiration from sources not
dreamt of in everyday philosophy.

Pursuing his inquiries he ascertained that, some distance
above, a river fell in from the west which was navigable
for small canoes four days from its mouth, and from thence,
the Indians said, they slept but two nights to get to the
people with whom they traded. The coast-dwellers had
wooden canoes of a very large size in which they went
down a river one day’s journey to the sea.

Having secured one of his informants to guide him
overland, Mackenzie then called his own people together,
and put the situation before them. “*I declared my resolution
not to attempt it, unless they would engage, if we could not
after all proceed overland, to return with me, and continue
our voyage to the discharge of the waters whatever the
distance might be.”” And he further assured them in the
most solemn manner, that even if he had to make the
attempt alone, he would not abandon his design of reaching
the sea.

His people, one and all, eagerly expressed themselves as
being ready now as ever to follow where he should lead,
and preparations were immediately made to return upstream
to the river that falls in from the west. Mr. Mackay, by
Mackenzie’s directions, engraved the explorer’s name and the
date of the year on a tree at the southernmost point of their