4 Str ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

but it must have been within three or four
years of 1758. The year 1763, given on the
authority of his grandson, has of late been
accepted; but recently a letter has come to
light written by him from Canada in 1778 to
his brother in Stornoway, and this is certainly
not the work of a boy of fifteen. Growing up
in that rough island, in his boyhood he must
have become used to hardship, a severe cli-
mate, and an active life. Like many of his
contemporaries, he was drawn as a lad to seek
his fortune in the new world. The names of
Mackenzie, McGillivray, McTavish, Mac-
donald, Cameron, Grant, and many others
which betray their Scottish origin, abound
with bewildering profusion in the annals of
Canada in the years after the conquest from
the French. Scotland was a country poor in
resources, but she gave to her children char-
acter, education, and strength of body, before
she sent them abroad to earn the rewards she
could not offer them at home. They in return
rendered to her an unbounded devotion, sang
her praises in every quarter of the globe, and
often returned to die in her arms.