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.