CHAPTER IV
THE VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC

JOE 3, 1789. We embarked at nine

o’clock in the morning, at Fort Chipe-
wyan ... in a canoe made of birch bark.
The crew consisted of four Canadians, two of
whom were attended by their wives, and a
German; we were accompanied also by an
Indian, who had acquired the title of English
Chief, and his two wives, in a small canoe,
with two young Indians; his followers in
another small canoe.” So opens Mackenzie’s
account of his first attempt to reach the
Pacific. Before he started he had sent Roder-
ick McKenzie in his place to Grand Portage,
with his report to the Company on the winter’s
trade and his estimate of supplies for the com-
ing season. He tells little of the equipment of
the expedition, but few exploring parties can
have set out more lightly burdened. For food
they carried some bags of pemmican and some
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