Over the Divide : 153

that they had arranged among themselves to return at all
costs. "The men, meanwhile, were chafing to leave but
unable to muster the necessary resolution. Mackenzie
appeared to be wholly inattentive to their behaviour. After
several hours he ordered four men to step into the canoe
and drop down to the “guardhouse,” and he was relieved
to find that his command was instantly obeyed. The re-
mainder of the party walked down. On drawing near, the
leader, in a sportive moment, quite thoughtlessly shot an
arrow towards the guardhouse, when to his astonishment
and infinite alarm it struck the logs, and instantly created
confusion among his men, who had just landed, and thought
they were attacked. A disturbed night followed in the
course of which their dog sensed something in the woods,
and at two in the morning the sentinel saw about fifty paces
away what he thought wasa bear, but daylight proved it to have
been a human figure creeping on all fours, an old, grey-haired,
blind man, who had been compelled by extreme hunger to
leave his hiding-place. ‘The old chap’s fears were quieted,
and he was warmed and fed and questioned, when it appeared
that some Indians from above had followed after Mackenzie’s
party and spread the story that they were enemies, and the
unexpected return of the exploring party in direct contradic-
tion to their own declarations confirmed them in the belief
that the strangers were in truth powerful enemies. The
people were now so scattered, the old man said, that it would
be some time before they could meet again.

This account decided Mackenzie to proceed with his
purpose, depending on the old man, whom they carried along
by force,} to explain their attitude to any natives they might
encounter. “Ihe men were in a state of extreme ill-humour
all day, and, not daring to openly vent it on Mackenzie,

1 Quesnel River was passed at 3 p.m.