Mackenzie’s Granp Desicn 137

schemes of westward expansion was a cause
of disagreement.

In Montreal he was a leader in the lavish
hospitality and gay social life of the period.
He was elected in 1795 to the Beaver Club,
the exclusive dining-club of the fur-traders,
every member of which had wintered in the
North-West. The fame of his exploits had
spread, often with a good deal of embroidery.
He earned the nickname of “Nor’West
Mackenzie”, and visitors to the town were
eager to make his acquaintance. Sometime
during his residence in Montreal he built
himself a fine house in Simpson Street, after-
wards occupied by Sir George Simpson. He
entertained in an ample fashion. A young
officer of Engineers named Landmann tells of
a dinner given by Mackenzie and McGil-
livray, a fellow agent, in December, 1797 at
began at four in the afternoon; after the meal
was over some of the company retired: “We
now began in right earnest and true Highland
style, and by four o’clock in the morning the
whole of us had arrived at such a degree of
perfection that we could all give the war-