54 Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

tain of lies. His Indian followers, however,
were much frightened and urged an imme-
diate return. His account of the natives is
far from flattering: ‘They are a meagre,
ugly, ill-made people, particularly about the
legs,, which are clumsy and covered with
scabs. . . . They are of a moderate stature,
and as far as could be discovered through the
coat of dirt and grease that covers them, are
of a fairer complexion than the generality of
Indians who are the natives of warmer cli-
mates.”’ He adds detailed observations on
dress, dances, huts, decorations, weapons, and
canoes. One Indian was reluctantly persuaded
to accompany them as guide, and before
nightfall they had passed the mouth of Great
Bear River, which carries to the Mackenzie
the clear green waters of Great Bear Lake,
the largest of all the northern lakes.

On July 6 Mackenzie tried to climb
another hill to get a view of the country, but
before he was half way up he was “‘almost
suffocated by clouds of musquitoes, and
obliged to return.”” The insect pests grew, if
anything, more trying the further north they